Thank you Amelia

Yes I said it….Thank you, thank you, thank you…I have been struggling mentally for about 8 weeks now over whether or not to buy some type of a pregnancy pillow and worrying about sleeping on my back and how it might hurt me or the baby.  I just kept going back and forth over whether the money was worth it or not and would I ever used the pillow again. Enter my friend, Amelia, who is also pregnant (with her second child) and her pregnancy pillow.  She had a pillow (I am not sure if you can call this thing a pillow but it sure is soft!) that she did not want to use again and wanted to clean out of her house so she asked me if I wanted it. That was all God because I can't tell you how this pillow has changed my life. I am not joking. I have slept better the last few nights than in a long time.  It's huge and it takes up a lot of the bed (Thank goodness we got a King sized bed for Christmas!) but it's SO wonderful and comfortable. Every way I move or turn or try to prop up is so comfy! THANKS AGAIN!

Side note: The nursery is taking great steps toward being done, however we had a major setback this weekend with painting. I won't go into too many details but I will say---Don't bother paying extra for Edge-lock brand tape if you are going to take something off because it will bleed…ugh! So we have a mess to fix but I am going to try another brand and I will let you know how that goes.  On the flip side, Lucy and I came up with a new invention that we think could make us millions, we just have to figure out how to make it. HA! I am sure someone already has invented it, but we think we are super-smart. I don't want to ruin the big reveal on the nursery so I will tell more details later!

Potty Runs

Just a little story to illustrate how this week has gone for me(as if the info about the Lowe's trip wasn't enough)! In pregnancy, so I am told, it is common to need to urinate more frequently for a variety of reasons, including increased kidney function and the fact that there is a baby sitting on your bladder! I am a perfect example of this--I now wake several times during the night contrary to my usual easy 10 hours of sleeping without waking.  A few nights ago, I woke up and staggered blindly to the bathroom. I am very near-sighted--I can't see my fingers in front of my face without my contact lenses. I stumbled into the bathroom without turning on the light, lowered my pants, and stooped to sit on the toilet seat, which was not there. My husband, the very same one I have bragged about on this very blog, left the toilet seat raised! Without too many details about how often I clean the toilets at my house, let me just say that they had not been cleaned the night before and even if they had I would still have been totally grossed out by the thought of my naked behind touching any part of the toilet bowl or toilet water.  After I managed to climb out of the bowl and clean my rear end off, some of the most creative methods of retribution entered my mind that I don't think I can even mention.  I was pretty ticked off but I settled for waking up my blissfully unaware snoring groom and describing for him the aforementioned events.  He didn't say a word…well, really, what could he say?…except "Umm, sorry. Are you okay?"  "Yes, hubby, I am fine but your child and I prefer not to go back into the toilet again for a very long time."

The Latest

For anyone wondering about how the egg-dying went…It went no where. No eggs were dyed. I wasted my time hard-boiling 12 eggs and we didn't dye a single one. I persisted with asking for two + weeks and have now given up.  Yes, it would have been very nutritious for me to have eaten those eggs but I HATE plain eggs especially hard-boiled and I could not bring myself to even think about that possibility.

Currently this is all that the Easter Egg contest has produced….a package containing the kit : )
I told you Neil was afraid of the skills I have gained over the last year.

I have decided to move on to other projects. My mom and I are working hard on Eli's room now. I finally got Neil and my dad to move all of my spare-room furniture out of the room and have cleaned out all of my knick-knacks. Yesterday, we bought paint (which took forever thanks to the 95 year old man working behind the counter at Lowe's--I will never buy paint there again) and also bought my baby furniture. That was a lovely experience. I had already been to Baby World twice. Sid, the owner, is super-nice and gave me tons of info and pamphlets and let me take pictures. This time when we went back I was ready to buy. My sweet parents (MOM) paid for part of our furniture, which was so generous and even helped to load and unload it and my dad let us use his truck for transport! Lucy (my mom--not her real name but we like to call ourselves Lucy and Ethyl because of all the situations we get into together) even managed to drive it without any fender benders!! HA!

One of our two current Lifegroups(that is Sunday school for those of you that are old-school like me-we just don't meet on campus on Sunday anymore) meets on Wednesday night at our house. Last night we were fortunate to have my brother and my sister-in-law as guests! It was a great meeting and so nice to get to visit with other people who love Jesus on a regular basis! I got to show off my new T-shirt (thank you Amy Shumate) that I got on Mother's Day!

The shirt says "NEW MOM 2011"  LOVE IT! and check out that bump!
PS just a side not-the reason the pictures I post are so random in location and almost never in proportion or include random things like chairs and windows is because NEIL (hubby) is always the one who takes them and I literally have a split second to pose and only one, maybe two, chances to get it right. If I blink or do some kind of goober smile too bad.

