Miscellaneous Monday

Happy Monday! It's been a very fun 2 weeks for me! On Saturday the 16th, I got to do my 3D/4D ultrasound. My doctor told me to do it between 25-31 weeks, but the technician told me after 31 weeks is ideal; bummer! He was curled up in a ball, but we still got a couple of shots of his sweet little face and I got to see all of his precious fingers and toes and confirm that Luke is indeed a boy. I had been having very illogical fears that they would change their minds again at this ultrasound, so I was so excited when she confirmed what we already knew. I want to do it again closer to my due date, but we'll see! After the ultrasound, we went to see Uncle Kracker, Billy Currington, The Zac Brown Band and Kenny Chesney at Cowboys Stadium with my sister, her husband and his family - thanks Van and Nancy for inviting us along; we had a great time!!!
It was a long and exhausting day, but the music was great, the company was awesome and it was a nice change from what we normally do on the weekends.


Last Wednesday, most of the baby furniture arrived. We're still waiting on the changing table converter (no big deal, really!) and the rocker. I put everything I had on the bookshelf and hung up the one piece of art I had bought so far and took a picture. His room is in the VERY beginning stages, but I am pleased so far with how my vision is coming together. Since Jon and I both graduated from UT and we are HUGE football fans, we knew right away when we found out we were having a boy, we needed to incorporate our love of football and UT into the room. My cousin Kim suggested vintage football and we've run with it. I have several old programs from the 30s, 40s and 50s that are being framed and will be put on the wall soon. My mom is coming this weekend to go shopping for accessories, a rug and all the stuff that will make this room all Luke!

This weekend, we celebrated Easter in Sugar Land. Every year, my aunt throws a huge Easter egg hunt at her house for the whole family and it's something I look forward to every year. My aunt's grandkids are getting older, but they are still young enough to hunt eggs and in the coming years, Maddie Claire and Luke will get to partake. I'm so excited to watch them grow up and get to hunt eggs and learn all about why we celebrate Easter. Here's a pic of my Maddie in one of her Easter outfits. She's such a cutie pie and I can't wait for her to come spend this weekend with me!


My mom got Luke and Maddie Claire easter baskets and I think they are just about the cutest things I have ever seen. Maddie also got a tooth fairy duck - although she won't be losing her teeth for years, we found this precious little duck at Canton and Emily thought it would be so cute in Maddie Claire's room. The wings of the duck open up and you can put your lost teeth inside of it for the tooth fairy. It's so cute!


Luke's Easter basket was, of course, Longhorn themed and filled with lots of monogrammed goodies. I am (and always have been) mildly (or maybe majorly) obsessed with personalized everything, so my mom has been so kind to make sure that anything that can be monogrammed is. I even got a sewing & embroidery machine last year for our 3rd wedding anniversary, and I took some lessons a couple of weeks ago, so I'm well on my way to being able to do it myself on just about anything - I just need some software and I'll be ready to go (hint hint, Jon!).

Here's a picture of Jon and me on Easter Sunday. No belly pics this week - I feel very uncomfortable and uncute right now and I'm going to be a little vain and not post any this week. I'm allowed to feel that way, right?!?


Anyways, here are the highlights of the past 2 weeks!

- How Far Along: 27 Weeks
Size of baby: 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long! He's growing and I can feel it.
Gender: It's a Boy! Luke Holland Dorsey
Movement: Lots and lots and lots of movement and kicks. He's an active little guy.
Sleep: I wake up 2-3 times each night now. I can usually go back to sleep very quickly, though, so I'm not really losing any sleep
What I miss: Being able to work out - with the boot on, I can't even walk on the treadmill. It's a serious setback, and I wish I could be a little more active.
Cravings: None this week.
Symptoms: The lower back pain is starting, and the heartburn is getting worse -- will Luke have a head of hair when he arrives?
Best Moment this week: Jon finally feeling Luke kick, getting to see my family and my Maddie, the furniture arriving, and a whole laundry list of other things. I'm looking forward to my baby showers in May and June, and watching the calendar get closer to July.

