The circle of life...

I had plans to go to Chattanooga this weekend to visit family including a very sick great uncle that had cancer, but he passed away earlier this week. So David and I went on Thursday for the visitation and spent the night with my parents at a hotel then went to the funeral Friday morning. It was very emotional, but at least he is not suffering anymore. He had prostate cancer before and they didn't get rid of all of it, and it came back in his liver and pancreas. I am most sad for Aunt Jane because she and Uncle Durwood spent so much time together. They even still slept in the same bed until he got really sick. He was 81, they had been married for 54 years, he had worked for the railroad for 44 years, and served in the Navy. The military cemetary he was laid to rest in was impressive. Even though it was very sad, it was nice to be around family from Chattanooga, New Orleans, Tuscumbia, etc. that I don't get to see often. They are excited about Marlee coming into the world in a little over 3 months!

So much to do during this last trimester. But we are getting so excited! We are so fortunate to be getting so much second hand stuff. I am now mostly registered for other things we need, and need to start planning showers. Getting ready to start decorating the baby room. Still not for sure decided on a wall color, b/c Dave still wants to do red. I'm ok with a dark red for part of it, but want to use purple, green, and other accent colors. We need a massive shelving unit in the big closet. And I have to organize all the other stuff that we're keeping that used to be in the room.

Dave got offered his old job back at ABEC, shop guy. He goes next week to talk to the owner's about specifics and sign paperwork. The higher ups have changed hands a little and they are willing to "work" with Dave's musician lifestyle, but he plans to ask off as little as possible. I'm relieved that we'll be getting more steady income to save up for when Marlee arrives, but I'm sad that Dave has to go back to a day job instead of making enough money with music alone. He'll never quit music, and hopefully it will still only keep getting better. They are recording their second album still, and I'm excited for it to come out. So many people are ready for more Delilah Why music!

I got to see Brittany this morning since she's in town for Memorial Day weekend, I met her in Huntsville for lunch and some shopping (of course I didn't buy anything, and Brit kindly paid for lunch). She got Marlee the cutest onesie and bib! Delilah Why is in St. George Island, FL til Monday for shows. I'm going to see Sex and the City 2 with Julie and Mallory tomorrow...excited! I'm so ready for our beach trip in a week and a half with Jon and April!

Temps are officially in the 80s...gonna need some pool time soonly!

3 1/2 months left!

We are almost 25 weeks! Sometimes I feel like I've been pregnant for a while and sometimes it seems like it's going so fast. We are having our yard sale this weekend! Winding down the first day and we've done pretty well, and the rain has held off! We will be at it again tomorrow and the weather is still supposed to be sunny and hot! My friend Mallory is coming to help tomorrow. Dave has been such a help yesterday (setting up) and today. They have a show in KY tonight and won't get back to early tomorrow morning, so he may sleep through the sale tomorrow. I plan on getting some baking materials this afternoon and making some baked goods to sell tomorrow too. Hope we do even better tomorrow!

I've been sleeping pretty well lately, unless Marlee starts kicking/moving a lot when I'm trying to fall asleep. :) My feet and hands have started to swell some if I stand too long. Still not getting sick anymore. I notice my belly more when I try to bend down now, whether sitting or standing. My hair seems thicker and I actually have some long nails (have bit my nails for years, so weird to see them long)....attributed to the prenatal vitamins. I have pains in my sides at times, but going well overall with symptoms. I've not been doing as well lately with exercising, but still doing my kegels and stretches.

Schools are about to be out for the summer around here. We've got Jon and April's Reception at the lake coming up, plus a trip to Gulf Shores with them. So excited to go to the beach. However, there was a significant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so not sure how safe the water will be. I plan to meet my friend Brittany in Huntsville next weekend when she comes to visit family. I haven't seen her since Feb!

So hopefully we will sale the rest of this stuff tomorrow, and whatever we don't sale we will donate...and then baby room time! I've registered for most of the baby stuff we will need, so now just gotta plan the showers (a Nashville one and a Centre one). Can't believe I'm about to be in my last trimester! Working really hard to stay positive lately, nothing bad is happening, just letting my worries get the best of me. I know that it's gotten over the top when my negativity rubs off on Dave because he is so happy, positive, and free-spirited. I love him so much and could not see doing anything in life without him by my side. I am so happy and excited for us! He is my Rock and Rocker, and I have to help keep it that way!

Where did my feet go?

So now when I look down I see my belly instead of my feet. I finally started getting some indigestion, but not daily, and still haven't had nose bleeds or carpal tunal (which are common around now). We are almost 24 weeks! I can still feel her move around a lot. Trying to tune into when she's awake and asleep. The average is about 14-18 hours of sleep a day, but in 20-40min increments. When she's on the move, I can even see my stomach move sometimes!

I got to spend Mother's Day with my momma! It is so weird that I should be a mother this time next year. I hope I can be as good of a mom as my mom is! My mom let me borrow her body pillow, it's called a comfort U, and it's pretty comfortable. Dave had just bought me a few new pillows to use, but now we can use them in the guest room to replace the old feather ones! My parents are coming to visit this weekend...looking forward to spending time with them in our home and around Nashville.

Due to the flooding our neighborhood yardsale got postponed until next month, so no getting rid of all our stuff this weekend. :( It was rescheduled for the first weekend in June, but we already have plans to be back in Centre. So gotta figure out if I'm gonna do my own sale and when...got so much stuff to get rid of so we can get started on the baby's room!

