Post-Christmas, Pre-Wedding!

Merry Christmas! We celebrated with my family on the 23rd and then drove to Natchez and had a great time with the Barnes family over Christmas! We relaxed, ate some delicious meals and spent most of our time being entertained by Carlyle! She is so talkative and fun to play with these days; we just love our little niece!

We are in the final countdown to the wedding!! We have some final errands to take care of today, and then festivities begin tomorrow!! Chad and I know we are so lucky to love each other so much and we can't wait to be husband and wife. We are also unbelievably thankful for our friends and family that have helped us with all the preparations - we could never thank you guys enough!!

And now, on to Baby!!  We are in week 17 and Baby B is 5 inches long and weighs 5 oz!! That seems huge to me, and I feel like I should start showing any day now! Once the wedding is over, baby planning mode will be going in to high gear, so look out!!

Hello, Second Trimester!

Baby Barnes and I have been in the second trimester for a few weeks now! It hasn't been the smooth sailing that the books and other mommies have promised, but I hear that's coming :) Today is:

Day 2 of Week 16

Day 4 of being sick with a terrible cold

4 days until Christmas 

10 days until the WEDDING

and 16 days until we find out if Baby B is a boy or girl!!

Baby Barnes is the size of an avocado, and growing stronger every day! In the next few weeks he/she will double in weight, add inches in length and I will start to feel the baby's movements! I think I am beginning to show - but no one else seems to notice, so the baby bump needs a little more time :)

Chad and I are officially licensed to wed! We are getting so excited to be Mr. and Mrs. 

This past weekend my sweet friends threw me a wonderful wedding shower!

 Tabatha (hostess), Toni (Tab's mom), me, Amanda and Emily! Thanks friends!! And my girls, mom, sister and soon to be sister-in-law came along for my WILD bachelorette party - painting class! It was so neat how everyone's painting turned out a little different! 

Chad celebrated the end of his bachelor-hood in New Orleans, and I am sure it was just as tame :) 

That's all from the soon-to-be Barnes family for now! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas with your sweet family!!

For to us a child is born, to us a son in given: and the government shall be on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace!! 

Isaiah 9:6

December Celebrations

We have had many occasions to celebrate in the past few weeks! Susan hosted a wonderful engagement party for Chad and me in Natchez! We had a great turn out!

My parents, Memaw and Great Aunt Clarice (not pictured) came to town for the party!

Along with my best friends, Emily and Tabatha! I am so lucky to have such great family and friends!!

And, of course, we all got to spend time with that fantastic Barnes family that I am marrying into :)

And a special thanks to our photographers for the night: Justin and Lauren!!

This past weekend, the celebrations continued! My mom and her brothers threw an 80th Birthday Party in Tyler for my grandmother! It was a great to spend time with family and Memaw felt so loved by everyone who came! Here she is with 6 of her 7 grandchildren and her 2 great-grandsons! 

Daddy in Training!

Here is Chad on his first pregnancy craving run!! And *SHOCKER* it was for some Jinbeh fried rice!!

He has been so sweet and helpful since I got pregnant! Plus he is over the moon excited about his son/daughter. He even puts up with my recent, uh, colorful mood swings :)  Just wanted to share how lucky of a girl I am!

 

Just PLUM excited about week 13!

We have reached the last week of the first trimester! Baby B is the size of a plum (or a shrimp, but I think shrimp are gross). We had our first visit with the Birth and Women's Center today, which is the birthing center we have decided to use (http://www.birthcenter.net/). I know that choosing a midwife and birthing center over a traditional ob/gyn and hospital may seem a little strange. It was important for Chad and I to have a birth with as little unnecessary medical intervention as possible. Not to get too granola on ya, but I feel like women have been doing this for centuries outside the hospital, so I can do it too! A dear friend of mine, Catherine, is in midwifery school and was the first to give me information about natural/midwife/non-hospital birth. She recommended a documentary called the Business of Being Born, and Chad and I really agreed with the principles shown in the film. I think every mom-to-be should watch it! More info at http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/ or you can borrow my copy! Don't let the Ricki Lake association throw you, it's really very well done :)

Basic update from our visit:

• Heart rate of 163
• January 6th - week 18 sonogram to find out the baby's GENDER!!
• Baby Barnes has FINGERPRINTS!! Crazy!!
• I have gained a whopping 1 1/2 lbs.

On a wedding note - we had a fabulous engagement party in Natchez this past weekend (I'll post pictures when I get them)! It was so fun to get to celebrate with Chad's "people" and I was touched that Mom, Dad, Memaw, Aunt Clarice, Tabatha and Emily were all able to come out to Natchez too! I am now in wedding planning mode because a lot has to get done in the next 4 weeks! 

Week 12 - Lime and a Psalm

A lime! Our baby is the size of a lime - how incredible is that? For some reason that shocked me today! Maybe it's because this is the first fruit/veggie comparison that I had a frame of reference for. But a lime is pretty big! This has got to sink it soon, right??

Psalm 139:13-16

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

How amazing! God already knows my baby on the deepest level! He knows its thoughts, all the things it will do in life, the kind of character it will have, the personality that will emerge, all the parenting mistakes it will endure, EVERYTHING! I find it so comforting to know that God loves this baby more than Chad and I are capable, and we already love it so much! Thank you, Lord for this wonderfully made miracle you have given us!

Side note: I am going to use “it” until we find out girl or boy because it is more convenient than he/she. Also, you can vote for Baby Barnes’s gender! 

A lil pumpkin!

The day after we found out about Baby B we went to a local pumpkin patch.

I can't imagine our little pumpkin getting this big. Hopefully that won't happen for a loooooooooooong time! Today is the start of Week 11 and we have a fig-sized baby. What amazes me, though, is that critical development is already finished! We are pretty much just growing from here on out!

We're Having a Baby!

Proudly introducing Baby Barnes at 8 weeks and 4 days! Baby B is measuring 18mm, heart rate 164 bpm and is due on June 6, 2011. As Chad said, "I am a flaming ball of good feelings," except I have good feelings mixed with nausea and fatigue! The doctor said everything is looking wonderful and we will have another check up at the end of November! We could not be more excited about the months ahead!