Beach Bum with a Bump

Baby Shower

First, an update on our first baby shower! The week before spring break several teachers at the school hosted a wonderful shower for Baby Tanner. I always love the showers at the school because it is one of the few times we get to see the teachers from the other grades. It was quite an overwhelming experience! First, I am not one that likes to be the center of attention in a large crowd and opening all the presents in front of everyone was interesting. It was unbelievable to look down the table and see so many gifts lined up for our little man - almost every teacher in the school sent a gift! The shower certainly made it much more real! Bringing everything home and going back through it all helped Matt and me to realize just how truly blessed we are. It was amazing to see such an outpouring of love for our little guy!

My sweet hostesses and coworkers - Elizabeth, Casey, Jana, Pam, Kim, April, Darby, Landon, and Donna

I was lucky enough to have my mom and both my grandmothers come to the shower! 4 generations in one picture (if you count the one in the tummy!)

Aunt Lauren even came to join the fun!

The baby bump and our class pet - the bear (long story)

As many of his gifts as I could get in one picture, not counting the items packed up in the boxes. LOTS of precious clothes, his bouncy seat, diaper pail, activity mat, bottles, bath tub, video monitor, noise machine, toys, bottle warmer, and lots and lots of accessories!

Beach Bum(p)

Since last week was spring break, I had a decision to make. Should I be a responsible, soon-to-be mom and stay home to prepare for our upcoming arrival OR be impulsive (and possibly a little selfish) and go to the beach. Well, realizing it will probably be the last time I relax, I chose the later. :)

It was such an amazing trip! I went with 4 friends from school - Jana, Casey, and April. We could not have asked for a better trip! We went on a long walk every day, ate out every night, did some shopping, and in 4 days spent the days on the beach in 75 degree weather without seeing a single cloud! One of the highlights of the trip was digging a big hole in the sand and laying on my tummy for the first time in months! It felt SO good to stretch out my back and I even took a pretty good nap. You should have seen the faces of the group that settled in next to our sandy spot. Boy, were they surprised when I stood up from my belly-down nap! It was such a great trip and I was excited to think about the next time I put my toes in the sand I would have a baby in my arms and not in the tummy!

The view from the beach - if you look closely the black fin just below the horizon is the best picture I had of the pod of dolphins that swam by right past the sandbar!

The tummy-sized hole! Casey dropped her phone into the bottom for a better shot :)

Me and Baby Tanner. I don't think anyone is ever a fan of a bathing suit pic, but if you can't get away with it when you're pregnant, when can you get away with it?

Final Update

We had our 30 week doctor's appointment yesterday and all went well. Matt even had an unexpected good day at work (Mondays are usually rough for him) and was able to leave early to go with us! My blood pressure was good and his heart beat was nice and strong. I teased the doctor that I thought about making a sunscreen smiley face on my tummy when getting a bit of sun and she laughed. She said all is well and looking on schedule (little does she know I am giving him nightly pep talks to come a week or two early!) :)

PAST DUE

My apologies to our friends and family on how late this blog post is! (Especially my sweet out-of-town sister-in-law who can't be here as much as she would like) It has been something I have put off and the longer I put it off, the more overwhelming it became. Hopefully this can fill you in on the last few months of our life in the Tanner house...

It's A Boy!

Thanks to a friend of Matt's, we were able to find out we were having a little boy a few weeks before our scheduled appointment so we would know before Christmas. On December 11 we went up to Huntsville to stay with my grandmother and uncle and visit Meghan at the hospital for the ultrasound. She was able to take a few pictures and tell us we were having a little boy! Matt and I were SHOCKED! We were both convinced it was a girl! The night before we took several online gender predictor tests - all said girl. Chinese calendar - girl. I was SO sick (still was at that point), and so many told me that meant one thing - a girl. We were so surprised and went out that night to buy a baby name book, since the only names we had been considering were for girls! The visit was SO much fun and since we grabbed a chocolate milkshake for mom on the way to the hospital, our little man was quite active! He was kicking and moving and stretching - Meghan had no trouble getting a good shot to determine the gender. The hard part was getting him to hold still for a picture!

