MeRrY cHrIsTmAs!

Hope everyone's Christmas was great! This was our last one as a famly of 2 - the next one will be SO different. I'll have an 11 (ish) month old, be in Arkansas with family (hopefully), and may not have Mister there (it's the Army, we can't ever assume he'll be home). Anyway, it was a good day. Mister got me a new cell phone so I *should* actually receive phone calls now that don't disconnect 14 times in a row!

Christmas Eve was officially the end of my 36th week of pregnancy. So 1 more week to go and Andrew will be considered full term (as in fully cooked ~ if he comes out before Thursday he'll be considered a premie). Only 4 weeks til my due date. Can't believe I'll only be preggo for 1 more month (6 weeks if he refuses to come out on his own). I cannot WAIT to not be pregnant anymore!!!!!!!!!!! It hasn't been awful, but man I'm done with fat knees and fingers. I want to wear my wedding rings again. I want to sleep on my stomach. I want to wear jeans without a hula hoop of stretchy fabric around the top in lieu of a button and zipper. I want to see my toes. In the last 4 weeks I've had a migraine, a kidney stone (that I handled w/o medical intervention, thank you very much), developed carpal tunnel in both wrists, stop being able to breathe out of my nose, and at 34 weeks, Andrew dropped. *Dropping is when the baby settles down into the pelvis, head down, in preparation for birth. That means it's harder to walk, sit, sleep, etc.. but eaiser to eat and breathe. The pangs that come along with his newest position are HORRID. I'm so blessed that I didn't have to deal with most pregnancy symptoms/complications for the first 8 months bc this last one has been ridiculous and I've still got 1 more to go (yes, I'm aware that 8+2=10...there are 10 lunar months ~ as in 40 weeks~ in a pregnancy). I will, however, miss the endless acrobatics going on in my stomach. I spend more time watching my belly than doing anything else. It's amazing how much motion goes on in there that we can actually see. Sometimes I think Andrew invites friends over.

Here are the pictures we took on Christmas:

We've decided Andrew should come on out and play Jan 2 or 3. That way we don't have to give up New Year's for the next 18 years and we don't have to wait til Jan 21st. We're not impatient at all! HA!

So hope you all had a very merry Christmas and maybe my next post will be a bit more exciting?!!

Last night alone and other realizations

So I get to pick Mister up at the airport this evening (yay!). He's been away on a mission hopefully for the last time until after Andrew is born. Last night I realized that, provided they don't send him away again in the next 6.5 weeks, it was my LAST night completely alone for a looooooooooooooooong time. It was a bittersweet realization. These past 4 years of Army life have given me years ~ literally YEARS ~ alone. Basic Training, AIT, training exercises, deployment, schools, PSU, cases that he has to work around the clock to solve, even 24 hour CQ shifts (front desk duty in the barracks, for those of you who do not speak Army)...these are all things that have left me facing an empty house night after night after night. Most of that time was spent in Alaska so when I say "alone" I mean the voice echoing in a canyon type of alone. I have no issue spending the daylight hours by myself - in fact, I *need* time to myself as I am used to so much of it. Deployment did that to me. I hated it at first because I was so used to having the boys from B-Co running amok in the house and then suddenly everyone was gone. I didn't just have Sam taken from me, I had almost everyone I knew up there taken away at once. But as the months went by I came to like the time to myself, but never the nights. I still hate it when his head isn't on the pillow next to mine. In fact, I cried last night even though I knew he'd be home the next day. I can't help it! I just love that guy! It didn't help that he was on a mission that didn't allow him time to call me for the last 48 hours of it. So anyway - there I was on my last night alone and how did I spend it? Ironing and assembling Christmas presents. WHOAAAAAA mama! Party central in my living room, lemme tell ya. I don't know how else I would have spent it if I would have realized a week ago that it would be my last one and had time to plan out my last few hours of solitude but really - ironing? I'm so lame. HAHA!
When Mister finally got to call today he asked what I was doing.
I answered with, "waiting for you".
He said, "You do that an awful lot, huh?"
Me - "story of my life"
Us - "hahahahah"
Me - "Well, this should be the last time I'm waiting for you alone, though!"
Him - "That's right! You'll have a little buddy waiting with you from now on!"
Then I got kinda sad bc now it won't just be me dealing with Mister away, Andrew will be hurting, too. That's going to just break my heart the first time Andrew is old enough to understand that the suitcase/duffle means that his daddy's leaving. But on the bright side, we'll be dealing with the seperations together. I'll have a wonderful distraction while Sam's gone and someone to hang out in the Arrivals section of the airport with.

