It's a Happy Birthday

to my wonderful daddy ...

and Brady's awesome grandfather (or whatever he will be called)!!

Things for Mr. Brady

Now, that this little one growing inside of me has a name ... we have had a few things monogrammed!

a couple weeks ago, i told bryan that i wanted to make a blanket for Brady. one for the main purpose of covering him in the carseat ... when we went from hospital to car, car to house, etc. decided a tie fleece would be the best.

then to top it off ... we decided to have it monogrammed.

i was going to make a ut blanket, but Bryan picked camo instead.

then, we decided that instead of a diaper bag ... we spent a little more on a jon hart bag. i will use this bag after it's days of holding diapers.

we choose orange because i am all about the neutral colors ... and Neal on it, so that it can be used for all our kids.

I get so excited when I see things with his name on it. Oh, it's getting so close.

6th Dr. Appointment

Had a quick check up this morning.

Weight: same
So far I have gained a total of 16 lbs.

Blood Pressure: Good

Heartbeat: 132 bpm
it's usually in the 140's, but she said sounds good

Dr. came in.

Gave me a new and stronger prescription for my acid reflex crap.

Measured belly. I am 30 weeks, and my belly is 30 cm from top to bottom. Perfect.

Answered all my random questions.

Helped us decide on a pediatrician.

Scheduled another appointment in two weeks.

Pumpkin Carving 2009

Here is Bryan's crazy pumpkin for 2009!

he chose...
yup, YODA!

District Cross Country

District Cross Country was this morning ...

it started off cold and wet. I told Lance that I don't do the two together. he must have been praying hard because it had quit raining about 30 minutes before he was suposed to run.

all the teams together said a prayer before the race.

now this is Lance's 2nd race of the whole season ...
he was out with a stress fracture.

so i didn't really know where he would end up ...

after about a half a mile ... he was in 3rd place!

then at the finish line ...
that is the 1st and 2nd place runners.
Lance finished 2nd! Way to go, Buddy!!

As a team, they also did amazing. Their 5th runner from the team placed 6th!

Regionals is November 7th, then state is November 14th. Go Wall Hawks!

30 Weeks

-We have started counting kicks. in the morning and the evening. should be at least 10 in an hour ... the longest it has taken us was 15 minutes. We definitely have a mover on our hands.
-Bryan claims that I am getting that "linea negra" ... but honestly I can't see it.
-On tuesday morning, I was counting kicks before I got out of bed. There was a very consistent movement ... that i think were the hiccups! I grabbed Bryan's hand and asked him what he thought. But who really knows ...
-he's entered the shoving w/ the elbow or foot. instead of quick kicks. you can tell that he is trying to spread out ... and make some room for himself.

this is bryan's shirt ... hehe

another shot at 30 weeks.

Last day of dove season.

It's Official

I always said that I would wait to find out the gender of the baby until birth ... but Bryan won, and we decided to find out that our first child would be a boy.

Then, I said that we would have TWO full names picked out and would name the baby after he/she was born.

Well, Bryan and I have agreed on only ONE boy name. So instead of looking and searching for another name, I have given in and we have named our baby.

At the end of this year or the beginning of next year, we will have a son by the name of:

Brady Wade Neal

This name is already so special to us.

I always said that my kid's middle name would be after someone special in our lives. Wade is the middle name of Bryan's maternal grandfather who passed away about 15 years ago. We also like Wade because it makes his initials BWN ... which are also Bryan's (Bryan Wesley Neal)!!

I realized that we could not agree on any other name because this one is just too perfect.

We, along with almost everyone else with a nursery, decided to get letters to spell out his name on the wall. Neither one of us are great painters, so we stole the idea from a friend to cover them in fabric.

Bryan choose this camo pattern.

This is above his changing table.

A New Bed

We have had this bed since about 18 weeks preggo.

and we FINALLY got to put it together.

It's beautiful.
a Thanks goes out to my parents again for this piece of furniture!!

Painting the Nursery

Oh, the joy of painting.

