A valance and a weenie dog!?!?!

Yes, those are the two things I purchased for Abby's room this weekend. Originally, if you recall from an earlier post, I was going to order that bright pink gingham window valance. However, we decided to get a green gingham chair for me to rock Abby in, and I decided it would be a bit too much gingham because the chair is RIGHT by the window. I felt it would be gingham overload! So, while at Pottery Barn Kids, I saw this other valance that I thought flowed really well with Abby's bedding. I did still get the bright gingham rod. Notice Sandy's nose sniffing it in the right corner!

While visiting Old Navy and standing in the checkout line, you know they always have those bins of things right beside you as you checkout. Well, when I glanced over, I spotted a weenie dog that has the word Love written all over it in pink (for Valentine's Day, of course), but it matched absolutely perfectly with her bedding. With my love of weenie dogs and all, I gave one look to Josh, and he immediately said, "Put it on the counter!" He knows me so well :-)

The last picture is Sandy with me in Abby's room, just staring at me over Abby's bumper. She won't jump over...she always walks around it and stares at me :-)

Registering...whew!

We registered a few weekends ago, and I can definitely say that is overwhelming and tiring! I remember it being tiring for the wedding, but when you register for wedding stuff you know and understand what the stuff is that you register for (i.e. pots & pans, dishes, glassware, etc.) It's a whole new world when you register for baby stuff. First you need to understand what is it that you actually need, then it's important to know what brands last the longest and are the safest, and then (in my case) you have to keep your husband from being a nut :-) Notice pictures below!

With the registering gun, Josh Bauer (for all those 24 fans out there!) will protect me :-)

On the day of registering, I, of course, had to wear my "Preggo Princess" shirt. (Thank you, Lisa!!)

And lastly, Josh Bauer, not being able to take it anymore, had to turn the registering gun on himself!

It's Actually BOUGHT!

I'm so very very excited--Abby's crib bedding is actually bought and in transit as I type!! The estimated arrival date is Thursday, 1/25. I can't wait to actually have it in my possession! As much as I love both beddings I posted from before, I finally came to my senses and found something more reasonable in price. Also, this new bedding has the two main colors I had said I would do a baby girls room in--pink and green!

When you look at the below picture, I want Abby's walls painted that exact same color.

The next picture is of the hardware I'm going to use for her window. There is a bit of gingham in the bedding, so the hardware and the window treatment will both be the bright pink gingham. The actual window treatment is shown in green....we'll have the same style, just in pink!

Still our Abby girl!

Today we had another Dr.'s appointment. The main reason for this appointment was for them to get better measurements of the heart. I had a regular OB appointment first, so we could hear her heartbeat and they could measure my growing belly. Then I had my ultrasound. I don't think I can say it enough--but I LOVE getting ultrasounds!!!! Seeing the baby is SO amazing. Especially now that I'm feeling movement....when I feel her move, I can see on the screen she actually is.

The ultrasound technician said several times, "Wow, look at her legs moving." or "She's really wiggly." (Do we think this is an inclination of what to expect?!?! haha!) They were able to get the heart measurements this go around, and we could see the 4 chambers of the heart perfectly. They said she's a little smaller than normal measurments at this time, which they said would be the differene of only 3-4 days. (They said this isn't a big deal because those amount of days don't make a difference) In the last appointment, Abby was breech, and at this point in time she still is....which totally explains why I feel so much movement at the very bottom of my belly! Obviously she's still small enough and has plenty of time to flip it around :-)

At first we weren't able to see if she was still a girl because Abby was keeping her legs close together, but at the end they really started moving my belly around and we were able to get a good shot of it. The technician said "Oh yeah, she's a girl...those are girl parts right there." So, I for sure feel confident that she's my Abby!! Now we can actually start ordering the furniture and bedding!!!

Of course, I wanted to include some pictures of Abby we got at this appointment. She's so absolutely precious--if I do say so myself :-) You'll see her hands up by her head--she had them there at the last appointment, too!

A boy becomes a MAN!

I (Josh) have always told Amy that I would consider myself a boy until we have a child of our own. Yeah, Sandy is dependant upon us for survival, but her days mostly consist of eating, going outside, sleeping, playing for 1 or 2 hours at night and then more sleep. Since I am now entering this world of manhood, I thought I should do something real men do and that Amy has been begging me to do since we got married. In the past I had always just shaved with an electric razor, but Saturday I shaved with a real razor with a real blade for the FIRST time in my life. As you can see below, I also used shaving cream for the first time ever.I was very surprised at how easy it was to shave and that I didn't cut myself at all. Amy was very happy because my face was as smooth as a baby's backside. Now I can truly call myself a man - I use deodorant, wear cologne, own an electric drill, know how to grill meat, and have shaved with a MAN's razor. Maybe now I will move onto shaving my legs (just kidding!).

Bossier Friends and Family --

Mark Your Calendars!!!