I can't believe it's about to happen. I only have about 6 weeks left til my due date. I've already had a full day of false labor - the day before Thanksgiving. I didn't worry about it, though. I know what Braxton Hicks Contractions are, I've been having them for about 5 months now so I just let them be. By the 11th hour, they were coming about 3 min. apart and stayed that way for 2 hours. What a fun day! *note the sarcasm* I haven't gone more than 2 hours since then without a BHC so basically I've been contracting for a week and a half straight. False labor can trigger real labor so I just take it easy whenever I get more than 4 an hour and load up on the water. I'm never dehydrated but for some reason drinking water makes them back off. If I go into labor 3 weeks from now, the Docs will let it progress. I'm THAT pregnant. hahah! If I go into false labor again 3 weeks from now, I may just do jumping jacks instead of hitting the couch. ;) My back is killing me right now, btw. I keep having to get up from the computer and walk around. I should have Sam blow up the yoga ball so I can sit on it instead of this chair. Teacher at our child birth class said those balls were more comfortable to sit on than desk chairs in the 3rd trimester. I'm going to pull it out of the closet now.

What else have I realized lately...................?

~Oh, that I'm not going to have to pee every 15 minutes for much longer!!!!!!!! lol!
~I've got less than 2 months til I can have a spicy tuna roll and a big fat glass of anything with vodka in it.
~I'm about to be able tie my own shoes without waiting for a contraction to pass first (really! It's like trying to bend over a ball of concrete in your lap).
~We're going to be a family of 3. It won't be just the 2 of us anymore.
~Sam has officially run out of time to quit dipping before the baby is born like he promised....sigh.
~I'm going to have a mini Sam. How incredibly lucky am I???? I know that I'm blessed to have the original Sam but now I get to have TWO of him????????? My heart might just explode with fluffy hearts and rainbows.

I know that it is possible Tot may get most of his personality from me instead of Sam but I reeeeeeeeally hope he takes after his dad on this stuff
~temperment (Sam is way more chill than I am)
~sense of direction
~metabolism
~drive
~eye color
~teeth
~his immune system
Stuff I hope he gets from me
~money management
~practicality
~FEET!
~ability to be independant early on
~cat person vs dog person (hahahah)
~compassion
things I hope he gets equally from the 2 of us
~hair (please Lord, do not let my baby have red curly hair!!!!!!!! he needs Sam's texture and my lack of red pigment)
~our confidence (we're both pretty fearless in our own set of circumstances)
~our faith
~our cleanliness and organizational tendencies
things I hope completely skip over him
~our height
~my allergies
~teenage rebellion (hey, it skipped Sam! Stop laughing, Mom.)

Ooooh! I better get moving. I leave for Nashville in an hour and I don't think Sam will appreciate having some big fat pregnant lady in green and purple plaid pj bottoms with no makeup on and her hair in a knot running toward him at the airport.

Deep Fried Turkey...

...is delicious. Never again will I deal with waking up at 5 a.m. to start the 8 hour long process of oven roasting a bird and worrying wether or not the inner most meat is cooked through before the outer layer dries out. 45 minutes in the deep fryer from now on! Mister did a perfect job on it and it was our first time ever to fry one - I hadn't even tasted one before.

Cooked it a little too close to the house for my comfort level but it's Sam - YOU try telling him what to do. lol I just stayed away from the porch and busy cooking everything else. Thank goodness for Brian - he did most of the chopping for me since Mom spent most of the morning on the couch with her boot elevated.

