Ada James Shelor

I can not believe our sweet baby girl is 4 months old! It has been a wild and amazing four months. Our delivery was incredible. At about 7pm on 3/15, the nurse checked me and said it was time to start pushing. We had 2 hours of pushing, I had Lenny on one side of me and my sister on the other side. I remember looking up at Lenny, extremely exhausted, and saying "I'm so tired". But, we really didn't have a choice in the matter! We had to keep going! The release, relief, I don't know how else to say it - When they pulled her out, was unlike anything I can describe. We didn't know what we were having and our amazing Dr. pulled her out and said "its a... it's a..." and showed her to us -but her umbilical cord was covering her parts! So we had to tell him to move it! And then, we all said "A GIRL!" We were so so excited. Tears filled the room.

Right after delivery. Try not to notice how pretty and sweaty I look.

On our way home from the hospital

Ten days old! Her first photo shoot :) 

 Oh so sleepy...

 "Milk Drunk"

Can't you tell I'm a sleepy baby??

For those who know me, I have been sort of a "schedule nazi" ever since we had her. I'm alllllll about the schedule. She's done great with it. I'm still learning more and more each day and *trying* to lighten up a little. The more she grows, the easier it is becoming. She is still eating 5oz every three hours. I'm still nursing, which is going really well and Ada James has done amazing with it! It was one of my biggest fears before we had her. I pump at work 3 times every day. It hasn't been too inconvenient, I am really glad I am doing it. I have set my goal to nurse until she's 6 months and once we hit that mark, re-evaluate and see if I want to keep going. But for now, it's working well!

Smiley Pants

"What you lookin at??"

Pretty girl

So we have her 4 month appointment tomorrow! I can't wait to find out how big our baby girl is! Lenny and I tried to measure the wiggle worm yesterday and think we got her lined up at about 26" tall. I'm not sure about weight but she feels like she might be around 15 pounds. I could be off but we will see!

A few little milestones:

Ada James can roll over, when you lay her down on a blanket she immediately flips over to her tummy. It's so cute. Until she is on her tummy for too long and spits up on the blanket. Then it's still cute but not as much.

She is *technically* sleeping through the night. We still do a "dream" feeding around 10:30 each night. I put her to bed at 7 and she sleeps from then, and then through the dream feed (essentially eating but sleeping through it) and then I wake her up at 7am. Such a big girl!

We are going to start some rice cereal at the end of this week so once we do that we will begin dropping the dream feeding. They say you can do this by cutting back ounces or minutes of feeding. I'm praying this works quickly, it will be amazing when I put her down at 7 and she sleeps till 7.

Total daddy's girl!!

Ada James started at daycare last week. It takes a few days but I think she is getting used to it now. It was much harder on mommy and daddy then it was on Ada James. We cried... a lot. But, it's progressively gotten better each day. And someday soon she will have little friends and be so excited and not want us to pick her up because she's having so much fun! The hardest part (for me) is all the germs. I know she will get sick someday but I'm dreading that day. I tell her every morning to stay away from the other little babies who have snotty noses.

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures of her. I hope to update again soon. I will say, motherhood is by far the most amazing thing ever. I never could imagine it would be like this. I knew it would be great, but never knew it could be this great. She makes every day worth it.

 I love my "A" bib!



Sittin in my chair in my room!

I love my hoodie.

 With my cousin Graham! I love him!

 Silly bug.





xoxo,

Sara



Week 38 & Week 39

The Shelors have some BIG news!! We are having our baby THIS WEEK!! On Thursday, 3/15/2012, Baby Shelor will be welcomed in to the world. We are beyond thrilled, nervous, excited and overjoyed with what is about to happen. Of course, here is a picture from this weekend!

Lenny and I went to the doctor last week and talked to him about inducing. My doctor was on call for 3/15 and 3/23. He wanted to check me to see how far along I was before determining if it was a good idea or not. I don't know how most women are during this "check" period of their pregnancy, but holy moly - I told Lenny afterwards that I felt like I needed a cigarette! Thank you Lord for epidurals! My doctor says that I am small and measuring small, however; we all thought the 15th would be a great idea - the bigger this baby gets and the smaller I am, the harder the labor for me. So we set the date. Baby Shelor will arrive on 3/15 which also happens to be my great grandmother's birthday!

