29 weeks-The Past and Present

Today I am 29 weeks pregnant. Overall, I must say it has been a pretty smooth ride so far. I am so thankful for this! There have been a few bumps in the road but nothing serious.
Physically, my health has been pretty good. I have had very little sickness. The worst of it has been some killer headaches. I also found out last week that I was anemic. So, iron pills were added to my daily diet. This is honestly the 1st day in a while that I have had some energy. It feels like it is flying by and Anna Claire will be here before we know it. She is moving strongly all the time now. I LOVE to feel her little jabs. Lately there have been less jabs and more large strong movements. Weight gain wise is great. 9 lbs. I think this is one of the funny things about pregnancy-any other time I would have been upset over 9 lbs in 29 weeks. Now that seems great!
Emotionally, this journey hits me in stages. Excitement has been from day one that we knew. However it has grown and still developed as I have realized more and more the changes that are occurring in our lives. I get excited over all the future moments that are to come. It is fun having a January baby because it is easy to think about how old she will be around different times in the coming year-The start of football season in 08-she will be about8 months old. (We already bought her an Alabama outfit to wear) December of next year, she will be crawling/moving around in various ways around the Christmas tree as a 12 month old. There are also times where it is completely overwhelming to think that I am about to have this responsibility for the rest of my life. I sit in meetings with parents and kids and either thing " O God, please don't let it be like that" or " I hope I have a good relationship like this one." But, I have come to also realize that be it a "good " or "bad" child or parent. There is always an amount of love that is amazing. Even if it is misdirected. I have looked at several parenting books and every one is so different in what they think is needed. I guess that is where prayer and some good common sense comes in. I am sure there will also be many calls for support/ advice.
Soon we are going to start on her nursery. This will be quite a project but fun as well. I was blessed with an awesome deal on her bedding! I went into Pottery Barn Kids just to look for ideas. It turns out they were having a Huge sale and I bought everything for $55. This was amazing because it normally would have cost $275. I love that it is simple and contains many colors.
We have also been blessed with a great shower from my people in Atlanta and some other family friends (I'll post about them later) who decided to bless us. We have received alot of things on our registry but also some other great things that were not on there, that will be wonderful for us. I feel so loved and blessed by this amazing outpouring of love from everyone for us! There are still some things we would like but nothing we can't live without.
Well I am off to bed. I have to give the ACT tomorrow morning at the school. It is an early morning but... you make great money to stand there for 4 hours!

Anna Claire Show and Tell Time-Coming Home

This is Ann Claire's coming home outfit. Robb and I had a fun time picking it out right after our ultra sound told us we would be having a girl. We wanted something soft that was not all pepto pink. I love the cute little hat. That day I really could have spent a fortune. It was so fun to pick this stuff out for our baby! The outfit is a soft fleece, perfect for a January baby. Robb found the bear hat. I know......she will probably spit up on everything on the way home, but at least she started out the trip clean and cute.

A Sweet Baby Girl

I am so excited. We found out this afternoon that we are having a little girl. It is amazing how one little word can create soo many thoughts and feelings. Her name is going to be Anna Claire or Clare. not sure on the spelling yet. Also at the ultrasound we found out the placenta previa has cleared up. Thank God! That relieves sooo many worries. After the ultrasound we went and bought her going home outfit. It was so fun to pick it out! I will post pictures of the ultrasound and new outfit later. Fun times in the Blackaby house!

What is It? Vote Boy or Girl

On Thursday, Aug 30th we get to find out what gender Baby Blackaby is. We are both very excited about this! For me all of this will take on a more realistic feel after knowing what we are having. I just recently started feeling it move around ( you would think that would be enough) but actually knowing what it is going to be will more concrete. So..... what is your vote? Boy or Girl?

