Day 1 at the Beach

We were lucky enough to go on a vacation with Brad's family to Orange Beach, Alabama. I had never been there or to the beaches close by and was looking forward to my first trip there. We planned to leave Friday morning but unfortunately I was either the late, back-up late or on-call nurse Monday thru Thursday and didn't have a chance to get ready to leave. I was really thrilled when Thursday afternoon came and I watched as my coworkers left at 2:15 while I stayed another 4 hours doing endo procedures. I joked with another late nurse that at this rate, we wouldn't leave until 2:00pm Friday! We were finally packed and ready to drop the dogs off at the vet just after noon Friday. Brad put the dogs in the Tahoe and the engine would not crank. Seriously? When jumping off the car didn't work, we called my dad and he came to check it out. His battery guage showed that our battery was dead. Good news! But when they got to the store, their battery guage said ours was good. Bad news. We took our chances and bought a new battery. The car cranked and we left our driveway at 2:00pm, just as I had jokingly predicted. Poor Will was a trooper after not having a nap all day and conked out just 1 mile out of town. He didn't wake up until after Hattiesburg! After a long Chik-fil-a dinner in Mobile, we finally arrived at The Caribe at about 8:15pm. So much for being there around 3. What a day! Thankfully the rest of the trip was smoother.

Saturday was a great day. After having some breakfast in the condo, we took Will to the pool. He loved it! They had 2 huge pools with 3 tiers each. One pool had a zero entry tier with little fountains in it. His favorite thing was throwing the ball with Daddy and filling up and pouring water from a found pitcher. He also enjoyed sitting on the waterfall wall and just playing in the water.

Aunt Sara and Uncle Andrew sunbathed while we played

We had an awesome condo. I forgot to take pictures of the inside but it was perfect. We each had our own bedroom and bath and the kitchen, dining and living room were all open and overlooked a large balcony with several floor to ceiling windows. Will had fun running up and down the hall, through the kitchen, dining and living room and back and forth on the balcony.

He also enjoyed climbing up on the patio chairs

Self portrait at 21 weeks, 5 days

Me and my little man (I'm not doing thumbs up here - I was adjusting my strap)

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Will and his Gigi (Brad's mom)

View of the boater's island on the bay to the left of our balcony

residential island to the right of our balcony

bridge to the residential island

Saturday afternoon we talked about going to the beach but never made it. Will took a 3 hour nap (three!!) and I dozed for a couple myself. We were just plain lazy! That evening we had dinner at Cosmo's which was wonderful. I recommend it if you're ever in the Orange Beach area. After tons of yummy food we went to The Wharf to walk around. We took Will for a walk.

He actually liked being on the leash. We did this because he threw a fit getting in the stroller which is very unusual for him. He was a pill for the rest of the evening, except for when we stopped at Bruester's for ice cream (did you know kids under 40 inches get a free cone?) and then he was all sweet, happy and smiley.

Our family of 3.5 at The Wharf harbour

Please Help Yourself

Dear Will,
I realize that you are growing up very quickly. I also realize that since I am expecting your little sibling, I am pretty exhausted and slow in the afternoons. You are hard to keep up with! I may not always be right behind your every step and keeping a close eye on you. I also may not be as enthusiastic as you are about spending the afternoon in the 100 degree heat. So it would thrill me for you to help yourself. Go ahead, open the back door and roam in the back yard for a minute before I realize that you are missing. Just please have both shoes on next time and not just one.

Love,
Mommy

(Note to self: Be sure to lock back door after letting the dogs inside.)

Will's First Haircut

"Hey, buddy! Ready for your first haircut?"

"My first what? What are we doing here?"

"Mommy, I'm not so sure I'm liking this."

"Alright, I'm definitely not happy about it now."

"Well that wasn't so bad. I'll even sweep up!"



And he even gave a half smile and posed with Joanna

I finally took Will in for his first haircut a couple of weeks ago. I had been holding off until I got his 1 year pictures taken. I was debating back and forth on if I should cut his curls. I decided that we would trim the top and his bangs, and if it looked funky, we would cut the curls. We didn't have to cut a single one! Joanna has been cutting my hair for 4 years (please don't judge her talent by how I look most of the time - I don't go see her often enough!). I saw her recently and asked who I should take Will to for his first haircut. For some reason I didn't think she cut kids' hair. But she said to bring him in and she did great! I am so glad I took him to her because I know her well enough to give my real opinion and also trust that she'll do what I ask. It is hard to tell that he even got it cut, which made me very happy. He still looks like a baby and not quite grown up yet!

Top Secret

Sorry these are hard to see. The computer I am on isn't hooked up to work with our scanner.