So this is when everything turned very... very... *real*.  I can't believe it's finally here. That in less than 48 hours, our world is going to turn upside down. It's scary and beautiful all at the same time. I am so excited for my family to get here (tomorrow!!).  Every time I tell someone how nervous I am, the immediate response is "Well your family is going to be here soon!". I guess that's every one's "go to" phrase when they don't know what else to say to make me feel better :)

What am I scared about you ask? All of it. I'm scared about contractions and the pain, I'm nervous about every nurse at the hospital checking me out "down there" (I'm sure I'll just get used to this after a while!), I'm nervous about the epidural (even though I'm a big advocate to get one!), I'm worried that all our family will be there and what if for some reason it takes a really long time and they have to wait at the hospital for 12+ hours?, I don't want them to get bored!... Hello people pleaser. I'm worried about the actual birth itself. Lord, please let it go smoothly. I want our baby to be healthy and perfect. I pray for this every night. I'm scared about breastfeeding. I'm scared about not sleeping. I know how I am when I haven't had much sleep. It's not pretty. I'm scared I'm not going to have had much sleep and I'm going to try to be everything to every one and that this might cause me to have a nervous breakdown. (Hopefully this does not happen). I'm nervous with how this will change our marriage. I love Lenny so much and he is going to be the best father ever. We have such a great relationship, I hope this only makes it stronger. I want us to make good decisions as parents and be the best mom and dad we can be.
SO.... Is this normal? I'm sure it has to be, right?!

With all of these worries, I know Thursday is going to change our lives in the best way possible. We love this baby so much already and we haven't even met him or her yet. We don't even know if we are having a him or her and we already love every little bone in it's tiny body! I can't wait to hold this baby in my arms and smell and kiss and hug and love on him or her. I'm definitely ready to do those things. And I am so so grateful to have our families here to support us for such a monumental day. I know there would never have been a question whether they would come be there for us or not, I just am so so in awe with how much our families love and care for us. We truly are the luckiest people.

SO... If you are reading, please say your prayers for our little family this week. There could never be enough prayers! We will keep you updated and I do hope to post again after baby S gets here. I can't guarantee when that will be, but hopefully I won't make you wait too long!

Until then,
xoxo,
Sara

Week 36 & Week 37

We are officially considered FULL TERM! Holy moly! I can't believe it. Here is a picture taken today. Less than 3 weeks to go folks!!



I would like to proudly say that I am wearing my hot pink 3 inch heels today - still rocking it!! I mean, no doubt, my feet will probably start swelling up a little bit by the end of the day, but for now, I'm proudly waddling around with cute tootsies!

We have had a great and busy couple of weeks! We went to the doctor last week to get our last ultra sound and the baby's head is down and we are in good position! Baby Shelor is weighing in at a strong 5 pounds 11 ounces! Woo!! They said to expect to gain about half a pound each week which would put baby S at a 7 pound delivery weight. We shall see!

I went to the Dr. today for my check up and I am 1 and a half centimeters dilated! Woohoo! The heart rate was 150 - strong! Way to go baby S! I was also told that the baby is very low which is a good sign! He said we could go in labor in 2 weeks!  However; none of the ladies on my side of the gene pool went in to labor early. So, if genetics has any play in it -- baby S could be cooking till March 20th...

Lenny and I went to an all day birthing class this past weekend. Although the picture below doesn't truly show just how excited Lenny was - we really did have a good time. We laughed a lot and learned a lot. This is Lenny being hilaaarious....

My sweet "birth companion" (very politically correct, right???).  We left the class feeling more confident which was the ultimate goal. Knowing more of what to expect. Then we ordered takeout from our favorite restaurant and had a great night together. I'm trying to soak up these kinds of nights.

I know this is a short post - sorry!

Until next week!

xoxo,

Sara

Week 34 & Week 35

Hello friends!  We had a great week 34 and 35! I can't believe we are on the home stretch with just another month to go!! Here is a picture from today. I have started to feel more "ready" than ever!