The Summer Review

I am so sad that summer is over! Actually it's been over for 2 weeks now but I am just now stopping to think about it. For it to be such a short summer it was a great one! Here's a review of the highlights.
1. Week in Virginia: I had a wonderful time with my friend Shirley, her husband David, and their daughter River. We visited all around the cool city of Richmond, caught up on life, received great advice about pregnancy and motherhood, and saw their new house. She is one of those great friends that you feel like you had coffee with the day before even though you really have not seen each other for 2 years.
2. 4th of July: My family all came up for the week of the 4th. It was such a fun visit! We ate ribs, took some tours of Nashville attractions, and went to see some of the best fireworks that I have ever seen. On the 5th my mom and sister when to Kentucky to look at houses / Asbury for my sister. She is going so seminary there in the fall. My dad and brother stayed 2 more fun filled days. We ate a variety of the international foods found here in Nashville. Indian, Jamaican, Greek and Fish Camp. It is rare that I get to hang out with just my dad and Jonathan so that was a nice treat. Robb and my dad had a fun time doing some projects around the house. I hated to see them leave!
3. Vacation: Robb and I had a great time on our vacation! We spent the 1st night in Lexington. We enjoyed some of the local fare and had a great time at a downtown music night- local guys but still community time. The Horse Park was the the goal for the next day. It rained on us the whole time but we did not let that stop us from taking in all the sights. Both of us have always loved horses making this a real treat. We even got to see the Man of War statue- which I have always wanted to see after being a large Walter Farley fan and reading his book on Man of War. That afternoon we headed to Louisville. When arriving we drove around and saw some of Robb's history. We ran by the church Robb's dad pastored, their old parsonage, and the high school Robb went to while there. I loved seeing these places and hearing the stories about their life there. We stayed right downtown at the lovely Hyatt. Right next to the hotel is a big gathering music place on Friday nights. The Violent Femme ended up being the act that night. Not that I honestly know a whole lot about their music but I know the name and it was cool to be part of that atmosphere. Saturday was the highlight of the trip with the surprised ability to go see the Police who were performing at Church Hill Downs. We had a great time at the concert! It was such a treat! Sunday we just hung out and then to find some local bookstores. We ended up going to this really cool section of town that had lots of unique stores and restaurants. Definitely a place to check out on another trip.
Work started back the day after we got home and I have been working ever since. It is a tough time of the year for School Counselors (at least at the High School level.) I have worked late almost every night these past 2 weeks. No fun! But everything must be ready for the kids to come back on the 1st. Hopefully it will all work out.

10 weeks and counting

Today I am 10 weeks pregnant. What an exciting time in life. Yesterday we went to our 2nd Dr. appointment and got to hear the heartbeat. That is really an awe inspiring moment!! I have been so relieved each time we have left the Dr. appointments and they have said eveyrthing looks great. I have been pretty blessed so far and have not felt to aweful terrible. I have had a good bit of off and on nauesea but it has not been constant or with many following results. Thank goodness. Prior to being pregnant I have only thrown up once since middle school. Now I can say twice.We were going to ask Mike McMullin to be the labor coach but based off his last blogg I guess that will not workout like We had hoped. Just kidding!!

It's the End of the Year As I Know It

Thank goodness I have reached the end of the school year. I have worked my extra time and starting Monday am officially free. This is part of my love for working in the world of education. You may not get paid alot but.. few get the sense of satisfaction that educators get from coming to the end of a year. I would have a hard time working in a job where there was not definite end/ marking of an accomplishment (survival) to each year. I have many plans of what I am going to do during this time.
Week 1- Clean/straighten the house/yard sale shopping/sleeping/ watching movies, teaching my dogs to behave, and going to the doctor to hear the heartbeat.- Emma Alexander is coming to visit on the weekend. Fun times!!
Week 2- Going to VA to see my friend Shirley and her new baby.
Week3- Another week of hanging out.
Week 4-2 days of work and then my parents are coming to visit for a couple of days.
Week 5-2 days of work then vacation to Louisville with Robb. Camping and then staying in a nice hotel for a couple of days.
Then is is back to work. But with a fresh start, new kids to guide, and new problems to overcome.