But there was no way that we could keep a red/white room with flowers on it.

First, we had to take the chair rail off.

Then putty all of the holes on the walls.

this obviously wore Bevo out.

ready to start priming.

After 2 coats of primer, we finally started painting.

Violet, also, got wore out by all this work.

Of course, we couldn't just choose ONE color ... we had to choose THREE colors.

so ready to be done.

it took us a week or so ...
but we finally finished it.

and we love it.

The Beginning of Changes

My parents gave us a bedroom furniture set for a wedding gift. We have had it in our guest bedroom, with 2 beautiful dressers being unused.

When i was searching for a dresser, changing table for the nursery ... I could find nothing that I liked. Nothing!

Then it hit me ... I have TWO BEAUTIFUL Dressers in our house unused right now. with a total of 12 DRAWERS! We decided that it would be sooo silly for us to not use them.

These were the handles on them when we received them.

We decided to update them with a little more modern handle.

the new one.

So THANKS Mom and Dad for the dressers for the nursery ... we love them!

29 Weeks

-I am really starting to feel "big"!

That's about it.

Nursery pictures to come this week!! :)

A Baby Shower for Lacey

Today, we a baby shower for Lacey. Her baby girl will be here very soon.

First we ate some WONDERFUL food.

Then we decided to play a couple games ...
Everyone got a necklace and a clothespin when they walked in. When they got caught with their legs crossed, they had to give up their necklace. And if they said "BABY", they had to give their clothespin. FUn FUn

Then we put different chocolate bars in a diaper and melted them. People had to guess what it was. Some were very disgusted by this. hehe

Britany really thought about trying this one (it was snickers)!

Yummy Diapers.

Lots of Gifts for the Mommy to be and Baby.

Our hostess gift was a box full of necessities!!

Soon, I will be the receiver of all the baby items! I can't wait!

Just Between Friends

Mom and i went to a "Just Between Friends" Sale this morning. It is held twice a year, and started on thursday. This morning, almost everything was half off ... so we decided to check it out for bargains!!

My goal was some shoes and baseball caps (bryan's idea was the caps)!

We found some great deals.

Thanks Mom for ALL of the goodies!!

Can't wait for the next sale in April of 2010.

Loving the Game

Paul-Ann softball every friday night.

Bryan only gets to make a few games ... but when he does, he's awesome!

Notice the tongue ...
i'm sure i will have pictures of our son like this very soon.
his number this year is for the baby ..
jan. 3rd (jan, 1st month, 3rd day)

Nice Day for a Picnic

With Fall definitely on it's way ... and Winter right around the corner ...

Bryan and I took advantage of a nice afternoon for a picnic!

28 Week Doctor Appointment

Today, we had another Dr's appointment. We started out with our last scheduled sonogram!

*On my sheet that I got at my last appointment, it said that that I could bring a VHS tape to record the sono session. So we went to my mom's house before the appointment, and grabbed one from her.

I went in the ultrasound room, got on the table ... and she ran the wand all over my belly! She said everything looked great, and we were done. As I got down, Bryan said so when do we use the VHS tape! I had TOTALLY forgotten! She said, "you brought a tape?" We were like yes. She said hop back up here! I was like oh man, thank you sooo much!

We had not planned on having the 3D shots ... they were $100 extra, and was just something that we both agreed that we didn't need. Well, in the first sono session, she did just the normal views ... but in the second, for some odd reason she did some in 3D.

handsome baby neal.

a little more face ...
he kept turning his face towards the placenta.
(the mass on the left of the picture)

then when he finally would look at us ...
he would put his hands in front of his face.

side profile shot.

open mouth.

he yawned about 10 times while we were watching him.

Again, they reassured us that he was a boy ... showing us all of his parts! hehe

I am at 28 weeks, 1 day today ... and she showed me measuring 28 weeks, 4 days. He weighed 2 lbs. 11 oz, which she said was normal. Heartbeat was 148 bpm.

Then, went to visit the Dr ... she was quick because she was on her way to delivery a baby by c-section! She said everything on sono looked great! and she would see me in TWO weeks! Woo Hoo, we start going every two weeks now!

