You're here, and you're perfect!

Welcome to the world, Grace Elizabeth Fleming. 

Mommy and Daddy love you so much.  You have made our lives brighter in mere seconds.  I can't write anymore right now because the screen is swimming through my tears. More later - I'm going to go stare at my beautiful daughter for a while.

xoxo

AK

p.s.  Grace, here is the song that inspired your name.  Ben Folds is one of my most favorite musical geniuses, and your Daddy and I spent one of our favorite nights in Austin ever at one of his concerts.  Gracie girl - you will always have a part of me! 

Oversharing

Last night we went to the hospital to have a baby (we thought).  Three hours later we were on our way home.  Apparently, when I thought my water broke, I actually just wet my pants.  Nothing embarrassing about that...nothing at all....

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, last night I dreamt you were a boy and you were playing in the sandbox on my parent's farm.  I'll just pretend the dream ended right there and that there weren't also giant grasshoppers playing violins walking down the road.  I've completely lost it.

Operation Baby Get Out!

So, here are a few things we have tried tonight to get watermelon to evacuate the premises:

1.  Yell "get out" at my stomach.
2.  Have B talk in his annoying robot voice trying to annoy it out.
3.  Sing "Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Root to my stomach.
4.  Eating ravioli with hot sauce on it with a side of pineapple.
5.  Trying to reason with it by telling it my paper was finished, my sister has a new phone that can receive pictures, and B's sister is back from her work trip.  I think those were all the requests we had for me to cross my legs until they were accomplished.

Surprisingly enough, none of these worked.  So, if you're planning on texting or emailing me to ask if I'm still pregnant, why, yes, yes I am!  Believe me, you will know when I'm not.

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, you keep sticking your foot out on the right side of my stomach, and when Daddy or I touch it, you move it.  I really think if you are reacting to our touch that you are ready to come out.  Seriously.  Because it's actually a little (A LOT) creepy, and we keep sitting on the couch doing it and saying "EWWWWWW".

Welcoming a new planet to our solar system!

I think my belly has moons orbiting it.  Seriously.


xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, I'm almost done with my final paper.  Just wanted to give you an update so you could start packing your bags.  I'm setting a deadline of 2 PM, so if you could just start making your way sometime after that, Momma would be so happy.  Thanks, dress warm, and see you soon!

Home is wherever I'm with you!

After a long search, a few turned down offers, and quite a few slightly unreasonable tears on my part we finally found a new apartment!  We put money down for the security deposit on Monday, and have a move-in date of May 1.  This means watermelon will be coming home to stay for a little longer than expected at our current place, so we did our best to set up a temporary nursery that I wouldn't feel guilty about.  I know, I know, watermelon will have absolutely no recollection of this apartment, but I will, and I want it to be as special as it can be.  There is so little I have control over in my life right now - just give me this!

So, there is some random furniture in here (huge mirror and dresser on the right) that we just don't have anywhere else to put right now, but you can get the gist of what we did.  My Granny hand made the quilt, and passed it down to me several years ago.  It is so special to us.  Here's a little close up of the artwork above the crib:

I started collecting original prints off Etsy and from local art stores as soon as I found out I was pregnant.  There are three of my favorites.  Below is watermelon's dresser and diaper changing station.  I know these picture angles are kind of weird, but I was trying to cut out the extra office junk that is still hanging out in this room until we decide where B is going to work from for the final 1 1/2 months here.

I mostly DIYed the artwork above the dresser from cute little note cards I found at Michael's a few years ago.  See, B, there's a reason I carry around those huge totes of random craft supplies every time we move - there are millions of projects in there just waiting to be born!

Over the past two years, B and I have lived in two states, three apartments (including his sister and brother-in-laws) and have spent several months apart.  We've learned that it doesn't matter if we're in a huge house in Cedar Park, or a tiny one bedroom apartment in Boystown, if we're together, we're home.  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes said it best in their song Home, " Home is wherever I'm with you!"  No matter where this little family of four lays our heads, we'll be together!

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, you are going to be a video star!  We set up Skype on our computer, and both sets of grandparents are also set up so they won't miss our on anything.  Anyone else out there want to get their chat on with us once watermelon is here, just let me know!  I just can't promise that I will be showered or dressed in real clothes.

39 Weeks (tomorrow) Y'all!

Check me out!  39 weeks pregnant and busting out of the largest outfit I own, but also using our sweet new camera, or attempting to use it since the lighting in all of these pics is just a little off.

You'd think from that smile on my face that I'd have good news to share from my doctor's appointment this afternoon, but that's not the case.  It wasn't actually bad news (I know I'm extremely lucky to be healthy and to have had a healthy pregnancy), but I haven't progressed any since last week.  Cervix is softer and thinner but I'm not dilated any further.  After all those contraction on Wednesday, this really came as a shock to me.  The doctor is still optimistic that I'm going to do it on my own without having to be induced, but it could still be weeks.  So, what did I do after finding out this news?  Did I cry?  Did I eat the kitchen again?  Did I punch my doctor?  Well, I wanted to do all of the above, but instead, I came home and did this:

Sorry if that's too much pregnant belly for any of you, but that shirt was seriously cutting off my circulation.  I laid like this, watched 8 episodes of Property Brothers and ate a can of pineapple while it alternated between thunderstorms and snow outside.  Not a bad afternoon after all.  I'm actually pretty proud of myself.  I'm sure B was prepared for a complete and total meltdown, but I've decided there has to be a reason that watermelon is still in there, and I'm going to just trust in that.  And, no, I'm not drunk.

I have one paper left to write for my class, so B has convinced me that watermelon knows this and is waiting for me to finish up before he/she arrives and complicates my life.  Guess what I'm going to spend my Saturday doing tomorrow?!  My Philosophy of Assessment, you're going down!

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, guess what?

But, you really do need to get here before St. Patrick's Day because we bought you a really cute outfit, and I already took the tags off.  So, please take that into consideration when hatching your escape plan.

Psych!

Yesterday afternoon through early morning today, I really thought we had reached the end of our journey.  Contractions were coming in strong and regular at about 15-20 minutes apart.  I thought for sure this was it and tried my best to get a good nights sleep.  Instead I laid awake a majority of the night watching the clock and trying to decide if that contraction was stronger than the one before it.  Sometime after 4 AM, I actually fell asleep and woke up to Daisy licking my hand around 8:30 AM.  Wait, how did I fall asleep - what happened to those contractions?  Why are they getting weaker and farther apart?  In desperation, I went for a long walk, but that did nothing.  Ugh.  They completely stopped.

Then, I ate the kitchen.  Seriously. 

Also, I decided to not take a shower.  For the past few weeks, I've been extremely crazy about making sure I take a shower/wash my hair/shave my legs every single morning just in case that's the day that I head to the hospital.  So, trying some reverse psychology (and really just wanting to pout), I stayed in my sweats and ponytail with no makeup on alllll day.

And that didn't work, plus B told me twice that I didn't look very good.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my face now looks like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.  Looks like it will be more pineapple with hot sauce for dinner tonight eaten bouncing on an exercise ball!

xoxo
AK

p.s.  Baby, look who went to the beauty parlor yesterday!

Daisy went in for a haircut, and when the groomer found out she was about to become a big sister, they tied a little bow on her collar!  In this picture she is sitting right next to your crib, and this is where she spends a lot of her time.  I'm not sure why we even got a baby monitor because lord knows at your first whimper, Daisy is going to be all up in our faces telling us to take care of that baby.  I'm still hoping we can somehow teach her to change diapers.  She needs to start carrying her weight around the house.