The One Where I Become Alumni

 December 14, 2012

I finally did it! I made it! I finally graduated college!!! It took me a while but I officially graduated Magna Cum Laude from Kennesaw State University. 

I had to be there at 8:30 in the morning, the ceremony started at 10. After the ceremony, Petey had planned a surprise lunch for me with my friends at the Cheesecake Factory... YUM!!!

Here are some pictures from this memorable day......

We were SO bored

The Girls Who Got Me Through

Some Of My Surprise Visitors

Petey's Baby Bump

Nolan Came to Graduation

My Gear

Proof that at 9 months pregnant with a broken foot, I still graduated in heels!!

The One With A Month To Go....

December 9, 2012 marked 36 weeks

The last 2 weeks have been really hard dealing with the passing of my Dad. I lost some weight and the dr. said I'm dehydrated but Nolan is healthy and still growing strong. I had my first experience with braxton hicks contractions during the few days we made all the funeral arrangements and such but haven't had any more. At the end of this week I will officially graduate college and become a Kennesaw State Alumni. Nolan gets to sit through his first miserably boring commencement ceremony.
I started having cravings again the end of last week and don't see them going anywhere for a while. It's nothing too weird but man, when I want something, I got to have it!!

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The One With The News Of Dad (34 weeks)

November 25 = 34 Weeks 

This week I found out that my Dad passed away. They said it was a heart attack and it was totally unexpected!! My boss showed up at my house Tuesday night and told me the news. In just 2 weeks, he would have seen me graduate and in 4 he would meet his very first grandbaby. It breaks my heart that Nolan will never know his grandpa. Dad was soooo excited about Nolan, it's all he talked about. He was constantly buying things for him and offering to do whatever he could. He and Petey put the crib together for Nolan and Dad did get to come to the 3D ultrasound where he says he met his grandson. I'm honestly still in shock and the reality of it has not set in. I look forward to telling Nolan all about his grandpa and how much he loved him before he was even born.

The One With the Busy Week (32)

                                                               November 11, 2012

32 Weeks

This week is a BIG week!!!! We went to the dr. on Tuesday and had a great report! On Wednesday, we had our second 3D ultrasound where friends and family came to see Nolan up close and personal. And on Saturday is the babyshower!!! I also went and picked up my cap and gown for graduation and had a Thanksgiving Feast with my adorable first graders that I'm student teaching. 

As for Mommy news: I mostly wear maternity jeans now and I officially have an outie and a 39 in belly

Some Pics Of Our Little Miracle

Foot up the nose 

My Lips

Peace!!!

He was clearly bored... (YAWN)

He opened his eyes!!!!

It was so fun to see everyone's excitement and the looks on their faces as they practically met Nolan. I will never forget the tears in my Dad's eyes along with the amazement and disbelief. I'm so glad we did this. 

The One With 30 Weeks Down and Counting

                                                                 OcToBeR 28 = 30 wEeKs!!!

This week we are finally getting ready for the baby shower to spoil little Nolan. I mailed out the invites last week. I can't believe it's already time to be having a baby shower, that means I'm almost done being pregnant :(

                                              This is the invites I sent out.... SOOO cute :)

                                                           And Then The Belly Pics....

The One With The 3rd Trimester!

     FINALLY!!!!! It's here, finally here, we reached the home stretch!!! On October 14, we reached 28 weeks, marking the beginning of the 3rd and final trimester of our pregnancy. Words can not describe how excited I am. It feels like this pregnancy is flying by, I'm sure I won't be saying that in a few weeks but we'll see.
     I went to the dr last week. I got tested for juvenile diabetes, drank this orange liquid, waited an hour and then got blood drawn. I passed, so that's a relief!!! I also got a shot in my butt for being RH-, not my favorite moment! The dr. says that my iron is low so now I have to take a supplement but they say it's no big deal. They like your iron to be at an 11 and I'm a 10.7, no I don't know what that really means but that's what they told me ha.

Nausea & morning sickness: Nothing :) 

Belly Button: I'd say I officially have an outie, but barely

Weird Cravings: just cheese, cheese, and more cheese

Mood: I think I'm pleasant to be around haha

Maternity Clothes: every now and then when they are cheap

Movement: still moving up a storm and I love every second of it

The One With the 26 Week Belly

   As of September 30, 2012 we are officially 26 weeks pregnant and counting! Coming to the end of the second trimester, I honestly feel great. Everyone says the second trimester is the best, so far i believe the hype but I'm hoping the 3rd is good too. Some friends of ours just had a baby on the 18th, he was average weight and height but just seemed soooo small. I want to borrow him until we have ours! After holding that little one, I am that much more excited to meet our little man. All of the doctor appointments have been going great. We went to the braves game the 29th and he kicked Marie who was in town from Florida :)
     As you can see on the board it says, "Mommy and Daddy chose my name!" We have decided to name him Nolan. We do not have a middle name yet, but it took us 6 months to get a first name, luckily the last one is given haha. We both had favorite names picked out but could not agree. I liked Elijah and he liked Benjamin. We ooked through a names book and decided we would write down all the names we liked on the inside cover of the book. When we got done looking, we turned to the front only to see the name Nolan. And that was that. Our baby finally has a name!!! :)

Nausea & morning sickness: None, None, None woohoo! 

