Gary's 29!!!

Last Saturday was Gary's birthday! The big 2-9! We woke up in the morning and got some breakfast (donuts, of course). Then I spent the morning making a picnic and dessert. You'll soon realize that everything having to do with this day was surrounded by food... I'm not sure if that's because I am prego, or because I was being thoughtful. Anyhow, Gary and I went to a park in Alvin and had a VERY nice picnic. The weather was absolutely perfect and we enjoyed it so much! Then we went to the Alley Theatre to see a one-man production of Underneath the Lentil. It was absolutely fabulous! I highly recommend seeing it. Afterwards, we went to Perry's Steakhouse with Gary's fam and, once again, enjoyed a fabulous meal.

I was so happy to have a whole day to dedicate to Gary. It seems like everything here lately revolves around Grant. And the best part was... I didn't go into labor! I have been worried about them having their very own special days... now it looks like we will at least celebrate their birthdays a week apart!

I don't feel like I look this bad... but everytime I see a picture of myself, I just want to cringe. Who knew you would look so bloated all the time!? Anyhow, we are very near the end of the pregnancy... and I have already checked out rates for the YMCA. Pilates and water aerobics... here I come!!!

Doctor Update

Well, we have started going to the doctor every week now. All these little things just let me know that we are getting really close to having our baby boy with us! I had the day off yesterday, so we ran a bunch of errands. We finally bought a new stove and freezer (both are no longer functioning). We also checked out the family rates at the YMCA. They have this great child care area that I can drop Grant off at while I go work out, plus they have a huge outdoor pool and a basketball court for Gary. We will definitely be signing up! Did I mention that Beau, Erica and Elijah also have a membership? It's great when you have friends you can go workout with, too! Oh, and it is less than 3 miles from our house. We also bought 10 buckets of Knockout roses. Gary has a little gardening project that he has been working on this week. I'll post pictures when we finishes. Then, last but not least, we make it to the doctor's office... Doc says Grant is head down and "not that big." Still not sure what that means, but I have not dialated at all. They also ran some more blood tests and I go back next Wednesday. Pray for a healthy baby and a safe delivery!

An American Baby in Paris

So, I had a *surprise* baby shower on Saturday! :) Everything was wonderful... and everything was French! Right done to the food, fake cigarettes and berets! Loved it! The best part was the people. All my girlfriends put together this great party and it was really special. I wouldn't have done one thing differently. I love you guys and thank you SO much for such a wonderful, thoughtful gesture. I truly enjoyed every moment!

Julie flew down from DC (oui, c'est vrai!) and she was our unofficial official photographer. I loved having her there. It took me a while to realize that it was even unusual for her to be there. At first I didn't see her behind her camera lens and then I thought, "Oh, there's Julie... with Jess and Steph." Completely normal, right? Wrong! Anyhow, I used some of her pics for this blog.

We had yummy croque monsuiers, tomato basil bisque, french bruschetta (still not sure why it's french), eclairs and chocolate mouse. Oh, and some delicious punch.

Erica started planning this shower back in September. I guess she needed to unwind with a cigarette!
Hey... all French women do it, OK? Why in the world my eyes are closed, I'll never know. Maybe I am enjoying it a little more than I would like to admit...

An American Baby in Paris - Part 2

Jess, me, Steph and Julie. Don't they look so adorably French? Melissa, Jennifer, me, Amy Jo and Erica.
Bibby, me and Tippi.

Thanks girls for all the hard work!

Gary, Gary, Gary

So we got back Wednesday night from Gary's school shower, and we were just sitting around admiring all our pretty things (I'll blog about the actual shower later... it was great!). We usually don't do much in Grant's room during the week, but my sweet husband wanted to try to get some stuff done. So we decided to put up the blinds (that we special ordered through Home Depot) in his room. Gary is using an electric drill to screw in the brackets on the sides of the window. The cord is about a 1/4 inch too short, so he goes and grabs an extension cord. It doesn't work. We throw that one to the side and he goes to get another one. He plugs it in and tries to start the drill. Nothing. He tries again. All of a sudden there are sparks flying out of the outlet, Gary yanks the cord out of the wall, and we are sitting in total darkness. Gary stumbles out of the room to the breaker box. Luckily, we have only tripped the breakers. When the lights come back on, I can see the smoke marks around the outlet. Gary decides to manually screw in the brackets. That takes forever. He finally gets one screw in each bracket and we decide to see how the blinds will look... they don't fit. They are an 1/8 inch too long, at the most! So, we try a bunch of stupid things (I'll spare you the details), but nothing works. Gary finally gets so frustrated that he hits his hand against the bracket... in the process, he slices his finger open. I couldn't look, but I was trying to convince him that we needed to go get stitches or at least a tetnus shot. His response was, "There isn't anything to stitch back together." That wasn't very comforting. Needless to say, we had to go back to Home Depot and see if they would replace our special order blinds (did I mention that we left those brackets in the wall?). It's really hard to say no to someone who is nine-months pregnant and really good lookin'! :) Our new blinds are scheduled to be delivered March 23rd... Easter Sunday. Somehow, I don't think that is going to happen.

Belly Shot - 29 Weeks and 35 Weeks

So, I have been awful at posting belly shots. Anyhow, it doesn't look like there is a huge difference, but trust me, there is. These are just for you Aunt Jen! :) Sorry it took me so long!

Week 29

Week 35 - Can you tell I look like death warmed over? My hands and feet have swollen past the point of recognition. So much so, that I can barely close my hands in the morning they hurt so bad. And I think I have started to gain weight in my face. But Grant is all worth it! His favorite time of day is right before I go to sleep. And he also loves breakfast! He is so much fun to watch these days... you can feel body parts through my stomach and you can see him turning over. It's great! We love you, Grant!

More Baby Shower Pics

This is the Tea Room Shower. I love being surrounded by gifts! :) We had a great time!

The "grandmas" and me. :)

Me and Mamaw. While my grandfather is going to be a great-grandfather for the first time, Mamaw is a pro at this... she even hand made a blanket especially for Grant!

I love this picture. Gary came to our church shower when it was about halfway over. Just in time for the baby food tasting contest! I have a feeling he will be slightly hesitant when having to try some of Grant's food... by the way, apparently Gary doesn't like chicken and asparagus.