Our actual ultrasound appointment with our doctor was on December 27 and she confirmed it was a boy! I was so excited because she let us bring Aunt Lauren and Aunt Meredith, who was in town for the holidays. It was so fun to have them along to see the baby and get to hear his heartbeat. However, I don't think we did a very convincing job of acting surprised at the news that it was a boy :)

Here are a few pictures from those ultrasounds, probably the last time we will get to see the little guy until he arrives:

Head, Tummy, and Arm

Head and Hand - sorry, we can't tell if he has daddy's dimples yet :)

Looks who found his thumb! Our video shows him sucking it and swallowing!

Tiny foot

Since then...

I first felt him kick on December 31 while Matt and I were out running errands. I am not sure if I felt him before this and just never realized what it was, but while we were in the car I was sure of it! Well, as the month of January went by, Matt became frustrated that he couldn't feel him too. I would try, especially at night laying in bed, but the kicks were so far apart or Matt's hand wasn't in the right spot and we would give up. At our doctor's appointment on January 26, he asked our doctor how much longer. She promised it would not be long - and she was right. That Saturday morning while we were laying in bed, Matt got to feel him kick and kick and kick! While Matt is able to feel him more often, there are still times where we laugh and say the little guy isn't a performer. He can be so active, but when Matt puts his hand on my tummy, all goes quiet. I told him it's because he's scared of daddy already. :)

February 23 was my glucose test, which I grew very nervous about. I knew several friends who struggled with their tests and was worried about making it through the test and then the results. This would also be my first doctor's visit without Matt and I was nervous without the support. However, the test went ok and the results were great - sugar levels were good, iron levels were good, weight gain was good, and heartbeat was strong - all good news to mommy's ears!

Baby Bumpdates...

Tanner is currently my alarm clock. (Our little man still doesn't have a name yet, so we just call him Tanner. All of us except my cheerleaders, who have become impatient with our decision and just call him Logan - not sure why) Tanner wakes me up pretty consistently between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. with his kicking. Matt and I laid in the bed this morning for over half an hour and laughed at the movement of my tummy! This morning was beyond just kicking - Matt said he looked like he was trying to stand up and pop right through my tummy! We could not believe how active he was!

Pregnancy Symptoms: I am glad to say the nausea and vomitting has subsided, but been replaced by heartburn and reflux. The biggest adjustment has been having to sleep sitting up, which took some time to get used to. I am also struggling with a lot of back pain. By 8:00 at night my back is DONE and I can't even sit up. I am trying to make an effort to stay off my feet as much as possible while I am teaching. I have also seen a little bit of swelling, especially with my feet. I am hoping flip flop weather will be here before my feet quickly grow out of my shoes! I can't say I have had a craving yet, but there are still several aversions: Chinese food, anything tomato - pizza, marinana sauce, etc. Mexican has made a slow comeback, though, so Matt is happy.

Our first baby shower was this week, hosted by the teachers at the school. While I was so excited, it was all very overwhelming! It certainly made things seem SO real! Almost every teacher in the school gave our little man a gift and the amount of baby stuff still sitting in our den (until the nursery is painted) is unbelievable. Matt is convinced this little boy will not wear the same outfit twice for the first few months (but I don't think that Matt realizes this little guy will require his clothes to be changed on several days). Along with clothes, bottles, toys, blankets, we also got a diaper pail, activity mat, bouncy chair, bathtub, baby monitor, and a friend of ours made a wooden elephant that was the centerpiece on the table that matches Tanner's nursery. (pictures to come later - my mom had the camera) Some days the word "blessed" is the only word that comes to mind.

As we start our 30th week, our main goal is to get the nursery painted now that we (think we) have picked a color. I am heading off to the beach, but Matt has taken a few days off work to paint while I am away. Pics to come when I get back.