Dear Brooke Allen

Dear Brooke Allen,

You're almost here. I can't believe it.

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the things we'll need to do to provide for you. Not just with food, shelter, and clothing, but in life itself. Our home will be your classroom. Your personality will grow from what you learn from us.

I promise to make our home a happy home, brimming with love, imagination, and fun.

I promise that home will always be a place that you will feel welcome to be yourself. You will always be accepted and wanted.

I promise to tell you I love you every chance that I get. Life is too short to do otherwise.

I promise to love your daddy for the rest of our lives so that you will grow up in a home full of love and affection, and you will have an example to follow as you search for your husband.

I promise to read your favorite books to you at night until you can tell the story back to me without having to open the pages - and then we'll read them some more.

I promise to let you wear your princess dress to the grocery store.

I promise to pray for you as often as I can. I pray for you to be a strong woman with her own convictions. I pray that you will be compassionate and kind. I pray that you will always know love, whether you're receiving it from others or giving it away.

I promise to work hard every day at my job, so that you never have to go without.

I promise to make shampoo sundaes on your head in the bathtub.

I promise to provide boundaries so that you will have fun within limits.

I promise to let you learn from your mistakes.

I promise to make you peanut butter and jelly pocketbooks.

I promise to play with your hair until you fall asleep.

I promise to scare away all the monsters in the closet and under the bed.

I promise to not only take you to church on Sundays, but to live church in our home, so that you'll always understand the grace and love of Jesus.

I promise to tell you that boys are silly and that you're too good for him when you come home with a broken heart.

I promise to turn off the tv and computer and make you go outside to play.

I promise to let you watch Cinderella as many times as you want.

I promise to teach you the value of money and the treasure in earning it for yourself.

I promise to write notes on your napkin in your lunchbox.

I promise that I will never be too busy to talk.

I promise that I will do my best to give you a little brother or sister that you can love and torture.

I promise to never stifle your imagination.

I promise to memorize all your baby doll's names.

I promise to protect you from all that I can, and teach you to protect yourself for when I can't.

I promise to teach you about GOOD music, which does not include Justin Beiber or Lady Gaga.

I promise to give you my honest opinion, from haircuts to boys to friends.

I promise to not let you embarrass yourself on American Idol if you sing like your daddy.

I promise to let you eat cookies and candy bars, but not before dinner.

I promise to encourage you to be YOUR best in everything, even if someone else is THE best.

I promise to not let you quit a sports team until the season is over.

I promise to be your best friend, even though you won't realize this until you're much older.

I promise to let you choose what college you want to attend, even if it is Auburn - but they must give you scholarship money for me to be happy about that. And if you decide not to attend college, I'm going to be ok with that, too, as long as you're doing what you love and it's not illegal.

I promise to do everything in my power to be the best mom I can be to you. There are going to be times that you don't like my rules or limits, but I promise to hold fast to them so that one day you will understand.

And most of all, I promise to tuck you in like a burrito and kiss your stuffed animals and you goodnight. Every night.

Babymoon

Ben and I took our baby moon last week.

A babymoon, you say?

Yes. A babymoon is a vacation you take before you have a baby. Kind of a second honeymoon/last chance vacation with just the two of you.

We wanted to get away from the stress of work and life and just enjoy each other. Taking a few days off to stay in Birmingham would do us no good. We would just be constantly thinking about what needed to be done before the baby gets here that we wouldn't truly enjoy it.

Yet another sign that this pregnancy is moving forward at a rapid pace!
And I was really bad about taking pictures on this vacation. Sorry.

We drove up to Gatlinburg late Wednesday night once I was through working.

And by late, I mean late. We didn't get there until almost midnight, which was 1am Gatlinburg time.

We did remote check in with our cabin rental company (highly recommended company), so all we had to do was find the cabin and punch in the key code. They said in the email, don't use your GPS to find your cabin.