Christie spent the morning on her iphone playing trivia games;

Dad hung out by the fryer;

and I found this old man wandering the streets so we invited him in from the cold;

Certainly much less work than my last few Thanksgivings in AK. Last year my friend Marta and I cooked for 20 people, so this year was a breeze with only 7.

Lots of food, lots of fun - I think this is the first Thanksgiving Sam has spent with my side of the family. The Army usually has him on Turkey Day.
The other exciting mark of the day was that it completed my 32nd week of pregnancy. 8 weeks to go!

Oh, and this is the disaster area my mother and brother left in my kitchen Friday morning after making turkey sandwiches to take on the road with them....

Certainly don't need Maury Povich for this paternity test!

Guess who looks like his daddy?!

Oh my gosh, it was AMAZING. I am so fortunate to be pregnant at a time that technology is this advanced. I know what my son looks like and he's not here yet! It was just..............I can't even describe it. There is NO mistaking it - Andrew is definitely a Palmer. He's got Sam's nose and lips. He may end up with the Grace side of the family's cheeks but they appear to slant downward like mine do so we'll just have to wait for delivery on that one. That's my pointy little chin he inherited, though, so I'm in his face too! I asked Ultrasound Lady to show us his feet but Andrew only showed them for a second. Looks like we'll have to wait and see on that one, too. Sam gave me his LOOK when I asked her to show us. heh heh heh....
Ultrasound Lady sent us home with 52 pictures so I've posted some of the highlights. Again, just click on one if you want to see it larger.

I am so blessed! Look at this beautiful, healthy baby God has given me and Sam! I pray He continues to bless us this way and delivers Andrew to us just as healthy and thriving as he is now!

140 beats per minute - right on track!

I can see more of me in him when it's a profile shot. I kinda think he looks like my brother, Brian, when he was little in this one.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand then he turns forward and he looks like Sam again.
He's sticking his tongue out here.

Yes.....classy, I know. HAHA! Ultrasound Lady kept nudging him with the sonography wand so he punched her then flipped her off.....such a 'tude already!
Lady said she has very rarely caught a little one with his middle finger in the air. She laughed just as hard as we did. It was hilarious yet we were kind of embarassed once we realized he did that while his grandparents were watching. Sorry Mom/Dad/Mamaw/Debbie/Sherry/Gran!

I hope those of you who were invited to the live feed enjoyed it! I have the whole thing on DVD, so if it didn't work for you (like Christie) just let me know and I"ll get you a copy.

10.....9.....8.....7...

Holy mess, I am 30 weeks along! That means I've got just 10 short weeks til my due date. YES, I know Andrew will come whatever day he's going to come but I'm using the due date the hospital gave me as our official "D-Day". :) Who knows, it could be spot on - my nephew, Xavier, came on his due day. I did look at Sam last night and ask him if he realized that we could become parents any day now. He just shrugged and said "yeah" like it was no big deal. It was as if I had asked him if he checked the mail today.....he's so emotional... ha. About an hour later he did ask me what the baby's chance of surviving would be if he were born tomorrow so I guess it did sink in eventually. (95%, if you were wondering - huge relief to know Andrew will be ok if he decides he just can't wait any longer to meet us). 10 WEEKS! That will seriously fly by. I remember when Mr had 10 weeks left in Iraq and that was a breeze so I'm betting this will feel even quicker since I have much more patience for Andrew's arrival than I did with Sam's. I missed him! 14 months is excruciatingly long to have your husband at war and I was super anxious for him to come home. With Andrew, though, I don't want him to come early, I want him to finish baking!
**********There is an R.O.U.S. in my attic. We heard it last night above the living room and I can hear it again right now above the guest bathroom. I'm afraid it's going to haul Bodini off to the Fireswamp for it's next meal. Terminex appt was made this morning but they can't come til Wednesday. Ah life outside the city limits. Looks like Mister will be sticking a trap up in the attic tonight.**********
Back to Andrew - our final ultrasound is tomorrow morning. I'm excited! I'm 30 weeks along now so his little face will be mostly filled out and he'll have fingers and toes this time instead of alien pods so he'll actually look like a real baby. Those of you who are watching the live feed - log in at 11:00! If you were not invited to the webcast, please do not be offended, it is for immediate family only. I'll post the pictures afterward. They ought to be really cool!!!!! (Or really gross, depending on how you feel about it).

