Baby and Mommy miss Daddy....

Well, I am sitting in a hotel room right now and baby and I miss Daddy. I had a meeting all day today, a dinner tonight, and a meeting all day tomorrow in Indianapolis. I decided it would just be easier to stay the night, instead of driving home late and getting up extra early. We are missing daddy because mommy needs a back rub badly and she has majorly swollen feet. I know baby is missing daddy's voice. It is amazing to me how much he responds to Tim's voice. He already loves his daddy SO much and I know daddy is already in love with him.

Daddy... be ready for tomorrow night. Mommy is going to need some extra TLC!!!!! Baby and I love and miss you!!!!! See you tomorrow night!!!!! XOXO

Our Thanksgiving Trip!

We hope everyone had a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. We just arrived back from our traditional trip to TN to celebrate Thanksgiving. We had a great time with both sets of our parents. We left on Wednesday morning for a nice long weekend. We typically stay in a chalet in The Smoky Mountains, but this time opted for a new 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo in Sevierville, near the Apple Orchard. It was a VERY beautiful place with a great view of the river, which we got some pictures of. When we arrived on Wednesday, we hung out for awhile and headed to The Old Mill for dinner. It was wonderful, as always. We were all rather tired, due to the trip, so we were rather uneventful that evening. Tim's aunt, uncle, cousins and families came to TN too. They stayed separate from us, but were in the same condo complex. It was great to see them and spend a little time with them.

We woke up Thursday morning and lounged around watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and relaxing. Thanks to my Dad, we filled ourselves with Krispy Kreme donuts. YUMMY!!! We had SEVERAL boxes of Krispy Kreme's while there. After lounging around, we got ready and headed to Thanksgiving dinner. The last few years we have decided NOT to cook while there, but to go out for dinner. We always go to The Old Mill for their Thanksgiving feast. The wait is always 2-3 hours long, but it is well worth the wait. Plus, now we know what to expect so we plan on the wait! They serve everything family style and it is fabulous. The menu was - corn chowder, ambrosia salad, prime rib, turkey, ham, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. We all ate until we were nearly sick!

After the Thanksgiving feast, Mom and I headed to find someplace to shop. We went to Old Time Pottery, which was unbelievably packed!!! We were in there forever fighting crowds, but we had a blast. After that, we headed back to the room for a little R&R (and ice cream, as you will notice in the picture). Dad and Tim read in the newspaper that 80 shops at the outlet mall would be opening at midnight. We all laughed about it, but at 12:15 AM we all decided we wanted to go. None of us had ever shopped that late and we thought it would be fun to check out. So, Tim and I, along with all of our parents and Leighton, went to the mall. It was PACKED!!!! It was just as busy as it is at 8:00 AM on black Friday. It was so hilarious just to watch all of the people. Here is a picture of all of us arriving back to the condo at 3:00 AM... YES.... 3:00 AM (notice we are all holding up three fingers) Pregnancy can't hold me down when it comes to shopping.... (ok... maybe a little - I do have to take MANY breaks)

Since we didn't get to bed until extremely late, we got up late. Our black Friday shopping didn't start until around noon. Tim's Mom got out early with her sister, but Mom and I got a late start. We shopped and shopped at our favorite outlet mall all day, while taking several breaks to elevate my feet. We went to lunch at Conner's and sat and had a nice long lunch. We purchased several things for the baby and I can't wait for him to be here for next Thanksgiving. It will be so much fun! Although I am sure he won't want to shop as much as I do! The men all went and did their own type of shopping..... Bass Pro Shop, a Golf store, several places to look at electronics, etc.!!! (Check out my holiday shirt in the picture. I would never wear most of these maternity shirts that have sayings on them, but Tim and I found this shirt in a maternity/baby boutique in Chicago and I could not pass it up. It says... "Season's Breeding's")

Friday night, we headed to Gatlinburg to eat at The Peddler. It is a wonderful steakhouse that Mom and Dad had been to before. The atmosphere was incredible, as we sat by the window overlooking a creek and mountain. The food was wonderful too. They bring out the meat raw and you choose what you would like and they cut it to your liking. It was wonderful. After our meal, it was SO cold we decided to head back to the condo.

