one centimeter ...

and 50% effaced. what's that mean, you ask? well, one word. progress. it's not a lot, but it's something and it kept me from being completely disappointed at the doctor's office on saturday. whew! here's hoping that we'll keep on progressing and cayden will be here before we know it!

we finished up the nursery last weekend - photos to come soon. i just have to get off my lazy bum and get in there and take some photos. jeremy and i are both happy with the way it's turned out. we just can't wait to have a baby to put in there to complete the look...

with the being said, i think it's time to take a poll. a poll about when you guys think cayden might show up. just leave a comment in the comment area and we'll see who gets the closest. pop (my dad) has already called the 16th and our friend jodi thinks the 14th for some reason (rachel and jenny, i hope you don't mind possibly sharing your birthday with one more person!).

i'm trying to wrap things up at work. it's getting harder to concentrate for sure. i've almost got my bag packed for the hospital. unfortunately, i keep changing my mind on what needs to be packed... and we've got the car seat in the car - so we can at least bring him home now. here's hoping it'll be sooner rather than later that cayden joins us...

oh, and a happy mother's day to all the moms out there!

remembering how it all started

this is us the day we found out we were expecting. my mom was in town and we took her to an alabama football game. i just remember sitting there, and every so often would get this giddy feeling in my tummy that "omg. we're really pregnant." it's bizarre to look back on, but fun to see this picture and know that i will always remember that day.

we've come a long way since then. there are so many things that have gone on since september that it's kind of crazy to think about. most recently, my sister got re-married! jeremy and i now not only have a nephew from rachel, but a new brother-in-law and niece. it's fun to have a little girl around... although, every time i see lexie, she looks just a little bit older. and she is much too cute for her own good!

i was also in a wedding this past weekend. one of my best friends from college got married in huntsville to her perfect partner. and what a weekend it was. i don't know that i've ever met so many people at one event as i did at this one. it was nice to get out and mingle with old and new friends for sure.

at home, we're just trying to wrap up a few projects that have been lingering about. in january (i think), we had an outside pipe burst, flooding our utility closet and causing it to leak into our kitchen. thank goodness for insurance and a very handy husband who took it upon himself to do some drywall work and everything. he's done a good job, and even thought it's four months later, it's finally coming to an end!

i'm trying my best to get things organized inside the house. we're trying this new thing where we de-clutter every night before we go to bed. so far, we've only gotten one room into this process, but i plan on getting some other rooms fixed up this weekend. it's time to have a clean house before the little one makes his big debut.

we have a seemingly quiet weekend planned. a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning at 8:15... and it's supposed to be gorgeous weather around here. perhaps it's time to sit on the back porch and get a little sun...

i'm a total slacker

and i don't even know why i haven't been updating. lame, i tell ya!

we're in the final countdown stages at this point. as of next wednesday, i'll be 37 weeks - which means a full-term baby. cayden (yes, it's a boy! his name will be cayden samuel) will be allowed to make his appearance any time after that. i'd still like for him to stick around for a few more weeks just so we make sure that the whole day care thing will work out appropriately. (as far as that goes, we aren't guaranteed a spot 100% yet, but according to them, it's looking really good. whew.)

we almost have the nursery complete. just a few final touches and we should be good to go there. the cats love it. i think three of them have slept in the crib already. and of course we've found them in the rocker and on top of the changer. we found our miracle kitty curled up (well, as curled up as a 13 pound cat can be) in cayden's car seat just yesterday. i'm sure they won't love his stuff quite so much once they realize all the noise is coming from him... so we'll see how that goes.

as far as the pregnancy has gone, i've had it fairly easy. i'm just now to the point of where things are really starting to get uncomfortable, but hey, it's worth it all in the end, right? jeremy gets a kick out of watching my stomach move around. and i'll admit, it's still a little too alien-esque sometimes for my taste. but i know as soon as he's here, i'll miss all the movements in my belly.

i really hope to update this blog more often. again, i apologize for being such a slacker. i'll leave you with a photo of the nursery. all the frames will eventually hold photos of cayden... and possibly some photos of me and jeremy (we haven't completely decided yet).

stay tuned for completed nursery pics and possibly some photos of my big, pregnant self.



and just for fun, here's our big kitty in the car seat. looks comfy, no?

telling our secret...

we finally got to tell jeremy's parents and sister last weekend. jenny was having a chorale performance, and we were meeting jeremy's parents for dinner beforehand. our plans were to offer to say the prayer at dinner, and jeremy would throw in a line about keeping baby allen in everyone's prayers. we got to dinner and surprise! jeremy's mom had invited friends from church. so we quickly decided that dinner was not the time to share the news.

instead, we had a few minutes before the choir performance. becky started talking about surprises and how she was surprised that her church friends had shown up for the performance. and how memaw being there would be a surprise to jenny because she didn't know her grandmother would be coming. jeremy just leaned over and said, "well, we have a surprise for you too!" she was very excited - mabry too!

after the show, we met up with jenny. jeremy hugged her and said, "good job, aunt jenny." omg. she's probably had the best reaction of anyone! i thought she was going to fall out on the floor. very cool.

jeremy and i have both let the news slip to our best friends as well. it's hard to keep something like this a secret. i kept asking jeremy if it would be okay if i told tom about everything ... and he kept telling me to wait until we were closer to our "safe" zone. he finally admitted that he'd told bryan already. silly boy.

we'll be sharing the news with my grandmother this weekend. and we have our second doctor's appointment next thursday. once we hear the heartbeat, i think we'll both feel a little more reassured. i plan on telling work next friday. since it's halloween too, i plan on dressing up like a bumble bee ... and telling everyone i'm a mom-to-bee. cute, right? ok, it's a little cheesy, but i like it.

firsts...

so, a couple of weeks ago we went to the beach with the entire family. and by entire, i mean, me and jeremy, my mom and dad, my sister, her [now!] fiance and their two kids. rachel, justin, jeremy and i had all discussed whether or not we'd tell my parents on this trip, and finally, it was decided that we'd somehow break the news there. our original idea was to buy baby swimsuits (a boy's and a girl's), hold them up and ask my parents which suit i should wear. cute, right? except, in late september, it's virtually impossible to find a swimsuit!

so we settled for second best by trying to teach my nephew to tell nana and pop that "uncle jeremy and aunt becca are having a baby." while a great idea, it didn't work out quite right. all ethan would tell nana and pop was "gaygee" and when asked who was having a baby, he'd respond "i don't know." it was cute nonetheless and nana and pop were/are thrilled. we still haven't told jeremy's parents, but i'm hoping we come up with a good way to tell them soon.

also last thursday i had my first doctor's appointment. it was nothing exciting really. just like a yearly trip to the gyno. except they did another pregnancy test there to confirm it. so that's cool. i also got to have blood work done. i'll admit, i panicked at first (i mean really. who likes to have vials of blood taken from them?). everything went well though and i didn't pass out. yay! our next appointment is oct. 30 at 2 pm. jeremy will be coming to this appointment with me as we're supposed to get to hear the heartbeat this time. i can't even imagine what that will feel like.

as a congratulations to ourselves, we'll be purchasing our first baby item after that appointment. this awesome diaper bag by skip hop will hopefully soon be ours.