Finally (LONG POST, I KNOW!), I saw this over the weekend and just bawled my eyes out. I love this song and I love the message, especially around Easter time when I'm reflecting on what Christ did for me to save me. It's hit me especially hard this Easter, as I want to do everything I can in my life to show Luke how much he is loved by our Savior who paid the ultimate price for him.

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." - Romans 6:8-11

25 Weeks!

I feel like I'm on the downward slope now - the weeks are going by so quickly and we still have so much to do!

This past week was a whirlwind for me. I had so much going on and I am still exhausted from all the activity. Monday I went to the doctor and all is well, except for the fact that I have a stress fracture and tendinitis in my right foot and was put in a boot for who knows how long. It's not so much fun when I'm used to going and doing as I please. I've had to stay home more, not walk around as much, and try not to be on my feet. I can't say that I was successful at that this week, but I didn't do as much shopping or daily errands as I normally would.

Wednesday night, Jon and I went to a Mavs game at the AA Center. I'm a big Rangers fan and Cowboys fan, but had never been to a Mavs game, so that was really fun. The seats were really good and it was a close game. We had to leave early because my foot was bugging me, but it's always fun to get out and do things in Dallas that we don't do every day.

Thursday night, I went to the Dallas Junior League spring social. This is my first year in JL and this event was just for new members and their sponsors. There were so many girls there that went to UT and did the sorority thing and are friends of friends, so it was fun meeting them and just getting to socialize with new people. Everyone I met was pretty close to me in age, so I' feel like I'm joining at the perfect time. I'm really excited about the coming year and making new friends and getting to volunteer in the city I love so much. And, it also helps that I get to do it with one of my very best friends. Some may think I'm crazy since our provisional year starts a couple of weeks after I have Luke, but I'm excited about it.

This weekend, I went to a bachelorette party for my friend Catherine. She is so sweet and we had the best time. Saturday afternoon, we had a cooking competition at the Milestone Culinary Arts Center in Dallas. We thought we were going to be learning how to cook a lot of southern specialties, but turns out it was a Top Chef/Chopped inspired cooking competition. We were split into teams and given 4 secret ingredients and a table full of "free" food and 45 minutes to make a dish. The test kitchens were stocked and we had more than I have at home to work with. There were real judges and tasters, and although my team lost (our salad dressing didn't have enough oil), it was so fun. I would highly recommend it to anyone who's looking to host a party in Dallas. Saturday night was just a nice time relaxing, opening gifts, and hanging out with Cat and her friends. I can't wait until her wedding!

I plan to relax a little this week - although I am very excited about my private lesson to learn how to use my embroidery machine to start putting Luke's name on everything I can get my hands on.

Here's the highlights for this week!

- How Far Along: 25 Weeks
Size of baby: 1.5 pounds and 13.5 inches long! Babycenter compares him to the size of a rutabaga.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Can I stop putting this on here at some point? This morning, it was 12.
Gender: It's a Boy! Luke Holland Dorsey
Movement: I can feel him a lot now! I can always feel him in the morning when I wake up, after I eat lunch, late in the afternoon and then again after dinner. I can feel him kick on the outside too if I keep my hands on my stomach long enough
Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty good! I'm very thankful for the rest because I know it won't last very much longer.
What I miss: Back to missing wine again. This too shall pass, I know.
Cravings: None this week.
Symptoms: After I talked to the doctor about all the ones I was having, he told me how to treat them and they've disappeared! The only thing bothering me is the boot I'm now sporting. Hopefully that won't be necessary for too much longer.
Best Moment this week: Getting out and about with my friends and just enjoying the last few months before I become a mom.