Belly Button: still trying to become an outie

Weird Cravings: McDonalds, still!

Mood: If you ask Petey, he would say a little moody

Maternity Clothes: I wear all my shirts but I do own a pair of maternity jeans I got a deal on at Ross

Movement: He is a kung-fu fighter!

The One With 24 Down 16 To Go....

September 16, 2012

          We have officially made it through 24 weeks of pregnancy....so far so good! We went to the dr. on September 14th. All they did was check the heartbeat with the doppler and ask me if I had any questions. It's always amazing to hear his little heartbeat but these sure are boring appointments compared to the ones with ultrasounds. At home we have been able to watch the baby move now. It's so funny to watch my belly randomly bounce when he kicks me. Petey and I have alot of fun sitting on the couch watching and feeling the little guy move :)

Nausea & morning sickness: Nope, but the hot flashes have taken their place

Belly Bump: 36 inches now WOAH!!!!! 

Belly Button: the top part is starting to poke out.....you cant see it through a shirt yet but I can feel it with my hand on my bare belly...ew

Weird Cravings: Hot wings, McDonalds....anything and everything from there ha gross I know

Mood: Overall, very happy but I'm not going to say there aren't moodswings and random tears

Maternity Clothes: Still not absolutely necessary but definitely more comfortable 

Movement:Lots and Lots and you can see it    :)

The One Where We Reach 22 Weeks

September 2, 2012

          Today we are 22 weeks pregnant. That's more than halfway! It's hard to believe how much is changing so fast. The baby moves so much now. Petey gets to feel him alot. It's the best feeling in the whole world; I get so excited with every single little movement. We still haven't agreed on a name, I swear that's the hardest part of the whole process. We've bought all the stuff for the room but don't have any of it put together or hung up. I have definitely gotten bigger the last few weeks...here's a peak at us at 22 weeks......

Nausea & morning sickness: Ended at 13 ish weeks, none since

Belly Bump: Definitely growing everyday!!

Belly Button: Still an inny but I can tell a difference in it that' for sure

Weird Cravings: McDonald's Fish Sandwich.....i know, i know, how gross can you get?!?! 

Mood: All I can say is......my poor husband!

Maternity Clothes: My dress pants are all maternity, simply for comfort. I can fit in almost all my clothes but the shirts are looking shorter and tighter everyday

Movement: Quite a bit, Petey feel it now. Mostly quick, hard kicks. 

The One Where The Baby Isn't Shy

      August 30, 2012

              I swear we have the shyest baby ever! He wiggles and squiggles ALL the time! He kicks me, moves around, stretches, and whatever else a future karate kid does. I get so excited with every little movement and always make a big deal of it to petey and my friends. Unfortunately, every time I tell someone he is kicking he stops immediately! I have been wanting Petey to feel the baby move for weeks now. On August 30th it finally happened!!!! It was about 12:15am  and Petey had just gotten in from a late flight. We were both laying in bed and the baby was going crazy. Of course, he stopped when I got Petey's attention but I decided to tell Petey to just put his hands on my belly and wait. I remember telling him it probably wouldn't happen but it is worth a try. A few minutes later, it FINALLY happened!!! The baby kicked! Petey said,"Wow, did you feel that?" I'm thinking, are you serious?!?!? Of course I felt it! It was really exciting to finally share this feeling with Petey. I can't wait for it to be more frequent.....our little guy just needs to not be so shy!

The One Where We Are HALFWAY!!!

           As of August 19, 2012, we are HALFWAY there!!!!! It's halftime woot woot! We had the ever so exciting 20 week appointment on August 17th. This was supposed to be the gender reveal appointment but we obviously did not wait that long. This appointment is a total anatomy scan with an ultrasound and measurements. Petey went me me to the appointment. We sat anxiously in the waiting room until our name was called. The tech did about a 15 min ultrasound inspecting every part of our little boy. It was so fun to see how much he had changed since we went to the 3d ultrasound. The tech spent alot of time looking at his heart, saying nothing the entire time. We were so nervous! I was sweating and my eyes were filling with tears until she finally told us that everything looks great and we have a happy, healthy baby. It was such a relief to hear those words. We are so excited to meet our little love!!!

