Belly Evolution: Week 31 and 2 Days... And Holy Moly What a WEEK!!!

Belly Shots in the new house!!! Woo Hoo!

Can I just say this has been one of the busiest weeks I have had in a looooong time! We are FINALLY in our new house. Daryl and our family are the reason we are in and we are SOOOO lucky to have such an amazing family!! I had to work until 7:00 Tuesday thru Friday this week, but like I can do anything useful right now in regards to moving other than point and complain, so it was best I not be there probably. But our families helped Daryl every step of the way. Daryl was off this week as he is transitioning from his old job to his new job (talk about perfect timing!) David helped Daryl move most of the big furniture on Wednesday after work. He has a trailer so that worked perfect. My parents drove up on Thursday morning (left Covington at 5:00 am) And stayed until 6:30 pm moving and cleaning. Then Friday, his mom came and they brought all of our hanging clothes... down a flight of stairs to the van, then up a flight of stairs to the closet... upteen billion times... and she is SEVENTY!!!

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So by the time I got home each evening at 8:00, Daryl was shot, but he kept on going and we would stay up a few more hours arranging and stuff... so this week was a tiring one... hence no blog on Thursday. I was going to post last night after I got back from getting my hair cut, but we couldn't get on the internet... as a matter of fact, this is the first time we have been able to log on. We will get our internet & cable hopefully this week though. We have gotten a lot done with the house. The baby showers start up next weekend so we tried to knock a lot out this weekend. I woke up at 5:30 Saturday and started organizing our closet. Daryl came in at about 6:00 and was all groggy and said "are you okay???" When you know there are things to do, it is hard to go back to sleep, you know? I am very impressed with what all we have accomplished, but there is still tons to do. And as I get bigger, I can do less... so the quicker I can get things done, the better!

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Jamie has been on the move this week. I KNOW I felt a foot! She started pushing out and I went to feel and I could feel a little foot. It was SO neat. She has also started a new trick. If I tap my fingers on my belly... like what you do on a table when you are bored... she will move to where I'm tapping. I told Daryl about it this morning. He tried it and she did it for him too. I told him "Look honey, she is interactive now!" ha-ha.

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We had our check up this week too... I told you it was a busy week! We went on Monday and everything is looking good. My blood pressure was 128/68 and the doc thinks her head is down, although I swear she has moved since then. It feels like she is laying sideways because I can feel two distinct bumps on wither side of me... one is her bottom and I'm guessing the other is her head, then again, I could be grabbing my spleen for all I know! :-) But her heartbeat was fine, he didn't give me a number because she was moving around too much... he heard it and he said that was fine. I gained 2 lbs over the last 3 weeks, so whew! (Don't worry ladies, I made up for it this weekend. Bwahahaha!) So now I am down to every 2 weeks. .

And now, by popular demand, Miss Jamie's room.... (as you can see, the only place we can pick up an internet signal is in her room by the window). To give you some logistics of the room: Coming into the room, on the same wall as her door, her dresser and hutch is on the right, then on the next wall is the armoire, then my rocking chair, windows, then then her crib, then her closet, then you are back at the door.

And here is the new rug we bought at Garden Ridge for the Living Room. It is THE softest shag carpet rug I have ever felt!!!! We wanted to buy something that Jamie would love to crawl on and this is IT! We even had Davis test it out when he and Tim & Amanda came to visit this weekend. He touched and went "mmmmm...soft." So we knew we had a hit with the 2 year old market. He confirmed our purchase when the second we laid it out on the floor he did a yoga "downward facing dog" with his cheek firmly planted in the carpet and waved his arms back and forth over the carpet saying "Soft!!! Soft!!! Soft!!!"

Belly Evolution: Week 30

Wow! Week 30. It is hard to believe we are already in the home stretch. Time has FLOWN since we found out we were pregnant in February. I have really been blessed to have had such a good pregnancy so far. It's had its moments but all in all, I've been lucky to have such an uneventful pregnancy. I did discover the hard way on Tuesday that I need to eat pretty much continually. I got a little light headed at work and my wonderful Carol brought me a Ginger Ale and I started to feel better. I kept feeling woozy throughout the day but as soon as I'd eat something, I would be fine (We even checked my blood pressure - just to be sure - and it was 104/68). So yesterday and today I kept food in my system and I haven't had any more spells, so bring on the grub, bub!