Weeks 23 & 24

These past 3 weeks have been so busy with travel and family and friends, and there has hardly
been time to update and do any highlights. We went to Austin again last weekend for our niece Kristin's 5th Birthday. She had 2 parties in one day, so it was quite the day for her. Her first birthday party was at Inflatable World with all of her friends from school. It was so much fun to watch her run around having fun. She is growing so fast, and we don't see her enough. After her birthday party, we went back to her house for a cookout with the whole family and more cake and presents. She is one very blessed little girl! After her birthday parties, I got to go to the Round Rock outlets and go shopping for Luke some more. It's fun for me to go shopping for my little guy, since I've been shopping for all of my nieces for so long. I will admit that it's taking some time to get adjusted to the other side of the store.


This past weekend, we went down to Houston for my grandfather's 91st birthday party. We haven't been to Houston since my niece Maddie Claire was born, so it was a great time catching up with everyone. Maddie Claire is growing so quickly and she is the most precious baby. She's so good and so fun to be around; I love her so much and wish I could see her everyday!




I have a busy week ahead of me - a Mavs game, a Junior League social, a big to do list at work, a bachelorette party this weekend and painting the nursery (well, technically that's on Jon's list!). I need to slow down, but there is so much to do before July! These weeks are flying by, which is a good thing - July will be here before I know it.

23 & 24 Week Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks
Size of baby: 1 and 1/3 pounds, and about the length of a ear of corn (almost a foot long!)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Haven't stepped on the scale this week, but I feel like it's a lot more than the 4 lbs I gained last time I was on the scale. I'm getting HUGE
Gender: It's a Boy! Luke Holland Dorsey
Movement: I can feel him a lot now! I can always feel him in the morning when I wake up, after I eat lunch, late in the afternoon and then again after dinner. I can feel him kick on the outside too if I keep my hands on my stomach long enough
Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty good! I'm very thankful for the rest because I know it won't last very much longer.
What I miss: This week I'm really missing eating boiled crawfish. I know a lot of people have said it's safe to eat these, but I haven't talked to my doctor about it yet, so I'm waiting to get his opinion before eating those delicious mudbugs.
Cravings: None this week. I still want something sweet after dinner, but I wouldn't call it a craving.
Symptoms: Typical stuff. Starting to get acid reflux and leg cramps at night. I think I may have a stress fracture in one of my ankles because it's been swollen the size of a baseball for 3 weeks... can't wait to see what my doctor says about that tomorrow.
Best Moment this week: seeing my family and also getting to feel Luke all the time. I really can't wait to meet him! Hurry up, July!


Have a good week, y'all!

Love,

Molly

Hill Country Weekend & 22 Week Update

Good Morning Y'all!

We had such a fun weekend in Austin filled with friends and food and lots of fun. I'm still exhausted just thinking about it. We started off our weekend by driving out to Thurman's Mansion in Driftwood for a rehearsal dinner for one of our best friends, Adam, and his beautiful bride Paige. We love them both so much and were so excited that they were finally tying the knot!

The rehearsal dinner was really casual; the back porch of the Mansion looks out over the Salt Lick and a vineyard. The Harveys brought horseshoes and footballs and bean bags for people to play with on the massive lawn, and it was fun to be outside surrounded by all the beautiful scenery. Dinner was good old fashioned Salt Lick barbecue - if you haven't been there, you must go. Many a night in college was spent trecking out to Driftwood for good food and good music - there's almost always a live band!



Saturday, we got up and drove out to the lake. We were packing it in this weekend! We went to new Oasis complex, which is quite impressive. We ate at Uncle Billy's on the lake; it was so good and much better than the Oasis' food. With the same view but better food, it's a place I'm sure we will go to again and again. After lunch, we went back to the Arboretum and got Amy's Ice Cream and went shopping for Luke. It was a perfect afternoon!


Saturday evening, we boarded a shuttle bus that took us out to Buda, Texas to the Kali Kate Equestrian Center for Paige and Adam's wedding. It was the most gorgeous wedding weather and the location was perfect for them!


Paige is so creative - the wedding was outdoors and the reception was about 30 feet away in a large stone pavilion. It was stunning. As far as seating goes, this was by far the most creative way I've ever seen a seating arrangement displayed. Paige took old china plates and so beautifully wrote each name on a the plate that corresponded to the matching table number spoon. The pictures don't do it justice!


