Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I'm proud to be an American...

This post is dedicated to the United States. The past few days my attention has been drawn to Made in the U.S.A products. I am not really sure why but for some reason I have been thinking about them. Then today I started thinking how many products does our family actually have in our house right now that are actually Made in the U.S.A.. I knew there would not be many since most things we buy from stores are not even made here in our wonderful homeland. After I thought about that fact I became very sad. Why do we not have more products that are available to us to buy that are actually made here. We all know the answer to that question. Because it is more expensive. But, how are we ever going to make more jobs for people here in the US if we do not even buy things that are made in the US? Everything has it's consequences and because we all have become obsessed with getting things as cheap as possible we have now created a big mess of our own country. I know my family is definitely guilty of this. I love european products!

So I decided to put together a list of products that are all made in the US. Yes, they are a little bit more expensive but just buying one of these products will help out one company in the US. And what if everyone started doing this? Then we might just help out our own economy! Plus I will provide a list of local farmers! So look for there brands in Whole Foods and Organic Harvest. And some of these farms in Alabama you can actually buy directly from them! WHO KNEW!

This is a website dedicated to only USA made products. Check it out! http://www.madeinusa.org/

These are some products we use around our house that are all made in the USA.
California Baby, a whole variety of baby products that are great for babies, kids, and parents too! We love California Baby products at our house!

Kiwi Pie Diapers, fitted diapers in the cloth diapering world. The softest diaper you will ever touch. They are our favorite nighttime diaper. A family out of Montana make these!

Thirsties Diaper Covers, another cloth diapering option.

CJ's Butter Stick, a product to protect your baby's bum. Love this product!

Babyganics, they make all sorts of baby products & we use them all at our house!

Dapple, baby products that compete with Babyganics.

Cahaba Valley Honey, made right here in Birmingham


Here is a great website I found that gives you farms in Alabama where you can go and pick your own fruits and veggies.This would be a fun family activity plus you would be supporting your local farmers!
http://www.pickyourown.org/AL.htm

If you live in Birmingham then you must check out Pepper Place Market, they are open April-December on Saturday mornings.

Organic Harvest here in Birmingham sells dairy products from Wright Dairy in Alexandria, AL. New news to me! Check out why there milk is better. Very interesting!

A website that provides a list of places in Alabama to buy local beef.
http://www.eatwild.com/products/alabama.html

So here are resources to help my family and yours support our local and our countries foods and products. Now go buy something that's made in the USA!

Until next time....

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Lot's & Lot's

So I had not realized just how long it has been since I blogged. My days go by so quickly and before I know it almost two months have gone by. AHH! Time has to slow down!

Our days are crammed full of Justin working and the baby and me running all around Birmingham all the time. We are so lucky to have such an easy going adventurous baby because she really makes it easy for us to go here and there. She loves people watching so much and is so observant of her surroundings that she is so amazed with everyone and everything.

Our angel turned 4 months old yesterday! We just can not believe how big she is getting! We go back to the Doctor next week for her 4 month check-up and we can not wait, besides little one having to get yucky shots!

Here is a list of things she is doing right now:

Milestones:
Holds her head up 100% on her own
Sits up by herself for 1-2 minutes, almost there
Holds on to toys & can take her pacifier in and out of her mouth by herself
Tracks everything
Responds when you say her name (by trying to find who said it)
Talks very loud, sometimes sounds like yelling, haha
Blow raspberries
Teething but no signs of a tooth yet

Interests:
Getting interested in toys
Activity gym and jumperoo
Laughing and smiling
Bath time
Cuddling with Mommy
Music and when people sing to her
Being thrown in the air or bouncing on your knees
Playing Peek-a-Boo
Loves her pink lovie aka "Miss Piggy"
Her birdie blankie

Eating & Sleeping Habits:
Drinks 8 ounces 4 times a day
Sleeps 11 hours at night
Naps whenever she feels like it during the day
Starting solids this month

Overall we have a healthy happy baby and she is so silly and makes us laugh all the time. We love her more than anything!

A funny thing she does all the time is she looks at this light in our little den off of our kitchen which has become her area. For the longest time we were convinced that she had a ghost friend and still might by the way. She looks in the direction of the light all day everyday and gets so excited. She will smile, talk, and laugh out loud while looking up in the direction of the light and then will hide her face, like she is being shy, and then the routine starts all over again. It is the funniest thing. After months of her doing this we decided to do a test to see if it really was the light since we have the same light covers throughout our whole house.  So the other night Justin walked around holding Mary-Ross in the air up close to all of the lights that look just like the one she laughs at all the time. After doing this she did smile but never got the full response she does to the one in the den. So we still are not positive if it is the light or a friendly ghost. We are hoping to catch her doing this on video sometime soon so we can share this with everyone because it is hilarious. If only we knew what was going through that little baby mind. 

Other updates and fun things we are doing:

We have a family photo shoot coming up in a few weeks and so I will have some great pictures of little to share soon. 

I bought a sewing machine and I am going to teach myself to sew along with going to some sewing classes. I am also going to a photography workshop to learn more about my camera Justin bought me for Mother's Day.

Mary-Ross and I go to Kindermusik every Monday and we have having a great time meeting new friends and doing this fun mommy and me activity.

Justin is all excited because football is in full swing and he has season tickets to Alabama games so he is enjoying that. We are getting to go to 2 Auburn games this year as well. :) 


That is all we have to share at the moment but more updates coming soon!




Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Happy Birthday To The Twiney Twins!

This post is dedicated to my precious twin nieces Palmer and Blakely Moran. They often are referred to as Palmsy, Palmsicle, Bakey, or Boo Boo. Today marks a great day for my nieces. They are one year old today! Yes people ONE! I can not believe it. This past year has gone by super sonic fast. (I had to use "super sonic fast" because "flew by" was an understatement.)

