Happenings..

... in no particular order:

A couple Monday's ago, me a few of the salon girls set off for Keratherapy class. Education in Keratin treatments and we got the Keratin flat iron for F-R-E-E!! Whoo hooo! 

This was taken a few weeks ago when the Bradfords really started blooming.. sooo beautiful! Then of course, it rained and I feel like it knocks off a lot of the blooms.. So now everything is just green.

First snake sighting of the year! It was a pretty day, the pups were out, looked out on the front porch and noticed Kyli jumping around like a Kangaroo. Went to investigate and sure enough there was this guy on the step. The following weekend, I caught him coming out of his hiding place. IIICKK!!

My Aunt sent me this and told me she thought of me.. LOL!! I totally cracked up.

OK, so maybe Mara gets on the couch sometimes too. She's not supposed to and I'm a softy. Who wouldn't give in to this funny girl??

Last weekend, Coach worked in the yard and cleaned this little area out. He pruned the dead branches from the apple tree, pulled some weeds, planted some monkey grass, and this pretty bush was exposed more. I've been seeing more of them on my drive to work the past couple weeks. Absolutely gorgeous!

Thursday, Amber and I spent most of the day together for her birthday! We had a TON of catching up to do! I almost started to think it was a full moon, neither of us got ANY sleep the night before, then we got a later start, I was late due to 35mph almost ALL the way to pick her up (thank goodness an opening came so I could finally pass) and THEN I got stuck by the train 2 seconds from the salon. Geez. We had so much fun tho once we made it together!

I've been looking for this at Ingles and they never have it.. finally made my way to Publix to get some and I have really enjoyed it!

Love this pony Ally rocked for prom Friday!

I have a another prom day coming in May full of hair and makeup! 

Annnd I think that's a wrap for now!

BUMPDATE // 23 Weeks

HOW FAR ALONG // 23 weeks

BABY SIZE // About as much as a large mango.

Baby Girl's sense of movement is well developed by now and can feel me dance. She is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. I may be able to see her squirm underneath my clothes.

Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and her hearing is becoming more keen. Her inner ear mechanism that houses all components of hearing are fully formed... so she can hear what I hear but not at the same level. (sounds and voices are muffled by the muscles and tissues around my belly, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid.

MY SYMPTOMS // Legs hurt.. my right knee started giving me fits this week for some reason.. a lot of exhaustion this week.. really tight belly towards the afternoon and evening.. pulling feeling (I'm going to order some kind of support soon) .. at this point, can I just attach a toilet to my behind?? I think I've set a world record for how many times I've peed in a small amount of time.
I feel like my thighs are getting bigger.. they just look gross to me. But Shane says no. Sweet husband.

MATERNITY CLOTHES // Belly bands and sports bras. It got COLD again this week but Whitney told me she would start getting her spring/summer maternity clothes together this week for me.. I haven't been shopping so it will be nice to have a change of scenery in my closet.

SLEEP // Off and on this week.. I have been waking up around 4AM and not able to go back to sleep. I laid around/napped a lot Friday on the couch after work and it was wonderful! 

MOVEMENT // I have been feeling her more and more! Tuesday night she was moving so much I could see my belly jumping on the outside just a little bit. Thursday night and into Friday, I really didn't feel her move as much and I'm not going to lie, as much as I tried not to freak out, I freaked out a little bit.. but by midnight Friday she was back at it.

CRAVINGS // Cherry coke!! O. M. G. 

GENDER // It's a GIRL!

WHAT I MISS // Putting on my shoes comfortably.. sleep of course.. energy.. daily workouts.. a "routine". I feel like I'm ALL over the place!

WORK OUTS // I walked the yard after work twice this week, few sets of lunges, body squats, made it to the gym for some cardio and Jamie Eason shoulders.. I even did a couple sets of curls in the bathroom before work one morning and the Saddlebag video.

EMOTIONS // Delivery has been on my mind this week .. I'm starting to get overwhelmed with everything that Shane and I should be doing before he gets started traveling.. Glucose test is coming up and I'm being a baby about it.. overall I just think my brain is in OV-ER-LOAD. I have 93873420 pieces of paper with 919284457203 different "to-do" items on all of them.

DREAMS // I have had some crazy ones this week but nothing specific I can even put together to write down.

HUBBY'S THOUGHTS // He loves rubbing my belly! It may just be me but I think he is seeing how uncomfortable I get sometimes and how some things are getting a little more challenging to do. He has been cooking dinner and helping clean the kitchen and I am SO THANKFUL! Not that he has never done those things, its just a little more and I appreciate it so much. My legs can only take so much standing. 

3 AMIGAS THOUGHTS // I think the bigger my belly gets the more Kyli wants to be right up on me. Not forgetting about the other two, but Kyli is the only one small enough to get on the couch and snuggle. She's got to sense it and know!

