Back to Class

We opted to take two all day Saturday childbirth classes instead of committing to an hour, once a week, for six weeks. They were long, six hour days but we actually did learn a thing or two. Here are a few of the highlights:

● We learned what to expect on the day of delivery - Tim apparently thought your water broke and you had the baby an hour or two later...soooo not the case!!

Childbirth is truly a miracle!

● We learned about pain control and the different methods of dealing with childbirth; epidural, spinal, breathing, walking, etc. By the way, Ah-hee-ah-hee and hee-hee-hee are not exactly what we're looking for! Bring on the epidural!

● We learned that neither one of us really wants to watch the childbirth...the five 1970's childbirth videos they showed us were enough real childbirth for the two of us. Do you know they offer the mother a HUGE mirror to place at the end of the bed so she can watch her child being born? Thanks, but no thanks!

● We learned that Tim and I are a perfect match! While the instructor was going over breathing and relaxation techniques (lights turned off, music playing, husband and wife cuddled up on the floor practicing breathing) Tim and I were probably the only two in the room with our eyes wide open wondering just how long this awkward "relaxation" session was going to last.

● Everyone got to manhandle a flexible Styrofoam pelvis, catheter, enema, spiral probe, sitz bath, an epidural, and last but definitely not least, a HUGE pair of granny panties complete with ice pack and gargancho-pad, just so we know what to expect the days after delivery.

● We did get to take a helpful tour of the hospital, which by the way, is a beautiful facility. We also got to check out the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) which hopefully we won't have to use.

Overall, we picked up a helpful tip or or two from the class, but the most helpful was probably the information about the medication and the hospital tour. We could have done without the five birth videos though. Maybe one would have been sufficient!

Puppy Love

Is it ok for us to be so worried about how Tallie and Tucker are going to feel when Katelyn finally arrives? It's hard to imagine that we could love something more than we love our little angel dogs!! They have been our children for the last 3-and-a-half years and have taught us so much about responsibility, unconditional love, and, above all else, patience!! They have, in their own little way, prepared us for parenthood!...and Katelyn thanks them :)

Tallie hoping she can come with us!

When we first got Tucker, we were so worried about Tallie and her little feelings and we honestly thought we couldn't possibly love anything as much as we loved her. But, she finally came around to the idea of having a brother (after about a week of ignoring him) and she is just fine! In fact, they are best buds now and we can't imagine our lives without either one of them.

Tucker when he was just a pup!

Best buds!

The babies desperately needing haircuts!

Fro-man!

Our hearts are strong and they grew with us and they are full of love for both of our dogs. If we can love our dogs this much, can you imagine the ever-growing love for Katelyn?!! It's going to be awesome! For the time-being though, it's so hard to look into the pups' little brown eyes and think that they are going to be second priority...it kind of makes us sad to think of it that way. But, they will be fine and adjust and when Katelyn starts eating solid food, they too will become best buds!

Waiting for us to come to bed!

Playing with all their friends!

Mommy and her little fluffballs!

Checkin' out the new crib :)

Drum Roll Please....

Today, at 28 weeks, we officially entered into the third trimester! Exciting you ask?...Yes! Terrifying to know that Katelyn will be here, in our arms, in our care, in our home, under our supervision, in less than three months?...Ab-so-freakin-lutely! Holy cow! Now's the time to cram everything thing we ever wanted to do (beach trip, late nights out on the town, camping, quick little weekend trips, sleeping in, even spontaneous trips to the grocery store) into these last three months before our little kiddo gets here, right? Oh, and finish reading the bazillion pregnancy, breastfeeding, what to expect and newborn books that have piled up on our nightstands over the past six months. Man, we've got a lot to accomplish in these last three months! Let's hope we're up for the challenge!

It really hit home that we are in the final stretch when our doctor said “Well guys, I'll see you in two weeks”...wait, what? What happened to the once a month gig we had going on? You know, where we come in every four weeks, step on the scale, pee in a cup, listen to the heartbeat, ask a few questions, schedule another appointment four weeks out and leave? I thought you only had to visit the doctor every two weeks when, you know, you're really big and fairly close to delivery...OMG! Ding, ding, ding...That's us!

My, my how time flies! Before we know it, our little girl will be here, in our home, then in preschool, then in elementary school, then high school...then, off to Auburn, when, by the way, she can start to date! We better sit back, relax and take in all that's happening around us now because in three months, our lives are going to be turned upside down in the most wonderful, exciting, fulfilling and exhausting way! And we wouldn't want it any other way!

