stream of consciousness

This post is going to be completely random…about things that I have been thinking about lately. In no particular order.

How preggo fat am I to have an elastic waistband that is too tight??? So tight actually that I had to cut it so I could make it through the day comfortably! Yep, sure did. Here’s a pic to prove it. I know, you’re thinking, why in the world would you document that? Well, I think it’s sort of funny, so I had to do it! :)
Do you ever wear slip-on shoes and long pants, just to have your pants get caught up between your heel and the shoe all day? And you spend the day pulling your pant leg out and hate the way it looks? Well, I have that problem now that the weather is getting nicer and I wear my many pairs of shoes that have an open back. I bought these a few years ago at a boutique in Hot Springs, Arkansas when I was shopping with my mom. Genius!! And they really work. It’s just an adhesive flexible cardboard-like material that you attach to the bottom seam of your pants, but it works like a charm. I used my last pair this week, so I need to buy more.

Now that I’m pregnant, I have noticed that the hair on my legs grows extremely slowly. I love that! Chalk that up with the things I love about pregnancy. Which would be a good post—things I love about being pregnant—maybe I will just talk about that now. I would add to that list:
-Slow leg hair growth
-Feeling the baby move
-Not worrying about an ever-expanding waistband
-Comfy pants!!
-No period (sorry, gotta put that on there…it’s a great perk!)
-People going out of their way to make life easier or make me feel special (if we’re all honest, we do love being catered to a bit during pregnancy, right??)

We’re going to see my family in Oklahoma for Memorial Day weekend. I am so excited! That includes my sister and her husband who we only see twice a year since they live so far away in Maryland!! And this little guy!!
My sweet nephew Will. I can’t wait to kiss his sweet face.

Speaking of nephews…my brother-in-law (Courtney’s brother Brandon) and his wife (Kyla) are about to have their baby next month. She is 37 weeks and baby Cale is already 6lb11oz. I can’t wait to meet him! It’s also very neat that we will have babies that are so close in age. What’s crazy though is that our babies will be just 3 months apart in age, but because of their birthdates, they will be in different grades. Strange, huh?

School is out. I love summer! I am especially excited about this summer because we will be getting Callie’s nursery ready! I cannot wait!
As a counselor, I work 10 extra days in the summer, so I will be working some in June and go back earlier than the teachers in August, but that is quite all right with me!! It was a great year. I love, love, love my job!

Well, that is probably enough randomness for today. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

9 years later...

Today, Courtney and I have been married for 9 years!

I thought I would do a review in pictures from where it all began.

1999 - shortly after we first met

2000 - the proposal

Here are some of my most favorite wedding pictures!
We were married in OKC, OK on May 26, 2001

I looove this shot that our photographer caught. I look so giddy and Courtney looks completely freaked out. HA!

praying together

stealing a kiss at the reception
us with my dad

I think this picture really shows how much fun we had at the reception

our parents leaving the wedding in the trolley

boarding the trolley

the new Mr. and Mrs. heading out to start their life together
Here's a yearly review in pictures...

2001 - honeymoon - dinner on the cruise
2002 - at the lake

2003 - Christmas

2004 - summer, shortly after getting our first "kid" Lambeau
2005 - Christmas
2006 - in Galveston, goofing off

2007 - at a wedding
2008 - at my Masters graduation

2009 - in Mexico
2010 - at Brandon's wedding reception
On Sunday, in church, Courtney did a reading from Jeremiah 29:11, one of our most favorite verses. As I listened to him speak, I was just about in tears as I thought about how lucky I am to be married to this man.

This man who literally started out as my best friend.

And 9 years later...he continues to be that for me.

I love you honey!

Halfway to baby!

I am 20 weeks today!! WOOHOO!!

I am feeling really great! I feel Callie move every night when I take a bath, but today I felt her quite a few times at work. It's so fun! Courtney still has not been able to feel her on the outside yet. I can feel her movements on the outside of my stomach, but probably because I can feel that along with her movements inside.

I am craving:
-Reese's Pieces
-Dr. Pepper (I limit myself to 2-3 per week...it's my little treat)
-salad
-chicken salad
-fruit

Smells aren't bothering me anymore, except that I am more sensitive to them. But nothing makes me feel sick anymore.

We've picked out the fabric for Callie's bedding. My mom is going to make it. Mom and I drove all over the Dallas area looking at fabric stores as well as browsed numerous internet sites for the perfect fabric. We ended up finding it at Hobby Lobby!! I was so excited too because I was beginning to think we might not ever find something I liked!


The paisley is for the crib skirt. The colorful polka dot and stripe will be crib sheets, the stripe will also be the valance on the window and the brown and white polka dot will be the curtain. The ribbon will be used to tie the curtain up.

We also picked out our crib. We went shopping thinking we were set on one crib, but since we knew we were having a girl, Courtney and I both decided we liked white and this crib better. I think it's so sweet. We haven't purchased the crib yet...just picked it out. So, halfway there and getting closer and closer!!

And we're going to have a...