It was dark, and I couldn't read the directions without turning on the cabin light and blinding him while he was trying to navigate mountain roads, so my genius of a husband put the address in the GPS system and said, "I guess we'll figure out why they say don't do that."

Yeh. We figured it out.

It took us down the complete wrong (scary, dark, twisty turny) road. No cell phone service. No lights. No road signs. Awesome.

I thought I was going to cry.

Finally, Ben backed up to the beginning of the road and followed the directions on the paper, which were super easy to follow and we found our cabin in 3 minutes.

Men.

Anyways, the cabin was delightful!

We had a pool table, a little kitchen, fireplace, and a loft bedroom. There was a hot tub on the porch and a jacuzzi in the bedroom, but those were not used.

At least not by me. Ben hopped in the jacuzzi on Thursday morning.

We crashed once we got there. It was a long drive.

We woke up the next morning to some storms rolling in, so we ate breakfast in bed, played a few rounds of pool, and had lunch. We ventured out to Pigeon Forge after we took our showers.

We decided we wanted to go to the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge, but it was $30 a person! We said, thanks, but no thanks, and walked out.

$30 A PERSON! Ridiculous. And I love Titanic.

So we settled for a doughnut snack at Krispy Kreme and walked around the Tanger Outlets. Ben had lost a button on a shirt he'd brought to wear, so he got a new one at the Polo Outlet, and I forgot my jacket (pregnancy brain) so I got a new one at Gap.

We headed back towards Gatlinburg for dinner and ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. Ben had a burger and I had a salad. So interesting, I know.

We were beat after dinner, and it was beginning to rain. We didn't want to get stuck on those scary mountain roads in the rain, so we headed back to the cabin. We watched American Idol on tv and fell asleep on the couch.

Hehe. So lame.

Friday morning, we had to check out by 10am, so we cleaned up the cabin and moseyed into downtown Gatlinburg. It was super touristy and funny.

We decided to go into the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

Worth the $15 a person? Not so sure. But I was with Ben, so that didn't matter.

$30 a person is totally different.

After the museum, we were hungry for lunch and went to Pancake Pantry!

This place is TO DIE FOR. Ben had eggs, bacon, and pancakes, and I had an omelet with pancakes. It is seriously the best breakfast place in the world.

My mouth is watering thinking about it.

After Pancake Pantry, we decided to just head on back to Birmingham, so we waved goodbye to Gatlinburg and headed south.

We had such a fun time just relaxing with each other. We didn't have an agenda. We just went when we wanted to go, and stopped when we wanted to stay. That's our kind of vacation.

It was nice to get away and relish our last few quiet moments as a couple before our life becomes hectic. Ben was still asleep one morning as we laid in bed in our cabin, and I was able to snuggle up next to him, place my hand on my belly, and praise God in the silence for the many blessings in my life, pray over my sweet husband, and pray for our sweet baby.

It may not have been much of a vacation, but it was one of the best times I've ever had.

31 Weeks

31 weeks!

O.M.G.

Every week gets closer to when I will hold my little girl.

Every week makes me feel so unprepared.

Things we have done to prepare so far:

arranged childcare, which I am SUPER SUPER SUPER EXCITED ABOUT, but I can't tell you yet...it's a secret!

painted the wall

registered (!)

bought a mobile for the crib

Ben's mom is having a rocking chair recovered to match the room

furniture has been purchased

began taking birth/parenting classes at the hospital (hysterical)

booked the babymoon

Things we have yet to do:

get the furniture from my mother's garage

finish the wall

put together the nursery

paint all the stuff I want to paint for the nursery

pack the bag

take the babymoon (NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!)

Ok, so it doesn't sound like a lot, but I am way overwhelmed with the nursery thing. I just want to get it done sooner than later, in case Brooke Allen decides to make her appearance a little earlier than expected.

I may or may not have had an emotional breakdown over this earlier this week.

