Dear Aubrey...

Dear Little Miss Aubrey,
Last night I took you to see Sex and the City 2 with the girls. Now you are not allowed to watch anything like that until you are 30, but we had such a great time. I told Alarie that when we got to the movie theater you were rolling all around, I think you were excited to go to an actual movie theater without cockroaches on the ground. We went to Savannah's in Knoxville and had some wonderful cupcakes, appetizers, and "mocktails" since I can't have the real thing right now. Once I got to Savannah's I realized I had forgotten my camera, so I made Savannah take pictures and I'm going to get them from her. We all got dressed up to go to the movie and it was a blast. It was nice to get away for the night with all the studying Dad is doing. He's got 8 days left until the big day, he's studying so hard and I'm so proud of all the hard work he's putting in. I know it's going to pay off with a decent score, you would be proud of him too Aubrey. Now please just stay in for at least 8 more days, if you could wait until we get moved that would be wonderful. I can't wait to see what you look like, hold you, smell you (gotta love that baby smell), and just hug and kiss on you but I can wait 8 more days.

I love you more than hawaiian shaved ice (that's the new craving right now),
Mom

Pregnant= Buy Stock

So I've decided that I should have bought stock at the beginning of this pregnancy of all companies that sell items that I can't live without. I figure most pregnant people probably have similar problems and needing to buy solutions.

1. Tums- This is a picture of where I have to keep my tums because I have to eat them throughout the night. I keep them on my window sill by my side of the bed. I sure hope that all of this indegestion and heartburn is worth it and my baby girl has some hair (like the old wives tails say).

2. Bra extenders- I have not had the great pregnancy symptom of having my boobs increase in size but my bust/chest feels like it's spread by like 5 feet. My mom laughed at me when I said I need like a 60 B. I actually started wearing an elastic bra extender that I found in my Great Grandma Flick's sewing box, thanks Grandma Flick!!

3. Vitamin E Lotion- I don't know if that's what is doing the trick or if it's my momma's great genes, but so far I have little to none stretch marks, woo hoo. Now watch in the last few weeks it winds up looking like I got clawed by Freddy Kruger, I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't.

4. Last but not least....TOILET PAPER!!- We have never gone through so much toilet paper in my life. I think it's up to about a roll every day or two. That's what getting up in the middle of the night 5 times does to your toilet paper supply. So if you're looking for a unique, different baby shower gift then pick up some angel soft.

I'm sorry if this list has been random, but these are the weird thoughts that go through my head at 4:30 am when I can't sleep (which has been happening a lot lately). I did have a early morning freak out the other day about all the things that could be wrong with Aubrey and I was thinking the worst. Well Kyle won sensitive husband of the week award, because when I told him he said did you think about all of the things that won't be wrong with her. He got me there. I already know he's going to be a great dad!

Oh, and post update about the pictures I added yesterday I forgot to add that when Kyle took my picture he laughed. He told me that instead of my camera putting a box on my face to focus on it picked the biggest thing, my belly. He got a kick out of that, he still deserve that sensitive husband award even after that.

Schooools out for Summer

Well today was my last day at J Frank White and it was very sad to leave. I have really enjoyed my time there the past 2 years and have made some amazing friends. I have worked with some wonderful teachers and not to mention an awesome principal and I will miss everyone very much. Today after we went to lunch we came back and they had a surprise for me, we had cake and they had a very nice present. Above is a picture of my J Frank family, all of the teachers and faculty. We got some cute skirts and onesies and a Walmart card, which is always helpful and we may use it to buy a crib or dresser.

Here's finally an updated picture of me at 36 weeks. Now I know I'm started to get the "tired" look, but keep in mind I packed my whole classroom up today and this was afterwards.

One third trimester thing I haven't loved to death is "retaining fluid". I was asked at church if I was retaining fluid, because they could tell it in my cheeks. I laughed and said well I guess so. I told Kyle to take a full length picture so I could see how big my ankles get after being on my feet all day. Well of course instead Kyle takes this...

He's such a dork. So here's a full on shot with my chubby ankles.