On Saturday, the Mom's and I went to several little stores that we had previously missed. A lot of speciality stores and things that we don't have at home. Although, we did hit the new TJ MAXX. There was no way any of us could have missed that. We are all TJ aholics!!! The men went out and did their own adventures again. I think they drove up in the mountains, etc. Of course, they watched football!

Saturday night we all went to The Christmas Place. Tim and I have a tradition of going there and getting personalized Christmas ornaments with the year on them. Phoebe always gets her own and this year we picked out an adorable one for her. We also got other cute ones for Tim and I. We will post a picture of those later. We dined at The Chop House, which is always one of our favorites. They have the best salads in the world! YUM YUM (is it bad that I talk about food all of the time) When we arrived back from dinner, we hung out with the family and Leighton came over for a little guitar hero match. We decided to bring our PlayStation along so we could play guitar hero. Leighton is fun to play with, although he plays on expert and beats me! He has turned in to a nice young man and it is hard to believe he is already 15 years old and in high school. Tim and I enjoyed spending time with him.

On Sunday it was time to head back. We had breakfast at the Applebarn, which is a family tradition. They have a special morning juice called julep that is wonderful. They also have applesauce muffins, which I can't get enough of!

After breakfast we said goodbye to the mountains and began our adventure home. The traffic was absolutely horrendous getting out of town. It ended up making our drive home much longer. Overall I felt great on the trip, other than a few backaches and swollen feet. We are just beginning third trimester, so I figure it will only get worse!

Thank you SO much to Laura for house sitting and taking care of Phoebe. We really appreciate it. It takes a big stress off knowing that Laura watches our girl. Laura is so responsible and it is nice not to worry about anything while we are gone because we know she will take good care of her!

Sorry for the long post. Remember, this is my pregnancy journal and this is being printed out and kept in Baby Stover's book, so I have to have all of the details. Hopefully I didn't bore you too much!!!!

Update on Mommy and Daddy's sinus infections....

Well, this morning I was miserable so I broke down and called Dr. White. When I was there for my monthly appointment last week and I was feeling dizzy, she told me to call if I felt like I was getting worse. I called and they told me to drink LOTS of fluids, take Tylenol and they called me in an antibiotic (Zithromax). AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! I kept telling them that I was freaked out to take anything. She said Zithromax is completely safe during pregnancy and it is better to take it than to get worse. I went to pick it up on my way to work and the pharmacist, whom I know from calling on, gave me a 10 minute speech on how completely safe it is to take during pregnancy. Of course I still wasn't convinced, so I checked with many other sources. Since I am starting to feel much better, I have decided to wait to see how I feel tomorrow. If I still feel like I have the crud, I will break down and take it. I HAVE to get better by Thanksgiving. It doesn't seem to be bothering baby, he is still kicking away.

Daddy is doing much better too! He FINALLY has his voice back! He still doesn't quite feel up to his chipper old self, but he is much better. In my opinion, he should have went to the doctor, but what do I know, I am a woman! Men, or at least in my family, NEVER go to the doctor!!!Hopefully our son will NOT follow in his daddy's footsteps on that aspect. Hopefully he will have enough sense to go to the doctor when he has been sick for over a week!!!

Mommy and Daddy are sick....

