Hotel Michelle..........No vacancies!

I have to thank my mom for my new nickname, Hotel Michelle. She mentioned it to TJ this last week, and he LOVES it. So that is what I am being called now on a regular basis! =)
Well, things here continue to go very well for TJ and I. We are one week closer to the delivery of our little girl. I will be 38 weeks along this week and doing well. I have not really had any contractions, but I honestly can't complain. My ankles are not swollen, I am still sleeping well at night, only waking up once, still able to work and can still bend over to tie my shoes and shave my legs! All in all, I am very lucky! =) My Dr. told me on Friday that since I was full term I could deliver any time. Especially since tropical storm Hannah was coming. The pressure changes often cause women to go into labor. Well, Hannah came and went, no baby, so obviously it is going to take more then a tropical storm to get her here! =) Althought I am anxious to see what she looks like and I am so excited to meet her, I am very comfortable being hotel Michelle for another two weeks or so! =)
TJ continues to trek along in his clinicals. He is learning so much each and every day and truly enjoying his experiences! His preceptor is really quite good and he receives good feedback almost every day. I continue to be amazed at how much he has learned over the past year or so and am so proud of how hard he is working! What a trooper!
This past week went by fast, but still held some great memories. TJ and I enjoyed our Monday by starting out with a brunch, went miniature golfing (which he creamed me at), and spent five dollars playing arcade game classics like skee-ball. It was a lot of fun to just be out and about during the day enjoying the weather. However, I was quite embaressed after we were finished with our arcade games and only had 100 tickets. I wasn't feeling too bad until the kid next to us said with excitement "we have 1000 tickets!" I gave him an encouraging grin and told him that was great, then he looked at our pathetic pile and said "that's all you got?" Ego demolished! =) After using our tickets to purchase a foam airplane we left and headed to the pool to see if we could launch bees out of the pool with our new toy. Guess what, it works! =)
This weekend we were going to go to a soccer game, but with the wind and rain decided to do something indoors. So, it was off to support the Lady Bluedevils in a volleyball match! It was really quite fun and they actually won! TJ and I even went down at half time to try to serve for a T-shirt, but neither one of us were successful! Oh well, maybe next time! Saturday night we spent finishing our nursery. WE FINALLY FINISHED IT! YEAH! Attatched are some pictures of our nursery and our stoller/car seat combo! Now all we need are some diapers and bottles and I think we might be set! =) (probably not, but we will see)
We hope you are all doing well and we will keep you updated with our baby news (if we have any) as it happens! Plus, we also want to thank everyone for partcipating in our online showers! They have been so much fun and we truly appreciate you taking time out of your schedules to participate! A big THANK YOU to all of you! Have a great week and we love you all!