This is what our little guy looks like now

The One Where We Reach 18 Weeks

As of Aug. 5th we are officially 18 weeks pregnant. Weird to think that's almost half way!! I'm just getting to the point where I like being pregnant and now it's almost over. Give me a few weeks and I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune.


Nausea & morning sickness: None, feeling great!
Belly Bump: Belly is bigger than Petey's now haha
Belly Button: So far still an inny but I can already see some change ....my guess is outie by the end
Weird Cravings: 1) Texas Pete mixed with honey and mustard mmmm 2) green olives
Mood: Still moody wiith random tears but overall happy
Maternity Clothes:I am down to 3 pairs of jeans....apparently my butt is pregnant too but jeans fit everywhere but in the booty
Movement: not regularly but def. feeling him, mostly after eating sweets

"18 weeks: Mommy and daddy have been working on my room. Mommy's belly is bigger than daddy's! New craving is hot sauce"

The One With The Gender Reveal Party

July 13, 2012

We had our immediate family over the day after the ultrasound for a small gender reveal party. We wanted to have a big party but it would be alot easier to call just family and say "ooh nevermind, the baby was modest and there will be no partying tonight" than to call a bunch of people who cleared their night for something that wasn't happening. It was so hard to keep the gender a secret until then, I had to shut my phone off to avoid spilling the beans early. My friends even started sending texts that said, "Are you ok?" because I wasn't texting anyone back.

Here are a few pics of our little party...

I asked everyone to wear the color that they believed the gender to be......everyone showed up in blue!!!

My father in law changed his guess to girl when he saw that everyone guessed boy

 

 

 

My quick attempt at a gender reveal cake

 

 

BLUE!!!!!

 

The One With The Ultrasound

July 12, 2012

At 14weeks 5days we went to Baby Dimensions in Newnan to find out the gender of our little one. It was the most amazing experience!!!! We sat in a room in a recliner as we watched our baby move around on a big screen tv. They were not busy that day so our 15 min appointment lasted almost 40 min! The tech let us guess what we thought we are having and then showed us a shot of the anatomy..... definitely a BOY!!!! The wait is finally over!! Now we can shop, pick names, decorate a nursery ...oh let the fun begin! I must admit, in the very beginning I honestly wanted a girl. Then all my friends started having boys and I thought how fun it would be to have play dates, watch our boys play on the same teams and grow up together doing man stuff and I became totally impartial. The minute I saw that baby on the screen though, I can not imagine being ay happier!!! I already love him sooo much! Here are some pictures of our little man

                                                         He's kicked back and relaxing

 

No photographs please!

Hi Mom and Dad

sweet baby

BOY!

The One Where We Finally Reach 14 Weeks

As of July 8th 2012 we are 14 weeks pregnant!!!

The beginning of the second trimester brought a whole new sense of peace for me. I am so relieved to be past the rough patch of worrying and puking!!!

Nausea & morning sickness: glad to say gone for now, lets hope it stays that way
Belly Bump: a little bigger. I've gone from 25 in to 32 inches!
Belly Button: Still an inny....praying it stays there
Weird Cravings: HOT SAUCE!!! (which I have hated my entire life ad have no tolerance for even mild until now)
Mood: I wish I could say none but I must be honest, I am quite moody
Maternity Clothes:I can still wear my jeans unbuttoned but wearing more and more maternity as I find them
Movement: a little now and then. Probably more than I actually know because it takes alot of mental debate before I let myself believe it's really him

The One With Enormous Anticipation!

July 11, 2012

I am DYING to find out what the gender of our sweet baby is. Yes, I know back in the old days, you couldn't find out until you had been in labor and pushed the youngin' out (as if knowing was something you had to earn). But nowadays, we have the choice of finding out and personally I am losing my mind! At first I wanted a little girl so badly it was seriously wrong, jut plain wrong! That changed, thank goodness, about two weeks ago when we took an Intelligender Gender Predictor Kit. It's one of those overpriced pee in a cup tests that claim to be 80% accurate. Long story short, that test said we are having a boy. Petey was absolutely thrilled, for those of you that know him, you know that he rarely gets excited or shows any type of emotion. It was so cute to hear him talk about all the things he wants to do with his son and to see the excitement on his face!! Needless to say, that changed my whole perspective. We are so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and I can not wait to maximize it by shopping like crazy for gender specific clothing and goodies!!! We go tomorrow evening to Baby Dimensions in Newnan for a 3D ultrasound in an attempt to find out the sex of baby Walton!!! At first EVERYONE told me it is going to be a boy now people are changing their guesses.....hopefully we will know tomorrow!!!!

The One with the Pregnant Mormon with Coffee Breath

As I mentioned in my blog before, Monday I really wanted a Caramel Apple Spice ( apple cider) from Starbucks. I would like to share with you, my journey....