Oh, and if any of you have seen my belly button, I'd like it back please.

What I wore to Mister's office today

"It's The Fiiinal Coooouuntdooooooooown"

To the 80% of you reading this who will now have that song stuck in their head for the next 3 hours, "You're welcome".


So today is my last official day of the 2nd trimester. Yup, I am on the last day of my 27th week. Tomorrow I begin day 1 of week 28 - day 1 of month #8 - day 1 of the 3rd Trimester. The past 7 months have absolutely flown by. I don't feel like I've been pregnant that long! I attribute it to how easy my pregnancy's been. I've had to go in to L&D once for a dilated right kidney, had a 3 day long migraine, and I've had 2 days of round-lig pain that was severe enough to restrict me to the couch but THAT'S IT. In 7 months, I've been knocked out of commission for a grand total of about 87 hours. That's less than 4 days. Of course, I've probably just jinxed myself and will spend the next 2 weeks on the couch with a combo of whatever pregnancy related pain is waiting in the wings but to close out 2 trimesters of pregnancy with only 4 days of rotteness? Heck yeah! I've truly been blessed and I pray that God continues to walk me through the final 3 months on the same bunny trail He's led me down so far.

Up next for me and the tot:
~Doc appt on Monday morning that includes needles and bloodwork and a sugary concoction that I will choke down at 9 a.m. to see if I'm on the road to Gestational Diabetes (not worried).
~Baby shower at Diane's on Nov 7th. I'll be at it sans the Mister bc the Army has other plans for him that week. His birthday also falls that week so it will be the 4th one out of the 6 he's had in the Army that we will be apart for. I'm going to head to AR on the 2nd or 3rd and hang out there til the following Monday. I don't know if I'll make it up to the NW corner or not so if you are going to be in the LR area that week or weekend, let me know!
~Final ultrasound at 4dPeek! This one will give us a glimpse into what Andrew will look like when he arrives bc his face will be pretty filled out and he'll have put on some weight. I'll get some really cool pictures out of it, too. I need to schedule that.
~Turkey Day! My side of the family is coming up to spend the holiday with us. I'll get to see my brother for the first time since......umm.....when did I see him last? October of 2007? Maybe it was Christmas 2007. WOW. I didn't realize it had been that long.

The Nursery

IT'S DONE, IT'S DONE, IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINALLY!

Ok, I did it all by myself with the exception of putting the crib and changing table together (Sam helped me do that but not the dresser, that was all me) so be kind if you hate it. I designed it and painted it all on my own - even painted the things on the shelves since I couldn't find any frames or blocks in the right colors. Every detail of the room has been thought out and created to match if I could not find what I wanted in a store. For those of you who have been in my house before, that's the sage green recliner we've had for a few years, I just slipcovered it so it would match. So anyway, here it is!





The only picture I have from "before" is of the color scheme Gran and I first painted the guest room. Before:





And here's a 360 degree tour of the room with some close-ups in "after" mode (and if you want to see it even larger, just click on a picture):

Kitty has already decided the changing mat is really just her new bed. That'll change REAL quick once Tot poops on it.

I love it! Like walk in the room and see it all and squeal and clap my hands, love it.

I still have some little things to do (like stick the Diaper Genie in the corner next to the changing table - didn't want it in the picture - and I still have to put pictures in the frames) and the closet is pretty bare (he's not going to be here for 3ish more months, Lord willing) and I'm sure I'll tweak it here and there, but YAY!

