Working on the House

Garrett and his dad did a ton of work to the house over the New Year's Holidays. I couldn't believe it. Both bathrooms have fans, all the cable and wiring was dropped or moved for almost every room. Furniture was moved and my massive mirror was hung without any mishap. The locks and light fixtures were replaced to match and update the house.
My favorite thing they did was to put together all of the baby furniture. The nursery is almost done expect to slip cover a chair and a new cubby system.

The most drastic thing that has happened in our month here is the remodel of the bathroom (hall). It is not even finished and it already looks 100 times better.

Christmas

We started our Christmas off with a Christmas Eve Service then dinner at a Japanese Restaurant. The service was great. Garrett and I really loved it. Dinner was even more fun with Tatum. He loved to see all the fire as they cooked in front of us.

The next morning, after Santa had come for Tatum, we all watched as he had a ball. There were plenty of presents to be had by all. He must have been a good little boy to get all those presents.

On Christmas Day, after lunch we loaded up the car with all of our loot and headed off to see our new nephew, Joshua Stephens Hart (my sister's baby). He was so good and wonderfully cute. We all got to "see" Kristine through the magic of technology on the computer. The gifts she sent us were one of a kind.

If you know my mom, you know we had a feast for dinner on Christmas. She and Kathleen out did themselves. The company, the meal, the gifts were all wonderful, but the best thing was letting Princess Cobra and Joshua Stephens meet for the first time.

Garrett, myself, mom, and dad headed off that night to stay with our other mom and dad (Gladstone's). The next few days were spent relaxing, eating, and shopping. Finally, we headed home. It truly was worth all the effort, traveling, and backache (on my part) to see and visit with everyone.

Moving and Settling in!

We have finally moved in this weekend. Everything is in the house, but not put away! Thankfully just in time before we start on our world win Christmas trip to four families. I will get to meet my new nephew on Christmas Day. Pictures will follow of Princess Cobra (no name as of yet), Joshua Stephens, Christmas, and our new house!!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!

P.S. For those who are concerned Princess Cobra was not injured in the move. I have a wonderful and protective husband. He is completely exhausted from moving and trying to keep me from over doing it!

Princess Cobra Pictures

Here are the pictures from our last ultrasound. Princess Cobra is definitely a girl!





Here Spine looks great!!!!



Look at that cute chicken leg!




The side of her pretty face!

The doc was pushing so hard on my very full belly to find "my little princess"
I think she got scared and decided to duck and cover.

Princess Cobra's Check up

Have you ever spent a complete day at multiple doctor's offices? I have. I left at 8:00 am and didn't get home to until 6:00 pm. ( I did go home for lunch.) P. C. is perfect she is 26 weeks along and the perfect size in my belly. Her heart beat is 156, and I gained 4 more pounds. This is a feat when all I did at first was lose weight.
My sugar test went well, but I failed the hemoglobin portion. My O.B. sent me to another section of the hospital to have blood drawn. I will know soon if I have to have shots or just more pills.
G (my husband) and I did get to take a tour of the hospital were I will deliver. It's pretty nice. Did you know that the baby stays in the room the whole time. They won't take her to "the nursery". We did get to ask a ton of questions.

Do you have any advice or questions we should ask?

After lunch, I was sent to an allergist that sees pregnant women. I told him I didn't have allergies or asthma, but he didn't believe me. I was then given 60 pricks to find out what I was allergic to. Guess what! I'm not allergic to anything. What a concept, I was right. After another series of tests, (because there had to be something wrong with me - I had a cold) the doctor came in and said, "You have pregnancy asthma." Who in the world has heard of that. I have asthma brought on by hormones. I have 4 new medications to help me fend off sickness and help me breath.
Now here is the fun part, I have to go back in two weeks for a check up at both both doctors and a dermatologist who is going to "dig out" my birthmark. I do love feeling Princess Cobra move inside me. I just wish all the other stuff would disappear. I even called my mom asked her if I am a mental case. The hormones are making my life difficult at best.

Does it get better or is it like this until they graduate?

Our New House

Here is a picture of our new house. We close on the 15th of December. I am really excited. We have been living in an apartment for a year after my husband was promoted and we moved. Looking back we made a good decision to wait. I changed jobs in July and have been commuting longer. Thankfully we didn't buy where we live now, that would have been a pain.

We don't have any decent pictures to add for the inside, but as soon as we can get inside I will post some. I will give you a quick description. The dining room is directly to your left when you come into the foyer. The living room with a floor to ceiling fire place is directly in front of the front door. Off the dining room and living room is the kitchen and kitchen nook. The dining room and living room have both been updated with dark hardwood floors. The kitchen and kitchen nook needs some tender loving care. It is still stuck in the 80's. Off the kitchen nook is a pantry, mud room, and laundry room. There are two doors off the mud room. One goes outside the other goes to a double garage with an attached workshop in the back.

There are sliding glass doors off the living room on to a covered porch. We are going to close it in for a sun room or screened in porch with outside/inside carpet. This will be Princess Cobra's play room. It already has two large outside fans.

The hallway and master bedroom also have new hardwood floors off the left of the living room. There are three closets in the hallway. The master has a walk in closet and bathroom. The other bathroom is next to the nursery. The extra bedroom also has two closets. One of the pluses of the house is an already set up nursery. There is a mural on every wall. Each wall has a different character from a Dr. Seuss book. My favorite is Oh, baby the places you will go! The closet is also set up for little clothes and such. The bathrooms need a little help. One bathroom has navy blue wall paper with daisies on it. It is a little much for such a small room. I know it is not perfect, but it will filled with joy and love. (aw www!)

Welcome to my blog!

I want to introduce the world to Princess Cobra. To do this I must give you the back story for the reason of this blog. I am now six months pregnant with my first child. We know it is a girl, but we haven't decided anything else.
The magnitude of naming a human being is enormous. I am an elementary school teacher and have seen some "real winners". I am sure you have your own examples.
Okay back to the story, we came to my in-laws for Thanksgiving. Everyone wanted to know what we are calling our new precious edition. Our list for no's is extremely long. We do have a few maybes (names we don't hate). Seeing as both of our mothers have lost their privilege to suggest anything we are not discussing our lists at family gatherings. However, we have a five year old nephew, Tatum, who prayed for our baby to get a name. It was incredibly sweet. When we told his parents about his prayer at Thanksgiving dinner (our fault) they asked him innocently what do you think Aunt Caroline and Uncle Beef (Garrett's nickname) should name their little girl? He took a minute to think. He cocked his head and said, "Cobra." After we finished laughing, his mom reminded him it was a girl. His response to this sweet reminder was, "You know what guys, I think it should be Princess (pause) Cobra."
I don't think I have ever laughed as hard as I did that afternoon. I thought for sure the nickname wouldn't stick, but everyone including my husband, started to shorten princess cobra to prin.co. or pcs.
Don't get me wrong, I love my family and the jokes that fly back and forth, but I was really mortified that they wanted to call my perfect little baby, Princess Cobra. They even went as far as to comment she would come out with a hood that would flair up when she got angry. Thankfully my sense of humor actually kicked in after I had a nap. (Sleep is very important at his point in my life.) Now all we call her is by her "name." I am holding out hope that her nickname will not stick. I am sure it is an accurate description of how she will act, but Tatum is right we really need to pray for this baby to have a real name.