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Despite the fact that I look HUGE in my pictures this week, I haven't gained any weight since my last doctor's visit.... I think it is from working at the house so much, that I've been burning the calories that have been going directly to my thighs - because I'm still eating a lot...who knows. This week I'll probably get yelled at for NOT gaining 3 lbs. sheesh. Whaddya do. Fear not, I still have the weekend to get all nice and chubby before my Monday visit. :-)

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This evening, I'm pretty sure I saw Jamie's foot coming out, front and center. Playing "Guess that Body Part" will be my most favorite memory of being pregnant. It is just so cool seeing things run across my belly (feet and elbows), or seeing a huge blob start pushing out to one side (her back, I'm pretty sure). I can feel her pretty easily now. I know where to press to feel her move and she is pretty consistent. I have a hyper one, that's for sure!

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She actually kicked on cue 3 times yesterday! Samantha, Athena, & Rob from work were all able to feel her kick. Usually when I want her to kick she plays opossum and pretends to be asleep. I know better. She is just being like her father. :-)

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I want to send a shout out to my girl Amanda for letting my borrow pregnancy attire for my baby showers. I TRIED to find new things to wear but everything I tried on looked about as attractive as a potato sack with lapels - and the look of horror on Daryl's face when I tried on the outfits told the story... even though he tried to muster a convincing "no honey, you look fine." ha-ha. He is a trooper, that's for sure. So mucho gracias to Amanda for letting me borrow 2 pretty dresses and a cardigan for my brown dress.

And this picture is for Ms. Chris who brought to my attention that the only pictures I've been posting of myself are in the white T-shirt from hell, so here is one I took randomly in the new house on 8/14. I should really take more pictures of me so Jamie doesn't think that I only owned one outfit while I was pregnant!

Who Needs Bob Vila???

As promised, the progress of our house: First and Foremost, Jamie's room... It started off blue, which Daryl primed 2 times.... Then he added 3 coats of pink and brown trim. And finally, he started the crown moulding today (which will be brown). The Living room started of yellowy khaki with cream trim and ended up grayish khaki with white trim. The kitchen went from Khaki to green. The Dining room went from khaki to the grey khaki & green. And the study went from Khaki to green. ALL of the trim went from cream to bright white... base boards, crown moulding, doors, spindles on the stairwell, base board running up stairwell, Passageways, windows.... EVERYTHING. I'm not showing 2 of the guest bedrooms because they went from one khaki to another khaki. so no "AHHHH" moment there. Every room but 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom were repainted (That bedroom will be Jamie's playroom, which we will paint when she can... well... play.) And the master bedroom & bath because I plan on redecorating in a year and the paint still looks good and the current colors match what we have now, so no sense in painting it now just to do it again in a year. . So this is where all of our time has been on the weekends and some weeknights. The house looks TOTALLY different now than when we first received the keys. I'm so happy with how it is turning out but gee wiz it takes a lot of work!!! My poor dad worked for 2 weekends in a row on it with PNEUMONIA!!! Needless to say, we gave him a weekend off once the doctor told him that was why he felt bad. Last weekend, half the family caught a head cold too... It got my nephews, Bro & sis-in-law, my mom and Daryl... Dad already had Pneumonia, so I don't know if that counts towards that list. Gloria & I (and Jamie by default) were the only ones to leave the house without the sniffles. So yes...to say this house has been one heck of an undertaking is an understatement, but the hard work everyone has put into it is really showing. Daryl, Jamie & I have the most awesome family ever. We could NOT have done this without them!!!!

Time to Monkey Around!

What do you get when you mix 2 pregnant ladies and 85 blow up monkeys? One heck of a 2-year-old Birthday Party, that's what! . Daryl and I spent the weekend with our favorite couple, Tim & Amanda. We helped them get everything set up for Davis' Birthday party. The theme this year was jungle and it looked so neat! The cake was a monkey's face and then there were cupcakes with trees and jungle animals. So cute!!!