Tiny little footprints

My favorite picture. The circle in the middle is the belly and to the right is the face. Above the face is his/her arm which was sweetly rubbing his/her head.

Profile shot. It looks like the baby is blowing bubbles but I am pretty sure that is arm/finger bones. Also the odd head shape is totally normal for this gestational age.

Ok this may be hard to see. There is a darker horizontal white line with one angled down from it. That is an arm bent at the elbow with the hand above and to the right. Baby is facing up, head on right side so I guess this is the left arm?

The gender of baby Sharp is "Top Secret". I had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon and they did a routine ultrasound. Brad was planning to come with me but unfortunately got stuck nearly 2 hours away on a job and couldn't make it. My biggest fear was finding out something was wrong and being all alone. But, Praise God, everything looks perfect! I had been saying we wouldn't find out the gender but as time neared, I was feeling more weak. My doctor even wrote on my chart last month not to tell me because I told him I was going back and forth on the issue. Don't get me wrong - I would LOVE to know more about the baby I am carrying but the thought of waiting it out and having a suprise on birth-day was exciting.

Since Brad was unable to be there, I decided to get the tech to write the gender down and seal it in an envelope for us so that if we wanted to know once he got home from work, we could find out. Luckily I got the nice tech and not the mean one we had at Will's 19 week ultrasound. (I guess it wasn't that lucky since I asked for her when I booked the appt and when I got there to confirm she would be performing the ultrasound and not the other girl) This lady was happy to oblige my requests. The tech looked at all the vital parts and did the measurements first, then told me to close my eyes while she looked at the 'other' parts. I suprised myself with how easily I kept my eyes closed and didn't try to peek once! She told me the baby was putting his/her hands between his/her legs at first like it didn't want us to look! I really enjoyed the whole ultrasound just looking at and talking to my little baby. Last time I saw him/her it was just a tiny little butterbean! This baby seemed very calm compared to Will and was content to smack its lips and rub its head. We discussed how it wasn't fair for the Dr. to know (he had previously told me he would) if the parents didn't and she assured me she didn't print "those" pictures out so my Dr. wouldn't even know what we were having. As soon as my Dr. walked in, he taunted me with "I know what you're having!" in a sing-song sort of way. This sounds childish, but that was just him. I really love my Dr. He is great! I told him I had an envelope in my purse and could find out if I wanted!

I carried the envelope in my purse for several hours until Brad and I were both home. I was not tempted even once to open it. Opening it without him just wouldn't be right. But once we got home I was dying to open it. Brad told me no! What I really wanted was for him to open it and read it to me. But he refused and I slightly pouted and told him he wasn't being fair. After all, this whole time he has said we could find out if I wanted, or we could let it be a suprise if I wanted. To me he was going back on his word! Tonight I asked him again if he wanted to open it and he sighed and told me we could if I wanted. So I thought about it for several minutes while he put Will to bed and decided that it wasn't right. We shouldn't open it unless both of us are excited about it. An hour later the envelope was given to a friend (who I KNOW won't open it) for safe keeping until the baby is born. I think it is pretty neat that we will have pictures and an educated guess as to the gender and will have the baby in our arms before we look at it. I am glad the envelope isn't in our house now because I would so want to open it!

'

Beating the Heat

Using the word "hot" to describe the temperature lately just wouldn't do it justice. I don't think I remember it ever being this hot in June in all my summers of living in Mississippi (which has been my whole life). And then I think "Man, it's only JUNE! We still have to go through July, August and most of September before there will be any relief. And I'm pregnant."

I know it could be worse. I'm glad I don't live in a place where there is no air conditioning, ice or swimming pools. Unfortunately we are no longer members of The Club which has a WONDERFUL swimming pool. I am so tempted to rejoin but hate to commit to another expense when we have another baby coming.

The hard part about it is Will loves to be outside. He cries to go outside. But he gets so hot so fast I am not ok with him being out there for too long. So the other day I took him to Renaissance shopping center where they have a nice play fountain area. He loved it. Well really he loved it for about 20 minutes until some older kids showed up and started running and screaming like banshees. I think he would have been fine had they occupied the other 90% of space he wasn't in but they apparently needed every single water geyser to be happy so he got freaked out and started crying. We will definitely be going back there. And next time I won't wear my scrubs so I can get a little wet with him.

The hat didn't stay on for long

Trying to decide which fountain to go to

He liked the water about this height. Wasn't crazy about it when it shot up.

I love his little pot belly

Sweet Babe O Mine

Dear sweet, tiny babe of mine:

I can't believe you have been growing 18 weeks already! We are nearly half-way there! My belly is steadily rounding, but other than that, I can barely tell you are with me. I feel great most days, and I would like to thank you for that. I can't imagine being sick and trying to keep up with your brother. He is quite a handful these days! And quite cute, too. He can say 'baby' and will sometimes make the sign for it or pat my belly. I don't know how he will react once you are here, but I hope he is nice and affectionate to you.