6 months down, 3 to go!

So here we are, about to enter into the third trimester, and we're finally getting around to documenting this whole beautiful thing called pregnancy. Better late than never, right!? So for now, we'll try to fill you in on all the crucial (and not so crucial) details of the last six months...Here goes...

• In October, Lindsey took a pregnancy test alone…which, by the way, she promised she would never do, but she couldn’t possibly wait two more hours until Tim got home…and what was the big deal…it was going to be negative anyway, right! Wrong! Not one, but two pink lines showed up!!! OMG, yes, she was pregnant!!! After pacing around the bathroom in disbelief and excitement for a few minutes (and wondering just how she was going to explain to Tim why she took a test by herself) she called Tim on his cell phone and told him the exciting news (yea, yea, yea, she told him over the phone!). He rushed home, but not before stopping by the grocery store to purchase 3 packs of pregnancy tests, just to be sure, and a bottle of sparkling grape juice for celebration!

All signs point to "YES"!!!

We're PREGNANT!!!

• We completely shocked our parents in November when we told them they were going to be Grandparents! It was probably one of the most exciting and memorable moments of our lives!!

• We are pumped beyond words about becoming parents!

• Lindsey pretty much worked, ate and slept her way through the first trimester! Who knew being pregnant could be so tiring!

• We're due July 3, 2008, but hoping to have a late June baby...we're talking about being 8-9 months pregnant during the dog days of summer in the south...Yikes!

• We're having a little girl and Lindsey is trying real hard not to buy pink EVERYTHING...which is hard for her since her favorite color is HOT pink!!!!...That doesn't go for friends and family though...check out Katelyn's closet! How adorable are all those clothes?!!

Katelyn will be the best dressed kid on the block!

• We chose the name Katelyn (middle name TBD)

Lindsey, her mom (Nana) and her mother-in-law (Grandma) painted these to match her room!

• We've got most of the nursery put together

You see the comfiest rocker in the world! It rocks...har, har, har!


Tallie and Tucker have a hard time understanding why those toys hanging from the crib aren't for them!


We have two mobiles!!! One that's matchy-matchy and one that will sing Katelyn the Auburn fight song to sleep...peaceful, eh?! War Eagle!

And just so things aren't too perfect...enter, The Ugly Doll!! Isn't it great!!

• Lindsey got out of some major re-painting in the kitchen, because sadly, she couldn’t paint during her first trimester…what a shame!!!

We got a wild hair (before we got pregnant) that we wanted an ORANGE kitchen...bad idea!


Ohhh, it was so bad...so, so bad!!


Thankfully, Tim and Nana got it back to looking normal! Phew!

• Lindsey also got out of laying tile in the kitchen and master bathroom AND laying hardwood floors! Bad timing for home improvement projects, if you ask Tim! But, we decided that we wanted hard floors before Katelyn came so messes would be easier to clean up...we learned a lot from our little Angel dogs, Tallie and Tucker :)

We chose the far left dark wood. See all the carpet that's going to be replaced?!


And, after! Tim, with some help from Grandma (Tim's mom), did a great job!!


It looks so good! Well done!

• We've already had our two ultrasounds, which were amazing! Katelyn was ahead of the growing game when we had our 20 week ultrasound, so all is well! Let’s just hope for her momma’s sake she isn’t on her way to being a 10 pound newborn, like her daddy was!!

Here is Katelyn looking like a mushroom at 7 weeks...Lindsey was convinced she was a boy at this point!

And here she is at 20 weeks! She actually looks like a baby, not a mushroom!

• We registered a few weeks ago and Lindsey had a really embarrassing come-apart (crying uncontrollably for an hour!) in the biggest and most intimidating baby store in the entire world (Baby's R Us)...but her very supportive and understanding husband took control and made everything better!

• Lindsey's had a few come-aparts over the last several months about the whole weight gain thing that comes along with having a child! But she is learning to deal with it :)

15 weeks!

18 weeks!

23 weeks!

27 weeks!

• We signed up for Childbirth, Parenting and Breastfeeding classes, which begin on April 12th.

• We are learning that Tim is a very heavy sleeper and he has about three months to learn to NOT sleep through phone calls, whining dogs, thunderstorms, radio alarms, etc. in preparation of parenthood. Rest assured, Lindsey will “help” him wake if he needs the extra push!

• That about gets you up-to-date! We'll try our best to keep you informed of the latest and greatest!!