Kyle's still studying away like crazy, only 13 days left until D-day. Next Thursday we've got some big stuff planned. It's Kyles birthday!!! I'm getting a pregnancy massage in Knoxville, I'm picking up my mom from the airport so she can help with my yard sale and start packing, and I get to go to the dr. and see if Miss Aubrey is headed the right way....please be head down. We are also going to set our induction date for either the 17th or 21st so Kyle can get some time with his little girl before he starts rotations. So now we're just going back and forth between the two dates. I would really love for her to come the 20th because it's Father's Day, wouldn't that be the best father's day present ever! But we'll see, next Thursday we'll definitely have a date set in stone for Aubrey's Birthday! Getting closer.

Day by the Pool

Aubrey, Alarie, Aidan, Colleen, Kai, and I all relaxed by the pool today. We went to Alarie's Charlie and Mary is what I call them, they are friends (kind their family away from home) from their church, and laid out with our huge bellies (minus Colleen's) by their pool. Alarie had the guts to get in, but Colleen and I just stuck our feet in. It was so nice to get some sun on my white, white body. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of Colleen, but here's Alarie and I at 34 and 35 weeks pregnant. Crazy to think both of these babies will be here next month! When Colleen left, Alarie's dog Kai took his place.


I made a few burp cloths last night, and Kyle even said now that he has his own burp cloth we can have the baby. Not exactly just yet, let's wait until boards and moving so Aubrey please just wait about 21 more days. Can you guess which one Kyle was excited about and which one I made for me?


Sadly enough, today was Kyle's last day at church. He is having review classes every day now until the boards and that even includes Sunday. It was very sad for him to say "see ya laters" because we aren't saying "goodbyes", I've decided. We had a great spaghetti dinner put on by our youth, so after church he was at least able to hang out, talk, and eat after church. We will both miss our church so much, it's been like our second family. We have been so blessed to have such an amazing, caring church family the past 2 years.

16 and Pregnant

Ok, so I'm definitely not 16 but there's no doubt I am pregnant. I looked like I should be on that show today when I went for J Frank's graduation ceremony. It was bittersweet knowing I only have a few days left at the academy. Although I don't teach the high schoolers, I have gotten to know some of them through basketball and I'm going to miss them very much.

My kids had a shower for me yesterday during lunch and we got some really cute stuff. They decorated my door in the morning and then we had pizza and opened presents during our lunch period.

One of our favorites was a glove given to us by a boy in my class that we always discuss baseball. Kyle and I are even in a fantasy baseball league with this 6th grader and his mom and dad.

I've successfully made it to 35 weeks and I can't believe that I will be full term in just 2 short weeks. We are getting excited about moving and hopefully settled before Miss Aubrey makes her debut. I am still sad to be leaving behind such great friends that we've made here in Harrogate. We are definitely planning our visits back to show of Aubrey Lynne.

Today was a very busy day even though I said I was just going to relax, after the graduation my "moving nesting" began. I started some more baby laundry and finished our hospital pre-admit forms. Then I actually got a few things crossed off our to-do list, woo hoo!!! I got some addresses changed on magazines and credit cards and even got my work Cobra plan finally figured out. Long story short with our cobra, supposedly Blue Cross Blue Shield had no idea how to send a form and sent the incorrect form 3 times to our house with the wrong date on it. It felt VERY good to cross that one off my list, since I've been dealing with them for a month now. Now I'm going to spend the rest of the night finishing some burp cloths while Kyle studies away. He's locked up in the dungeon (office) taking a 4 hour test! Only 17 days left until his big day, I will be so glad when boards studying is over!

Bachelorette Dinner

I had a great time going out to celebrate with some DCOM girls. Our friend Tracy is getting married this summer, so we went out to the melting pot for a little bachelorette dinner. It's nice to hang out with some female med students, rather than just always hanging out with the boys. We get a total different point of view from the girls sometimes. It's also sad that Tracy was introducing Colleen and I to her bridesmaids and said oh that's Kyle's wife and that's Chuck's wife. I asked her so they know them by first name, and she said oh yeah they know about Chuck and Kyle. Two other med students there said the same thing, they said they sit behind the guys and all of us med student wives said oh we're sooo sorry. They said they get a laugh out of the boys.

