35-week appointment.

This morning I had my 35-week OB/GYN appointment. It went well.

My blood pressure was 100/58 - I swear, my blood pressure is super consistent! Last time it was 102/58 - pretty darn similar!

Harper's heartbeat was 140 bpm.

The doctor checked to see how much I am dilated. I am apparently dilated to a '1'. I asked her opinion regarding when she thought I would have Harper, and she said that she thinks I will not go late, but go to term - within a week before my due date.

Harper is head down (although at this point, she could still flip - but I don't think that's likely to happen).

So all in all a good appointment.

My next appointment is in ONE WEEK - on April 6th.

I am getting really close now - very exciting (but also a little scary!).

On a similar/side note, I have been craving Fried Ice Cream and a brownie-type ice cream sundae from a chain restaurant (like Chili's). Hopefully I will get my cravings met before Harper arrives. I am super busy and to be honest, it's not easy to work in going out to eat (plus, we are trying to save money and going out to eat isn't exactly budget-friendly). I still think and hope I will succeed at getting my dessert-craving met.

a little spring break fun at the lake.

This past week was our Spring Break. We ended up going to my parents' Lakehouse at Beaver Lake for two nights and just relaxing and spending some time together as a family.

Here are some pictures that document our lake time:

34-weeks pregnant - compare and contrast.

I'm back again comparing my pregnancy belly with Hayden to my pregnancy belly with Harper. I've done this once so far at 29 weeks and I thought it was pretty neat, so here it goes again.

First off, here I am about 34-weeks pregnant pregnant with Hayden:

And here I am now, 34-weeks pregnant with Harper:
Again, I think I protruded more with Hayden and that I am just carrying them differently. With both pregnancies, I have and am measuring "on time" - so no worries. They are essentially the same "size" just expressed and configured differently. Very neat.

a few words of wisdom via randall k.

My lovely husband Randy has the tendency to say some really amusing things.

He is just full of humor and sometimes it isn't even purposeful.

I feel obligated to share with you some of these awesome phrases and quotes - it wouldn't be right to keep them to myself - they are meant to be shared.

Here goes:

• "I wish I had a full-length mirror so I could take it all in."
• "I clean up so well."
• In reference to Hayden and picking out an outfit for him to wear - "Orange sometimes washes him out. The green in this shirt will bring out the green in his eyes."

baby shower in fayetteville.

Earlier today, my friends Leslie Nix, Jamie Wetsell, and Courtney Ray threw us a shower in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was wonderful.

It was co-ed and "kid-friendly" - overall it was more like a party and get together than a baby shower (although gifts were involved).

I am so thankful for everything the hostesses did - my family is very blessed.

Randy, Hayden, and I had a rockin' time.

First of all, here is a picture of Randy and I before heading off to the shower:

And now for the pictures from the shower:

the hostesses - Leslie, Jamie, and Courtneyme with the lovely hostesses (my boob looks crazy in this picture) hayden with a present he received from his nana and nini (Randy's mom and aunt)the presentsparty atmosphereopening the presents outside for a family shot hayden directed us to pose like this (my boob looks crazy in this picture too):and hayden posed like this:

P.S. A big thanks goes to the shower hostesses and all the wonderful guests who made this day so special. And a special thanks goes to Sheree Alt and Dave Lewis who agreed to be the "camera photographers" during the baby shower. I really appreciated it!

33-week appointment plus a trip to the ER - not pregnancy related.

This morning I had my 33-week OB/GYN appointment.

It went well. My blood pressure was 102/58.

Harper's heartbeat was 150 bpm.

I go back again in 2 weeks (March 30th) for my next appointment. At that appointment, they are going to start checking my cervix. I have to say that I am really excited about this. I don't know if most people are excited about this progression and event, but I sure am!

I am looking forward to seeing if I am dilated at all and if so, to what extent. I know it doesn't really mean anything, but it's still neat to know!

On a completely unrelated note, we were at the ER this morning from 5am-7am. It was a blast (not really).

Hayden woke up at around 2am crying and inconsolable. He kept saying his ear hurt. He could not and did not go back to sleep. He just kept crying in agony. It was so sad. Then at around 4:30am, Randy made the executive decision to just take him to the ER. I figured it was "just" an ear infection, but still - he was in so much pain.

So off to the ER we went.

Suffice it to say that Hayden has a double ear infection with one ear much worse than the other. The one that is hurting is the one that is more infected (and the ear drum in that ear may rupture).

He cried the whole time at the hospital, until they finally gave him some Tylenol with Codeine and 2 shots of Rocephin. Within about 10 minutes after receiving the medications, he passed out (meaning that he fell asleep).

It was all so weird. He hasn't had an ear infection in over 2 years. And when he used to get ear infections, they never seemed to bother him (in terms of pain). Obviously things have changed!

Right now, he has fever of 101.5 (and it's only been 4 hours since he had that Tylenol). This fever thing didn't start until about 8am. I really hope we are doing what we need to do and have all of our bases covered. He is just miserable.

We do have an antibiotic (which I just gave him) - and when he wakes up I plan on giving him some more Tylenol.

While at the hospital, I mentioned to the doctor that we have an appointment with an ENT next week for his tonsils. The doctor said that his tonsils were big, swollen, and red (awesome). The doctor also said that the enlarged tonsils have more than likely contributed to the development of the ear infections. Essentially, all the congestion and what-not has no where to go. Drainage is impeded by the tonsils and it just backs up in his ear canal and eventually gets infected. So needless to say, we will definitely be mentioning this latest medical issue to the ENT next Thursday (the 24th).

Fun times!

fun in atlanta.

This past weekend, we were in Atlanta, Georgia for the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (the "we" being myself, Randy, Hayden, and my parents).

We were there (in theory) to watch the Razorbacks play, but also to have a nice family trip - good thing we didn't put too much stock into the Razorbacks because they lost in their first game Thursday night.

Despite the loss, we had a gerat time.

Here are some pictures:

Hayden with his ice cream that we ordered through room service
rockin' outOn Saturday, we visited the Georgia Aquarium. It is amazing, but it was WAY too crowded (for me). Hayden had a great time though!

random cuteness - hayden.

While down in Jacksonville this past weekend for the baby shower, I took these adorable pictures of Hayden. Randy thinks the following picture is vulgar, but Hayden certainly wasn't trying to be "vulgar" - I think it's cute (albeit a little awkward).