Monday, January 24, 2011

Pregnancy- 11 weeks

Wow- I'm working on 3 posts in one day! Reason #792, to not go this long without blogging. TOO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON!


I'll start off by sharing a couple of funny pictures-
John & I knew that we wanted to tell our Nashville group of friends the good news at the exact same time. We asked each of our friends to meet us for a big group dinner, telling them that since our move, we've missed our big group get-togethers.
We all met for Mexican a couple of weeks ago.
There were about 20 of us (so we were missing about 6-7 from the group)....
We said that we wanted to get a group picture before the food came.
(Our group is used to group pics, so they didn't think anything of it.)

Our waiter was in on the plan, and on the count of 3, John yelled:
WE'RE HAVING A BABY!

Note: The above picture was everyone's reaction when John yelled it. Nothing, we got nothing.
I didn't think that everyone would think nothing of it, since John has been a little prankster before & told people at parties before that we were pregnant (all while I'm over there filling up my wine glass for the 8th time)- Then they come up & say, "Neelley, I don't think you need to be drinking if you are pregnant!"- Then there's been a loud,
"John King, quit telling everyone I'm pregnant, when I'm not!! For that, you are going to have to wait longer for your little dream to come true!!" John's just over there snickering, thinking it's the funniest thing in the world....

Well, fast forward to when it actually is true- No one believed him. (What a great story of, "Little Boy who cried Wolf!" So while our waiter was still taking pictures, I said to the group:

"We really are! We really are having a baby!" Now, that's the reaction that we were looking for! :)

It was so fun!

So, this week, we are 11 weeks pregnant. One more week left in the 1st trimester.
Hard to believe that the pregnancy is 1/3rd the way over!

During my pregnancy, I've had lots of the symptoms;
- Headaches (all day long, & in pregnancy, you need to try not to take any meds in the 1st trimester- BUMMER!)
- Tired!!! I could sleep 16 hours/ day if I could! My energy is g-o-n-e!
- Nausea (however, I've been lucky to never get actually sick)
- Cravings: juicy things- like OJ, Strawberry Lemonade, Pineapple (can't get enough!), Yogurt, grapes, Fruit Tea, some Italian Lemon Ice, mmmm. Or Salty things- Mexican, Chips & Dip, Pretzels.
-Food aversions: Anything dessert-like: chocolate cake, ice cream, cookies, candy, etc....
(which is very strange for me, since I have always had such a sweet tooth!)

My belly is just now starting to get a little bump. Sometimes it looks like I've just eaten a little too much, but it's starting to get a little more round. Clothes are starting to get a little snug (and depressing!)...

They say that this week our baby is the size of a Fig. (just a tad smaller than a lime).
Measuring at about 2 inches. His or her body is straigtening out & lengthening.
Hair follicles are forming. Individual fingers & toes have seperated recently from webbed hands & feet. Baby has distinct human characteristics by now. Ears are also forming on the side of the head. Nose, mouth & eyelids are now visable.

Happenings....

Now that we've got the Christmas post over with, lots of other happenings have been going on in our lives since we last blogged.....


We finally got packed up & moved out of our home in Nashville. Although we were thrilled to have sold our house, Moving Day was a very emotional day. John kept asking me if I was going to break down & lose it while the movers were there. Surprisingly, I didn't. Moving is serious work, even when you hire a company to do it for you... Cleaning the rooms after all the furniture is out & double checking to make sure everything is packed definitely keeps you occupied.


It wasn't until John & I drove back up later that afternoon to grab the last carfull of items that we wanted to keep with us & take to the cabin is when it hit us.


This was the first house that we moved into when we first got engaged. We have had many parties, friends staying the weekend with us, birthday celebrations, bridal showers, holidays, etc, etc in this house. Even though there were tons of times when, "I can't wait til we sell this house!!!" was yelled in frusteration with dealing with an older home, it was sad when that day actually came. We spent our first 3 years in this house...


My mom told me once when I was venting to her about the house, "Neelley, you & John's next house will be better. And I know that you get frusterated with an older home. There are some things that you learn that you want differently in your next house that your current house has taught you. But I promise you this, you will look back one day, & say, "Gosh, that was an awesome house. We used to think that this house was HUGE!" And you know why? Because it was y'alls first house together. Lots of other houses will come & go in your lives, but nothing will ever be able to be compared to y'alls first house, because it will always be the most special."


As we were going through the house one last time turning off the lights in each room one by one, the emotional breakdown came.... I replayed what my Mom had said about this house in my mind & thought, "This is such a great house!" In the car, John & I were talking & I told him I thought the reason why I was so overly emotional wasn't just us selling the house, it's the thought that, 'you can't ever go back'. It won't ever look the same as it did when we owned it. New buyers will come & change things, like we did when we moved in. And that's ok. That's change & it just happens. John grabbed my hand & said, "Yeah, but you have to think that we get to start a new chapter with our next house." And in that, it did make me feel better. Seeing it like John, this wasn't just an ending, but a beginning of something that we wanted---
a move to Columbia to start a family.


Which brings us to our next exciting happening.....



We are expecting a little baby!


Baby King is due to arrive at the end of the Summer....
August 13th to be exact.


I am in for one HOT and looooong summer!

