loving every minute of it....

AraBelle Nicole

7lbs. 9 oz.

December 23, 2008

11:40 p.m.

perfection...

oh what a week.....

this has been a really rough week for me during this pregnancy. emotions are running wild and everything makes me cry. work never gets to me but this week it has taken a toil on me. i have had several contractions and lots of pains and pressure. nothing to send me back to the hospital though. it is just getting time. i didn't think i was ready but now i am past ready. we have a busy few days in front of us. that will be just fine because soon enough she will be here. arabelle and i head to the doctor this morning for our 36 week checkup. we had to take mother to school first because she is having to wear a boot that makes it impossible to drive. so i get out of the car and help her get the boot on the as i head back to the car to move it around so she does not get rained on. as i was about to open the car door my foot slipped and i grabed the handle of the door and it swung open and pegged me right next to my eye. beautiful. how often does everything work so wonderfully together. below is my beautiful shinner.

so anyways we head on to the doctor. blood pressure was good. weight was down. he said that from what i had told the nurses that it seemed like i was having a bad week. he checked me and said i was dilated to a 1. yeah. also, i had protein in my urine but not enough to worry about right now. he set me up for next week and told me that he will be putting me in the hospital on DECEMBER 22 to being labor. AHHH! 11 days and she could possibly be here but she will for sure be here in 12. wow. it kinda hit me like a ton of bricks but now it is on. i am ready. these next 11 days will probably be the slowest days i have ever had. keep us in your prayers. pray that i will keep the peace that God is trying to offer me and that she will be healthy.

i have also attached a few new pics.

this is noah and garrett playing out in the rain.

like they needed anymore water

puddles...

getting ready to head out...

garrett and grammys camp out

in my closet...

how fun

well you may not hear from me again until things have settled down with the new baby in the house. hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday. keep us all in your prayers.

Thanksgiving Thursday....

eric and i did not get to travel this year due to this precious baby i am carrying so we decided to cook a few things plus a turkey. we invited my mom and sister over to eat because everyone else is out of town. it was nice. we had a random spread of food but the everyone enjoyed it. we are ready to eat the "thanksgiving" meal on saturday.
yesterday... i was thankful for the food we were able to prepare, our health in letting us be here, family to share it with and a nice, warm house to sit around in and make memories with our children.

34 weeks and still going....

ok, so we had our 34 week checkup today. blood pressure was not good so we get sent to labor and delivery for lots of test. he told me there was a possibility that we would be starting labor today but luckily everything turned out ok. he will be monitoring me every week to make sure that toxemia does not set in. so we head home again and wait some more.
today..i am thankful for dr daniels and his staff for assuring me i would be fine and doing everything to keep us safe. the nurses on staff at rmc and their kindness. my mom for dropping everything to be there for support. my in laws for leaving their vacation to head back to help. (they went back after everything was ok) my family for being there to help out if we needed it. great friends to invite us over and help ease the tension. and cooked us a wonderful supper with a delicious pumpkin and pecan pie. also, that arabelle gets to stay in a little bit longer to make sure she comes out as healthy as possible. i love you all.

34 weeks and still counting....

as some of you may know by now...arabelle and i made another trip to the hospital sunday night. i had some discomfort and the contractions were coming pretty regular. so after the routine and getting checkup...i was not in labor just having contractions. they give me a shot of brethine and a pill to stop the contractions. i was also dehydrated so they made me get plenty of fluids so that i could leave. after that we head home for bed. i am very anxious to see when she makes her arrival. i think i am completely prepared (as in the bags and all)
also, please take time to read my aunts blog. i could not seem to quit crying as i read her last two blogs. http://ghphillips.blogspot.com/ this is the link. she has also taken on a new challenge to blog about what she is thankful for that day and she is going to try to do it the complete year. i am excited to read it everyday and have decided to join her. check out her blog and join in with us.
tuesday, november 25th. i am thankful for a husband who apparently can't live without me. after all the fights, the nagging, the moodiness, and the apparent pregnant behavior. he is always there after that time to let me know that he truly loves me. i am going to be thankful for his faults and understand that we are meant to be different.

farewells, showers of blessing and fun....