I am so excited for David to be a father. I think he's gonna be so great! We are so excited, just still nervous about pulling ahead financially before I will be out of work for a while. This is such an exciting time! We just want to be good parents and pass on the best from us. Us being happy and positive is very important.

Can't believe we just have a summer left before being parents forever!

Natural disasters and heart shapes

Well, last week Dave left with the band on Wed around lunch to head down to Florida for the weekend for shows. I got home from work around 1 on Friday. I spent most of the afternoon catching up with some friends on the phone and reading our newest Book Club book "Sarah's Key". It was nice weather with sunshine, so I stayed outside until I made dinner. Before I woke up Saturday morning it was thunder storming with hard rains. Now the news/weather people said that they were predicting hard storms and rains and maybe get 5 inches or so. Well, it rained all day, with maybe an hour of just light mist. Around 3:00 the power went out and stayed out til after 6. Turned the tv on, still raining, flooding in parts of Nashville was being reported. There was some crazy live footage of major interstates filling up with water and people having to evacuate their cars, portable buildings floating down the interstate, and big trucks making huge waves & making cars bop up and down as they were trying to push on through the water. I couldn't believe what was happening. Then more and more places started to flood and all attention turned towards the Cumberland River, along with many other smaller rivers around Nashville (especially on the East and West side). The rain continued on Sunday with no relief until after 5pm, and even when the rained stopped the flood waters did not. The rivers were expected to crest, 1st and 2nd Ave downtown buildings were flooding, houses, schools, restuarants, stores, offices, music venues, and the Opryland Hotel all around Nashville were flooding! Of course, most of this was being reported to me via text message and then I finally found a radio w/ batteries, b/c our power had gone out again around 12pm. Dave was supposed to get back by late Sunday night, but I was so worried that the roads would be blocked. I had sent him some pix text of some damage on the news Sat, but not convey how bad it really was to them. They were not getting any news coverage in Florida or Alabama on the way back that eluded to SEVERE problems. By dark on Sunday I was starting to panic a little. My neighbor did come over for an hour to sit and hang with me, but she was nervous b/c she hadn't heard from her parents, whose subdivision was flooding and we heard they were evacuating. We walked to our neighborhood's entrance and were relieved to see no flooding in our neighborhood or on the main road we turn onto. Still no power, night falls, and I only have AA batteries. Which work for the radio, but not for the flashlights or lanterns that I have, so I am relying on one flashlight that only charges electrically, so I light many candles and try to use it sparingly. Get word that schools are closed on Monday, and spend most of my time reading my book by candle light and alternating my meals between peanut butter sandwiches and pineapple & cheese sandwiches, I filled up some water jugs just incase the water was turned off too. I had found my car charger and charged my phone some earlier since it was dying early on on Sunday, but as I went out to charge it again later, my car would not crank! I tried not to panic, let Dave know that it was about to die and really hoping he would make it home. He called after he dropped Pete and Cullen off in East Nashville and my phone went dead in the first minute, instant panic, it was about 11 at night. I went out to my car again, still wouldn't crank, but with the key turned one click the car charger would charge my phone! So I called Dave back and talked to him until he got home....so relieved! Power still off, we went to bed soonly. Power was still off when we woke up, thank goodness it wasn't too hot outside yet. But the sun was out and looked like a pretty day; however, the radio reports sounded awful. Our neighbors found their parents and that their house was ruined, they have since moved in next door. We made it to Wal-Mart down the road for batteries, ice, some food, etc. Then Dave hooked up the power inverter to a power cord in the house and we were able to run our internet, computers, fans, and phone chargers. So we were able to get some more info about what was going on. We babysat the neighbors' 2 girls for a few hours while they went and gutted their parents' ruined house, dvd movie on computer w/ snacks and playdoh worked out well. Then the power came back on by 9, so we had a hot meal and a warm shower before bed. Some people still don't have power and much damage has been done to houses and vehicles. It is hard to get to some areas, so I haven't been able to work a full day yet. Schools are still closed and maybe for a while, even some families houses are hard to get to, but I don't think any of the families I work with got bad flooding. Some people now have nothing though. So sad. We are gonna donate some stuff, but I can't be near the water since I'm preggo. Dave leaves town again tomorrow and I'm leaving for Centre this weekend for Mother's Day. The band is playing in Gadsden on Sat night, so we'll be headed back to N'ville on Sunday.

We were also able to get to our doctor's appt in Franklin on Tuesday. We had our 2nd official ultrasound to get all of the measurements. Marlee looks great, but I was informed that I have a heart-shaped uterus. Which has not been mentioned to me before. It's not formed into 2 different sections, but has a peak/point at the top, so the placenta is in one nook and Marlee's head is in the other. The risks include miscarriages (which my doctor is now not worried about since I'm 5 months/22 weeks along), abnormal pain, preterm labor, and breech positioning resulting in a C-section. Once Marlee gets so big, if she is still head up, she will not be able to turn into head down position b/c of the point. Some women with heart-shaped uteruses have delievered vaginally healthily, and a C-section isn't the end of the world, so this just means that I'll have to be monitored very closely as I and she grows, and towards the end some decisions will have to be made. Hopefully I can pull off a normal birth just fine, but I guess we'll see. Trying to stay positive! As long as Marlee is safe and happy, so am I. Only 4 more months!