I am starting to feel you move around a little bit, and that is pretty neat! I have my own doppler so that when Daddy and I want to hear your heartbeat, when can (although you like to hide from it). You have affected my tastebuds for sure. I went through a gummy bear phase in April but lately I don't really care for sweets (except for Nana's strawberry pie - you will love it, trust me!). I never thought I would turn down chocolate or donuts, or chocolate covered donuts for that matter, but I have! Most recently I want anything spicy. I wanted a chili cheese hotdog so badly at 6:30am the other day that I think I would have stolen one! I am trying to enjoy as many spicy things as I can before the heartburn starts in the coming weeks.

We have an appointment for a sonogram on Monday and we are so excited to see you! I am thinking we are going to leave your gender a suprise for the day we meet you, but Daddy doesn't think I can hold out that long. Most of my friends, family and coworkers are big advocates of us finding out on Monday. It will be tempting for sure! If I had to guess, I would say you are a girl, but I will be delighted if you are a boy or a girl. We have some name ideas for you, but haven't settled on anything just yet. I know that by your birthday we will find the perfect name just for you.

Daddy and I love you very much and can't wait to meet you sometime this November or December (I'm thinking you'll be here around in mid November). In the meantime I am looking forward to all the kicks and flips and hiccups. Keep growing strong and healthy!

Love,

Mommy

A Hale of a Wedding

Some of my favorite pics from the weekend. Thanks to all the girls for allowing me to play with my camera. I know I was annoying when I demanded different poses and told you to hang on while I adjusted the settings, but I think the shots were worth it!

Miss Haven K. Hale

Soon to be Mrs. Daniels

Such a beautiful bride

Haven and some of the maids (minus Alyssa, Brooke and Amber - sorry girls, this is the only one I have of us in our dresses with Haven!)

The flowers and dresses were gorgeous

Sweet little flower girl

The necklace her dad gave her at the rehearsal. It was made from her late aunt's favorite ring

Gorgeous detailing on her dress

This is the only formal pic I got of the couple! Whoops!

yummy cake - reminded me of my own!

All of the girls at the luncheon

Yesterday I got to be front and center as one of my best friends in the world walked down the aisle and became a wife. Haven has always been very special to me. We pledged Troubadours and Maskers together. We really didn't start hanging out until the spring of Freshman year, when we were finished pledging Troubadours. Although we don't remember looking too much alike, a couple of the cafeteria workers (including Mama D for you W girl blog readers) would get me and Haven confused and say to us "Didn't you just come through the line?", to which I would think, "No, but is it your business if I did?". Then we almost got into lots of trouble together, which may have included racing down the streets of the W just trying to beat each other to the best parking spots, sneaking into buildings that we shouldn't be in, and a few other things I probably shouldn't mention. We bonded our sophomore year as RA's in Jones Hall and cried together as we watched the 2nd of the World Trade Center Towers fall. Junior and Senior years were filled with far too many great memories to mention, but bottom line is I just adore her. She is so genuine, beautiful, smart, ambitious, motherly and wonderful.

But anyway, back to the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful weekend. Friday started off with the girls going and getting mani-pedis (minus me as I was still traveling - just couldn't leave my little guy for 3 nights in order to be there early Friday), then we hung out at the church and house and went to the rehearsal. At the rehearsal dinner we did our best to embarrass the bride with a 'panty line for life' that had a cute poem with corresponding undies for each line. Saturday morning was the bridesmaids luncheon (which was delicious!) while the guys had a bbq lunch prepared by some generous ladies. After spending hours getting ready and taking pictures, the wedding finally began.

At first I thought I was going to cry, but then I was so happy for her I couldn't help but smile. Haven made a wonderful selection of music including "Unforgettable", "At Last" (to which she walked in to), and "All You Need is Love" (to which they exited). After the wedding we sweated, danced, and ate the night away at the reception held at her parents' home. It was such a great weekend and a blessed event to be party to. My friends and I all live in different cities and states, so times we get together is always treasured.

**Haven, if you are reading this, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your special day. Thanks for not freaking out when I told you I was pregnant and had already ordered my non-refundable, non-exchangeable, already too small because I wanted to lose weight - dress. Instead of being a bridezilla obsessed with perfecting your wedding, you were so excited for me and even guessed I was pregnant before I could tell you (you stinker!). Thanks for understanding I just couldn't leave Will any earlier to be able to come with you and the girls to get nails done. You are the best and I wish you all the joy and happiness in the world. Now, stop reading my blog and go enjoy being a Mrs.!!!**