We found out at the beginning of December that we had a baby on the way! I hadn't been feeling good at all. We were planning on going out with friends for dinner the next night, so I took a pregnancy test, just to see if I was in the clear to have a couple of glasses of wine or not... Came up negative. So I thought, No biggie! Just didn't want to be thinking later on down the line- "Oh crap! 'Baby got..... drunk!"
Still wasn't feeling good the next morning, so I thought, "I'll swing by my drs office to see what they say." Long story, short- Blood test came back positive for pregnancy! :)
Now, I'm a planner..... I knew that John & I were getting close to wanting to start a family, and I knew the exact way I wanted to tell him, when that day arrived.
Ever since John & I got engaged, I have heard the story of how his Mom had this wooden rocking horse custom made for John when he was a baby. She looooved this horse. She said John looooved this horse, and that she always wanted John's babies to have it one day. Well, the story gets sad, but to make it short,- the horse fell into the wrong hands at one point & got given away in a yard sale many many years ago.
So, being the planner that I am, I thought, "I'm going to make a happy ending to that story."-
I couldn't find that rocking horse, but I did the next best thing & had one shipped over from Sweden. It's just the most precious thing you've ever seen. And I've been hiding this rocking horse in the laundry room for the past couple of weeks. (Shows how much John is actually in the laundry room- HA---- I will say that it was in a box & hidden)
So, later on that night, when John got home, I told him that I had purchased something for the new house, pulled out this rocking horse & he said, "YOU'RE PREGNANT?!" - It was such a wonderful & exciting thing! John has been wanting a little baby since the day we got married.... So needless to say, HE WAS ESTATIC!!
So, we decided to keep quiet on the baby news (even to our parents!) until the 1st Doctors Appt which was scheduled the week of Christmas. Doctors appointment went wonderfully and he said everything looked perfect! We heard the little heartbeat & it just seemed so surreal.
On to Christmas- We told our families by each giving them a big box at the very end of all the presents & said, ' This is something that y'all have been wanting for your house.' Well, each set of parents all want/need something for their house, so they didn't think one thing about it.
I had gathered sweet baby items that I had seen & put them in a cute basket. Wrapped it up in muslin/ burlap material. Took out some stencils, stamped 'STORK & CO' on the material & tied it with a bow.
As soon as each of them pulled it out, they shot John & I a look of: 'Does this mean what we think it means?' John & I quickly said, "Oh no.... It's just the name of a company.... Keep opening!" It took just one flip of the fabric to reveal the baby items & jumps for joy, tears of happiness & lots of laughs were let out by all!
What the packaged looked like.
(I moved the tag to the inside of the basket, since I didn't want to give away the surprise before they unwrapped it)



I filled the basket with sweet items like:
Baby book, Hand knit baby booties, stuffed animal,
white baby pillow with a silver rattle, & 2 wooden pull toys

Tag that was inside:

I purchased these adorable push toys from Etsy!



We have video of each set of parents unwrapping their gift. However, it's on both of our phones & we can't seem to figure out how to upload them.... But once we do, we will definitely share them on here!

So, from here on out, I'm going to switch up our little blog just a bit.
Mondays will be our baby updates that week
Tuesdays will be recipes- Tasty Tuesdays (I'm copying my friend, Allison, on this)
Wed-Fri will be random things....

Thanks so much for all the love & support!!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Christmas 2010

After a long one month break from the blogging world, we are back!
However, I don't think I'll ever take that big of a break away again from blogging. So much stuff happens in one month, (even a slow month) and I feel like it's taken me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to upload these pictures as well as get them on here!

But....
It was a much needed break & we got mostly everything moved & unpacked, or put in storage. Still working on some things & trying to find spots for everything.... I hate for things to look crammed in somewhere....

To start off, where we left off~
We had a wonderful Christmas at the cabin


I don't know what made me want to do a Pheasant themed tree last year, but I did. So I carried it over into this year as well. It went perfect with the cabin decor...



Some Christmas cookies for Ol' Saint Nick!

We start off our family Christmas on Christmas Eve with my Mom's side of the family.
We have been doing this for as long as I can remember. We all get together around 5ish on Christmas Eve for fun, food & presents!
Chandler, my cousin's little boy.... Isn't he just precious!!
We have always had a Lasagna dinner on Christmas Eve. Such a different dinner than you would think for Christmas, but so wonderful since it's the exact opposite of what we will be eating on the next day!


Now, time for presents! There are about 15 of us that gather on my Mom's family's side for Christmas. Just immediate extended family. However, it can be chaotic once presents start being opened, so I didn't get hardly any pictures!
A horrible, but one of the only, pictures we got of us together at Christmas 2010
My Aunt M'Lee loves her some Maxine!
On Christmas morning, we awoke to a snow dusted ground. There were ducks on the lake in front of the cabin, so John & Cooper went hunting...
Lunch on Christmas Day is spent with John's side of the family.
Lilly, our neice, loved her Cat in the Hat game!

Allie Grace is all about baby dolls & princess stuff!
The grandkids with Mimi & Papa King
John & his sister, Katie
Katie & her girls!
Later on, on Christmas afternoon, we stop back by my Mom's house to celebrate Christmas with my Bonus Brother, Kenny & his wife Karen. They have 2 adorable kids, Brooke & Logan!

Brooke~
My sister, Blair, got the best picture of Brooke though. (I wish I had a copy of it!). Mom got Brooke some Jeggings for Christmas (3 years old & already at the top of the fashion trend at Preschool)- Brooke loves to pose for pictures, so when Blair went to take a picture, Brooke said, "One, Two, Three- say Jeggings!!" It was HILARIOUS!
Logan is all about some trucks & trains!
Christmas Night we go to my Dad & Phyllis' house. We love this tradition!
Didn't get any pictures of us at Christmas, but I did get a picture of the tree.
I just love all white & silver trees....
The day after Christmas we celebrate & head down to my Nana's house (Dad's mom).
Such a fun time. She recently just got put into an Assisted Living Facility in Franklin, so it was nice to have Christmas at her old house, like always.
John & I with Nana. She'll be 90 this July!