so it seems like forever since i have updated. lots has happened since i last updated so be patient with this lengthy blog. first of all ... farewells.. logan moved back in with his father. they came and picked him up on the 7th. we were not sad to see him leave. he needed it. he went up there for fall break and once he got back he was really hard to deal with. he just seemed really depressed. no matter what we would say or do, there was never a response from him. that is hard when you live with a very out spoken husband and two very unique children. we ARE saddened that he probably will not continue going to church and being the boy he was here. but sometimes you realize you have done all you can do and you have to accept that fact. we can't change them all but we can continue to encourage him. looking at him - i get sad because none of this was his fault. so...when you are lifting prayers up remember to add him to the prayer. he needs it.

that night my family came into town for a weekend of showers. bethanys mother in law also got to make it in. me, mom, my sisters and rose went out for a girls night. it was nice sitting around talking with the ladies. i love them all and they are all so much fun to be around. saturday- noah and i get up and head a few places to pick up somethings i needed for the shower. the shower was 100 percent a surprise. i knew nothing. so i had to hang around waiting on my call to come to the shower. as we head over there i get sick...i hate surprises. i like control and i had no control over this. anyways. just as i expected. it was perfect. everything was adorable and the food was wonderful. i have attached a few pictures. thanks again bethany for all the decorations and thanks to everyone who helped her and make it happen for me and my princess. then on sunday the ladies at church had a shower for arabelle. everything was so nice and we received so many things. my family is truly blessed and we would like to thank everyone for being so kind to us during this pregnancy. the food, the calls, the present .. everything. now..enjoy the pictures.

the beautiful center pieces

all the food...plus more to come

a few of her presents and cute balloons

they were just as good as they were good

eric and the piggy

for the hospital door...by bethany

our family photo..

me and my mother

my books to sign for arabelle...

the party favors...

mom checking out the diaper..

my favorite rose

bethany doing the "games"

a very cute wrapped present

eric opening our stroller...garrett loves it

a few of her presents

arabelle's shower at church

bethany and i

me and mom

me and my mother-in-law

her crown

the boys after two very long day of showers...

finally getting her room together and all the presents up from the showers

more of her room

some of her clothes...we had to pack some into boxes and her dresser is full too

our bags...ready to go.

so after two very long days of baby showers the next few days were taken easy. thursday we had our 32 week check-up. he said everything is looking good and to keep up the good work. he said to make sure that i had a bag pack (as shown in above photo) and my cameras ready to go because it is getting close. ahhhh! i will be 33 weeks tomorrow and sometimes babies come at 36 weeks. wow. so since we received a good report we took the kids out friday to a movie. Madagascar 2..very funny. we needed it. we also had two free dinner tickets to lone star. eric and noah both got the most expensive steak. garrett and i had something cheaper but it was nice to feed the "boys" a good steak and only walk out paying 12.00 plus a tip. we had fun. saturday me, mom and noah head to georgia to pick up a few things at babies-r-us. we went there and then came right back. i am glad we do not have one of those closer because i would get in trouble.

i head back to the doctor next week for my 34 week check up. the day before thanksgiving. thank goodness because the last 3 visit my weight has been the same. if my appointment would have been after thursday then i probably would have been in trouble. she will be here before we know it. i dreamed of her last night. she was so tiny and perfect. i remember the boys being her protector. then she was walking. a little preemie walking. it was weird but i am wondering if this if Gods way of telling me that she is going to be a busy body. continue to keep us in your prayers. we are very excited for her arrival and very anxious to add her to our "loud" house.

this is my life.....

on number 7 -- i think

i think he was hurting her.

this is his halloween costume that he would not wear

look at that tight spidey suit

noah and baby remy - getting ready for his sister

he was her "protector" all night

not sure - he dont look excited



my boys trick or treating

me and noah. he is so tall.

this suit was a few sizes too small. he had his new one but did not want to wear it.

the only house he went up too. all the others he was "too little."

sweet baby remy

ryan and rowley and garrett not wanting to get a pic made.

before we ever went out. he looks just like his uncle chris here.

this is one of his new halloween outfits. he didnt like it but i pulled this pick out of him. so cute.

carving pumkins...

caught in action...

this face is great.

noah with spidey (garretts pumpkin)

garrett and spidey

noah carving his pumpkin

garrett trying to cut it open

he was alittle dirty after the halloween party

eric and i after a long night in the country. the halloween party was great.

eric with chuckie .. they hated this doll

garrett and some friends

noah and some friends

my sweet boys

fun at grammy and paw paws

best buds

they are too much alike

me and my sweet little boy :)

paw paw and his buddy









on cheaha

on cheaha

grammy and her baby

ghetto dog

garrett and a little girl at

the soccer game

eric and i

so glad that facial hair is finally back

ready to fight