BEST PREGNANCY MOMENT THIS WEEK //

I was driving to work one day this week, nothing was on the radio, so I turned it down and started talking to Baby.. I said I love you _____, totally kicked me right after that! She just wanted to say she loved me too. 

Birthday Love!

Happy Happy Birthday 

to this AWESOME lady today!! 

AWESOME AMBER

I hope its an absolutely relaxing, wonderful day for you filled with nothing to do except whatever your little heart desires!

I'm so glad we got to spend some time together yesterday and catch up on lost time! I love you tons and tons and tons!

Monday Funday Sunny Walk...

Well I would have been here sooner this week after Monday, but because I have THE fastest technology EVER, here I am now!

Seriously SO frustrating and something needs to be done about it. I would definitely be here more!

After a completely lazy weekend, I woke up Monday needing to run some errands and one of those was getting groceries.. we had nothing. When I got back home, I just knew Coach was at the pond so I put all the cold groceries up, left the rest on the counter, and me and the Amigas went for a walk to the pond.

It was sooo pretty after a nasty, rainy weekend and the sun felt so good!

** I tried to narrow down these pics -- when I started uploading I realized I had taken almost SIXTY pictures -- I have a serious problem obviously. ha!

The pups are so funny to us with their personalities and how they are with each other.

Such peaceful walks and love our time together on days like this!

Notice they didn't wait for me! Love how the pasture is greening up!

We see Dad!

Of course Kyli went straight for the water!

Sox is SO proud of her perfume she couldn't help but show it off.. disgusting.

They had SO much fun ... until they had to get a bath time when we got back home!

Baby Hopper is a GIRL!! // The Big Reveal

So this post took so long because I was waiting on edited pics but I couldn't wait any longer to share..

I really don't know where to begin with what I want to say here or even know how to put what I want to say into words. So here we go with me trying...

Let me begin with how thankful and blessed I am for such a wonderful bestie, Amber, for putting all of this together and making it more than I ever imagined. Everything was absolutely perfect from the invites to the decor to our poppers.. I mean everything! On top of her niece's 1 yr birthday party just the week before, she rocked it out and made this so special for us.. I am forever grateful for all she has done!

Thank you so much to Whitney for selflessly lending her helping hand with this as well.. I'm pretty sure she moved some clients to be there early to help Amber set up. I have NO idea where she put them.. So sweet to do! Thank you so much friend!

I know I speak for Shane and I both when we say how humbled we were at the turnout in celebration of this sweet Baby Girl the Lord has blessed us with. She is already loved SO MUCH!

Thank you thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

OK get ready for picture overload! 

Amber is the bomb and made all of these herself. A sweet card with her feelings on when she opened the envelope, sweet advice and scripture.

Someone yelled "Are you excited??" Any family reading this know who? I'll have to admit I did have nerves of excitement!

Connie (MIL), Mom, Kolton (youngest brother in blue), Ty (cousin), and Mama Jane (grandmother)

When we hit our poppers, all the confetti went into the light and I couldn't see what color it was! It wasn't until I looked on the floor that I saw what color was revealed!

You can see that my Mom couldn't see it either! LOL!

She was SO excited and I was SO shocked because I just knew this baby was a boy! Not that I cared either way because we just want healthy healthy baby! My Mom was seriously cracking me up with all her excitement! 

For some reason, I couldn't stop laughing.

Love Coach's face in all of these! So sweet.

My face is so awkward here but Coach was saying I told you you were gonna cry when you found out what we were having.. Guess he was right.

Handshake from Cliff SR

Hug from Judy (Connie sister)

Hug from Christine (Judy daughter)

Stacey with Hayden and Jennifer with Essie

My little Ty.. I was a staple at my Aunt's house with all her babies and Ty was the first one. I was trying to pinch his cheeks here.. priceless face!

Dad and Kim

Krista, Mama Jane, me, Mom, Gigi, Mimi

Sassafras girls!
Whitney, Deneen, and Sha

Love this picture of me and Pop! Just before this picture was taken he was poking his belly out farther and saying "you have a real baby and I have a food baby!" Sooo funny!

Ella

Tracie (SIL) and Ricky

The belly is a magnet.. Ha!

So this blanket is Brynn's 'oh' and Daniel, Whitney's husband, put it on Shane with her baby and said something about getting in some practice. As you can see from the following picture, she is NOT so sure about him having it! She never goes anywhere without her Oh! So sweet!

Funny moment with Ricky having Connie's purse!

The only picture I'm missing is one with Amber.. BOO! We are never waiting til later to take one ever again! ;)

Sweet gifts from Connie and Ricky, Christine and family, and Judy and Cliff Sr. ::

Perfect gift with the belly stickers! I had just been wondering that week where I could get them!

The envelope I took to the appt for the nurse to put gender in..

And our invite Amber sent .. I LOVED it!

We had SO much fun and again Shane and I are so thankful for this wonderful night!