I Thought This Was Over

To me complaining about pregnancy symptoms is the equivalent to someone receiving an awesome gift, like a new car, and complaining about the interior. In my eyes getting pregnant is the greatest gift and I feel guilty complaining but I just spent two days laid up on the couch watching lifetime so I need to let it out!

Wasn't it just the other day that I mentioned I was in the glorious second trimester? Well the gloriousness was short lived! I know that every woman and every pregnancy is different but I thought surely by week fourteen I would be feeling great and I feel just as good as I did at week seven. I was doing fine except for extreme fatigue until Friday when it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was all coming back...the nausea, loss of appetite (which I was just starting to get back), everything sounding gross! Were five weeks of this not enough? What is this child trying to do to me? I thought this was over!!!

My poor hubby had to listen to me cry about feeling awful and I am pretty sure he said the number two thing not to say to your expectant wife, "Well you haven't been eating that healthy." News flash my darling groom, when all that sounds good to me is peanut butter crunch cereal then I am going to have a bowl of peanut butter crunch cereal. If I have a hankering for ice cream at noon you better believe I am going to have it! It isn't easy finding food that sounds good so when I do I'm going for it! Now I can't be mad at Brett, he is learning and has been amazing through all of this. I bet by my next pregnancy he will be an expert on dealing with a cranky, sick wife!

Here is the lovely hubster getting practice with baby Audrey. What a natural!

Me getting some practice with Audrey. I look a little stiff but I have gotten A LOT better!

I like to think that any day now I will feel great and it will last for a long time! Classes start tomorrow and I would really like to be at the top of my learning game. Hopefully Baby E will understand and give me a break! Do you think it's too early to start bribing my child? 

House, Family, and Friends

Last night when I laid down to go to sleep (the highlight of my day!) I started thinking about all the things I wanted to do to our house before the baby comes. All of the sudden I was overcome with stress thinking about all the projects and all the money. Is this nesting? If so I am in for a long six months! There's new bedroom carpet to be laid, granite countertops for the kitchen, a guest bathroom to re-do, rooms to be painted, crown molding to be put up in the nursery, new furniture to be bought, oh and of course my pottery barn inspired nursery! I tossed and turned all night thinking of how we are going to finish all of this by February. Now I know I can live without granite countertops and the baby isn't going to notice if there is wainscotting in the guest bathroom but for those of you who know me well you know I am far from patient. So when I woke up this morning and noticed the money fairy didn't leave me a fat check under my pillow (jerk!) I went upstairs in tears. Brett was getting ready for work as he listened to me cry and complain. As he ironed his shirt he assured me everything will get done just not at once. So here is our tentative house update schedule (I don't know why these pictures are so small):

September- New bedroom carpet and new bedding

What I am leaning towards.





October- My beloved granite counter tops. Happy birthday to me!
I think this color would look great in our kitchen    





November- Guest bathroom re-do. Ceramic tile and wainscotting I will see you soon!

December- Hopefully Santa will bring me a new kitchen table and living room!

And in between all of this there is the most important part, Baby E's nursery!
If our little sprout is a boy this is exactly what we want. If it is a girl same furniture but different bedding. Isn't this crib beautiful?!

As I type my list of wants I feel a cold, wet nose on my leg. Our 1.5 year old yellow lab is looking at me with his huge brown eyes and got me thinking about the one thing Baby E is already going to have at no cost, lots of love. Not only is he or she going to have two parents that adore him/her and two dogs who are great sources of entertainment for little kids but he/she is going to have a huge extended family.

Let's start with the Elrod side. Baby E will have a Nana and Poppa who love him/her very much, three Aunts (Amy, Haley, and Brooke) and three Uncles (Hunter, Stephen, and Shawn). He/she will be joining ten first cousins (Josh, James, Leah, Jonathan, Philip, Elijah, Benjamin, Anna Claire, Ava, and coming very soon Luke).  

Now on to the Turza side. Baby E has a Gramps and a B-ma, four Uncles (GT, Michael, Brian, and Stephen) and two Aunts (Amy and Kate). Baby E will be joining six year old Grace and two boy cousins that are on their way (Bean [September] and Mike Jr. [December]). There are also a TON of Turza extended family that will love Baby E very much!