Stay-Cation

Althought it has been a while since I posted last, not too much has changed with us. Don't worry, I am still just as pregnant as ever and again, not really thinking it will happen any time soon! Although somedays I think it would be nice to have her here, there is a much bigger part of me that screams "wait!" =) TJ and I are so very excited for her to come, but are both terrified at the same time. His comment to me each day as he leaves to go to clinicals is, "Don't pop today." So far, I've been a very good listener!
This last week at work was one of the LONGEST weeks I've had since I started. My co-doctor was out of town and so from Wednesday to Wednesday I was the only provider which meant ALOT of hours! I did survive and was going to reward myself with a trip to the beach over the holiday weekend. However, last Friday as I brought the idea up to my Ob/GYN she very graciously told me that I needed to stick around and the beach was too far. This was conveniently right after she told me I was not dialated at ALL! I immediately thought, she doesn't really mean I can't go, and was going to ignore her advice. My husband, however, is a much better listener (imagine that =) then I am and simply said, Michelle we are not going. You don't like it when patients ignore your instructions so don't ingnore hers. My first thoughts were as followed:
1-why did I have you come to this appointment with me,
2-why did I ask her anyway about traveling, and
3-I finally realized he was right. Darn that husband of mine!
Hence, why we decided to have ourselves a little staycation! =) I started mine Thursday afternoon and TJ joined me Friday night! I did some painting on the nursery on Thursday and just relaxed. Friday I went to my first EVER massage. I had received a gift card for a prenatal massage, and it was FABULOUS! I have now developed a new love for professional massage, although I can't say I will be able to afford one any time in the near future! Did I say how much I LOVED it! That evening we had a ward cookout and enjoyed the very hot, very humid tempteratures. We refreshed ourselves with some of our favorite shakes and then headed home for a movie night! Yesterday we ran some errands in the morning, watched some college football (GO UTES) and then spent about 3 hours at the pool relaxing, swimming and soaking up some sun! Then it was off to dinner at Red Lobster as I had recently discovered they had added cocunut shrimp to their menu! It was HEAVENLY! YUM! After making a pig of myself we had plans to attend a Duke Football game. I know, why even bother going to a Duke football game, but we were going to try to be good sports and support the school. We parked about 2 miles away, make the trek in the rain to the gait, hand over our student ID's and are about to enter when we are stopped dead in our tracks with the words, sorry ma'am you need a ticket. WHAT? I have a spouse card! It gets me into Duke basketball but not football? (try to figure that one out!) I mean, this is the WORST team in the ENTIRE country, you are begging fans to come to your stadium, but yet you won't take my spouse card without a ticket? Oh, and the only tickets avaible on game day are $25.00. So, needless to say, we could not bring ourselves to pay that price to watch a team that held the longest losing streak in the HISTORY OF FOOTBALL the year before. Instead we walked the 2 miles BACK to our car in the pouring rain, went home and watched Clemson get BLOWN out by Alabama while eating fresh made cookies/cookie dough. It was a much more comfortable, climate controlled game! =) (pictures are of us ALMOST going to the football game)
Tomorrow we will probably head back out to the pool, complete finishing touches on the nursery and maybe even talk TJ into going for a hike! =) All in all, our staycation has been great. Life cannot get much better then spending time with your husband, doing as little cooking as possible (which leads to very few dishes) enjoying the pool, and watching great football!
We hope you ALL have a wonderful week and we will keep you posted if there is any news from the BIG BELLY! =)

34 weeks, REALLY?

I can't believe I am already almost 34 weeks along! Where has the time gone? =) I have included a much anticipated profile view of my ever growing belly! I had a Dr.'s appointment on Friday and so far so good. She is in perfect alignment so far, moving all around, growing rapidly, and I don't think she is leaving her comfortable home anytime soon! =) I have two weeks again until my next appointment when I will be 35 1/2 wks. They will check to see if I am dialated at that point. I was so surprised when my Dr. told me that, I repeated it like three times. Is it really that close?
As the day draws closer, I am starting to "nest" I guess you call it. Friday evening TJ came home and I had re-arranged ALL of our closets to make space for "stuff". TJ asked me what stuff I was going to put in the new space and after much thought, I had no idea. I was just happy to have some space! =) Needless to say, he laughed and did not quite understand my excitement! Besides making space, I also made a little blanket for Kaitlynn. TJ picked out the material if you didn't notice! He loves it! =) Our nursery is still in the works. I was hoping to get it all set up, but TJ was ill all weekend so he was not able to work on it! He caught something from the patient's at his famiy practice clinic. Poor guy!
We had a great week. My work was pretty low key and TJ continues to learn new things each day at his clinicals. We have both enjoyed watching the Olympics this weekend as well! If TJ is going to be sick over the weekend, I'm glad it was this one as it gave us an excuse to stay in and feel patriotic as we cheered for the USA! It just makes me feel so greatful for the nation we are a part of and for the freedoms that we enjoy. We truly are so blessed to live in this place at this time, even with all the negativity that surrounds our economy, etc. It is so neat to see nations from all over the world come together and compete respectively. What a great event!
We hope you are all doing well and we will continue to keep you updated with our baby news! Have a great week!

Where did July go?