The first picture taken at a bar in a long, long time. I had a delicious virgin strawberry daquiri. My new craving is slushies and this hit the spot just perfectly.

Courtney loves feeling the baby bellies and Aidan was definitely kicking all over the place for her.

Which one of these doesn't belong....(remember that song from Sesame Street). Well we should be singing this song because Alarie and I got matching fake rings for our big fat fingers and Colleen has one just like it, but here's is the real deal. We put all 3 on the table one time and Chuck freaked out and said which one is the real one!

Baby Legs

I've been doing a few sewing projects for Aubrey and Aidan (Aubrey's soon to be boyfriend- Alarie and Michael's boy their due 5 days after us). I love making these little tie onesies, Aubrey will definitely not be wearing one of these but they are super cute. I can't wait to make them for my other friend Lauran who will be having a boy in October.

My other project has been baby legs, they are sooooo cute. I turned these...


Into these....

Aubrey will definitely be rockin the legwarmers. I got a steal too because they are usually like $10 at Target, but I was able to get the socks for just $2. They are super easy to make too. I used a tutorial from Samster Mommy. She has a bunch of other really cute baby projecct ideas.

So this is what I have been doing lately...

I have definitely been more tired lately. We only have 4 days left of school and after that hopefully I will have a little more energy. As soon as I get home at 3:30 this is where I wind up for a quick nap. Then I get enough energy to make dinner, clean up dishes, and then wind up right back on the couch. I will get a new picture of my ever growing belly up tomorrow, I feel like she's going to pop out of my skin some times.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and everything looks great. Alarie and I drove to Knoxville together and drank our awful glucose orange drink, we even cheered before downing that disgusting stuff. We both passed our blood sugar test, woo hoo, and she treated me to chocolate she had taken from her office. We discussed inducation dates again and we're going back and forth between the 17th and the 21st. We're going to wait and see how everything is going the next appointment and then set a date. Getting closer!

Kyle only has 20 days left until he takes his boards and this is where he has been stuck doing all of his studying. If you know the lay out of our house, then you know I took this wonderful picture from where else but the couch. I think I'm leaving a butt indent on this couch. I told Aubrey she just has to stay in 20 more days, hopefully 25 more days that way we can get the boards out of the way and get moved. She may have plans of her own, we'll have to wait and see.

1 month from today!

Ok, so I have a lot of catching up to do but with the end of school things just get crazy. We have one full week left of school and then the packing, yard sale, baby time craziness will begin. I promise I will get caught up with some things that have been going on the past week, but I wanted to share that 1 month from today we may be getting induced!!! So in a month, Kyle and I could be at the hospital looking at this...

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so proud to have such an amazing mom, I hope I can be half the mom to Aubrey that she has been to me. I can't believe that I will have my little girl with me next year to celebrate Mother's Day with. Kyle was very sweet and got me a card, flowers, and cookie dough ice cream (he knows the way to my heart) from him, Aubrey, and Bailey. Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends too. I hate that we are so far away and I wasn't able to give my momma a big 'ol hug for mother's day, but this is just going to have to do until I see you again. I love you more than cheeseburger donuts mom!!!

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Double Baby Shower

My great friend Colleen had a shower for Alarie and I yesterday. I had an awesome time!!! I realized what a great support system Kyle and I have been able to build down here and it's amazing how close you can get to people in just 2 years. There were med students, med student spouses, med student fiances, and other LMU friends. Aubrey is definitely one little spoiled girl and got a ton of great things. Here are some pictures from the day/night. Why I say day/night is because this is the first baby shower I've been to that had wine and margaritas (no, of course I didn't have one....but I did smell the amazing margaritas). Us girls stayed up talking until about 11:00 at night, it was sooo good to catch up with the 3rd year girls that moved out of town last year.

These girls are all going to be moving to Crossville too! We are so lucky to be living near a lot of our friends still!

The diaper cakes that Colleen and I made.


The delicious food and cute centerpiece with peacock feathers.

Hence, the day/night shower. Definitely like no baby shower I've been to before :)

The wonderful hostess. Thank you Colleen for an amazing shower and for being such an great friend!!