We have both been sick. Tim started getting sick Tuesday and by Friday I had a horrible sore throat! We think we both have sinus infections and it has NOT been fun. We have so much to do and NO time to be sick! We have gone through 5 boxes of Kleenex since Thursday! Of course, neither one of us has missed any work. In fact, Tim thought it was necessary to work Saturday. Of all weekends for him to work, he decides to work on the day he is miserably sick! Since we knew he would be working and neither one of us felt the greatest, Friday night we decided to go to bed early. YEAH RIGHT!!! Baby Boy has been preparing us for late nights and he was quite the character Friday night/Saturday morning! I woke up at 2:19 AM because of course, I had to pee! On top of my horrible coughing, baby decided that he wanted to play football inside my uterus and keep me up. Wow was he moving! I decided there was no way in the world that I could go back to sleep, so I got on the laptop and surfed the net until almost 5:30 AM. All this time, the baby is still playing football (or soccer - Tim and I haven't decided yet)! I decided to roll over on my side and face Tim's back. Our son kept kicking his Daddy in the back. Of course Tim was oblivious to all of this. In fact, he was snoring like crazy, due to his horrible sinus issue! Finally, about the time Tim was getting up for work, I fell asleep. Baby and I ended up sleeping until 9:00 or so, although he was still kicking! I think he finally stopped kicking mid morning! He truly is preparing us for what is to come. Tim and I are both night owls, so we figure he will follow in our footsteps!

Baby Boy is 24 Weeks!

On Thursday, baby turned 24 weeks. As you can see from the picture, Mommy is really growing! You can also see that I am absolutely freezing. It has been really cold here and the wind was horrible when Daddy was taking the picture. Tim decided long ago that he wanted to take my picture in the same spot each week. I think we should have decided on some place inside!!!



On Tuesday we had our monthly appointment with Dr. White. She said, as she always does, that we are "rocking and rolling"! The baby measured 24, his heartbeat was 147, and I had gained 7 lbs since last month! Dr. White actually said that was good because I am all baby and that means baby is growing, growing, growing. That is very important, due to the fact that we have a two vessel cord. They are typically concerned that babies with two vessel cords don't get enough nutrients, but it appears so far that our baby is fine. We talked to her about the necessity of seeing the maternal/fetal specialist again. We are scheduled to see the specialist at St.Vincent again in December for another ultrasound. She said she did not think it was necessary, based on the previous visit with the specialist. Tim and I feel much more comfortable going to Dr. White and she seems to think Baby Boy and Mommy are just fine. She will do a follow-up ultrasound at the end of December, or the first of January. This is just to make sure that baby is growing, but I think for now it is rather obvious that he is!

Our appointment was eventful. The nurse tried to get the baby's heartbeat and he was not interested. Our son already has a mind of his own! He kept hiding from the nurse. She asked us if we are having a boy because typically boys hide and don't want to be messed with! When she finally got his heartbeat, he kicked her twice. It was hilarious. He is such a little character already. When Dr. White came in and was poking around on him, he turned his butt right up. Dr. White put my hand next to my belly button and had me feel. When I asked her what I was feeling, she said it was his butt. He was sticking it right out!!! I think we are going to have our hands full with this one!!! We can't wait!

Our first shower gift...

We received our first shower gift from our good friends David, Leanne, Ryan, and Meg. We were so surprised to come home to a Pottery Barn Kids package on our front porch. We absolutely LOVE the gift. It is a personalized quilted diaper bag (one that Daddy won't mind carrying around). Since we don't have baby's name chosen, it is personalized with "Stover". We love it! We are so sorry that they can not make it to the shower, but we understand it is a long drive from Virginia to Indiana, just for a baby shower!!! Thanks again guys!

Mommy & Daddy's weekend in Chicago.........

Actually, my weekend started on Friday. I took Friday as a vacation day and Mom and I spent the day together. We went shopping in Indianapolis and went to the Christmas Gift and Hobby Show. I did end up getting baby boy some fun things, as always.

Saturday morning Tim and I left for Chicago. We have been researching strollers and most of the ones we liked were not available in Indiana. Since we love to go to Chicago, which is where we were engaged over 9 years ago, we decided to head there for the weekend and stroller shop. We knew of a store in the Bloomingdale's mall called Galt Baby. They have the higher end strollers and baby gear and we knew they would have what we were looking for. We decided on the Uppababy stroller. It is similar to the ever popular Bugaboo, but much easier to collapse and much more functional. Once we had decided on it, the salesperson told us that it is the newest celebrity pick for strollers. Tori Spelling, Brooke Shields, Mariska Hargitay, and Jennifer Garner all have the Uppababy. Here is a picture of what we decided on....