Today one year ago was by far the worst day in my life so far but it ended up being one of the best days of my life as well. I was in Birmingham working and my sister was in Cincinnati trying not to have the twins. As I think about this day a year ago I remember just going about my normal day to day schedule until I got a terrifying phone call. Luckily, when I got the call I was not alone. I usually would have been alone but my friend Blair who also worked for the Sawyer's just happened to be at the Sawyer's house sitting right there with me on the couch when I got the phone call from my sister. She called me to inform me they were about to take her in to perform a c-section because things were spinning out of control and the babies were no longer safe. I was terrified when I heard my sister's voice on the other end of the line. I could hear how scared she was of the unknown. She was sad, scared, and needed her baby sister. Unfortunately, I had to go back to Birmingham the weekend before because we did not know when she was going to have the babies so I had to go back and work. Her husband Jeff was with her but the rest of our family was not. I remember her crying saying she was scared and I was trying really hard to hold back the tears to be strong for her. I told her everything was going to be OK and that she needed to be strong and calm down and stop crying. When I said that she said "Then why are you crying?". Ha ha. I did not have an answer for her. I was just as scared as she was but I was trying to be comforting and say all the things you are supposed to say to someone who is scared. Even though I needed comforting myself. When I got off the phone I went into complete panic mode. All I knew was my sister was about to have the babies with me in Alabama and she was in Ohio. I had to get there and FAST! Blair being the wonderful person she is tried to help me think correctly and immediately started searching for flights. She told me not to worry about work and said she would watch the boys until the Sawyer's got home and told me to go home and pack my bags! I found a flight and called Justin to tell him what was going on. He told me to go home and pack and he would book my flight for me. Due to stupid computers not working when we need to them he could not book the flight for me so by the time I got home he had called and said I needed to book the flight myself. I was trying to do 500 things at once. After booking my flight and packing my bags I threw them into the car and headed to Justin's work to get my boarding pass he printed off for me. On the way to his office he called to tell me my flight had been moved back an hour. Then he called to tell me my flight had all together been cancelled. I was devastated. Did these people not know I had a family emergency and that I had to be on that plane going to Cincy about 2 hours ago??!?! In the midst of trying to find Justin's office downtown Birmingham, getting phone calls about my flight being cancelled, talking to every other family member or close friend, and crying uncontrollably it was safe to say I was a complete train wreck and that it was probably not safe for me to be operating a motor vehicle at that moment. While still in my car Justin started looking at flights out of Atlanta for me since the next flight to Ohio was not leaving until the NEXT DAY, which was completely out of the question for me! Justin and I decided that I should start driving to ATL and that he would book me on the next flight to Ohio which my parents were going to be on as well. The only thing was that it was leaving in 3 hours and was going to have to drive to ATL, park at the airport, and then get out of the car and make the long haul to my gate which we all know takes a long time at the Atlanta airport because it is huge! I had faith I could make it and so did my family. My Dad just told me to drive and keep them posted on my where abouts. Oh, and did I mention that I had NEVER EVER driven to Atlanta before? Just one more thing to add to the pile! When I was about 30 minutes away from the airport and making exceptional time I all of a sudden decided to look in my purse for my wallet for some reason. I went into shear panic mode because I knew that I had left my wallet in Birmingham sitting next to our computer in our house!!! This was the final straw. I could not hold it together anymore. I just started crying and crying. I called to break the news to my parents and my Dad told me to calm down and keep driving and he would try to figure something out. I made it to the airport and met my Dad inside. Because of the wonderful world of technology we live in Justin had sent the e-mail with my boarding pass on it to my iPhone and had checked me in online. Because I had an iPhone and they have apps where you can pull up your boarding pass on your phone and scan it on the machines and it then prints out your boarding pass for you they let me through security without any identification! The only thing I had in my purse with my name on it was my check book and some papers from a Doctor's office with my name on it. They then told me I would have to go through the pat down check and that I needed to tell them if I had anything that could be used as a weapon in my purse or carry on. I then realized my melon baller ( if your not familiar with this device you use it on watermelon, cantaloupe, etc. to make cute little balls to eat instead of cutting it up into pieces) was in my purse. I informed them of this and they were confused at what a melon baller was and so I explained to them what a melon baller does and they then ruled out that it was not life threatening but did rule my bottle of lotion that was over 3 ounces life threatening. HUMMM? Oh well I got to keep my melon baller! I was completely exhausted after crying on and off for over 5 hours and going through all of the stupid mistakes I had made throughout this day. I officially had no brain left. I had made it in enough time to get a little snack before taking off for Cincy so I ate my snack and threw away my trash. After throwing away my trash I realized that I had thrown away my boarding pass along with my snack trash! AHHHHHH! What a dummy! Right when I realized this I heard the trash can compacting the trash! Great! Just Great! Why do we have to have compactable trash cans when we have idiots like me around! My wonderful father dug out my boarding pass which was now extremely smelly and had Coca-Cola Classic dripping off of it. Yes, it did get handed to the flight attendant exactly like that! Insert happy face! We eventually arrived to Cincy and made it to the hospital at about 11:30 at night. I was in a daze but so happy to be by my sister's side. We did get to see our Palmsicle that night but not our Bakey Boo!

So as you can see from my story above you now know why it was the worst day of my life but also one of the best. I can not express just how blessed our family is and that we have both of these beautiful, smart, wild, and precious baby girls here with us today. They are truly miracle babies and I thank God for them each and every day! I can not imagine this life without them both! I love them like my own and could not be more thankful and happy to be able to celebrate the one year mark of there birth today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MISS P and QUEEN B! YA YA, Uncle Jussy, and Mary-Ross love you to the moon and back! MUUUAHHHHHHH!!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Big Girls Don't Cry...or Do They?

This morning Justin and I took Mary-Ross to her two month check-up and it was a great check-up. I made Justin go with me for moral support because our little angel had to get her first round of shots. I was not looking forward to it because when we took her to her first check-up and they did her PKU Mary-Ross and me were a little scarred. Ha Ha.

The Doctor gave little one a great report. He said she was very healthy and developing well. She is exactly where she should be for her age and doing things that older babies are doing according to her Doctor. We have been very anxious to see how much she weighs since she eats so much and the report was that she weighs a whopping 12 pounds 13 ounces. We have a chunky girl on our hands! She is in the 80th percentile for her weight! She is in the 80th percentile in her height as well. Since she eats so much already the Doctor said we will not be able to hold her off of baby food for much longer. He said he typically does not like to start babies on baby food until they are 6 months but since she weighs what most 3 to 4 months old weigh and eats 7 ounces every four hours during the day that she is requiring more than just a bottle. So we go back October 4th and we will start little girl on baby food that night. Let's just hope that a bottle can hold her for 2 more months. She sucks the bottle dry just about every feeding so he suggested for us to go up a 1/2 ounce but once we reach 8 ounces he said that will have to be enough because he does not like for babies to take more than 8 ounces in one feeding. Mary-Ross did very good with her shots. She only did her silent scream right when they stuck her and then her Daddy picked her up and she was fine. We could not believe it but we were so glad that she did not cry a lot because we would have not been able to handle that. She has been very sleepy today but has not really wanted to nap by herself in her room so her mother has spoiled her a bit today and held her while she sleeps. ;)

We are so blessed to have such a healthy happy baby and we can not be more thankful. God is good! :)

Until next time....

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Can I Brag A Bit?

This is a post dedicated to my wonderful husband. I have a few things to update everyone on that has been going on with my hubby!

The number one thing I need to update everyone on is the status of his CPA Exam. A couple of weeks ago he finally got a letter regarding both parts of the CPA Exam he had not heard back from. It was good and bad news. The good news is that he did pass the part he took back in May. The bad news is that he did not pass the part he took back in April. Yes, people he did not hear anything until JULY! So ridiculous because he could have already been studying again to re-take the one he did not pass! And the sad thing is they have off months in the fall so he only has a small window to prepare to re-take this part of the exam. Please be thinking about him these next few months in your prayers to help him prepare to re-take the exam and pass this time so he can get this huge accomplishment under his belt.

Moving on to the second update. My husband works very hard at his job. He has so many responsibilities at work and I do not know how he can keep up with it all and be home every night by 6:00 for us to eat dinner together as a family and then take care of Mary-Ross to give me a "break". But, he manages to get all of it done and still be a great husband and father.

Side note: Lemak Sports Medicine is affiliated with Trinity Hospital so therefore Justin works very closely with all of the people at Trinity. Dr. Lemak's practice and all the smaller practices that are associated with Lemak Sports Medicine the most successful, largest, and highest grossing medical practice CHS (CHS is the company that owns Trinity Hospital) is affiliated with. Justin is the CFO of The Lemak Group and Companies, LLC. which manages Dr. Lemak's practice and all of the smaller practices affiliated with Lemak Sports Medicine.

That all being said above leads to the update! :) Since Justin does work so hard and is the CFO of The Lemak Group and Companies, LLC. the CEO and CFO of Trinity Hospital and Matthew Lemak (CEO of The Lemak Group and Companies, LLC.) took notice. So they decided to nominate him for CFO of the year in the $25-50 million dollar category in the Birmingham Business Journal, which is a magazine here in Birmingham. Justin was notified he had been nominated and then was notified he made the cut to the final five. Since he made it to the final five he will be interviewed by the BBJ and featured in the magazine. The ceremony to announce the winner of each category will be held on August 23rd. If Justin wins this honor it will not only be another accomplishment he can add to his list but it will also make his company look great and give them free advertisement which will benefit everyone including our family. I am so proud of Justin for even being nominated much less making the final five in his category. I can not wait for the ceremony in August to see if he wins. Either way I will still be proud of him. I will definitely update the blog once his interview in published in the BBJ and once we find out the results. Stay tuned folks!