From 0 to 20 in 6 months

So today was my 24 week (6 months) appt. I can tell Andrew's grown quite a bit in the last 2 months based on my new profile and the fact that only 2 pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans pull on past my thighs but BOY was I thrown for a loop when the magic numbers appeared on the scale today. Before I hopped on, I told the nurse, "I'm gonna guess 131" - that was about 2 more pounds than I was really hoping for but since I gained 6 pounds the month before, I thought I'd guess on the high side. ......................................I didn't.
I weighed
((((ready for this???))))
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE POUNDS!
135!!!!

That's a 9 pound gain from last month! I didn't think it was even possible to gain 9 pounds in a month! At my 4 month checkup, I had only gained 5 pounds. In the 8 weeks since then, I've packed on 15 more. GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY! I've gained 20 pounds already and I've still got up to 4 months to go. At this rate I will weigh 175lbs and birth a 42 lb baby. My Midwife actually handed me a flyer to one of the gyms on post and told me I might think about giving them a call. . . .sigh. Ok, in my defense, the gym has been closed for a month and won't re-open til Nov 1st. Until it closed, I was going twice a week and doing yoga 3xs a week. Apparently that's what was keeping my weight gain below average. Because I haven't changed the way I've been eating. I'm not a fast food person - I have it maybe twice a month. I cook dinner just about every night. Yes, I eat sweets, but I've always eaten sweets, so that's not new. UGH! Oh and when I told Midwife that my original goal was to not outweigh my husband she laughed and said, "Yeah well that's probably going to happen. You should just get used to that now." I almost fell off the exam table. HILARIOUS! I am so glad I have a midwife with a sense of humor. As horrified as I was at literally blowing up in the last 2 months, Midwife had me cracking up the entire time I was there.

The good news is that weight gain is at its worst during the end of the 2nd trimester, which is where I'm at right now. About a month from now, my belly will still expand and Andrew will gain weight but my overall gain should slow. Midwife said that people who start off with a height/weight/BMI like I did can gain about 35-40 pounds without it being considered excessive.So I'm not "excessive" yet but I am well on my way.

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? Yup, finding a new gym or walking outside now that it's below 70 in the mornings/evenings.

So here's what a 135lb, 6 months pregnant Katherine looks like.

Oh, you wanted to see the belly. My bad. But isn't my new camera wonderful?! Canon Rebel XTI!



So I've definitely got a kid in that belly, but I don't think I look fat. And if you think I do then you can kindly keep it to yourself (Christie). ;)

In other news, I've finished painting the nursery finally! It took an entire week thanks to a 3 day migraine, several trips to Sherwin Williams, and a husband who refused to lift a paint brush. Yup, that's right ladies and gentlemen, Samuel T did not place one drop of paint on his son's walls, he made his very pregnant wife do it all by herself. I even had to paint inside the closet bc it was mint green (now it's white). Yes Mom, Brooke, Sherry, and Mamaw, I did wear a mask. Sam had one in his crime scene bag - it was attractive, let me tell ya! The design came out exactly like I'd pictured it. I'm really excited with how it turned out! I will absolutely NEVER paint without Gran ever again, though. If she can't come then we're hiring someone local. I still need to get a little table to go next to the recliner, which I slipcovered so the year of baby barf wouldn't ruin it, a lamp, and a closet system (a bookcase or some other form of shelving). I also have to add the letters, put up shelves, and put together all the furniture. Maybe Mister will actually help me out on this part... pictures once it's finally done!

Belly full of Wiggles

Last night when I was lying in bed, Andrew decided to float to the surface. He was right under my belly button, face up and flailing around. It was the creepiest thing ever.... hahah! There was so much motion that I was afraid to look. I thought I'd see something like this:Obviously, I wouldn't bc this picture is a fake but still. I put my hand over him and felt all 4 limbs moving at once. There were ripples and punches and kicks and he rolled over a few times...all under my hand. I actually felt his entire little body moving around. He's still so tiny! He barely weighs over a pound, according to THE pregnancy manual -