So that covers family now moving on to Baby E's buddies. Brett and I are lucky enough to have a handful of friends who already have bundles of joy or are expecting. Here are three of Baby E's future friends (and maybe spouse) that are already here! WARNING: these are super cute babies! 

Grace Olivia Balnis. Proud parents of this gorgeous girl are Diana and Ryan Balnis.  Grace is going to be Baby E's summer best friend or first girlfriend!

Eli Matthew Bills. Proud parents of this handsome boy are Jane and Matthew Bills.  He is going to be a great partner in crime or first boyfriend!

Audrey Sue Gower. Proud parents of this precious baby girl are Jessie and Evan Gower. She is going to be Baby E's travel buddy (since both Moms are going to need to take our kids to the beach often!) and best friend forever (girl or boy!) and if Baby E is a boy two words-arranged marriage!

As I wrap this post up I can't help but smile because I know my child is going to be loved and have plenty of playmates and that is a million times more important than granite countertops!! All that matters is that Baby E is healthy and happy! So I am going to stop stressing (well, try to!) and let things happen. Everything will work out and in the end. Even if I don't have my new guest bathroom by the time Baby E arrives it will be fine because I am going to have the greatest job of all, being a mommy! 

Baby on Board

Call me cheesy but I am so excited to start this blog! A couple of my friends started blogs when they got pregnant and I loved following their pregnancies and now that their babies are here I get to see pictures and read super sweet stories about them. I also have gotten some great ideas from these great moms and am starting to get a better picture of what to expect when baby Elrod gets here.

Now for those of you who don't know all the fun details about how we found out, how I told Brett, first doctors appointment, blah, blah, blah, here you go!

Since we had been trying I would test like crazy every month and June was no different. I tested about five times and they were all big fat negatives, which if any of you ladies out there have been trying you know it is super sad! Brett went out of town for a boys golf trip (wife of the year right here!) father's day weekend. I still hadn't gotten a visit from my friend but felt fine otherwise. I went to church and while I was sitting there I asked God to just give me a sign if I was pregnant or not. I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home and told myself if there is a pregnancy test for under $7 I would get it (if you only knew how much money i've spend on pregnancy tests!). Sure enough right there in the Spring Hill Kroger were two tests on sale for $6.99! Was this my sign? Yup! I took the test and right away it turned up positive. I was in such shock that I called my sister in-law Amy and asked her what the chances were of getting a false positive and she told me not very high and to take the other one. As soon as I took the other one (yes, I was still on the phone) it turned positive immediately! I was beyond excited! I knew Brett was going to be home in a couple of hours and so many of my friends told me they wished they told their hubbys in a fun way so I sat down and got creative. I wrapped up a onesie I had gotten months ago (it was a UT onesie on sale...how could I not!?) and started to write a little poem and here's what I ended up with,

Ole Miss is red.
Kentucky is blue.
We have been trying for a baby.
And our wish has come true.
I guess time will tell if we need to buy a truck or a doll.
But either way our child will be half Tiger, half Vol.
There will be plenty of diapers filled with pee and pooh.
I love you so much and I can't wait to start this journey with you!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

When he came home he opened the poem and freaked out! It was so amazing getting to see him react like that and the fact that he found out he was going to be a father on father's day was priceless.

We had to wait three LONG weeks until we went to the doctor. We were both very nervous but as soon as our little sprout showed up on the screen it all went away. Since the little guy or girl was measuring a week and a half too small we needed to go back for another sonogram ten days later. Again, we were nervous but then an even bigger sprout popped up on the screen and we couldn't help but smile! Fast forward six weeks later (this past Monday) and we got to hear the most beautiful sound, our baby's strong (165 bpm) heartbeat! I tried not to cry but couldn't help it. Brett just smiled, he is such a proud papa already!

Not going to lie but from week six to about eleven I thought I was dying. I was so sick and couldn't eat (I even lost a pound!) it was miserable. I kept thinking this is going to be our only child but now that I am in the glorious second trimester and I'm starting to get my appetite back those five weeks really weren't that bad!

So now that school is starting back up on Monday and football season is right around the corner I am hoping time will go by a little faster. We have our next appointment in four weeks to listen to the heartbeat again and in five weeks we get to find out the sex (still not sure if we are going to). This is going to be one amazing Fall!