-Leaving the Atl airport waited to the gate to get one..... the line was ancient long and we got called to board before I would have gotten the drink.
Ok fine, I'll get one in MN.
-Get to the Minnesota airport, no Starbucks in sight.
-Get to the mall, no Starbucks, then it was time to eat and I didn't want to get full so we stopped looking....bad idea.
-Eat Street, looked everywhere, couldn't find food let alone a freakin hot cider in a clean cup
-Minnesota airport....look up gate restaurants, says G16 has one. walk all the way there....nothing! but G20 has a Carribou Coffee....which has nothing hot and decaf
-Land in Atl aiport sooo excited, Petey goes to get the car while I get a Starbucks, only when I get there, they say we are closing in 5 min, we aren't making any more drinks...WHAT?!!?! I had 5 min

I go home sad and empty handed

The next morning, I have to be at work at 8 so I get up 35 min early to make sure I have time to go to Starbucks on my way to work, determine to get this stupid drink which has now officially become mission impossible.
I tell the guy at the counter, who couldn't care less how I have tried to get this drink. I then ask to read the label of the syrup they add to it to ensure there are no artificial sweeteners, caffeine, or anything else I can't have. I explain to him that I am mormon and pregnant and tell him my limitations. I get the largest size the have, pay for the drink and tell the guy he made my day.

I get in the car, drive to work letting my drink cool, get halfway there and take a sip. I taste COFFEE. I convince myself that I must be confused or perhaps the whip cream container touched coffee before my drink. I stir it an try again, nope it's definitely coffee. why do I taste coffee, what about this moment is wrong? As I angrily try to put the cap back I spill the drink all over myself as I pass a cop. lovely. I get to work have ashley try my drink, yep it's coffee. I call the guy and ask if there is any way there is coffee in my drink and he tells me he MAY have accidentally put espresso in my cider instead of the cinnamon syrup!!! I finally get the drink and this is what happens.... I am now the pregnant mormon with coffee breath WOW

Anyways, he left a voucher at the counter for me to come by and pick up. Inside the card read, "Ms. Walton, I am sooo sorry for the mixup. I hope this doesn't mess you up with your church or your pregnancy. Please forgive me!! Love, Starbucks Guy"

UGGGHHHHH

I still have yet to use the voucher

The One With the Paperweight

Petey and I had Monday off this week and decided we should do something together to enjoy the day. We discussed a few options then decided we would fly wherever there were open seat available. I was thrilled by this idea because it would give me an opportunity to use the way too expensive camera i splurged on (in my defense it's to take quality pics of the baby that will last a lifetime ha). We decided on Minneapolis, Minnesota: home of Mall of America. We would leave on the first flight of the morning and come back the last flight of the day. I got everything ready for the trip and put my camera battery on the charger so i could be sure to be able to use it for the whole trip. I plugged the battery in the outlet by the door just so I would not forget it on the way out the next morning.
We got to the airport (where of course I saw a customer from my work), boarded the plane were ready for take off. Petey says, "quick take a picture of our random trip" I get out my camera, postion it and puch the button. Nothing happens. I assume I just don't know what I am doing so I fiddle with it a little and realize it's not on. Crap, I didn't turn it on, ok attempt #2, nothing. I check the battery compartment.....again, nothing! I forgot the battery!!! Who forgets the battery??!?! Lovely, just lovely. So now I have this 10 pound useless paperweight that I must lug around all of Minneapolis. Ugh. So much for good pictures.
That was one disappointment. The other was that it was like 95 degrees and I was craving a apple cider from Starbucks and in Minnesota they mostly have Carribou Coffee, therefore we went ALL of Minnesota in search of an unnecessary Starbucks and never found it.
The other disappointment was I planned our day around going on a 30 min bus ride to a place called eat street.... a place advertised to have 55 gourmet restaurants in 20 blocks.... what a pregnant girls dream!!!! We rode to the place and then walked the entire 20 blocks in the heat only to find nothing!!! There were a few whole in the wall ethnic places that had an outward appearance of having a health food score of 40 and a some random shops that were also questionable. We were in the ghetto of Minnesota in search of food and a Starbucks with a backback and a 10 lb paperweight and ended up eating a sandwich at a pub back where we first started our walk......annoyed!

So here are the good ol fashioned pics from his iPhone ......

My ninja turtle

Cool aquarium inside a restaurant (in which I didn't eat bc I was saving myself for eat street)

 Talking Tree in the mall

 Safari Petey hahah

Me as Forrest Gump

 I found shoes in a size 20!!

 Lego Land... that was all legos

We built baby Walton a bear at build a bear :)

 Stuffed with love by Mommy and Daddy

 Most deceiving thing ever

 17 blocks of eating adventure: more like 20 blocks of miserable, ghetto, nasty, disapointment