Book says I should really start expanding now since I'm in the last 4 weeks of my 2nd trimester. Yep, that's right, I've been pregnant for 6 whole months now. 3 full months and some weeks to go. Unless of course Andrew is one of those kids who refuses to come out and I have to carry him for 42 weeks before they'll hit me up with pitocin. But I hope that doesn't happen. My mom was induced with all 3 of hers so we'll see. I want to go into labor spontaneously, not because some Doctor drugged me into it. I mean heck, if I'm gonna be pregnant, I want to go all out and experience all of it. Now I'm not saying I want a natural delivery - no no NO! Hit me with the epidural! I just want to have the "Hey Babe, I think it's time" moment when you realize these aren't Braxton Hicks and little man is really on the way. But once I'm at the hospital? Yeah, stick that needle in my spine, please.

CONGRATULATIONS TO KARI AND HOUSTON BECKHAM AND BIG BROTHER BRAYDEN ON THE ARRIVAL OF COOPER RYLEE BECKHAM

~ 6lbs, 15.5oz ~ 20in ~ Sept.26 3:12 a.m. ~

Thou shalt not feed thy fetus pancakes

Ok, ok, I get it! You don't like pancakes! BLAH. I made it to 21 weeks and 6 days without "revisiting" a meal but Andrew decided today was the day. I NEVER throw up (un-alcoholicaly, that is - yeah, I made up a word. That's how words get invented; someone just blurts one out). And hopefully this will be the one and only time it happens. Do you hear that, son? Do not make Mommy barf! MAN I'm glad that was never a part of my morning sickness those 2 weeks I had it.

Half Baked

So I hit the halfway point on Thursday - 5 months down, 5 to go! (Yes, that equals 10 months....pregnancy is 40 weeks, not 36. I have no idea why everyone says 9 months when it's really 10)

I've gained 11 pounds so far but it feels like 20. I can only imagine how heavy I'll feel when I really do hit the 20 pound mark.

I am dead tired in this picture but it was the day I hit 20 weeks so I wanted to mark it with a picture. It is SO hard to sleep on your side when you're regularly a belly/back sleeper. I keep waking up to flip over bc my hips hurt from the pressure.

We had a new ultrasound the other day but I'm not posting those pictures bc they are crap. I could scribble on a piece of paper and paste it on here and it would be just as clear as what the Army tried to pass off as Andrew. I think we got spoiled at 4D Peek. They have WONDERFUL equipment there.

I feel like I just found out like a week ago and I'm already halfway done. Good grief, I need to get on that nursery. We've ordered the furniture already - here it is:

We are thinking chocolate brown on the walls with either his name or a Bible verse scripted onto the wall. Any suggestions? No, we're not using the quote from 1st Samuel about "For this child we have prayed" bc we already have that on a ceramic plate (thanks Gigi!) that we'll have in there. Plus he wasn't planned so we didn't technically start praying for him until after he was already growing in there. We still have to move all the guest room furniture out and into the office, paint the walls, figure out what else is going on the walls, find bedding, finish fitting Sam's stuff into my closet (which has been ROUGH! I had to give up half my closet that was already over stuffed), order a slipcover for the recliner after we figure out the nursery colors....pick the high chair (we've narrowed it down to 2), find room in the kitchen cabinets for bottles and whatnot, BLAH! Do you know how frusterating it is to find time to do these things when your husband really wants to help but is hardly ever home on the weekends bc he's off saving the world? And when he is home on a Saturday, he usually has duty which means he cannot be more than 30 minutes from the base and the closest place to buy baby stuff is in Nashville, 45 min. away? WHY did I have to fall for Superman? Now I know how Lois Lane felt. eesh.

BUT, HEY - HE'S NOT IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN, RIGHT? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand he's not going anytime soon!!!!!!!!!! We found out a few days ago that he's being held back from the next deployment bc they want him to stay behind as a senior agent to help run the office. So Mr will get to see the first crawl, the first step, hear the first word, etc instead of hearing about them from me or watching them on a webcam or dvd I send to the desert. THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now of course this is the Army and all things are subject to change at any second of any day - but as of now, Mr's not heading to Afghanistan next spring. WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!