So my little belly is growing but not much anywhere else yet, which is good. I have started to feel occasional movements, but they are always so fleeting and faint. Also they are few and far between so right when I think I feel something it's gone and doesn't return for a while. I have found that I really feel things most after I eat but not with any regularity so it's not like it will work every time. On another note, several sweet ladies have offered to put together a shower for me so that is in the works for late summer/early fall. I love parties and I love to throw parties, but I always have the worst time when I have to provide the guest list. I always feel like I am begging for a gift and I don't want to invite someone who wouldn't want to come, but I also don't want to leave anyone out.  It is typical me…I over-think everything!!!! So this go-round I have determined that I am going to invite everyone I can possibly think of because WHY NOT? I mean if they don't want to come they don't have to and if they do want to come then they won't be insulted that I didn't invite them (unless they live so far away- that there is no way they could come for a shower). Feel free to tell me what you think about that because like I said--where do you draw the line?

Presents for Eli

Our sweet friends, Clay and Shannon, went up to God's country (as Neil calls it) last weekend to visit his mother, who is battling cancer (and would benefit from many prayers as doctors have told her there is nothing more they can do for her--she has decided to put her fate in God's hands)…anyway they were so sweet to bring us back some special presents for Eli when they returned.  Tonight we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with them at their favorite Mexican restaurant, Cantina Laredo, so here is a picture of my fancy outfit and the sweet gifts they gave us.

18 weeks 2 days

Cute little t-shirt and tiny socks! Love them!

At dinner, Shannon shared with me about two women she knows who have had trouble getting pregnant and are in various stages of use of Clomid and other fertility treatments, my heart was heavy for them.  I feel SO blessed to have this pregnancy and cannot express the magnitude of the miracle I feel about this precious baby growing inside of me.  I am enjoying every stage of this growing tummy and even in thinking of things I cannot do or might miss or have to special order there is no time when I don't think how lucky and how blessed I feel to have something I prayed for for so long.

I am not sure how I feel about the fact that Eli has these two Razorback things plus a little Razorback blanket from my mentor, Denise, and has absolutely NO LSU gear--all I can say is all my Tigers better step it up come shower time! HaHa! Thanks again guys!

Baby Brogden has a name

    Well it's official Baby Brogden is a BOY! We are so excited to see what life with a boy will be like.  I am thrilled to be able to buy things and look at room ideas and monogram and sew and I just can't hardly wait to get started!

    Neil took me for a special Babymoon trip this weekend to Dallas (we missed work on Friday) and stayed at a nice resort hotel, shopped, went to the spa and workout room, took long walks, and ate yummy food. Best of all we had no agenda and Neil patiently shopped with me for all things baby. He even got some new clothes for himself.
    One of my main goals for the 3 hour drive to and from Dallas was to pin Neil in one spot where he couldn't get away and talk about baby names.  It has been tearing me up that I couldn't call my baby by name and now that we know the sex I had to get going on the name!  After much thinking and debate, we are so happy to announce the name of our precious son!
Elijah "Eli" McKinnley Brogden
Elijah means Jehovah is God. Elijah was a prophet of the Old Testament in the Bible.
McKinnley is a family name from Neil's side, a great great grandfather. After looking at the family tree, we decided we liked the sound of it.
We plan to call him "Eli" for short.
    So let the sewing begin! This weekend I got some cute layettes for baby Eli and can't wait to see his tiny little self wear them! As I said we did lots of shopping but we also did a lot of eating and here are some pictures of some of the food and our hotel room.

A yummy filet wrap and fruit at an awesome bakery we found called The Bread Winner's Cafe

My choice at the same restaurant: Salad/ Sandwich combo with Grown-up Grilled Cheese ( 3 kinds of cheese, tomato, and spinach) and an Asian Salad (oranges, lettuce, peanut sauce marinated chicken slices, asian dressing and wontons on top) YUMMY!

Some of the selections in the bakery. Who could choose just one?

I think the name says it all "Fudge Brownies"  Yes those are icing kisses on top !!!!

Can I just say how awesome this place was?!!!! EVERYTHING was made fresh there, right down to the bread for the sandwiches. I actually brought home two loaves of fresh made dessert bread and shared with my mom.  The chef actually got some off of the cooling rack and wrapped it up for me. I ate it the next day for breakfast with no butter or even heating it up--it was so delicious!

This is my friend, Alicia, and her baby girl, Olivia. I got to have a great visit with them a couple of weeks ago. 

Eli's first toys, given to us by Alicia and Olivia.

Olivia was really looking forward to having a special girlfriend to play with, but it turns out it will be a boyfriend. Her daddy has already told us that we will no longer be able to be friends when they get into their teens, but by then it will be too late, little Eli will already have her heart…or she may have his. Olivia is quite the flirt! And I already can imagine how precious we will think little Eli is!!!