Here is the link showing the results of all the finalists:
http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/blog/2011/07/bbj-reveals-cfo-award-finalists.html

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Happy 2 months Mary-Ross

Happy 2 months Mary-Ross

Our baby is just a growing and growing. She is officially 2 months old today. It is very true when people tell you it flies by. We are going to her 2 month check-up next week and I can not wait to see how much she has grown since her last visit. It has not been an easy breezy past 2 months but things have gotten better and better. We starting her sleeping in her crib Sunday night and she did good the first night but last night was not a good night at all. So we are hoping 3 times the charm! Fingers crossed! She is getting more and more of a personality everyday. She has started cooing and "talking" to you a lot lately. She definitely has her father's temper it is safe to say. Ha ha. She has the best smile and it lights up the room when she flashes it. She even has started this little laugh when she thinks something is funny. We have decided that she is going to be very ticklish because we will tickle her sides and she already tense up like it is a tickle spot. It is so funny.

Likes:
Bath time is her favorite thing in the world
Her car seat and car rides
Looking at herself in a mirror (She gets this from Justin no doubt, I'm being dead serious)
Eating time
Daddy sticking his tongue out at me
Mommy holding me

Dislikes:
Getting out of the tub
SLEEP

More updates to come after we go to her Doctor's appointment next week. She will be getting her first series of shots! :( I'm sure she will pitch a fit!

Until next time....

Monday, July 25, 2011

Our First Rolling Beach Trip as 3!!

Our first official beach trip with Mary-Ross was a success! My mom, Mary-Ross, & I left on Sunday to kick off the Rolling beach trip! Justin had to stay behind until Tuesday due to work reasons! The trip started off perfect! Our little one was an angel the entire car ride down to Rosemary Beach. She slept the whole time except for when she woke up to eat and then went right back to sleep again! We are so thankful she is a good car rider, at least so far she has been. After we arrived to Rosemary we did encounter a few problems but we did get our issues fixed rather quickly and even received a gift basket for our troubles! How sweet! Ha ha. I had already warned the guy working the desk at the rental company that if they did not get our issues figured out before my husband arrived on Tuesday that they would be hearing from him and that it would not be pretty. I think he thought I was joking but unfortunately Justin decided to go ahead and call them and give them a piece of his mind. So the poor guy got yelled at anyways. Maybe he will take people more seriously now when the woman warns him of her angry husband. Ha ha. But, besides that everything else was great. 

If you have never been to Rosemary Beach I recommend going! It is very family oriented! It is perfect if you have children. Families with children are everywhere. I would not recommend this place to a couple without children or a couple who does not like children since they are all over the place all the time. Also, if you hate bikes never ever step foot in Rosemary. Bikes and children are everywhere at all times!! I myself as most know love children but I am not very fond of people on bikes. It brings up angry memories of the times I have gotten stuck behind bikers here in Birmingham. The only reason I am OK with the bike riders at Rosemary is because you do not have to get into your car much so really the bikers are only aggravating when you are trying to walk/run on the sidewalk and they are riding there bikes entirely too fast on a sidewalk. Yes, I did almost get taken out a few times by a person on a bike so this is why I am bitter about it! Rosemary is a very safe and friendly place. We met lots of nice people while we were there. I do not know what it is but when you have a baby people automatically assume you want them to come over and talk to you. Luckily, I enjoy meeting new people and talking to them so that is a plus for them. So take this as a warning if you are not a people person and you decide to have a baby you may want to work on your social skills during those nine months because whether you like it or not people are coming to talk to you and want to look at your baby!!! :) Now that I addressed that I will get back to our vacation. 

Mom & I took Mary-Ross out on the beach on Monday and Tuesday. I know people think we are crazy but like I said Rosemary is covered with children of all ages so we were not the only cuckoo's on the beach! We did only take her out for an hour or two each day before it got too hot. She was really good the whole time. She slept or looked around and then ate and would sleep again until time to go back up to the house. On Wednesday we all went out to the beach together and she was good again. But when I was changing her diaper that day she decided to grab a handful of sand while I was not looking and some how got it all over her stomach and even in her diaper! It was so funny and a big mess! It was time for her to go back inside anyways so my mom took her back to the house and gave her a bath. It got really hot by Thursday so she did not go out to the beach after Wednesday. Justin and I could barely stand it on Thursday it was so miserably hot. Justin's parents came down on Friday afternoon and stayed Friday night with us. Then Saturday we packed everything up and headed back home. We were all ready to be back home. 

We ate lots of good seafood while we were there. I have been trying to broaden my horizons when it comes to food since I am trying to lose weight. It's not easy loosing weight when the only meat I ever eat is chicken and beef. I know this might come as a shock to some but I actually started getting tired of chicken since I have only been eating it because beef is so fattening. So I decided the week before we went to the beach that I needed to stop hating fish and give it a fair chance. I took the opportunity of being at the beach and having access to fresh fish to give it a go! I have to say that I actually enjoyed picking out something new every night to try. The first night mom and I went to the Old Florida Fish House and I got the grouper sauteed and it was excellent. Justin and I went to a place called Paradis in Rosemary and I ate Cobia which again was delicious. We then went back to the Old Florida Fish House with Justin's parents and I decided to get the special which was Red Snapper blackened and again I liked it. So it is official, I am a fish eater now! Yay for me! I am so glad that now when we go to seafood restaurants I can order something besides shrimp or crab cakes! 

So overall our first beach trip as 3 was wonderful and we are so happy we will continue to keep this tradition going. We will return next year and have even more fun since Mary-Ross will actually get to enjoy the beach and the water! 

Sun bathing

Knocked out cuddled up to her sleep sheep

Hanging out with Daddy in the bed

Until next time.......


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

What we have been up to lately...

So it has been a long time since my last post. I started a draft a few weeks back but never finished it so I am starting fresh again. So let's see, things have been busy busy since we brought our little one home from the hospital. It has gone by so fast and I can not believe she will be 7 weeks on Thursday! It's nuts people! Our little angel has been going through a little rough patch but we are getting through it! We finally solved her feeding problem so things have been better since then. Now if we can just get better at taking naps during the day, sleeping in our crib, and sleeping through the night all of our dreams would come true! Haha. I know we will get there but it is hard sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have a very hungry baby on our hands! She is eating 6 ounces now and sometimes wants more. I'm not exactly sure how much she weighs right now but I am definitely thinking at least 9 lbs. maybe more. Our next Doctor's visit is not until August so we will have to wait until then to know for sure.

Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken in the past few weeks.

Happy One Month to me!

I LOVE sleeping with my hands close to me face.  :)

My first time at the pool. I'm making a silly face for the camera.

Holding on tight to Miss Piggy, MR's favorite.

Enjoying a warm bath. My absolute favorite thing to do!!

These pictures are just a few of my favorites I have taken of her lately. She is growing so fast! She is really starting to chunk up now. 

We have a lot of exciting things starting this weekend! Ashlyn Kay is turning 3 on Friday! I can not believe she is already 3! She is such a big girl now and is pure entertainment. It is never a dull moment when AK is around. We have her birthday party on Saturday. She is a having a pool party and it is Dora the Explorer themed. She has literally been planning and talking about her birthday since January and she is beside herself that it is finally here. It is so funny to hear her talk about it. Then on Sunday Mom, Mary-Ross and I are packing up and heading to Rosemary Beach for our very first Rolling family vacation as a family of three! Since Justin has to work he is not going to be able to come down until Tuesday sometime. So it will just be the girls for a couple of days! I can not wait to take Mary-Ross to be the beach and get some great pictures. I am sure it will be an adventure! We are staying for a week so I am already trying to start packing all of her stuff up. Babies require so much stuff! Let's just hope it will all fit in my Yukon. Lot of fun times ahead so stay tuned for some pictures! 