Daryl and I haven't had a picture together since... well, I don't know when, so here we are. I am always amazed when I see pictures of myself because I don't feel the size that I am... I still feel like my old size until I see a picture or try to squeeze between things. Then I'm like. "Oh yea, you have a watermelon under your shirt."

And here are the Preggo Sisters! You all should be very proud of us, there was not a single hormonal incident at all this weekend. (just don't ask Tim and Daryl to back up that statement). I can't wait for our babies to get to play together and harrass Davis. They will have such fun growing up together :-)

Belly Evolution: Week 29

On the baby front, everything has been going great!!! She is a very active little girl. Always rolling around. She gets these fits where you can see my stomach just moving around all over the place. She has also started doing this "thing" where she will push her foot up but instead of going into my lungs, she goes on TOP of my ribs...like, towards the outside! It hurts the daylights out of me. She is almost kicking me in the boob she is going up so high. The only thing I can do is start rubbing her foot and gentle push down while doing so to get her to go back into the tummy region and out from the front of my ribs. . The house is coming along nicely. We have some more painting to do this weekend. We started unpacking some boxes (bathroom stuff mostly) and moving all of our storage stuff (Christmas decorations, camping gear, etc) into the basement where it will live with the spiders. Please note: Bug bombs just toy with the spiders in my basement... the only way to kill these spiders is with a shoe, a priest, and some holy water. . We have another Doc. appt on the 10th. I've been trying to eat better these 3 weeks and so far, I haven't gained any weight (but OH NO!!! It's a Holiday weekend! I'm doomed). We have gone from 4 weeks to 3 weeks between visits. That makes me excited!!! I'm so ready for Jamie to be here. Time is really flying now. Daryl said it would once we started getting the house ready and he was right! It is so hard to believe that we are just one week away from being in the 30's! I will try to remember to take pictures of the progress Jamie's room has made. I keep taking the camera, it is the whole "taking it out of the purse" that is getting me.

Belly Evolution: Week 28

Sorry for the delay in the post. We worked on the house last night so I didn't have time to post. We are really making progress with the house. Thanks to our Parents & David for helping us paint last weekend! And thanks to Deeshia for feeding us last night so we could work! We will work some more this weekend and I'm going to try to remember to take a camera so I can show the progress Jamie's room is making. I'm really happy with the colors we have picked for the entire house and will post those too once we finish everything.

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Jamie's Furniture came in! We might go pick it up this weekend and just leave it down stairs until we get the carpets cleaned. We also still have to put the Crown moulding and chair rail in her room... whew. Lots to do!

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Jamie is moving around a ton. She only does the good kicks every now and then but she is quite the rolly polly. It is so much fun watching her move. I can't eat as much at night anymore. If I eat too much...let's just say I have a flash back to the 1st trimester.

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The last doc appointment went good. My glucose test came back fine. Supposed to be under 140 and it was 114. My blood pressure is going up some.... it was 120/86 which is pretty high for me. I've also gained too much weight... 22 lbs. The doctor was so funny though. You could tell that he has had to tell many a woman to try and slow down the growth spurt and that many a woman has burst into hysterics. I say this because he had the same look in his eyes as I get when I see someone with a pit bull walking down the street. And he kept saying "But you look GREAT!" haha. I know I've gained too much, so I was expecting it, so I just wanted to laugh at how scared he was to tell me. But he said just 1 lb a week from here on out...We'll see how that goes. :-)

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Okay, so I think lightening just hit something near by and alarms are going off so I'm going to get off the computer now.... gotta love summer storms!!!! Made the temp go from 96 to 74 in 10 minutes!!!

Belly Evolution: Week 27

(1st off, I don't know why I'm standing like that) Sorry for the delayed post. We spent last night painting at the new house. Daryl is priming Jamie's room since it was painted a blue that will NOT go away. He is on the 2nd coat of primer and you can still see the blue. sheesh! I worked on trimming out the guest bedroom and sweeping the basement (I preferred the later because it was 97 degrees upstairs and 75 in the basement!) .

