37/40

This has been a pretty good week. 37 weeks! Oh boy!

Baby Phillips has definitely started to prepare for his arrival. :) I have definitely started "false" contractions this week. Kind of crazy when you just have to remain still for a few seconds to let them pass. It's like a big surprise 10 times a day. For someone who doesn't really care for surprises...it's challenging at times.

I took some advice from a friend this week and decided to take today off just to relax and prepare to be at home. I still feel pretty good but definitely feel tired and less energy. So when I can rest... I should.

Here are some pics from the week! I am trying out using the blogger app on my phone to post this blog so I am not sure how this will look in comparison to my other posts.

Until next week...

26/40

Wow! Week 26...a week that lots of stuff got done for the baby's room. My family was in town for Thanksgiving and my dad painted the baby's room and this amazing dresser that our dear friends gave us. It looks wonderful. 

Dresser - Before!

We were able to do some fun things with the family for Thanksgiving as well. Took a walk at Radnor, Shopped, went to the traditional Thanksgiving movie (Skyfall). 

Christopher, me, and parents on a hike (Photo courtesy of my brother)

Speaking of shopping. On Black Friday...my dad had been looking for a piece of luggage and we happened to go into the Essex store in Franklin. Little did I know that my dream stroller (Uppa Baby Vista) would be there...1/2 price!!! I was so excited. Lucy looks like she is not sure how she feels about  it in this picture below. :) 

Christopher - the proud dad!

Dresser and room: After a lot of work. 

My parents were a huge help in getting the house ready for baby and for Christmas. Saturday my mom helped us even put up our Christmas decorations. The tree looks wonderful! 

My brother was a big help too. He took our Christmas photo for cards, helped me put shelves in my attic, and changed a light bulb. He is quite the handyman himself. :)

Christmas tree 2012!

Looking forward to my in-laws flying in this week to do some fun baby stuff as well! All the grandparents want in on this bundle of joy! I am very thankful. Also, they are coming in for Christopher and the Christ Church Choir Christmas Concerts coming up this weekend!

Until next week.

25/40

Baptist hospital training

Wow what a week this has been. We went to Baptist Hospital last weekend for 2,  5-hour days of birthing and parenting classes. I definitely think we can both say that we learned a lot from that experience. We had a great instructor who had lots of experience at being a nurse and a mom. Below is a picture of Christopher trying on the pregnancy suit. That was pretty hilarious. 

Christopher's maternity suit! :)

I think my growth spurt has stopped; at least for this week. I felt like from week 22-24 baby boy was growing mighty fast. This week it has tapered off..perhaps we are flat lining for a few days/weeks (lets hope).

My dad was in Florida this week visiting my grandparents (who I am so excited to see in about 6 weeks.) He sent me this picture and it brought back a lot of memories from 17 years ago. My brother was the first child that I had a huge role in taking care of, Jr. Mother if you will. I know I wasn't always the sweetest big sister to him, but he definitely gave me some good experience in preparing for having my little boy in 3 months. Little Phil-Phil is no longer little...he is big Phillip Jr. and I am excited about him spending the holidays with Christopher, me, and my parents next week. We have baby projects, shopping, eating, and fun for sure in our Thanksgiving plans! :)

Me at 12. Phillip at a few weeks.

Until next week...Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

18/40

This past week has been a doozy. As my 17th week update said, we have been hosting guests from Japan. They went home yesterday. It is so good to have them but it takes a lot of organization and planning. Being pregnant doesn't allow me to feel on top of things as much as I felt before. Even so, the trip I think was a great success.

Well baby is doing fine this week. I splurged this week and got this L'OCCITANE product below. It is amazing. Its called Almond Supple Skin Oil. "Just say no to stretch marks" should be its motto. It is supposed to be quite the magic formula. So far so good! :)

L'occitane Almond Supple Skin Oil

My friend Jessica this week got a new app on her phone that turns all pictures into a Japanese Manga character. Hilarious. Below is my pic. It is quite hilarious. Hello 18 week baby bump! :)

Manga prego!

Next Wednesday we find out if Baby Phillips is a boy or girl! At that point, the planning and preparing will be kicked into high gear. Until next week...

15/40

15 weeks

Wednesday, September 5, 2012. In Japan. On my birthday. Christopher and I led a team of 18 people to Japan for a 10-day missions trip with an emphasis on music education. We were in the city of Osaka about to perform our final concert. Everyone was getting ready and I was just taking it easy. All of a sudden around 5:30 pm Japan team (3:30am CST)...I felt a flutter. Christopher was not in the room at the moment...but a few ladies who have had children before were in the room. I asked them "what does it feel like again when..." and then I began to cry. It was so sweet and exciting. I knew exactly what had happened. Somebody went and got Christopher and he came in to celebrate this special "First". Thanks to Daniel Bell for capturing the photo quickly on my phone. :) What a fun week.

14/40

So my 14th week of pregnancy has and will be spent in Japan. We have been in Japan for 3 days now. I have felt pretty good so far on this trip. The people have been wonderful in Japan (also my team is pretty kind and sweet too). Japanese culture treat pregnant people very well. :)

I have definitely been sleepy and hungry at times. The jetlag leaves me up at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning hungry and awake. So you can find me on the floor with a pillow, my phone, and a box of organic pop tarts at about 3:00am each day so far. Hopefully I can sleep a little more tonight and just kick the jetlag to the curb.

13/40 - "June 20th...our lives changed forever"

So I'm pregnant. It has been such a crazy past couple of weeks/months and I am so excited to finally share with the world! 

June 20th...

Wait lets back up to Tuesday, June 19th. I felt like crap. I was a basket case...had no idea why. I told Christopher...I think we need to go get a pregnancy test. We got the pregnancy test that night. I read the instructions and it said "For best results, use in the morning"...ok. Wait, wait...

So back to June 20th. 

First day of summer.

The day I got ordained at Christ Church as a deacon.

The day Christopher and I found out we were pregnant. 

I guess I could say that I was cautiously excited about this huge leap in our lives. Of course we wanted to get pregnant this year (after Italy of course)...but ITS REALLY HAPPENING NOW!

I felt pretty ok the first week. No big deal. I thought to myself...this is going to be a piece of cake. However after that week...I thought everything that I use to feel and be (energy, alertness, thoroughness, precision) was gone. Don't get me wrong, I have heard everyone say this before, but I thought I was a little tougher than everyone else. :) Oh no...so I don't know what I would do without my husband. Since we have waited quite some time to tell everyone (We did tell our parents of course!) ...he has been my "Go to" for every emotional moment and lethargic night since no one else knew.

So, baby is doing fine. He/She has a great doctor and we have moved into our 2nd trimester.

We are leaving for Japan in just a few days and I am excited to take this adventure. Please say a prayer for me. I have been feeling good as long as I am snacking and sleeping 10 hours a night. So... we shall see.

I hope to continue a blog for this pregnancy since my entire family lives at least a 100,000 miles from me. Oh, and because the "Italy" blog must continue....well we can now call it the Italy 2.0 blog.