Until next time....




                                                             

Monday, May 30, 2011

She is here! She is here!

Where to begin on our exciting of Mary-Ross arriving? I"m not quite sure but here it is! Everyone hears all of there friends and families stories and experiences they had when they had there baby. So after talking with everyone I thought I had a general idea of how things would go for me. I should have known though that I am different than everyone else. Nothing usually goes how they should for me when it comes to medications and such. I either handle medicine very well and my body gets too much of it or my body rejects it all together! Well that is what happened to me during my laboring process.

I started things off on a good start Wednesday night when they began the induction process. Then when it came time to break my water everything went smoothly and I was progressing really fast. When I finally decided to take the medication to ease the contractions I thought WHEW it is going to be a breeze now. I made it through some contractions and now I am ready to be pain free! Well that is where I messed up. My hopes were set to high and things started to go down hill. Unfortunately, the pain medication did not work on me so after 2 doses and lots of pain and suffering my Doctor broke the good news that I could go ahead and get my epidural! Those were the magic words! WHEW I thought again the pain is over and it is time to get this baby here! Well thankfully the pain went away but then I had forgotten how my body responds to anesthesia and it makes me severely cold feeling even though I am not so I was convulsing from that and then I began to feel like I couldn't swallow, cough, or even talk. I was not doing much talking at all Thursday morning anyways which we all know is rare for me but after all the pain I had been feeling from the contractions I had to focus on my breathing for Mary-Ross' sake because she kept having moments of distress and I wasn't too keen on the idea of having a c-section. So my wonderful husband helped me through them. We had a little drama with the anesthesiologist as well since he did not show up to do my epidural for almost 30 minutes and I was having contractions 1 minute apart with no pain relief. Talk about traumatizing! So after all that he ended up giving me too much and it caused the epidural to rise into my throat which was causing me to feel paralyzed and not be able to breathe. Well because I could not breathe neither could baby so they had to give me oxygen. Finally after we got all that adjusted my Doctor gave us the go ahead to start pushing. We found out that Mary-Ross was face up instead of face down which was causing the pushing process to go slower and it was more difficult. I pushed for 2 hours and luckily she was out. Justin, my mom, and my mother in law where all in there helping me out. I was so exhausted from all the contractions I had felt earlier plus pushing for 2 hours will wear a girl out. Our angel weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 21 inches long. She is so perfect in our eyes. ;) We could not have asked for a more perfect little angel! It has been an adventure so far but we have only been home 2 whole days and 2 nights so far.  We have a lot to adjust and get into the routine of it all but I know we will get there and we are just trying to have fun with it all. I know we have already laughed so much since we have been home with all the crazy things that have happened. We have many more laughs and experiences in our future.

So all is well at the Rolling household and continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Here are some pictures of our little girl!

                                                        Our first family photo

                                                      Our sweet angel

                                       Justin, Mary-Ross, Landry, and Scooter

Monday, May 23, 2011

The BIG Update!

So I went to my 39 week and 2 days appointment this morning and got the wonderful news that I will be checking into the hospital on Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. to start the induction process. So Mary-Ross will be welcomed into the world no later than some time on Thursday! My Doctor said it is still a possibility I could go into labor on my own but I do not think that will happen. I was still not dilated at all and so I think I am one of those people who need medication to help me! My sister was the same way with Ashlyn Kay so I am hoping that is what will happen with me! If not then I will just have a c-section! My Doctor was surprised that Mary-Ross was not bigger than she is measuring to be at the moment but the measurements are not always correct. It could be more or less. Right now she is measuring at 7 lbs. 11 ounces. This is a perfect weight in my eyes so hopefully she will be about that size! We are just so happy to  know she will be here by the weekend! It is really funny because out of Justin's group of friends only two of them have children and Mary-Ross will be the third. And all three of them are girls and all three of them will have been born in the same week! How cool is that?!?! Caroline Stubblefield who belongs to Kris and Amy Stubblefield is the oldest and she will be two on the 26th which is the day Mary-Ross is scheduled to get here! And then Landry Crutcher who belongs to Scooter and Amy Crutcher will be one on the 28th which was Mary-Ross's due date! I think it is so neat that all of us had or will be having our children on the same week! We are hoping to be able to plan a fun family function for all of our girls in the years to come to celebrate there birthdays and give us a reason to all get together! I just wish Caroline was in the same town as Landry and Mary-Ross so they would all be best buddies!

So, I will be updating the blog after Mary-Ross arrives with all the details and pictures! Next blog we will have a baby! YAY!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Another week come and gone

As we end another week in May the most exciting week ever approaches! Assuming that I am not going to go into labor tonight or tomorrow we will be going into my 40th week of my pregnancy. Many of us thought our little one would have decided to come on her own before now but since she has not it looks like I will be getting induced this week. I better be anyways. :) I have enjoyed my week of not having to be up at a certain time even though I have found myself still be an early riser with the exception of one or two mornings this week. I have been keeping the house very clean and doing all the laundry. All the chores of a stay at home mom/wife. :)

Justin took another part of the CPA Exam on Wednesday morning and we are hoping for another PASS! We still have not heard from the last part he took but hopefully it will be in soon! So that is three parts of the CPA Exam down! One Pass and two unknown as of the moment. He is going to take a break from studying for a few weeks before he starts back to finish up the last parts. We are praying very hard that he does not have to re-take any of the parts.

Justin and I went to a movie Friday night and had a great time like always. I am hoping that was our last movie we could see without getting a babysitter. I know that seems strange but I am so ready for this baby to be here!

So we have one more day until our Doctor's appointment to see if anything happens. I highly doubt it but who knows! If not then we are scheduled to go to the Doctor at 9:30 for an ultrasound to measure the baby and then we will see the Doctor. So I am hoping that my next blog will be updating everyone that we are checking into the hospital to have a baby! But, it could also be about how I am going to start thinking of ways to deliver this baby myself! Let's hope it's the first and not the second! :)

And, one last update! My little sweet angel Blakely is in the hospital due to bronchiolitis. They were admitted this morning and will definitely be staying tonight and possibly more nights. Her sats have been better since she has been at the hospital but she has been running a fever and is still having trouble breathing. They will continue to monitor her and give her breathing treatments. Palmer is starting to show signs that she might need to be admitted as well. Bronchiolitis is only contagious if you come into contact with the person's salvia or snot and you ingest it. So it is very possible little Palmsicle has it as well since they slobber all over everything of each other's all the time. We need to keep both of these babies in our prayers so they can get better! Not to mention Palmer is already scheduled to get tubes in her ears early Tuesday morning. So my family is being pulled in a million directions at the moment!

Until next time......