We are one week away from month 8! It is getting closer to the day we get to meet little Jamie and we can't wait!!!! She is always moving around and stuff and it is the coolest thing ever. I'm starting to feel mighty big.

. We had family come into town last week. Daryl's Uncle Levi and Aunt Joann came to visit from St. Louis. It was nice to see them again.

Belly Evolution: Week 25 and 6 Days

My Friend Carol had a great idea, Show how much Jamie and I have grown to date. We started taking pictures at 11 weeks, 6 days and here we are at 25 weeks, 6 Days. A lot changes in 14 weeks!

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Another reason we are posting tonight instead of tomorrow is because we get the keys to the new house tomorrow night!!! Woo Hoo! I can't wait to start moving in.

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Jamie started doing this rolly polly thing last night that continued on through today... I can see and feel her doing all kinds of crazy rolling around. She is an active one! Other than that, not much to add for this week other than this 100 degree whether has GOT to go! We have been going down to the pool almost every night. It's the only exercise that doesn't make me want to cry because of this HEAT! So, STAY COOL out there!

AGD's Girl Day

I'm delayed in posting these only because Daryl and I just realized there is a memory card reader built into my laptop so I don't have to go and dig out a portable reader (I don't feel so bad since Daryl didn't notice either). . Before Amanda & I met up with the other ladies, we went to the mall. We were sitting next to a fountain, and Davis proceeded to toss his pacifier into the NASTY fountain. Amanda was like "Where are we going to find another pibby???" Aunt Lori knew where to buy one.... SPENCER'S!!!

Check out D and the vampire Pibby!!!

One thing's for sure, Davis is always ready to smile for the camera! SO CUTE!!

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So here are the pictures for our AGD Day where we took the kids to the Jump Jungle and got to reconnect.

The Preggo Sisters!

I had to steal this one from Bethany's Blog because my camera's batteries died... . How adorable are their kids??? Jamie will definitely need to be trained on the art of being photogenic to hang with this crowd!

This picture cracks me up. While Preggo me and Amanda watched Baby Zach, Bethany took Davis up on the slide... he is not hurt in this picture... He would smile the entire way down the slide and then bust into tears the SECOND they stopped. He was SOOOO mad that the ride was over. He would cry half way up the stairs and then start smiling again when he realized it was about to happen again. That kid cracks me up! I hope Jamie is as cute as he is!!!

Belly Evolution: Week 25

Please do not think that I think that this is a cute look.... I just wanted to preface the next few months pictures with that. I know this outfit is looking pret-ty bad but I feel that the best way to show how things are getting bigger is to wear the same outfit. That being said, laughing is completely allowed, and expected. :-)

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Since I've posted so much this week, I really don't have anything new to share today. I want to thank you all for the encouraging words! We are so excited about the new changes that are coming up for us!

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Let's see, as to Jamie, she is still kicking like crazy. I can see her move a lot now. It's so neat to see her kick. She is definitely getting stronger. It feels like she is trying to move into my lung cavity. I have a pain under the left pectoral muscle in front of my ribs that hurts when I sit hunched over or I bend over.... it's not so much a "hurt" as it starts feeling weird... like that area is going to sleep or something. Anyone had that? I think it is just because Jamie is so high that it is pinching on a vein or something. If it keeps up, I'll ask the doctor at our next visit. I've also noticed that I'm starting to lose my balance some. I'll lean too far and have to work at not falling. I'll also open doors and hit my belly because I'm not used to it being all out there.

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Congrats to my sorority Big-Sis, Stephanie. She is expecting her first baby at the end of August. She is having a little girl too! YAY!!! Hopefully she will start blogging too (hint hint) as I directed her here and she read all of the AGD blogs.

We Have a House!

We closed on our new home yesterday!! I can't wait to get out of our "temporary housing" and into our new home so I can start nesting! For those of you unaware, we sold our first home and moved into a rental town home so we could look for our next home leisurely and not HAVE to buy the first thing we sort of liked. We didn't think we would have a timeline really....well, who knew that at the closing of our first house, we were 2 weeks pregnant! So Jamie pretty much gave us a timeline of "HAVE to buy by September" and we did good since we closed on the last day of July. .