The inside of the pavilion looked like it came straight out of a wedding magazine. Very eclectic, very vintage and very pretty!




We went to the wedding with two of our best friends, Becca and Justin. We got to celebrate Justin getting matched to Austin/Houston for his neurology program and Jon's new job. We are so blessed to have such good friends in our lives that we can celebrate both little and big milestones with.


We wrapped up the weekend with some Threadgill's with Jon's dad and brother and sister-in-law. It's so important to me to pack each weekend in Austin with our favorite things since we don't get down there nearly enough. We miss living there and getting to do those things all the time.

I'm 22 weeks pregnant and a couple of days. It's really becoming quite obvious and quite uncomfortable, which I'm sure will only get much worse. I really have grown so much in the past 2 weeks; it's amazing how it just happens so quickly. Here are the highlights for this week!

How Far Along: 22 Weeks
Size of baby: almost a pound, and about the size of a spaghetti squash
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained about 6 lbs. so far
Gender: It's a Boy! Luke Holland Dorsey
Movement: Felt Luke kick hard for the first time this week. The movement is pretty constant now and Jon felt it pretty faintly last night.
Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! I wake up once or twice each night.
What I miss: Skinny Ankles! Hahaha - but seriously, if I overdo it, even just a little, my ankles look terrible!
Cravings: Sweets. Anything sweet will do - but chocolate and ice cream are my favorites.
Symptoms: Just little aches and pains; nothing out of the ordinary!
Best Moment this week: Feeling him really kick me for the first time. It's great to know he's active and growing as he should be!



Have a good week.

Love,

Molly

21 Weeks and other fun baby things

I've gotten so much accomplished this week to prepare for Luke! We registered, which was pretty daunting considering we have no idea what we are going to need. We went and ordered all of the baby furniture for his room, and we shipped all the bedding fabrics to my mother-in-law who is making the bedding (I am so excited to see how it turns out!). My cousin and go-to-decorating-girl Kim suggested we do a vintage football theme after I texted her a picture of an old wooden painting of a UT/OU game from 1937 that I bought. I loved the idea and have run with it. It's been fun buying old UT football programs to frame and buying accessories that will work in his room for years to come. I think my favorite one so far has been the old intercollegiate football I found in a bin at Canton last week. Here's a sneak peak at some of the furniture we chose.



The furniture is Baby's Dream Legendary in Espresso. We got the crib, a double dresser with a changing table top that can be taken off later and a really large bookcase for all those books we've been collecting. We chose this particular set because we feel like we can use the pieces for years to come.


I can't find a picture of my exact chair (Little Castle - Treasure), but it looks almost exactly the same as the above picture. We chose a recliner since we think it will work better in our 10x10 nursery to not have an ottoman. The only difference between our chair and the one pictured is that the recliner handle is inside the chair cushion for safety. I love this chair because it's super comfy and I think that's important if I'm going to be spending a ton of time in it.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 21 Weeks
Size of baby: 3/4 of a pound, and about the length of a carrot
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 4 lbs. so far
Gender: It's a Boy! Luke Holland Dorsey
Movement: Felt him a little more this week, especially during the day! Haven't felt a strong kick yet; I still feel like I'm on a roller coaster that doesn't stop.
Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! I wake up once or twice each night.
What I miss: I miss going shopping all day long or being out all day long and not getting tired. I tried to venture out on all-day gigs the past 2 weekends (Canton Trade Days and St. Patrick's Day in Dallas) in a row and it wore me out. I was in bed last night at 7:30 with my feet propped up.
Cravings: Peanut M&Ms.
Symptoms: Just little aches and pains; nothing out of the ordinary!
Best Moment this week: Realizing that I am over half way done with this pregnancy and that in less than 20 weeks, I get to meet my little guy.

20 Week Update

Hi Y'all!