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Another False Alarm

After coming home from the Doctor yesterday I started noticing that I was not feeling that great! I decided t just take it easy yesterday afternoon and laid around watching T.V. . After relaxing all afternoon I started noticing some contractions. My Doctor had said that I was having mild irregular contractions at my appointment yesterday but I never felt those. These I knew were contractions. So I started doing everything they tell you to do to make sure they are not Braxton Hicks. I took Tylenol, got in a hot shower, laid on my left side, changed positions every time I felt one to see if they went away or got more intense. And nothing was easing up the contractions. They were actually getting worse. I was having a hard time timing them though so I wasn't really sure how far apart they were. So after this went on for more than 2 hours I decided to call the after hours line because they were getting more and more intense! After talking with the nurse she told me to repeat all of the things I had done before to see if they made them subside and they did not and she said I really needed to try to time them so she could make the decision whether or not to send me to the hospital. So I tried to focus and started timing them and they were consistently 7 minutes apart for over an hour and were getting more and more intense as time went on. So I called the nurse back again to report to her what I had been going on. She then said are your bags packed and I said yes they are, and she said ok well then it's time to go to the hospital! So Justin and I loaded up and made our way to St. Vincent's. On the car ride there I started noticing that the contractions were not coming as frequently as they had been just a few minutes before. Then the intensity of the contractions began to die down as well. Once we went into the hospital they checked us in and took me into the triage room to check me and hook me up to the monitor to monitor the contractions and the baby. She checked me and let me know the sad news that I was not dilated but that I was starting to thin out a bit. Then we started seeing that the contractions were not very intense and that they were very irregular. So after they monitored me for an hour they checked me again to find I was not dilated still but that I had thinned out even more since the first time she checked me. They monitored me again for another 45 minutes and my contractions did start to pick back up a bit but were still too irregular for me to stay. So they sent us home after 12:15. It was such a let down! I could not believe after everything I had been feeling at home for over 3 hours was nothing! I felt so silly and crazy. I know they tell you that it is ok and that this is very normal but I still do not like it! I just hate crying wolf! If you know me very well you know that I usually do not over react about pain or how I am feeling. So I hate the feeling of well you might have been feeling like that earlier but it was nothing!! UGH! The body is so strange and it is very frustrating! So I guess we will see how it goes!

Until next time.....

Monday, May 16, 2011

38 weeks and 2 days...

I went in for my routine weekly check-up this morning hoping for something positive but left still not knowing when our angel will get here. I just knew something would have progressed since I was there Thursday but not so much. They repeated the stress test from Thursday and everything looked good. My Doctor came in and said it looks like you are having some contractions, do you not feel those? I was like uhh nope! I could not believe it because I was not experiencing anything like I had on Thursday and I would have bet anyone I was having contractions last Thursday! So strange! But, I am not surprised because my body is so strange anyways. So after that we went in to get my exam done and unfortunately I had not dilated or made any other progress. She still said that she is very low. So maybe my contractions will continue and get stronger throughout the day/ days and cause something to happen! I am praying hard that my water breaks on it's on this week! So she told me is I do not go into labor on my own before Monday then I am scheduled to come in at 9:30 for an ultrasound to measure the baby and then we will discuss the results with my Doctor. Depending on what she is measuring will determine whether or not she will induce me next week. So I will just continue to walk everyday and pray that things will happen on there on but if not then I will be praying that I will get induced one day next week! So we will see! I was very upset after my appointment because I am just so exhausted! Not to mention I am having other things going on that are a little too much to blog about! I am just over feeling this way. My main annoyance that also gives me anxiety is how I can not breathe! UGH! I know everyone thinks oh she only has another week or two at the most. How bad can it be? It is all so worth it! Well yes it is all so worth it in the end but I am just so tired and miserable right now that one day feels like an eternity and it is hard to see past the next hour! But, I know I will make it but I can whine and complain if I want to! :)

Until next time....

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Am I going CRAZYYY???

Unfortunately, when we went in on Monday for our routine visit we got the depressing news that I was still not dilated or anything. The only change is that she was a bit lower than the week before. I was so upset because after being very active all weekend I just knew something would be going on down there. But, nothing was. So after being depressed all day and sad I finally started to perk back up the next day. I had not slept well since the Tuesday night before and so we all know how your emotions can be crazy when you are running on only a few hours of sleep. So after getting over the depression I started coming to terms that this baby was not going to be here until the week of my due date and that I needed to except it and move on. So that is what I did. I actually slept well that Monday night for the first time in over a week. Then on Wednesday night I woke up around 11:30 and went to the bathroom and then tried to go back to sleep but I could not sleep for anything. So I decided to get on the couch so I would not wake up Justin. After getting on the couch I started feeling very strange and realized that I thought I might be having some sort of contractions. I noticed I was getting an extreme pushing sensation and when that was happening my stomach was rock hard and I could not breathe. So this continued on for hours. You read all these labor signs and your Doctor tells you all the signs to watch for but you are just never sure if that is what you are truly feeling. So after a long long night I finally fell asleep for an hour or so before I had to get up to get ready for work. So after consulting with Justin, my sister, and mother-in-law I decided to call the Doctor even though all my symptoms had stopped. They told me that since they had stopped that everything was fine and gave me some tips on things to do if this happened again and the Doctor's office was closed. They offered to let me come in but I declined knowing that it was probably just really bad Braxton Hicks. So after being at work for a little bit all my symptoms from the night before started again and a new symptom of shooting pains started as well. So after dealing with this all day I broke down and decided that I thought I needed to be seen to just make sure I was not in true labor. So I went in and saw the on call Doctor and after speaking with the nurse she was convinced that it was a big possibility that I was going to be admitted and having a baby! We started getting excited but trying to not get our hopes up too much! After seeing the Doctor she was convinced as well I was in labor but the only problem was is that I was not dilated! She could not believe it after I had been having all of those symptoms for so long! So she decided to run some more tests, ordered an ultrasound, and decided to monitor me for 30 minutes to see if I was having anymore contractions. So after all the tests everything came back normal and it was determined that I was in false labor! BOOO! I was so sad! But what can you do?!?! So I am scheduled to go back to my routine visit on Monday at 8:30 and hoping for good news! I have a lot to talk with my Doctor on Monday. I am having a lot of concerns and anxiety about all of this and I can not take anymore sleepless nights. Since my episode on Thursday I have pretty much felt back to normal. I slept great for the first time on Thursday night. Friday night I again had a sleepless night due to back pain. So I am praying, hoping, and wishing my little one will decide to come soon. Like i said before i am having a lot of anxiety about having to have a c-section and that my angel is going to be too big! I just know all the horror stories and do not want them to happen to me. I hate not having 100% control of this situation and that is what is making me so anxious. So I can not wait until Monday to sit down and express all of my concerns with my Doctor. I hope she eases my mind and will come up with a plan for me that involves this baby coming soon!

STAY TUNED FOLKS!!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day Weekend and A Baby Shower

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I know my family did. My parents came into town on Friday for the weekend and so that is always a pleasure! My family had a very busy weekend planned. We had lots of things on our agenda for the weekend! Saturday morning we had planned for all the girls to go to Pepper Place downtown Birmingham, which is a farmer's market and they have arts and crafts. It is a really fun thing to do on Saturday mornings! They have so many locally grown and made foods! YUM! My dad and Justin would be playing in the Pi Kapp Alumni Golf Tournament at Timberline. Yes, we know Justin is not a Pi Kapp but my father was at Troy and the person in charge of the tournament was our great friend Brad Calametti and had asked Justin to play on the same team as my Dad. Then Saturday around lunch time I planned on eating lunch with my two dear friends Mary Calametti and Niki Hayden in Alabaster. Then Saturday night Justin's boss Matthew Lemak and his wife Kathryn hosted a baby shower for us. Then Sunday was of course Mother's Day and the twins had there baby dedication at there church! So as you can see our family had lots to do this weekend! Luckily we got to do everything we had planned and had so much fun at all of our functions!

The baby shower was a success and we are so thankful for the Lemaks for doing this for us. It was so nice and such a fun shower. Mary-Ross racked up once again and got so many nice things! We got a lot of the things we still needed. So it is safe to say Mary-Ross officially has everything she will need for her first few months of life! :) So now all we really need is for her to get here so we can start using all of this stuff! Haha. Thank you to all our friends who were able to come out to the shower! We so appreciate it!

Mother's Day has been wonderful as well and we were so thankful to be able to spend time with out family and celebrate with all the mothers in our family. Sadly we did not get to spend today with Vicki, Justin's mother because they were off at the Kentucky Derby for the weekend! We missed you and Wayne so much! But, we love you so much and appreciate everything you have done for us! I was not only able to spend today with my mother but I was able to spend it with my Meme as well. So I was so happy everyone was able to come over to our house for lunch today. The twins baby dedication went well and they were precious!