One nice thing about living in a rental, is you have to give a 60 day notice, so that means we can move slowly... we have plenty of time to paint, have professional cleaners and carpet cleaners come through and then move the things we can manage over a few weeks and then only need the expensive movers for a few hours, as opposed to all day.

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Just thought I would share in this exciting news for us!!! .

And in case you didn't think a new baby and new house was stressful enough for my hubby, Daryl, he went and got a new job!!! He starts in September and is SOOOO excited! It really is a great opportunity for him and I'm so proud of him. He will be doing consultant work for Atlanta based companies (so no travel, YAY!) and maybe even get to work from home some if the client is okay with it. .

And here is my hubby with the tools of the trade for his REAL job! :-)

Week 24 Ultrasound

"Check out my Biceps, mom!"

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We were able to see Jamie again yesterday. They were finally able to see her brain (she decided to cooperate this time). She was a busy little bee in there, jumping around and just showing off. It was so cool to see her again. We might consider going back and doing the 3D again. For $99, you can go back and get the exact same package you bought before. I hope we do, because I can't wait to see her again and November feels forever away!

She has her daddy's feet (the 1st toe is longer than the big toe... sheesh) :-)

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While they were in there, I had them re-confirm that we did indeed have a Jamie in there, and not an Evan, and yep, she is STILL a girl! :-)

And of course, here is the Skeletor face shot.

Her heartbeat was 148 and everything else looks good! The doctor was running late due to a delivery (we saw him walking to the hospital when we were pulling in), but by the time we did the ultrasound, blood work, blood pressure (102/68) & all of that good stuff, we only had to wait about 20 minutes for him. He didn't say anything about my weight (probably because he was running so far behind) but I was just glad to not get yelled at. ha-ha. Now I get to look forward to the glucose test on August 20th.

If I were a comic...

We went to an event last night that one of my vendor's hosted and they had caricature artist there. So here is ours. Had to put it on here as it makes me laugh every time I look at it. I think I look like Linda Hamilton from the Terminator movies. ha-ha. If you ever need catering or a place to hold a reception in the Dunwoody area, I highly suggest using this catering company. The facility is very nice and the food was DIVINE! http://www.fabulouscreations.net/

Belly Evolution: Week 24

So the inevitable has happened... my shirt and shorts no longer meet in the front. After talking to enough girlfriends, I've decided not to worry too much about the jump in weight gain for this month. That every pregnant lady has to get yelled out at least once by their doctor....it's a right of passage.

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Jamie is definitely front and center. I'm carrying high too, because one of my co-workers is a week ahead of me, and her baby is all low and Jamie is trying to hide in my lungs. She is a kicker, that is for sure. I feel her almost every hour now. If I wake up on the middle of the night, I feel her. I can see her kicking through my shirt now too...and it doesn't have to be tight either. I can see her through a lose fitting top. It is the coolest thing to see her rolling around in there.

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We have our monthly Doc appt. tomorrow and we get to see Jamie again so I will post some new pics of her tomorrow night and post her latest stats (and I'll have them re-confirm she is a girl... I am SUCH an over-preparer... I've been told TWICE now and I still want to know again before I paint everything pink. ha-ha)

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Speaking of being a mom...I suffered a MASSIVE case of prego brain today. We had catered lunch at work today. They have these yummy brownies so I figure I'll go get one (see above about accepting my weight gain). I get a refill of my drink while I'm at it, head over to the dessert tray, grab a brownie, and proceed to place it in my drink. Yea, I said IN my drink. I guess I was thinking I was holding a plate??? I have no idea. But I KNOW that is WAY unlike me as I would never waste good sweet tea OR a brownie - it's considered a sacrilege in my family to do such a thing, and my dad might disown me. (don't worry, I got another brownie)

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The only ailments I have so far is my back right below my shoulders is starting to hurt some and my right hip will start hurting from time to time. The back is because, hello, look at my belly!!! My hip - I think she is sitting on a nerve because it only hurts every now and then and will stop for no good reason.

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Well, it is past time for Daryl to read to Jamie (every night at 8:30). So I will talk to you all tomorrow!