We shopped all day on Michigan Avenue, taking lots of breaks for my tired feet. In fact, that night Tim could not believe how horribly swollen my feet were. I couldn't believe it myself. They looked hilarious! It didn't stop me though! I am a true shopper and I can go until I drop. We did have several eating breaks. We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and stopped many times for snacks. Here is a picture of us at Garrett's Popcorn. It is an extremely popular popcorn shop, made popular by Oprah. Typically there is a line like you would not believe. Tim and I have never waited in the line before because we have always thought it was ridiculous to stand in an over an hour long line for popcorn. Well, this time the line was shorter and we decided to wait it out. We were in there for about 45 minutes or so, but it was a lot of fun to watch them make the popcorn. We ended up getting several bags of caramel corn and we brought some back for our parents. We were SO glad we waited in line because honestly, it is the best popcorn any of us has ever tasted!!!!

We stayed all night in Oakbrook, which is about 25 minutes or so from downtown. We also wanted to shop at The Land of Nod, which is a place on our registry. It is located in Oakbrook and since the rooms downtown were either sold out or ridiculously expensive, we decided to stay at the Marriott in Oakbrook.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Corner Bakery and shopped at the Oakbrook Mall, which I love. We enjoyed spending a lot of time in The Land of Nod. They have the best kid/baby toys and we had a ball looking at everything. I am sure Baby Stover will be going there often. Here is a picture of me in front of the store.

We had a great weekend with great weather. You never know about the weather in Chicago! We feel like we accomplished a lot. I even got a new winter coat and a pair of boots! I was in need of both, due to pregnancy! We are always sad to leave Chicago, but it is always good to get back home to Phoebe - who is ALWAYS glad to see us!

Baby is 23 weeks!

Baby Stover has furniture!

Well, we don't have it yet, but his furniture is on order. After months of trying to figure out what we wanted, we ordered it on Saturday. We looked at so many places - baby boutiques, Pottery Barn Kids, Land of Nod, and various other places. We ended up ordering from Kittles, a large furniture store in Indianapolis. We decided to go with this for several reasons. Mainly because of the fact it is made in the U.S., unlike most of the others we looked at, which are made in China. I have a real problem with purchasing things made in China because of all of the press. I am also really funny about the toys I will allow him to play with. Tim says the poor baby is not going to have any toys because I am so picky! Anyway, the furniture is made by Stanley, which is an American company that has been around forever. We went with a black crib that will convert to a toddler bed, a daybed, and to a full size bed. We also ordered the double dresser with a detachable changer, and a door chest. It is all very nice.




We had a very exciting Saturday. It was all about baby all day long. My parents went with us and we feel like we accomplished a lot. My parents wanted to purchase all of his nursery decor, so they ordered all of his bedding, etc. We have had it picked out for awhile, but yesterday we were able to see fabric swatches, etc. The bedding was ordered at a baby boutique in Carmel, IN and they were SO very helpful. I am so excited about the nursery. I think it is going to be awesome and I think baby will enjoy it too!

Baby is 22 weeks!

As of Thursday, November 1st, baby is 22 weeks! Baby Boy has been doing A LOT of kicking and squirming and now Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa have been able to feel him kick. It is truly amazing to feel our baby kicking and moving inside of me. I love to feel him. Not to mention, it gives me security to feel him. It makes me know he is there and doing okay! Here is a picture of my growing belly! I have been feeling great. Some days I don't even feel pregnant! It is SO SO SO much better than 1st trimester!



Grandma Heck (my Mom) gave baby his first pumpkin. It had the cutest bow on it, but it has been really windy and it blew away! She painted his name on it. Hopefully soon we will know his first name. We are narrowing down the choices and we are pretty close!