So as you can see our weekend was great! The only thing that could have made this weekend better was if I had not been so severely tired! Unfortunately the miserable days of late pregnancy have set in and I have truly not slept well since last Wednesday night when I awoke at 2:30 and never made it back to sleep! I have not had more than 2 hours of sleep each night since and for some reason still waking up at 5:30 all bright eyed and busy tailed! But today my body and eyes are officially on the verge of severe sleep deprivation! So I have been fighting a nap all day today with the hopes of being so exhausted by night time that I am just going to fall out asleep and sleep until time to get up to get ready for my Doctor's appointment in the morning. So we will see! Not only am I tired but I have officially started to swell! I have been very lucky so far and have not had swollen hands or feet but that went out the window on Saturday and my hands and feet have decided to stay that way! I am taking it as a good sign that my body is preparing for labor! Maybe?!?! Who knows but that's what I am telling myself, OK? :) So this is my last week of work before maternity leave so I am hoping with a full week of work ahead that maybe it will help me go into labor! I know this is what everyone always hopes but this is all I can do in this waiting game they make you do! I would rather be Positive Peggy than Negative Nancy! But, I will say that I do hope she does NOT decide to make her appearance this Friday since it is going to be FRIDAY THE 13TH! AHHHH! I don't want any bad luck/ omens! :)

So stay tuned people for a Doctor update tomorrow! Everyone pray for something to be going on down there! Hehe.

Until next time folks.....

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Bad Weather...

We are luckily safe and survived all this horrible weather we had in Birmingham yesterday. Yesterday early morning is when it was the worst at our house. We lost power for about 5 minutes and had some very strong winds and rain but luckily that was it. My sister has not had power since early yesterday morning along with a good many of our friends! It was very scary watching the news live later yesterday afternoon looking at that huge tornado heading straight for Birmingham. Luckily Hoover was a bit south of where it was heading and so we were not affected.It rained again at our home for just a minute but that was really it. We are so very thankful that we did not get any damage or have to experience that horrific tornado. My heart goes out to all the people in Tuscaloosa, Cullman, and all the other places. I think most of Birmingham is just out of power which is hard as well. I know it will take a while for everything to be cleaned up and for people's lives can return back to normal. I know the one thing we can do is pray and so that is what I will be doing. So please keep all of these families in your thoughts in prayers.

Until next time...

Sunday, April 24, 2011

35 weeks & 1 day...

I had my 34 week appointment on Monday the 18th and everything was well! We did not not get many updates since they really did not do anything besides listen to the heartbeat which is always a joy/ relief to hear. We really just talked about my next appointment coming up and what all they will be doing at it. My next appointment is May 2 and that starts me going every week until the big day! I am hoping that when she does the exam on May 2 that maybe I will be showing signs of going into labor. A girl can dream, right? This week has been pretty hard on me. I really have had a great pregnancy besides the sickness and such in the beginning. But, this week I can truly say I was 100% miserable everyday! Anyone who knows me knows I am always cheerful and very rarely not in a good mood. But almost everyday last week I really was being a grouch and did not really feel like talking to anyone, which is also very unlike me. Needless to say I was welcoming the weekend with open arms times twenty! I have been in a much better mood this weekend thank goodness. I am hoping I am not so miserable this week because it makes me so sad and frustrated when I am not cheerful! Luckily I got a lot done this weekend and so it made me feel much better about going into this week. Everything that needed to be washed is done, for now at least! Everything is hung in the nursery with the exception of the shelves, which will be done after next weekend. All of Mary-Ross's clothes are hung that needed to be hung besides a small stack because I ran out of hangers for the third time now! This is no lie by the way! Good thing the closet in the nursery is extremely large so I am able to hang up everything that needs to be hung! That's all the at-home/pregnancy updates for now!


I wanted to say a BIG thanks to all of our wonderful friends who helped host our Troy baby shower. It was a great turn out and so much fun! My generous in-laws allowed us to use there home for the shower and also helped out so much! We are so thankful to be surrounded with such great people. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the shower.
This group of girls were my best friends while I was at Troy and are still my best friends now. I love them so much!

This is us with all of the hosts/hostesses of the baby shower!

Mom, me, & Vicki (mother-in-law)

Justin & I


A little update on Justin and the CPA Exam. He still has not heard back from the last part he took but hopefully we will hear something within the next few weeks. He is studying for the next part right now and is planning on taking it sometime before Mary-Ross gets here. He will probably schedule it after our next Doctor's visit once we get a little more insight on the time frame of her arrival.


We got back our maternity pictures from our session with Catherine Mayo and she did a wonderful job, just like I knew she would. I first meet Catherine through the Sawyer family who I nanny for. They use her for all of there family pictures and birthday parties! She always did a wonderful job. Then her son was in Will Sawyer's mother's day out class so we got to know each other a little better seeing each other all the time. She also took Jason & Emily Fill's maternity pictures and little Hudson's newborn pictures and did a wonderful job. So I knew she was just what I wanted when I decided to book my maternity pictures. Here are my favorites!






This is everything for now but I know I will have more updates soon! Justin is going out of town for the weekend on a Bachelor party so I will have a lot of blogging time on my hands! Till next time...

Monday, April 11, 2011

Updates and such....

I have been slacking on the blog updates! I have lots of new updates!

Let's go back to my last Doctor's appointment. I have had to go to the Doctor twice since my last Doctor update. I went to my regularly schedule appointment but I also had to go a few days earlier as well. I started having some lower back pain on my left side one Thursday while working and after it continued to get worse and worse I decided it was time to call the Doctor. I have luckily not had any back problems before so it scared me a little bit since that could be a labor sign. So they had me come in that next day to check everything out. I love my Doctor's office so much because they always make me feel so much better about all my concerns! Everything checked out at my appointment and they just told me it was just pregnancy back pain! It took a little while but it has finally gone away and I hope it does not decide to return!

I then had my regularly scheduled Doctor's appointment that following Monday. They just did all the routine stuff and I had to see a new Doctor because it was my last chance to see one more Doctor at my practice. She was very nice and I am so glad I had a chance to meet a good many different Doctor's just in case for some reason my Doctor could not be there when I deliver or if I go into labor on one of my Doctor's off days! I am scheduled to go back for my 2 week check-up next Monday, April 18. I hope we start talking about the delivery details and such. I just want to get a plan in place. I already have everything ready to go in my hospital bag besides my toiletries. I have the same dream every pregnant woman has, the dream of my baby coming a week early! :)

The next update we have for the Rolling's is that Justin passed his first part of the CPA Exam! YAY Justin! So proud of my hubby and all of his hard work! He took the second part last week so we are back to waiting again to see how he does. He said he feels very confident that he did very well on this test so let's hope he gets another PASS! Congrats again to you Justin! Love you!

Justin's brother, Hunter and his wife, Emily found out they are expecting a little girl! We are so happy for them and I think our 2 girls will enjoy having someone to play with at our family gatherings! Justin's parents are so excited they are getting 2 little girls to spoil! Exciting time ahead for the Rolling clan!

I know I told everyone already but Justin and I joined our church Riverchase United Methodist yesterday and Justin was baptized. I re-committed my faith to the lord so they blessed me as well. We are so glad to join the Riverchase family and can not wait to get to know more people that attend our church as well. Justin's parents, my grandparents, and my sister, brother-in-law, and the girls all came to support us. My parents could not make it since they are coming into town next weekend for a baby shower for Justin and I in Luverne. So we missed them but understood! We then all went out to the country club for a nice family meal. So happy we make this special decision! Can not wait for Mary-Ross to get here so she can be blessed as well!

Yesterday afternoon we took our maternity pictures at Overton Park in Homewood with Catherine Mayo. Can not wait to see them. Justin was a little upset that we were scheduled to take our pictures at 6:00 pm, right when the Master's were finishing up but he acted like a big boy and got over it! Hehe. Thanks babe!