Well, we've had a crazy turn of events around here. About a week ago, I went in for my 20 week ultrasound and was told that they had make a mistake; I am actually going to have a boy! I had bought so much girl stuff and was getting so excited at the thought of big hair bows and smocked dresses, so I was a little shocked. BUT, I have always wanted a boy, so it was a pleasant surprise. I laughed so hard and Jon just said "I told you to wait to buy anything..." Needless to say, we spent that day returning girl clothes and packing away the things that weren't returnable. Thank goodness I hadn't bought furniture or anything too major!

We are excited to welcome this little boy into the world in less than 20 weeks and I have been having so much fun hunting for cute boy stuff. For all you girl moms out there, believe me, it is a hunt. Boy mamas, leave me a comment as to where you shop; all of you who have little boys and write blogs seem to always have the cutest dressed kiddos.

Beginning this week, I'm going to steal a page out of Kelly's book and start doing a weekly post about my pregnancy. It's more for me than for anyone else because I want to be able to look back on this...

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 Weeks
Size of baby: 10.5 ounces, about the size of a banana
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 4 lbs. so far
Gender: It's a Boy! Luke Holland Dorsey
Movement: Starting to feel like I'm on a roller coaster that doesn't stop.
Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! I wake up once or twice each night.
What I miss: Alcohol. I'm being honest here, but this mama likes her wine (and beer and...). It sounds so terrible, but it's true!
Cravings: Peanut M&Ms and cheeseburgers. Healthy, I know.
Symptoms: Just little aches and pains; nothing out of the ordinary!
Best Moment this week: Getting past the halfway mark and finding out the true gender. I've already gotten lots of things monogrammed this week. We also got to pick out all the fabric for Luke's bedding and I've started buying stuff for his room - it's going to be so nice!

And, here's a pic of my 20 week self. I definitely feel like I've gained a whole lot more than 4 pounds!



Have a good week!

Molly

Big News!

Hi Everyone!

I'm such a terrible blogger, and I've haven't written much in the last year, BUT, that's all about to change! 2011 has started off to be a great year with the birth of my precious niece Maddie Claire. I am so excited to finally tell my blog friends and my facebook friends that I am going to have a baby! I am due on July 23, 2011 and I am so very excited to tell you that we are having a girl! We got the privilege of finding out the sex of our baby on January 10th at my 12 week appointment (early! I know!), so I've had about a month to soak it all in and search the internet for all things cute and girly! After much deliberation, we have decided that we are going to name our baby girl Harper Adeline. For those wanting to know where her name came from, my favorite book growing up was To Kill a Mockingbird. Adeline was the most precious little girl in my Mission Friends class last year, and I told her mom that if I ever had a daughter, I wanted to name her after Addie.

We are so excited to be expecting, and I am beyond excited to decorate her nursery and prepare for her arrival into this world. I feel so blessed and thankful for this precious blessing from God.

I'll be blogging a lot more now that I have something to blog about!

On another note, I have been dying to share with you my newest obsession: Pinterest. I was introduced to Pinterest a couple of weeks ago by one of my dearest, cutest, craftiest friends (thanks, Becs!) and I have been unable to stop pinteresting ever since. For all of you ladies out there that have folders upon folders of ideas and pictures saved to your computers, this is for you! I have saved ideas in notebooks and folders on the computer for years, only to not catalog it correctly and be unable to find the source where it came from. However, with pinterest, those days are long gone! In the words of Pinterest, "Pinterest is a social catalog service. Think of it as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can post collections of things you love, and "follow" collections created by people with great taste." When you find something online that you LOVE, you just click a button to "pin it" and then it catalogs into your folders where it's easily found again. If you need to pull it up, go to your pin board, click the pic, and then it takes you back to the original source. Genius! ALSO, pinterest has fabulous members with impeccable taste and you can follow/repin their ideas as well, so that you can be inspired by others. Pinterest is invitation only - but I have some invites! Leave a comment if you want to join with your email address, and I'll send you an invite. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Well, that's all for now! We are so thankful for all of you who have known about our pregnancy and offered support/advice/love. We can't wait to welcome our daughter into this world.