Thank goodness for a more than sweet husband who brought me a bag of Hershey Kisses and a sweet card to make me feel better. :)

Bright news:

We have our first baby shower tomorrow night! Our sweet Sunday School class is hosting it. I cannot forget my camera tomorrow night! We will have lots of fun, I'm sure.

Ben's family baby shower is on February 5th in Jackson. Unfortunately, Ben will be working, so I'm going by myself! But it will be a wonderful shower with lots of love on our new baby girl...since there hasn't been a baby girl in the family in YEARS. They are very excited to buy PINK! Brooke Allen will have lots of boy cousins to make her tough. That's a good thing.

How far along? 31 weeks. I can't believe it!

Baby Bump? Growing every day!

Maternity Clothes? Even some of those don't fit anymore...

Weight Gain: 25 pounds as far as I know, but I go to the doctor on Monday morning, so we'll see.

Movement: Still as crazy as ever in there! I can tell body parts that are sticking out. I know where her foot was the other day, and then her head poked out. I am terrified to report that her head is square just like her daddy's.

Cravings: Still on the soft serve ice cream thing. It's very dangerous that there is a yogurt store in the complex I work at.

Symptoms: Getting harder to breathe. She is all up in my business.

Sleep: Still not sleeping through the night, but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm never going to sleep through the night again.

Gender: It's a girl! Brooke Allen is her name!

Belly button: Starting to flatten out. This is quite a feat. I have a deep belly button.

What I miss: Being able to walk at a normal pace. Pretty sure I'm starting to waddle.

Best moment of the week: Figuring out what was a foot and what was a head, albeit the infamous Parrish Blockhead. Let's just hope that Parrish Blockhead is covered in red hair.

Things That Make Me Smile

If you don't know, which you probably don't (and in which case I will forgive you), Mom and I email all day long while we're at work. I usually call her on my way home if she's not teaching piano. And then we text all night long.

It's really bad in the summer because she's not working and we text all day long.

It took Ben a while to get used to this when we first started dating. But Mom is my best friend, and we tell each other everything.
Don't worry, I do know when to turn it off and spend time with Ben.

Anyways, I am saying all this to give you some back up information on this post (#101, to be exact). Mom was feeling a little sad today, which we all do sometimes, so I decided I would make her smile. I sent her 4 emails with lists of things that I KNOW make her smile - her happy thoughts.

You know, those things that make Peter Pan fly.

Anyways, it got me thinking about MY happy thoughts. So I thought I'd list them out for you.
And I'm sorry if a lot of them are food related. 7 months pregnant, here.

my warm and snuggly bed

my warm and snuggly bed with my husband and puppy in it

painting

chocolate cake

chocolate anything, really

The Eagles

Chick Fil A

sunset walks on the beach

coffee on the porch

office supplies

Sunday afternoon naps

playing with my baby cousins

online shopping

crystal footballs

a really, really great pair of stilettos

good hair days

Froot Loops

Channing Tatum

joy riding

a cold glass of champagne

pizza

waterproof mascara

John Mayer

fuzzy socks

Zaxby's fries

Drew Brees

cranapple juice

a clean kitchen

the smell of laundry

Washington DC

good Italian food

a fountain Coke

Gone With the Wind

my wedding rings

this little guy

furniture shopping

Pinterest

nail polish

professional massages

Taco Bell

October

New Orleans

Piggy

my favorite pair of jeans (that I will fit into again)

the way Mom's house smells

really hot bubble baths (temperature wise)

The Sound of Music

the Bravo channel

oatmeal creme pies

Chopped

crossword puzzles

And my FAVORITE happy thought - my little girl kicking away at my ribs the entire time I've been writing this post

30 Weeks (and 100th post!)

Today marks that I have been pregnant for 30 weeks!

WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!?!?

10 more weeks (give or take) until we see our little girl's face live in living color!

I can't believe it is so close. I feel so unprepared. There is still stuff in her room that needs to find a home. However, we did get the wall where the crib will be painted and I've started on the tree mural. I have to do one more coat and it will be done. And somehow we've got to figure out how to get all the furniture for the nursery from Mom's house to our house...yeh...haven't worked that detail out yet.