I washed more of Mary-Ross's clothes, blankets, etc. this weekend! That child has one million articles of clothing but oh well! Justin said we will have to change her every few minutes for her to ever wear it all. Hahaha. A girl needs options doesn't she? The nursery is basically finished! Lynlee finished the bookcase and is so graciously delivering it to us on Wednesday night! Can not wait to see it! We got the shelves in as well and so all we have to do is hang them and 2 prints and I am still waiting on a frame I had made but it should be shipping out soon! Can not wait for it to be 100% done! On Saturday I had a lot of errands to run! I used some of our gift cards we have gotten to get more baby supplies! Also, I had to exchange some things and got a lot of stuff. We are almost prepared for little girl but we still have some things to get.

This weekend we will be heading to Luverne for our baby shower given by all of our dearest friends. So excited to see everyone and have basically the last weekend to visit with all of our good friends. This will be my last weekend to travel anywhere. I will be home bound for here on out!

These are all of our updates we have for now! I will post maternity pictures when we get them back! Hope everyone has a great!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

A Weekend in Wetumpka....

This weekend my sister, the girls and I all loaded up and head to our hometown, Wetumpka, Alabama. My parents came for the weekend as well and so we had a house full at my grandparents house. We had 6 adults, 3 children, and 3 dogs! Can you say circus? It was a great weekend filled with lots of laughter and great memories were made. We went to Wetumpka for the whole weekend because I had a baby shower on Saturday and then my sister and Jeff were guest speakers at our old church First Baptist of Wetumpka on Sunday. We planned a whole family get together for Sunday after church and so my mom's whole side of the family joined us for church on Sunday and then we all headed back to my grandparents house for lunch and some family bonding time.

The weekend was a success! Friday night we all just hung out around the house since we had two exciting days ahead of us! Saturday was so much fun! I had my Wetumpka baby shower at 10:30 and it was just wonderful. All the hosts did a wonderful job and we had a great turn out. Mary-Ross got so many things and we are so thankful to have so many gracious people in our life. We had a whole car full of gifts just for our angel on the way home today! I loved getting to see and spend time with my Wetumpka friends who I do not get to see very often. They are all so special to me and I can not wait for Mary-Ross to get to meet them all. They have always been my best friends and very good to my whole family. I feel so lucky to come from a small town with so many close friends who have known you your whole life. I think it is something very special to come from a small town like Wetumpka. So many people I know do not have that experience and it makes me so sad for them. All of my friends from my childhood are  my life long friends who no matter how long we go without seeing each other it is always as if we just pick up from where we left off last and go from there. I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came on Saturday and to the fantastic hosts for making this shower possible! Thanks friends! :)

While I was in Wetumpka Justin stayed behind in Birmingham and played in a golf tournament at our country club. He was very lucky this weekend! Friday night he won a raffle and won a 3D Samsung T.V., 2 pairs of 3D glasses, and a 3D Blue-ray DVD player! WHOA BABY! Then on Saturday he won another raffle and won a brand new set of Calloway Razor Irons! Talk about one lucky guy! He called and said he needed to buy a lotto ticket as well since he was on a winning streak! Hahaha. Just thought I'd share that little bit of exciting news!

On Sunday, my sister and Jeff spoke at First Baptist of Wetumpka and did a great job. I am so proud of them. They really did an inspiring speech about all the struggles they went through last year with the twins. I think it is so special that First Baptist thought of them when they were planning a special Sunday program they do once a year called The Sanctity of Life. They showed a very inspiring video called 99 Ballons that was heart-breaking but so moving. It really did make you stop and think and realize just how lucky we all are. Then they had my sister and Jeff come up and tell there story. Then after they were done sharing there story they brought all the babies up to show them off to the congregation who prayed and prayed for them and who continue to pray for them. I know they all were so glad to be able to finally put a face to the names they have heard over and over again from my grandparents and other close friends of the family. It was such a proud and special moment for our family.

Another weekend has come and gone but it was a great weekend! We have to rest up this week because we have another big weekend ahead of us!

Until next time....

Monday, March 21, 2011

Another Doctor Update!

Went to the Doctor today for my 2 week check-up and it went great! We got to re-do our 4D ultrasound and Mary-Ross did much better at this one. I drank a yucky Mello Yello as instructed by the ultrasound tech and I think it worked! She was moving all around during the ultrasound and showed us her sweet smile a lot. It was so sweet and adorable. She opened her eyes a lot and she opened her mouth and was sticking out her tongue at us too! Her feet are right by her head! We got to count all of her fingers and toes and she has 5 on each hand and foot! The ultrasound tech measured her for us and according to the measurements she is weighing around 3 lbs. 9 ounces right now. She said that her femur is measuring about 2 weeks and 5 days ahead of her due date and her weight is measuring about a week ahead of my due date. So we will see in a few weeks if my Doctor thinks she will be arriving earlier than we thought. That will definitely make her parents happy! Justin thought this 4D was really cool and he said it made him want to meet out little angel even more! Haha. I had some problems over the weekend but luckily the Doctor said everything is fine. I had to go on an antibiotic though but besides that everything is peachy! I go back on April 4th and then I will start going once a week! YAYY! We have a lot of things coming up and I am hoping it will make the time go by faster!

Here is my favorite picture from the ultrasound today!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Almost officially members...

Justin and I finally sat down with Dr. Jim Savage, the senior pastor at Riverchase United Methodist here in Hoover. We have been attending RUMC whenever possible over the past year and have always enjoyed the services. Finding and joining a church here in Hoover is something we have been wanting to do from day one of moving to Birmingham but, as we all do, it is something that took the back burner even though it was the most important thing. We let life and laziness get in the way for too long and after we found out we were expecting our little angel it luckily put a pep in our step to being more serious about our faith. So today we meet with Dr. Savage after the service and talked to him about joining the church and told him Justin wanted to be baptized and that I want to re-commit to the Lord. We also told him we wanted Mary-Ross to be baptized after she was born as well. We had a great meeting and really enjoyed talking with Dr. Savage and hearing what he believes and feels is important. Lucky for us he has been just the person we have been looking for and his beliefs and views just so happen to be exactly how we both feel. He told us RUMC over the years has become more and more of a melting pot of all religions. He said that majority of the members are all from different denominations and that really made Justin and I more comfortable since we both are from different denominations. He said that RUMC is really all about peace and love. He said that because so many people there have been brought up believing so many different things that they like to focus on the main reason why we go to church and that is God. Justin and me really like that and feel so much better now that we know all of these things. We are so looking forward to joining RUMC and getting to know the people. We always enjoy Dr. Savage's sermons and can not wait to learn more and more from him. We are planning on joining the church and being baptized the second weekend in April. So the official date is set for April 10th. This is something that has been so important to us and on our minds to do before Mary-Ross gets here. We want her to be apart of something great before she even knows it. We are hoping to meet many new friends at RUMC and becoming apart of the family.

Until next time...

Saturday, March 19, 2011

30 weeks!

As of today I am officially 30 weeks preggo! I have really started to feel 30 weeks pregnant more and more this past week. I have really noticed just how heavy my belly is and my legs have been feeling really crampy. I definitely think I have been having more Braxton Hick's contractions but they have not been really bad. I just notice how my belly and the tops of my thighs will all of a sudden feel really crampy. My mom told me she had Braxton Hick's in her legs when she was pregnant too. So that helped ease my concerns. It is getting harder and harder to get up and down and I do not get from point a to b very fast anymore. Luckily my sleeping is still great besides the occasional getting up at night to use the potty. I went and ran some errands yesterday and even though I only went to 3 places by the time I got home I was exhausted. I decided to re-organize some things in the nursery and start on some projects for the nursery but then I had to rest on the couch until time to get ready for dinner with the Crutcher's!