Courtney was so cute and wanted to get a picture touching my belly, at least somebody wants to touch it. I made Kyle take a picture after this and I had to literally put his hand on my belly. Now at home he'll rub my belly any time but something about taking a picture, that's just too "macho" (I don't know).

Kyle came to "taste test" or eat food because he said we didn't have anything at our house.


Now for presents...
Aubrey and Aidan's adorable matching date outfits. They are going to be soooo stinkin cute!

Cat made taggie blankets for the babies. They are really soft. Thanks Cat!

Alarie and I tried out the hooded towels from Becky. Aubrey and Aidan will definitely be taking baths together.

Matching outfits from Alarie's grandma. Weird sidenote, Alarie's mom's name is Cheryl and so is my mom's...crazy. They both sent presents for us, my mom made a hooded towel for Aidan.

Matching bouncers from Colleen. Chuck and Kyle I knew would get a kick out of these. When I showed them Chuck said oh a baby catapolte, I knew they would think of some crazy thing to do with these.

The cute tutu that Alarie made for Aubrey and a headband from Savannah. Pictures of Aubrey in both of these are a definite must.

Kai was trying out the taggie blanket and it got her approval.

Dun, dun, dun, dahhhhh I feel like I need a drumroll or something. These are nursery letters that were made by our wonderful, crafty friend Sheila. She did an amazing job and I don't know if you can notice but it matches the bedding we got last week PERFECTLY!!! They are sooo cute and I can't wait to hang them in her room. She made golfing ones for Aidan and the detail she put in is just unbelievable, not to mention she did this with a 1 year old running around. Thanks Sheila, they are beautiful!

Don't worry I was just smelling the Tequila for the margaritas. Sniffing doesn't hurt anyone.

A lot of pregnancy here. Colleen is surrounded by baby bellies!

I am so thankful to have such great friends down here, thank you everyone for everything!!! For the wonderful gifts, the friendships, and for getting me through the past 2 years of medical school with my sanity :) I can't wait for Aubrey to meet all of mommy's friends and we will have plenty of girls nights to come!

Exciting Weekend

Well here are some pictures from last weekend finally. Kyle got home and the internet somehow magically fixed itself....what the crap! When my parents got in last weekend, my dad said he wanted fish and beer. Well fish is easy to find around here but a place that sells beer that's a little more difficult since we live in a dry city. Kyle found all you can eat fish at this place called Clinch Mountain (beautiful views, ummmm the people are well let's just say "unique"). We were even lucky enough to go on live bluegrass music night!


This picture my dad is looking away probably at the restaurant we're about to try because it was rather interesting.

My dad was all ready for the golfing tournament, he came dressed as the groundskeeper, Bill Murray, from Caddyshack. Kyle was practicing the night before pitching in our front yard and my dad was yelling Caddyshack movie quotes....IT'S IN THE HOOOOOLE!!! Kyle's team decided to grow mustaches for the tournament and here's his fancy mustache. I think their team name was the Mustachios (mustaches and pistachios, I don't know).


My mom and I went for a fun day of shopping Knoxville on Saturday while the guys golfed. When we got back my dad had barbequed for us and it was sooo good. My new quirky craving has been cheeseburgers and krispy kreme, well then I thought what if I put them together. I've been thinking about trying it for a while, but it kept grossing Kyle out. We had cheeseburgers and I just happened to have donuts in the house so I decided to try it. Kyle said just try it so you know it's disgusting, well it wasn't disgusting it was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten, haha. For my birthday this week Kyle even brought home donuts and cheeseburgers for my birthday dinner, he's the best!

My mom treated me to a birthday pedicure too, plus rubbed my feet!!! I soaked up all the "Amanda attention" because I know as soon as Aubrey gets here all the attention will be diverted to her, which is what's supposed to happen.

We ended the weekend with some baby laundry and my dad and Kyle fixed his truck door. I watched them to make sure they were doing everything right.


The best part of the weekend was just spending time with my mom and dad. I miss them like crazy, but love that they come down to visit. We always come up with something fun to do. Thanks mom and dad for a great visit!!