The last two weeks have been really great. We are officially going to the doctor "weekly" now which is kind of crazy. I have imagined getting to this point but now that it's finally here, it's a little surreal!

I went last Monday to the doctor for the 35 week check up and Baby Shelor's heart beat was 160 - strong and fast! I went at a time when I didn't think the baby would be moving a lot or real real active but of course, baby S was moving around which I do think affects the rate of the heartbeat. We haven't had a heart rate below 150 - which *typically* is a sign for a girl but my doctor says I'm carrying more like a boy! So crazy. My dr.'s nurse said this baby was going to be walking before it's crawling because he/she moves so much! Sometimes it looks like a little alien has taken over my stomach - the movements are wild!

We go back on Wednesday the 22nd for our last ultra sound and to see if the baby has moved down yet. It has been so long since our last ultra sound! I can't wait to see the little boo bear again! Definitely will post a video/picture on the next blog.

Lenny went to New Orleans for business and he had a great time. He had never been before and wants us to go back together some day. The American Rental Association put on a trade show and Lenny got to find product for our company and take classes, etc. He really enjoyed himself! He brought back a little surprise for the baby. What a sweet daddy!

A couple of other fun things we got to do last week was shop and laugh! Let me explain :)
I got up early Saturday morning and met one of my best gal pals, Aundrea, to go to the "Charlotte Mom's of Multiples" consignment sale! It was amazing and overwhelming! They had EVERYTHING. Clothes, toys, books, strollers, high chairs, nursing gear, diaper genies, toilets, bikes, pack n plays -- everything!! Most all the clothes were gender specific so I picked up a few pieces in each gender because they were adorable and I couldn't pass it up. I saw women who had bins and bins and bags full of stuff. It was quite a new thing for me but I can see why women loooove consignment sales! Everything is so cheap!! here's a little sneak peak of my finds.

Adorable, right?!!?  I got a gown, smocked outfits, two sets of pj's and three pairs of shoes for $43.50!! What a steal!

Lenny and I also got to go see one of our favorite comedians perform. His name is Jim Gaffigan and I had tissues soaked with tears from laughing so hard. The first part of his act was all about family (he's just had his 4th child). I bought the tickets back in November when they went on sale and I remember the day I bought them that I thought to myself "Wow -- February seems so far away and I will be so close to having the baby. I wonder how I'll feel. This could be one of our last big date nights out". And it just came and went too quickly! Lenny assured me though that there will be many more date nights out before the baby gets here. Phew!

So many people have been asking about the nursery and wanting to see pictures. The nursery is not nearly finished yet but we have gotten things set up. I still have to get art work (waiting till baby S is born because I want to do something with a monogram behind the crib) and I still need to get a rocker and light fixture, etc etc blah blah  it's never ending! But here are the "bare bones" of the room thus far!

Better pictures will be on their way! It's just taking a little longer to "nest" then I would have hoped for! It will get there.

Until next time!
xoxo,
Sara

Week 33

I know. I know. I know. I have done such a poor job at blogging! So many people are upset that I have not updated in weeks! My apologies to you all - It has been a CRAZY month and a half. Here is an updated picture of me at week 33! (I had someone take it right outside my office!)


















Excuse how crazy exhausted I look. Last night was a hard one for me. I have entered the stage where sleeping can get uncomfortable at times. I woke up at 3:30 and kept tossing and turning. After about 20 minutes I decided to get up and go to our man cave and watch the season finale of the Kardashians. I got back in bed around 4:45 and tossed a little bit longer finally to be able to go to sleep.  I will most definitely be going to sleep early tonight.
Like I mentioned earlier, the last month and a half has been crazy! We were in Memphis for 10 days in December and had a great time! It really was so nice being there! We ate some great food and had lots and lots of family time. Here's a couple of pictures from Christmas.

My sister Amanda, sister in law Jean, best friend Alayne and my mom Marmi threw me a fun baby shower! We got some great stuff!! It was so nice seeing everyone that came. Here are a few pictures from that shower.

There were about 15 people total that came and it was great. Thank you to the wonderful hostesses! You all did an incredible job and were so thoughtful.

We had also thrown a party for Adam's 30th birthday. It was a lot of fun!  Here are a few pictures from that.