Yesterday I decided that I wanted Mary-Ross to use all organic diapers! I have already been buying diapers and when I bought diapers I bought the Huggies pure & natural brand and some of the Seventh Generation brand. I suffered from Eczema as an infant all the way to current day. It was absolutely horrible when I was a baby and child. I have traumatizing flashbacks to the screaming and fighting I would do when my mother was trying to help my skin problems. Back then there was little that could be done for Eczema. Doctors did not consider all of the things that they do now when treating Eczema in children and adults. We did not know chemicals and foods are basically the main cause of Eczema. Since I have been an adult I have had more control over my skin problems after working for an Allergist and reading everything possible on the issue. I realized my diet and products I was using was the main problem and once I fixed those issues I have actually been Eczema free for a very long time now. So that little story is why I have officially decided to use only organic diapers for the little one. Eczema can be hereditary and I do not even want to take the chance in causing a flare up on my precious angel because I use regular diapers. Regular diapers are loaded with chemicals and chlorine. Chlorine is one of the biggest irritants to people who have skin problems. This is one reason why babies get diaper rashes. I know some babies never get diaper rashes. But, a lot of children suffer from them and one reason is because of the type of diapers there parents but on them. My sister has found this to be very true as well since Ashlyn Kay suffered from diaper rashes and so does Blakely. When Ashlyn Kay was a baby Huggies did not have the pure and natural brand. But now they do and that is what she uses on the twins and it helps prevent Blakely from getting bad diaper rashes. So since I have been registering for baby stuff I came across a new brand of diapers called gDiapers. Now we all know the best organic diapering option for babies are cloth diapers but that is one thing I can not do. I know how severe infant poops are and that is something I am not willing to do. But this company that makes gDiapers has come up with the perfect concept for parents who want there children to wear organic diapers but do not fool with the mess of cloth diapers. So I read a lot of reviews on them and read up on the product information. After reading all the info I became convinced that it is definitely worth trying! I compared the prices and gDiapers seem like they are expensive at first but once you calculate it all it actually is the same price as regular disposable diapers. I am still going to use the diapers I have already bought but luckily all the ones I have are already the organic version of disposable diapers. So we will see how they really work out when they are put to test. Here is the concept of the gDiapers if you are curious!

The gDiaper concept:
The actual diaper is reusable and re washable. They come in sizes newborn to large. They have a snap in liner to protect the actual diaper from getting dirty.  You put a disposable 100% biodegradable liner into the snap in liner. The biodegradable liner is what will catch the pee/poop. Now you are asking how is it possible that the diaper will stay clean? Well the snap in liner which is a plastic liner is what protects the actual diaper which is cloth and very soft. So when your baby soils the the disposable liner you just take the liner out throw away in the garbage or flush down the toilet. They also suggest composting but the Rolling's are not that green! :) The gdiapers are plastic free, chlorine free, latex free, and perfume free. Now even the company who makes this product will tell you accidents happen but that is why you have more than one gDiaper. They recommend 12 gdiapers for a newborn and 6-8 gDiapers from when they are in the sizes small to large. They say that yes the snap in liners will on occasion get dirty but that's why they snap out and are washable. So once you have the actual gdiapers all you have to do is buy the liners each time. Which like I said before are around the same price as regular diapers. Another perk with the gDiapers is that they have a velcro closures to keep the diaper on baby and they are adjustable so you can get the exact fit for your little one.

So there is the information on the gDiaper. You might think I am being crazy but it is something I want to try and what is it going to hurt? I am hoping it works because that will definitely cut down on smelly diapers and tons of trash! I used a gift card we had and bought the gDiaper newborn bundle which comes with 12 newborn diapers, 6 size small diapers, and 80 biodegradable liners. The snap in liners are already included with each individual diaper and comes with an extra one. You can also buy a 6-pack of the snap-in liners for back up.

I will post my review on the product after giving them a try with Miss Priss! I am hoping they work! :)

I go to the Doctor on Monday and we are getting our 4D ultrasound again. I am hoping this one is better than the last! I will do a new post after the Doctor's visit on Monday!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Big news for the Rolling's!

Friday night we got a phone call from Justin's brother, Hunter, announcing him and his wife Emily were expecting there first child! Emily is due early September. They will get to find out the sex at there appointment in April. We are so very happy for them and glad Mary-Ross will have a cousin the same age. They are so excited as well. Justin's parents couldn't be happier as well since they went from zero grandbabies to two grandbabies in one year! The holidays will be very entertaining for us from here on out and we are so happy. We want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Hunter and Emily and we can not wait to find out if Mary-Ross will have a girl cousin or boy cousin. :) It is going to be very cool that she will have cousins on both sides of her family that are so close in age!  I will post an update when we hear what they are having! Love you Hunter and Emily!

Birmingham Baby Shower

Last night we kicked off Spring with our first baby shower. It was so cute and so much fun. We have some wonderful friends and family members and we are so very thankful for them all. This shower was given by my sister and her husband, Amy and Scooter, Lynlee and Grant, Jennifer and Matt, Trent and Alyssa, and Molly. All of those people are dear friends of mine and we could never express to them how much we appreciated them doing this for us and Mary-Ross! They had all of my favorite foods! I was stuffed to the brim after eating all of it last night! :) A walk today is going to be necessary! We got some wonderful gifts and much needed items! They did a really cute idea that I LOVE! In the invitation they included a bookplate and instructed the guests to buy a book instead of a card and enclose the bookplate in the book and write who it is from so that way Mary-Ross will know who gave her each book! It is so cute and very special I think! I can just imagine when Mary-Ross is old enough to understand those things and we can go through all her wonderful books to see who gave them to her. She got baby books all the way to some timeless books. I can not wait to be able to read them to her! I just wanted to share just how blessed we are and we could never show just how thankful we are for these special people in our lives! Thanks again to the hosts and people who came last night! We love you!


Left to Right: Emily Fill, Amy Crutcher, Me, Niki Hayden, & Alyssa Cox

                            
All of the hosts & friends who came to the shower minus a few people


Until next time.....

Thursday, March 10, 2011

28 weeks and 5 days


We went in for our 4 week check-up today and everything went great! We had our 4D ultrasound done but unfortunately our little angel is like her mother and hates having her picture taken. She was sleeping the entire time and had her arm bent right in front of her face! We did manage to get a few good ones of her profile though. Luckily, my Doctor's office offers a free re-do and so at our next appointment on March 21st we will try again. The ultrasound tech told me to drink half of a Mountain Dew before I got to the Doctor's office and then finish the rest of it while waiting to be called back. So hopefully she will be moving all around! She still has not turned but we are hoping by the next appointment she will be head down. I really hope she moves on her own! The position she is in right now she does not have that much farther to go as long as she goes left not right. But besides that they said she looked perfect and she is measuring exactly on time and should weigh around 2.5 lbs. right now. My stomach is measuring exactly as it should as well. The Doctor said that everything looked normal for me as well. I did have a few things to let them know this time. Last Friday night I had my first Braxton Hicks contraction that I really felt and he said that I would probably start feeling those more frequently now. Luckily it only happened once and after drinking water, laying on my left side, and soaking in the tub it went away! I also have been having some dizzy and sick feeling spells for the past two weeks and the Doctor said I am having a hypoglycemic episodes. So he gave me the instructions on what to do when those occur. Hopefully I will not have anymore though. We are looking forward to the next appointment though to see our little girl again. Justin is going to scan in the pictures for me so when he does I will post some on the blog and on facebook. I still need to take some updated pictures of the nursery and post on here for everyone to see. Maybe I can get that done tonight or tomorrow. I will post a new blog after the baby shower on Saturday as well. So excited to see our friends and family!

Until next time.....