Then, I got to drink that NASTY orange drink. It tasted like a bad case of orange sunkist with 2 extra cups of sugar!! Waited an hour, then they took my blood. I guess I will hear results at my next visit!

That's about it ...

28 Weeks

-When I'm resting, he loves to kick. But sometimes, I don't know if he is actually kicking an organ or what ... but it hurts! It's a quick pain, and doesn't linger at all. Bryan and I were trying to figure out the other day what organs he could actually get to.
-I know you should start counting kicks from here on out. Supposed to be 10 kicks in one hour ... he always kicks that easily.

Not really anything else new ... I go to the dr. tomorrow for my 28 week appointment. Last scheduled sonogram! More information tomorrow.

First bare belly picture!

Onto Kerrville

Being about an hour away, we decided to make a quick trip to Kerrville!

Emery and her Uncle Bryan.
There two are a pair ... he can not say no to her.

Mertzon's Retreat

On Wednesday, we woke up around 7am, got ready and left for Leakey, TX again. This time it was for Mertzon ... their 4th-6th graders get to enjoy a couple of days full of fun. We arrived there around lunch, and the kids were ready for swimming shortly afterwards! So from 1pm-5pm, Bryan sat and watched every single kid swim in the frio river (they came in stages, so that made it a little easier for him)!! I just sat there and offered moral support!

After supper, they played games, and then had a campfire. Luckily, they all went to their cabin at 8:45pm. So Bryan and i went to our room, read a little, and had lights out by 9:30pm ... it was soooo nice!

Still 7:15 came quick the next morning ...

Bryan had 9 sessions of watching kids swim, and 1 free time. His free time happen to be right after breakfast, so we decided to go fish for a little bit.

down by the river ...

he had no luck while he was there.

27 1/2 weeks preggo ...
Pretty scenery.

Even though the place is beautiful ... Bryan and I were more than happy to leave the place!

27 Weeks

-In all my books and email updates, they say that the baby should be opening their eyes about now. So we have been playing with a flashlight at night, to see how baby neal responds to it. I don't know if he likes it or hates it ... but he definitely responds to it. He will move towards the light, and actually kick right where the light is coming in. Bryan can usually feel the flashlight move! Then we put it on the other side of my stomach, and he move to the other side! It's amazing!
-So, I wake up almost every morning ... hurting from my hips down! My legs are alll achey like i did a million leg squats the day before! Sleeping is not my friend right now!
(Amy, I have not tried 2 tylenol pms yet ... though it is sitting by my bed waiting for me!)
-I have officially entered my THIRD (and final) trimester!!
-he is my little kicker. the other morning, about 4:30, he was must have been doing tae bo ... i even woke bryan up, put his hand on my stomach for him to feel. Pretty soon we will start counting kicks ... normal is 10 per hour. he kicked at least 10 times in like 10 seconds.
-we are still painting on his nursery. done priming. there will be three different colors or I guess i should say shades of a color.

and a Happy Birthday to Marissa!! :)

HEB Camp

Bryan was asked to play lifeguard for a single's retreat at HEB Camp this weekend. No one actually planned on swimming, they were just required to have someone there.

It was rainy, and cool ... so we decided a hike would be wonderful.

It started off with crossing the COLD frio river!

Just so you know, Bryan and I planned to take it easy. If it got too hard, we had plans to stop and turn around.

We were headed to the top of that cliff ...
the group minus me.

pretty view.

clint, looking over the edge.

lots of beautiful stops along the way.

clint, jeremy the thinker, and rachel.

my fav picture.

just a fun shot ...
check out that nice trail of rocks.

from the top.

so not my best picture, but it's from the top.
rachel and clint at the top.

making the cross back over.
just a picture of the now curly hair at the bottom again.

After the about 2 hour hike, we came back to the camp grounds and the rest of the group was playing ultimate frisbee ... so bryan and clint decided to join them.
Nothing really else exciting!
(3 months until due date!)