If you are like me, you can't really tell a thing from that between the legs look, but the ultrasound tech was sweet enough to write it right there on the u/s for us...

so, yes...

WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!!

Isn't she precious?? I think these profile shots are about the cutest thing I've seen all year!



(Now, this is all quite redundant for most as just about everyone I know has already heard this from us via text message, facebook, or email...however, I am blogging to chronicle my pregnancy for us and for our little girl eventually.)


I thought I might not sleep at all the night before the appointment, but I slept great! I should have known I would...even when I'm very excited or stressed, I'm still able to sleep. I hope that never ends!

My mom came in last night. She was going to the appointment with us. She almost didn't make it in because she got very sick earlier in the week, thought she was having an appendecitis, which turned out to be a blockage in her intestines. The doctor put her on medicine for it and she started feeling better. YAY! So, she drove in and we are so glad she did!

10am, Friday, May 7 - Appointment time!

My blood pressure was a little high. Guess I was anxious! ;) My doctor asked our predictions. Mine was boy, Courtney's was girl.

Right when the tech put that thing on my belly, we could instantly see the baby's spine, back, and head. Oh my goodness. There really are no words. I went from being so excited and ready to find out the sex of the baby to not caring one single bit what we were having. All I cared about was getting to look at this precious baby and all its parts. It makes me tear up right now as I type, remembering how I felt when I first saw the baby. The tech moved all around, showing us every inch. From head and brain to chest and heart to back and spine to arms and hands. The baby kept moving all around. She kept moving her arms up around her head and trying to get her thumb into her mouth. Now, I must say that I really had no idea what we were having until we got in there and I kept calling the baby a 'he.' I don't know why, but I did it the whole time.

Finally the tech moved to the leg area.

Her knees were all up at her belly. I asked if it was going to be hard for her to tell what we were having and she said, "Oh no, I already know what you're having."

:)

She didn't tell us then though. She said, "Hold on, let me show you." SHOW you is what she said. So, Courtney said, "Well, if you're going to show us, then it must be a boy." and she said nothing. So, we spent about 2 minutes totally thinking we were about to see boy parts. Totally thinking we were having a boy. That's about the time I started to cry. I asked for a tissue. Everyone in the room handed me one at once! Then she got us a shot between the legs and wrote in It's A Girl! and we were shocked!! SHOCKED! Courtney came over and gave me a kiss. And my hunch about it being a boy disappeared and we got all excited over our BABY GIRL!

A while back, Courtney said that if we were having a girl, he really wanted to name her. I thought that was sweet. But I had to make sure I was okay with the name he had in mind obviously! I had my mind set on Kate. Courtney wanted Callie. I liked it. We thought Callie Kate. But Callie Kate Christenson is a lot of c sounds, so we changed it to Callie Tate.

Callie Tate Christenson.

I love it. And the moment I found out that she was a she , I have loved her more than I thought possible.

And so has her daddy.

Tomorrow!!

Oh it is almost here!! We find out if baby bean is a boy or girl tomorrow!! at 10am!

Here are pics from yesterday.

Here's a picture just for fun because I love the shirt! It says, Twinkle, Twinkle Little... and the star is on my belly. It's all sparkly. I adore glitter! Glitter goes everywhere when I wear this. Love it! :)

So, predictions on the gender...

For the record, I have absolutely no idea or hunch about if I'm having a boy or girl. None.
Here are some other fun wives tales and what they say...

chinese calendar - boy

vein test in my eyes - boy

heartbeat - girl

belly predictions - either way. One of my mothers-in-law swears she is never wrong and she says boy. My neighbor Kasey swears she is never wrong and she says girl. ;)

dreams - 2 boy dreams, 1 girl dream

mood (people tell me if I'm moody then girl) - boy (I feel very pleasant and less hormonal than ever!)

These are obviously just for fun, but even these are a toss up! Or we're having twins. HA!

Oh baby!

So, it is 10:15 and I just got out of the bathtub. Why is this important info, you ask?? Because while I was having my nightly soak in the tub, I FELT THE BABY MOVE!!! 4 times!

I would be super excited about this anyway, but I am really relieved over it because I have been feeling extremely anxious lately and I said a prayer just this morning that I would be able to feel the baby move soon. For selfish reasons you know...to relieve my mind. And He delivered. Baby bean MOVED! It didn't feel like gas, not this time. I think I've felt the gassy movement for a while now, but it was nothing to write home about. This, though...this was definite baby movement. It felt like baby bean was turning over and over and over and then rammed into my lower belly. Way low down. That is amazing!

I worked in our flowerbeds tonight. We have big empty flowerbeds in front of our house and we started filling them up this week. And by 'we' I mean my neighbor Blaine and me. Courtney has been at the regional track meet and so he will come home to plants in the flowerbeds! So fun! I'll post before and after pics soon because I am very proud of the work we did! And work it was! Maybe that is why baby bean decided to start moving around. Mama had been digging big ole holes in the dirt all evening and was finally relaxing. :)

Whatever the reason, it is a blessing!!