Belly Evolution: Week 23

Daryl bought Jamie the book "Oh, baby, the places you'll go" after the Dr. Seuss book. It is to be read in utero so that baby gets used to hearing the speech pattern and then enjoys it once she is born. So now our new routine is for Daryl to read to Jamie at night before we go to bed. The funny thing is, when he is reading, I always start feeling sleepy, so now I know why kids like to be read to a bed time!!! I'm going to miss having him read to my belly. I know she likes it, because she starts bee-bopping around when he starts reading.

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On a depressing note, yesterday was the first time I weighed myself in two weeks.... Note to self: WEIGH EVERY DAY!!! So, I'm supposed to gain a half pound a week and I've been right on track until we stayed at my friend Carol's house last week and she didn't have a scale and apparently, I ate like a queen because instead of a half a pound a week, I gained 2....so 3 extra pounds later (after this week of continuing to ravage the pantry), I'm cutting down on the carbs and going back to the healthy options...Like I SHOULD have been doing.

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It is hard though when all you can think about from 6:30 AM - 11:30 AM is FOOD. The morning is definitely my weak spot and it doesn't help that all morning foods are carbs carbs carbs. Well, I can't say I didn't enjoyed myself at least a little during my pregnancy, but now it is time to be the responsible mommy and make sure my little princess is getting healthy foods throughout the day instead of a Breakfast Bar, Granola Bar, Muffin and Bagel - Oh yea, I'm talking all in the same morning - and nothing again until dinner. I could tell a difference today in her activity since I ate RIGHT today. lots of fruit and light on the carbs. She has been bouncing around like a happy baby should - instead of passed out cold from the carb high. I can tell the difference in me too....I weighed this afternoon, and I had already lost a pound since this morning. So here is to healthy eating...boy does it stink.

Belly Evolution: Week 22

This past week has flown by! We have been house sitting for one of my friends at work while she is on vacation and keeping her little Maltese, Charlie Dog (hence the change in the background). I'll admit, it has been nice being in a house again. That townhome is getting pretty old with those paper thin walls and the college students that live around us playing thier loud music.... wow...I just sounded REALLY OLD.... Oh well.

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Found out today that Jamie is a rocker chick. Last night while watching "The Next Best Thing" on TV, every time the impersonators sang, she would start jumping around. So this morning at work, I put some headphones on my belly and played some classical music...nothing. I figure, what the hey...and play Aerosmith...she starts jumping around like crazy. ha-ha.

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Some more exciting news, we are planning on closing on a house soon! Woo Hoo! I need to NEST! Once we close, I'll be sure to post a picture. I'll also be sure to post pics of Jamie's room once it is finished. We are going to decorate with light pink and chocolate brown.

Belly Evolution: Week 21

We have reached the half way point! Jamie is moving around like crazy now too. I can see her from the outside now when she kicks. I see a little "bump" come out where she kicks me. So far, these are the people who have felt Jamie Kick: Daryl (aka Daddy), My Mom & Dad (Grandmomma & Paw Paw), Daryl's Mom (Nana), Deeshia (Aunt DeeDee), Carol from my work, and her oldest cousin thinks he has... Not sure because when you are 7, you can only tolerate waiting for something you've never seen make a movement that you can hardly feel. :-)

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For those who know me, I am a jumpy person. If someone says hey to me, and I don't expect it, I jump. I'm a horrible date to a scary movie. Well, sometimes when Jamie kicks really hard, and she hasn't been really moving for a while, I jump! I'm afraid people are going to think I have issues. ha-ha.

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And as for my little boy's size L T-Shirt.... I fear it will never be the same after these 9 months. Nor will my belly button. Mom's out there: Did it feel like your belly button was constantly stretching when you were pregnant? The highlight of my belly button is that it is where I can see Jamie kicking the best.

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Cute story about our 4 year old Nephew. I'm sitting upstairs with him and his aforementioned 7 year old brother and the little one is jumping on the bed.... he stops, crawls over and looks at my tummy and says "I made Jamie cry, jumping on the bed, but don't worry - she's okay." and then proceeds to continue jumping on the bed. He is also the one that KNEW she was a girl because she looks like me so maybe he did make her cry! :-)