I can't believe that tomorrow is the first day of August! I have not idea what happened to the last month. So many things that I had planned to get done, are still NOT DONE! Including having the nursery all put together! =) I still have eight weeks left, but am starting to feel a little nervous about where to put things, do we have enough space? Do we have enough clothes, bottles, binkies, what about blankets? Are we really ready to have a baby? What was I thinking, did I forget all the stuff I had once learned about labor, I should have known better! =) What about diapers? Nursing bras, what are those? etc, etc, etc.
TJ and I did go to our childbirth class on Saturday and all of a sudden the facts I knew about child birth became very personal and I became REALLY nervous. I kept thinking, I forgot about that, and that and that and that. WOW! =) Oh well, it is going to happen no matter what now, so I better just cowboy up! Everyone just makes it look so easy, seriously, you really do! =)
Things are going well! TJ is REALLY enjoying his clinicals and I am REALLY busy at work trying to keep up on EVERYTHING so that if something were to happen all of my patients would be taken care of! I am now running out of energy every night around 8:00 and then spend the next hour trying to motivate myself to get up and be productive, but few times it is actually successful. Most of the time I fall asleep on the couch or bean bag while TJ studies!
Last week we had our first baby shower with TJ's PA program so I have some pictures! I promise the next post will include a profile view, but there are definitely some pictures in here that reveal my ever growing belly! =) The shower was great and we are so thankful for all who came and are SO greatful for all of the presents! It just makes us more and more excited!
We will keep you updated with all of our baby details, I am now 32 weeks and feeling good but growing like crazy! =) Love ya tons and enjoy your weekend!

The big 25

Well, it has happened, I am officially a quarter of a century old! =) I turned 25 on July 16th! I have to say it was a wonderful birthday, followed by a wonderful weekend! It started off with waking up to go to work for the morning and enjoying a delicous breakfast that my husband had made! At work, my patients were few and I received an ENTIRE gift bag FULL of homemade cookies, YUM! Then after returning home around 1:00, TJ and I headed for the tennis court! He even let me win two games this time! =) Then we cooled off with a dip in the pool! That evening he took me for some GREAT ribs at TGI Friday's. Before we left, he had bought me a Happy Birthday crown that I had to wear to dinner! It was really cute and a lot of fun! Dinner was great and I ate WAY too much!
It was pretty funny when we went to leave because TJ got the check so I ran to the bathroom. I guess while I was gone our waitress had everyone come out to sing, when they got to the table, I was no where to be seen! When I returned to my table, I noticed the ice cream and then began to hear the clapping for the SECOND time by all of the employees! It was quite comical! My birthday had been perfect, but it wasn't over yet!
I returned home to find our apartment decorated and a suprise party with some of our cute friends and their families! TJ had made an excellent cake with an edible quarter with the year 1983 on it! It was really cute and thoughful! We ate some ice cream, chatted, watched cars and played a killer game of Hand and Foot! It could not have been a better day! Thanks to everyone who helped it happen, especially TJ, and for everyone who gave me a call to wish me a Happy Birthday! We are so blessed to have such great family and friends!
The weekend was great as well because my parents came out for a visit! We had a great time showing them around Durham, playing some tennis (which we won!!), golfing, swimming, playing rook, eating some GREAT food and going back to where my dad grew up in West Viriginia! Thanks so much for coming out, it was a great birthday present and a great weekend! We really appreciate you making the trek out here and we really had a wonderful time! Thanks so much!
TJ started school again last Monday. He had one week to get back into the routine and tomorrow actually starts his first set of clinicals! He is really nervous, but is starting to get excited as well! I know he'll do great! We hope you all have a wonderful week and we love you all so very much!

P.S. Sorry some of the pictures are blurry!

Our little Princess!

Howdy ya'll! =)

