My New Best Friend.

Oh yes, this little blue bottle is by my side at all times and in my purse wherever I might go...it

seems that the end of pregnancy can bring quite a bit of heart burn and acid reflux; so this little guy has been keeping me out of misery. I hope it doesn't get any worse!

Lately...

As a space saving effort, Chad and I decided to get rid of the large TUBE TV in the office and get a 32' TV to hang on the wall. We also were able to give away the big TV stand so it has really opened up the room and left us less stressed with all the clutter. It has been a challenge trying to fit what will soon be 3 people into a barely 1,000 square foot house. But we are more than thankful that we have a roof over our head and a house payment we can afford...and God has provided us with the means to ORGANIZE!
So here is the TV that my husband is very proud of...he even put cord protectors over the cords hanging down so that Carter can't pull on them!! He has become such the handy man!

On top of organizing, things have been quite chaotic around the Goodwin household these past few weeks. We had some teenagers take out our mailbox, wooden post and all...here are our best efforts to fix it back so we can get mail. We bought a new mailbox but if it will ever quit raining for any extended period of time then we can put it up...until then it is going to have to look like this : (

My wonderful in-laws surprised us by buying us a set of front load washer and dryers! They were supposed to come in the week after Thanksgiving, but we didn't get them until the week before Christmas! In the mean time we had already sold our set, so we have been bumming off of other's machines to do laundry. Here are some pictures below of my new favorite appliances, they are AMAZING.

Thanks Debbie and Steve!

Necessities Shower

At the beginning of December I had my Necessities shower, given by Kerri and Liz. It was wonderful and I got so many diapers, wipes, and other things that you just "need". Here are a few pictures...

Here is one of Carter's diaper bags stuffed with goodies, I love it!!

This was a wipe holder from Avery ;)

My Sweet Avery

Sarah Hobbs did great on the cake!!

Melissa is slowly getting over her phobia of the pregnant belly...

My hostesses and sisters

37 Week Check

I had an appointment yesterday at 3:30 for an ultrasound and then Dr. Maddox to follow to do the "check". Ultrasound went fine...I guess...I had a different ultrasound tech then I had in the past and she was more serious and down to business than my last lady (who I adored). I mean, she was fine, she just didn't get very personal with me, it was all business. She didn't let me see the screen while she was measuring, so I found myself staring at her face the whole time trying to read her. Finally at the end she turned the screen to me and let me see him, she showed me his profile and feet and boy parts. Then she told me to go out into the lobby and she would write everything down and bring my chart out to me to take across the room to Dr. Maddox's sign in area. She said that he is 6lbs and 1oz right now, I asked her if that was normal and she just said...I'm not sure I'll have to look at the chart...I'm thinking, don't you do this so much that you just kind of know? She just said Dr. Maddox would go over it with me. I was pretty sure 6lbs and 1oz was pretty normal, considering Chad was born at 37 weeks and he was 6lbs 3oz. So that was the ultrasound experience yesterday....

Then I get in the back to see Dr. Maddox and she looks at the ultrasound information and says that the baby looks great; 6lbs 1oz is a little bit below the 50 percentile but still perfectly normal. She said if it was up to her she would want to push out a small baby! I say Amen to that. So he is just sweet and tiny, and that is fine with me. Plus I have 3 more weeks so he will gain a little more weight before he gets here.
Then it is time to get checked and guess what....I have made it to 1cm...and she can feel his head!
She said he still has a little more dropping to do but she could definitely feel his head this time; last time it was no where in sight.
So that is better than nothing!
I go back next Tuesday, the 23rd, and we will see where we stand. I want to walk some between now and then, I'm thinking that will help him drop a little more.
I have two photos from the ultrasound, but I don't know if I'll get them on here or not, the scanner here at work is not hooked up :(

Tired.

I wish there was a better word for it, I really do. Exhausted? That's an okay word, but I feel as if I have over used it here lately. But anyways, that's what I am!! Just this last week it has gotten pretty rough in the sleep department...who knew waking up 6 times a night to go to the bathroom would interrupt your REM cycle? Then on top of that, when I do get up and start walking around I have to hold underneath my stomach to help support the 6-7lb child that is being held up by what's left of my poor stomach muscles.
I'm not complaining, I would do it all over again in a HEARTBEAT, but it makes me feel better to write about it ; ) you know what I mean? The joys of pregnancy :), as my husband would say "this is what you signed up for!"- but of course he says this in the most supportive way!

Those contractions I wrote about a few weeks ago...I hardly have any of them anymore...I still get the braxton hicks, but nothing like I was getting back at 34 weeks. So does this mean he is there to stay? 3 weeks until my due date and it looks like he's just now getting nice and comfortable. Of course at this point I'm told I could go any day now...I'll get checked tomorrow and post an update on our status. I've got lots of goody baking to do tonight, so maybe being on my feet will do something besides make me miserable?
I'll post tomorrow!

36 week check = Nothing...

Yep, that's right, nothing. I got checked for the first time yesterday at my 36 week appointment and I have done nothing! Well, maybe a tiny tiny bit, but the little booger still has not dropped.
Dr. Maddox said this could change any day, so we are just waiting :) and since I haven't made any progress, there was no talk of an induction date.
I go back next Tuesday and she is going to do an ultrasound to see how big he is and she will check again. So that is one thing to look forward to, I will get to see him on ultrasound again!

I have 11 working days left at work, I went ahead and told them not to expect me back for the new year. Even if he's not here yet, I'm going to need some rest and time to get everything in order.
I have been exhausted lately, I wake up all hours of the night and just turning over in bed has been a chore to say the least. I'm out of vacation days and sick days for the year, and it is really taking a tole on me working 7 to 4 every SINGLE day. I am so ill when I get home (poor Chad), and then I have a to-do list that is a page long and I try to do some things every night on it, and cook supper, and keep the house in order and I just can't do it for much longer. Don't get me wrong, Chad has been a huge help, but I don't want him to have to do all of it, he works hard too and deserves a break when he gets home...so we have been doing most of the chores together.

Chad took the car seat to be installed by the fire department the other night, and I'm really glad we let them do it. When he came home he had lots of information and rules from the fireman that I had never heard of before. They even want me to bring Carter up there after he gets here so they can show me the proper way to strap him in...so, Thanks Trussville Fire Department!!
I have two more loads of laundry to wash for Carter, I finished washing the bottles and pacis last night, and now I just have to sterilize some of my breast pump accessories.
There are a few more things to do...but I can't remember all of them...oh yeah, we are meeting with the pediatrician today...I'm sure it will take just a few minutes, I only have a couple of questions, I'm not going to drill her...

35 Weeks