Diaper Bag

These are the fabrics that I decided on for one of my diaper bags... cute, huh!

11 weeks and counting...

I am officially in my 3rd trimester... the countdown really begins! These few pics were done at around 23 weeks... I"m just getting them posted a month later. Things are really starting to come together at home. The bonus room looks good and the nursery furniture is all in place. I get so excited when I imagine mon petite Davey sleeping in his crib or rocking with me in the glider! My main focus right now is trying to organize and clean the house (especially my office) before fatigue sets in again.

My PartyLite business has been slower than normal the past 2 months, but we are still paying our bills on time so I can't complain. I imagine it will be very tough once the baby is here, but I can't imagine giving up my time at home to work a regular 40-hour/week in Atlanta and putting the baby in daycare. It would break my heart!

Otherwise, things are really good. My exercise class is kicking my butt and my chiropractor is cracking my back. All of my tests have come back normal and I've gained just the right amount of weight so far (24 pounds). I will be seeing the doc every other week from now on. As we get closer to the due date we will go more often. Thanks for checking in on us! :-D

The nursery

I had the most wonderful baby shower on Feb. 23rd! We got so much stuff that we REALLY needed and I've finally been able to start putting the nursery together a little bit. I am so proud of how it is coming together... some nights I just sit in my rocker and watch tv in the nursery instead of the big 40" hdtv in the living room. Davy loves to rock! My next big venture will be choosing a pattern for my diaper bag.

Pics at 18 weeks

It's definitely a boy...

"Hi mom and dad!"

Profile view of Davy

It's a BOY!

What a surprise!! Mark had me convinced, despite my initial gut feeling, that we would most definitely be having a girl. To his credit, he had pretty good logic behind the girl hypothesis... His dad has 11 siblings and Mark is the only male grandchild to carry on the Brooks name. So, it was all up to him to parent another male to continue to carry the Brooks name forward and he was convinced that it would take a few tries before that would happen. I am very excited and I can't wait to finally introduce David Crawford Brooks to the world in 4 months! I will post pics as soon as Mark scans them in for me. :-)

Other news:

The bonus room is only lacking paint and carpet to be move-in ready. Mark is very eager to get the room finished so that he can have his own space. I will be relieved to finally start working on the baby's nursery once our junk is moved out of the back bedroom and upstairs into the new room. It's going to be a nice retreat for Mark, especially during finals!

So, it seems to be the "thing to do" to blog about things that the previous year has taught us and what we will change in the New Year. I've never been one to make a "New Year's resolution", but I do feel compelled to share a some things with my friends and family...

Looking back:

1. I am so proud of myself for quitting smoking (again) in October... even though it took a positive pregnancy test to make that happen. It will stick this time!

2. Moving to a new part of town was difficult, but I've been so blessed with great new friends and neighbors! You know who you are!

3. Owning a business can be a tough job sometimes, but it always keeps me on my toes. I had more than a couple of slow months this year, but we still paid all of our bills on time!

4. I love both of my jobs so much and am blessed with wonderful people to work with!

5. I have a lovely family who are very supportive and caring. Although we may not see each other as often as I'd like- I know they love me and this year has been proof of that. We've suffered through births, deaths, illnesses, distance, and over-all shortage of time, but we've made it through everything with grace and dignity.

Looking forward:

1. This will be our year of health! Exercise classes, Juice Plus+ supplements, organic produce, and watching for dangerous additives in food (high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and Red 40 coloring). Mark can call me a hippie all he wants, but we will be a health-conscious family and he WILL at least try oatmeal bread.... or starve! :-D hahaha <-- evil laugh

2. 2008 will also be a year of productivity... It's crunch time for work! I will make more money than last year at my two jobs. I've got to protect my stay-at-home lifestyle once the baby is here.

3. I am going to be in planning-mode until mon petit oeuf arrives and I'm determined to pull everything together before the end of May.

4. I see travel in my future... Thanks to PartyLite I will be taking a 7-day cruise in May (if the doc permits) and thanks to my very good friend, Vickie, I will be able to fly as a companion with AirTran until June. I plan to go to the Mall of America, San Clemente, CA, Santa Barbara, CA, a beach anywhere once it's a little warmer, St.Louis, New York, New Orleans, and hopefully many other fun places before I loose my ability to fit in an airline seat. :-)

I want to say thank you to every friend and family member who has been there for me in 2007 even if you only played a small role. The little notes and e-mails go a long way too! I wish health and abundance to you all in 2008!

Week 8-12

The first trimester is coming to a close and THANK GOODNESS! I'm still fatigued, but no longer having any sickness. Our last ultrasound was done on November 30th. It's not the greatest shot because mon petit oeuf was moving around so much we couldn't get a good pic! It's funny how "real" it is when I can actually see the little booger doing flips and hear the heartbeat... Otherwise, my shrinking clothes are the only indication of a growing, living being inside of me.

My preggo friend, Carolyn, and I had such a great time at Babies-R-Us a couple of weeks ago with Jenn registering for baby stuff. There's so much to think about with the first baby- we're starting from scratch! And all of the different brands and styles and prices can be overwhelming. What a huge help it is to have such great friends around to offer advice! Look me up on www.babiesrus.com and feel free to offer some input on other items/brands we might consider getting for mon petit oeuf. We already have a Boppy and plan to register for a Medela pump and Bumbo soon too. Sounds like jibberish to some of you doesn't it?!

The contractors will be starting work on our bonus ("man") room this month, but will probably not be completely finished until January because of Christmas. Speaking of which, we are very excited about Christmas this year as we will be hosting the family festivities at our home! Gives me a great excuse to keep the house clean... We opted not to get a Christmas tree this year due to a lack of space. (Also, I am too lazy to sweep and water every day!) We did put up a small "fake" tree to put presents under. It's not the same, but next year it's on!!

It's been fun updating everyone! I hope that you're all well. Until next time...