So this last week has been tiring, hot, humid, rainy, and yet still SOOOOO much fun! We went my Dr.'s appointment and everything is going great! I had gained 5 1/3 lbs. in the last five weeks, so that was up from my average, but I am gestational diabetes free! YEAH! Oh, that drink is nasty! =) With only about ten weeks left to go, we were becoming a little nervous about not knowing for sure whether it was a boy or a girl (more me then TJ) so after talking about it and some encouragement from Julie and Bowdi we decided to get another ultrasound! Don't worry folks, it's still a GIRL! She is so cute too! =) Still looks like a little alien but now she has some hair! She was awake most of the day UNTIL the ultrasound, would not wake up for ANYTHING, and then as soon as we left started bouncing around again! That little girl! I think TJ was a little crushed though, I think he still had some hope that a little boy would be delivered in Septemeber, but now there is no doubt about what we are having! Nervousness gone! (about that anyway!)
I worked alot this week but had most of the evenings off which was nice. TJ and I went for some walks, played a little tennis (definitely not as competative, I look like a retard when I run now! =) and even went camping and fishing! We went with some of our good friends the Christains and the Carriers! We went by a local lake and camped right by it! We had a great time! None of us got much sleep though because it was SOOOOOOO hot! We still made a fire so we could cook our dinners, then we HAD to roast marshmellows, sit around and talk, watch the sunset, try to sleep without success, then get up about 6:00 and started fishing! The fish were definitely smaller, but we had a lot of bites and actually caught ALOT of fish, even if they were little (I mean REALLY little) it was a great day! We arrived home in the afternoon, took a quick dip in the pool to cool off, then took a nap! What a great day! =)
We are so incredibly blessed each day and I am so thankful for the opportunity we have to live out here and for the time I get to spend with my husband. He has been the best little house "husband" the past two weeks. I come home to a clean house and dishes that are done every day and he helps out with cooking all the meals! I really appreciate all of his help and his willingness to help out with the not so fun house duties! I also have to thank him for getting us all ready to go camping while I was at work. All I had to do was show up and he did everything else including shopping (5 trips to the grocery store =), researching what bate and type of hooks to use, loading the explorer, packing our food, etc. THANK YOU SWEET HEART! I don't know what I'm going to do when he goes back to school, I'll miss my TJrella! =)
Anyway, we hope you all have a wonderful week and we love you all and miss you all very much!

Happy July 4th

We hope you are all enjoying your wonderful summer and we hope you all had a wonderful July 4th! TJ and I have been quite busy lately but it has been so much fun! We truly are so blessed to be able to enjoy time together and enjoy the east, however hot it may be! =)
TJ completed his first year of school on Thursday, June 26th! He celebrated by going to a movie that night (the hulk) and golfing 18 holes with several of his classmates! I of course had to work! =) Saturday morning we awoke but found ourselves torn between staying at home or driving 8 hours to Georgia to see his parents, his brother Travis and the Webers! After about one hour of discussion, we packed everything we needed, showered, got ready and filled our car up with gas in about 40 minutes and hit the road! It was a LONG trip but very worth it! It was a great time, however I forgot our camera, so we will need to have Julie send us some pics! I do have to share one visual with you though. Picture me, 28 weeks pregnant, sleeping on an air matress with TJ. Now, it would not be too bad, but in the middle of the night, I needed to role on my other side. Well, my abdominal muscles are shot, my center of gravity is WAY off and the bed has sunk down in the middle. So after about five minutes of trying to build up enough momentum to get over, TJ wakes up and tells me to hold still. I relay to him the dilemma I have been having of not being able to roll over. So, he tries to help push me as I roll over on my side! Needless to say I looked and felt like a beached whale with flailing arms and legs! =) It was quite comical!
We had a great time with TJ's family though and are so greatful that they could come ut and visit us! We went to the beach, showed them UNC and Duke university, Duke Homestead, the Fearrington cows (they look like oreos black in front and back and white in the middle) the temple, we went swimming AND watched some great baeball and fireworks. Not to mention we had some GREAT food! It was a lot of fun to see everyone, make some wonderful memories and celebrate our nation's freedom!
I have two pictures from their trip, they are of us at Duke Homestead, I will post more after I am able to receive them from Julie and Bowdi! =)
I am almost 29 weeks along! I am feeling really great and I have another Dr.'s appointment tomorrow morning! I get to do the glucose testing! YUCK! =) I had one of my patient's tell me this past week that I was having a boy and when I told him it was a girl, he refused to believe me! It made me quite nervous about not being 100% sure, but we will just have to wait! I am so greatful that I have been able to feel soo good and be able to continue working! It has been such a great blessing! Well, we hope you all enjoy your wonderful week and we love you all!