My very first baby shower is now in the planning stages, and the date has been set for March 10th! My sweet friend Michelle and her wonderful mom are opening up their home to host a baby shower for me. It still doesn't seem real that I can be talking about baby showers. I'm absolutely thrilled about it, though, and I now realize Josh and I have some work ahead of us. I will need to be registering soon, which luckily I have ideas in my head already of things that I know would be good buys. We know how long this baby bedding decision is taking me--I don't want registering to be the same way :-)

I have picked out the bed and a dresser. I'm going to post a picture, although the picture has a ton more pieces of furniture in it. Just pay attention to the bed. :-) Notice the little round legs at the bottom of the pieces. They are so cute! We're getting a dresser as well, to go along with that collection, but they don't have a picture of it. It pretty much looks like the changing table to the left, but a bit longer, and minus the changing table stuff on the top of it.

I'm so excited that it's the weekend. I actually have a FOUR day weekend because Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, and Tuesday I have a Dr.'s appointment, and I just took the whole day off for it! Beautiful, right? After the day I had on Friday, I need the time. I won't go into too much detail because it would basically take forever, but I have one little boy in my class who has a lot of behavioral issues. Things you hand him, he just throws down at your feet, he won't do anything I ask him, and Friday he decided to just walk out of my class. I really struggle with this because I have had NO issues with any of my other students, and I can get along with ANYBODY. It really stressed me out yesterday, but I have to remember that he really is mentally sick and he does have other issues going on, but it's so complicated to deal with when I'm trying to keep 27 other kids on task and deal with his behavior! All I kept thinking yesterday is, "What would I do if this were Abby?" I have no idea how to handle him. He doesn't communicate with you; he just shuts down, and he's done. I've never seen anything like it.

Still deciding..

So the bedding I put in the previous post I still very much like. However, I do have to consider a few things about that bedding. We will for sure have a white crib in Abby's room. I am that decisive so far :-) The bedding in the previous post did have some bright colors in it that will look great laying against a white bed. But the bed skirt is such a LIGHT pink that it might not really be that visible. Again, I still love it--but I'm debating.

Now, I've found this bedding, which I love the layout and look--but it goes back to my original dilemma--it only has two colors in it. The pink and brown look. Which yes, I love the pink and brown, but I really wanted a few other colors thrown in. I could buy my own material and have someone make it, but that requires me to pick out different types of material and have them flow together. That's too complicated and overwhelming for me! I need to already see it together, and from there decide if I like it or not.

This is the other bedding I'm considering....

Against a white bed, these two colors would look awesome. I love everything about this bedding besides it only has TWO colors. I'm pretty much just thinking out loud here--any thoughts and/or opinions are appreciated. As excited as Josh is about Abby, he's no help in this department :-)

Decisions, Decisions

I'm now in my 21st week of pregnancy....where has the time gone? I just can't believe how fast it has gone--but then I feel like I have FOR-EV-ER left. I'm just anxious to meet Abby!! Now the decisions are starting. What kind of furniture do I want in the room? What bedding do I want to pick? How should I paint the room? It seemed easier for me to make wedding decisions than making these few decisions I've been trying to lately.

Bedding has been my most difficult obstacle. I know in my head what I want, but I can't find it. I have searched the internet (for entirely too long!), and I have found some that I like, but I'm not buying anything yet. I'm for sure waiting until my appointment next week (to make sure I'm still having a girl!) I want several colors to be in the bedding so I have lots of colors to incorporate into the room, but I'm looking for polka dots and stripes. I found an adorable one, but the ONLY colors are pale pink and white. I want greens, yellows, etc. The one I'm most stuck on as of the moment has pale pink, bright pink, brown, pale yellow, and white. It's really cute, but I haven't given up my search yet :-)

Here is a picture of what I'm considering:
I also wanted to include a picture of me in this 21st week. My kids at school crack me up with some of the comments they make to me. For instance, one girl told me "Mrs. Beasley, you sure are getting bigger and bigger every day!" (That's gotta make you feel good, ha!) Then I was talking to a male teacher, who I noticed kept glancing at my tummy. When our converstaion was finished he said, "You sure are getting plump, huh?" People can certainly make you laugh!

Outfit for Abby

I (Josh) found this cute little outfit for Abby. It is perfect because it shows a love for God and a love for the U.S.A. Have a wonderful weekend and wish me luck playing golf (I'm gonna need it).

The year of Abby

Happy New Year!

I can NOT believe that we are actually in the year 2007. It seems so unreal. Today officially marks 20 weeks for me. I'm half way to meeting my baby girl!

We rang in the new year over at our friends, Matt & Kim's, house. They had a few other couples over, and we had dinner and basically just hung out. We definitely aren't any wild partiers, but I really enjoyed chit-chatting with our friends. We just found out another couple (who was with us last night) is expecting their 2nd child. So that's really exciting news!

I can't believe my 2 week Christmas break is over, and I head back to school tomorrow. Tomorrow is just for teachers though, so at least I have the opportunity to get myself in order before I get a whole new group of kiddos.

Finally, I must leave you with some adorable pictures of my sweet Sandy. It always amazes me how dachshunds like to burrow underneath things to be warm, and I'm telling you, Sandy definitely likes warmth. When we come home from places, we find her underneath her blanket, and we swear someday her body is going to catch fire--she is THAT warm :-) Anyway, this picture is when I got warm clothes out of the dryer and she hopped in the basket. These next two pictures are from this morning. After Josh woke up, he layed on the couch, and Sandy jumped up beside him. Generally she wants you to have a blanket, so she can get under it, but Josh didn't have one. She "nosed" at his shirt, and he lifted it up and she crawled right in! She definitely likes to snuggle close :-)