I'm hoping to knock out the second coat and organizing all the junk on Sunday while Ben works. I've got to stay motivated!

How far along? 30 weeks. 70 days away from her due date!

Baby Bump? Oh yeh. I can't wait to NOT feel like the side of a house again.

Maternity Clothes? Yep.

Weight Gain: 25 pounds. Yep. And I probably gained 5 more at lunch today. Ben took me to the Pizza Hut all you can eat buffet. He thought that was hilarious.

Movement: OMG YES. She should earn her college soccer scholarship now. And she has discovered my ribs.

Cravings: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and soft serve ice cream. Not together.

Symptoms: Still the horrific back pain. Now I wake up at 3am every morning. I go potty and so does Charlotte, and I usually do a crossword puzzle or two and try to go back to sleep around 4. Charlotte really seems to enjoy this time with me. And my left leg and foot swell. Just the left. Odd.

Sleep: See above. The actual sleep is restful, at least.

Gender: It's a girl! Brooke Allen is her name!

Belly Button: Still there.

What I miss: Being able to ride in a car comfortably. I can drive fine, but riding is not fun.

Best moment this week: Starting on the room for reals. Ben got the wall painted last Friday and I worked on the tree mural for most of the day on Saturday. I'm really starting to see what the room will be like, once we get the furniture in there. She's going to love it!

Dear Brooke Allen

Dear Brooke Allen,

2012 has begun, which means big changes for our family.

In 2012, we will go from being a family of two + dog, to a family of three + dog.

We've been pretty ordinary up to this point.

Just a husband, a wife, and a dog.

Now we'll be a daddy, a mommy, a baby, and a dog.

You are going to change EVERYTHING about our ordinary little life.

Not that I am complaining. I am so ready for you to change everything.

But your daddy and I sometimes forget how big these changes are going to be. For example, we were talking the other day about trips we'd like to take, things we'd like to purchase, and the time and money to do those things.

Then it dawned on us...oh yeh...we'll have a baby to figure out with all this. This means no spur of the moment trips, no easy planning for quiet nights alone, no going to concerts or out with friends (unless there's a babysitter of course).

Once you join our family, our every moment is going to be consumed about what's best for YOU and not what mommy and daddy want.

To be honest, Brooke Allen, you already consume my thoughts. I think about you all the time.

I mostly think about you because you remind me to think about you while you stick your long toes in my ribs.

But I do. I think about you all the time. I think about what you'll look like and what your personality will be like. I make plans for your room and our schedules. I go over the pros and cons of making your baby food about 100 times a day. And I DREAM of what it would be like to be a stay at home mom with you, but I reality check myself quickly when I think about how fast the bank would foreclose on our house...

Then I think about life next year, when you'll be walking and saying words. And then in five years when we take you to kindergarten. And then in 15 years when you start talking about cars and boys. And in 18 years when we drop you off at your college dorm.

I think about what good friends we will be as you get older. I'll teach you how to love shopping with me and GiGi. I'll teach you about make up and hair and how to be a lady. We'll put you in ballet classes or cheerleading, and of course, softball. Daddy says no pageants, but we'll see about that.

I think about how you are going to be Daddy's princess. He is going to adore you, and you will have him wrapped around your little finger. He is going to dance with you, and let you put lipstick on him, and make him play dolls with you. Then he's going to embarrass you at your first Homecoming dance by making sure he's dressed in his police uniform when that little boy shows up nervously on our front step.

Brooke Allen, you are going to completely change our lives. But you are going to complete our family. Your birthday is going to trump all other favorite days of mine. I can't wait for the nurse to lay you on my chest and kiss those toes that are poking me all day long. I can't wait to see your daddy's face when he holds you for the first time.

Your first breaths, your first cries, the first time you open your eyes.

These little things are the big things that will complete my heart.