It has been years and years since we've had a picture of all 6 of us together. It was really nice being able to capture the 4 of us and our parents. It was also nice getting some pictures of just the four of us! We were never the family that sent out Christmas cards or had lots of pictures of all of us together growing up. Probably because a few (not me!) didn't so much like the camera when we were growing up. I know it's silly but I do get a little choked up looking at the picture of the four of us together. I love brothers and my sister.

Marmi and I took Lenny downtown and showed him some of the few sites we haven't ventured to in the 5 years that we've been together. I know - it's crazy we had not done this stuff together yet! We parked downtown and walked to the Peabody Hotel where we had some hot chocolate and watched the Peabody ducks. Then we walked down Main Street and saw some historical sites and neat stores. We then jumped on the Trolley and did a full circle downtown and around the river. It was a really beautiful day and lots of fun! Here are a few pictures.

We got back to Charlotte and have been going 90 miles an hour ever since! We went up to Mimi and Papa's house the first weekend we got back to celebrate our Christmas there. We also had a bridal show through work the same weekend so we drove back and forth. Christmas was so fun! We got some great things including my super amazing fabulous to die for diaper bag!!!  It's a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag and I
L-O-V-E it.  See below - isn't it adorable?

We got lots and lots of nice things from Mimi and Papa but I was super duper pumped about this.

We also had an amazing baby shower here in Charlotte the next weekend! My mother in law Mimi, sister in law Lisa Marie, and dear friends Caroline, Niki, Aundrea and Natalie through me a shower anyone would go crazy over! We had such a nice time. To add in even MORE fun... SURPRISE !! Lenny and my sister coordinated together and she flew out for the weekend!! He arranged for me to be able to take a few days off and she was here to celebrate the shower with us! It was an incredible weekend - so very memorable!! here are some pictures.

About 30 people came to the shower and we were just so overwhelmed with the love and generosity of our friends and family! Baby Shelor got some amazing gifts and I have LOVED everything!

The very next weekend Lenny and I ventured up to Floyd, Virginia to celebrate the annual Thompson family Christmas (this is Lenny's mom's side of the family). We get together every year (18 of us!) and eat, catch up, have a "dirty santa" gift exchange and a Rook tournament. We had such a nice time. It was cold in Floyd but it did not snow. I was worried that it would snow and we would get stuck and I'd by chance go in to labor and have to have baby S in the log cabin. Haha! Here's a picture of Lenny and I - I just love him!



And in the mix with ALL of this... The girls at work threw me a shower AND Lenny's family surprised us with a shower while we were in Floyd! It's been wild! I can't even describe how much cake I have eaten and how many presents we have opened! It's been so wonderful. I truly have enjoyed the last few months.

Baby S is weighing just under 4 pounds and is about 17 inches long. It's so crazy. We are touring the pediatricians office and the maternity center at the hospital this week. I also have a check up with my OB. We scheduled a "birthing class" for the end of February. Knocking things off the list! :)

The nursery is looking GREAT and I promise I will post pictures soon.

I will try to keep posting more!! Promise!

xoxo,

Sara

Week 25 and Week 26

I know I know...  I have been terrible at posting. I am not going to set any more expectations of the whole "once a week" post because time keeps slipping away from me and the next thing I know two weeks have passed. We will be 27 weeks on Tuesday so I am uber-late with this post. Sorry!  Here is a picture taken yesterday morning :)

I am still feeling really good which is awesome. Our baby is weighing in at two pounds now and over a foot long! So crazy. We feel him (or her) moving a LOT. Especially when I lie down and after I eat. This baby is bound to have some long limbs considering I'm about 5'6" and Lenny is 6'4". He or she is probably needs some room for those legs and arms! 

We have had a busy couple of weeks. The biggest thing we did was tour a few daycares. They were all good and I found pro's and con's at each of them which I did expect. I didn't have that "THIS IS IT!" moment.  This was really disappointing for me because I thought I would have that feeling by now. We are on a few waiting lists but are continuing to look around. I know that "no one is going to take care of your baby like you can", but I really want to feel comfortable. It's important to me. The places that we toured were all very capable and I think our baby would be fine at any one of them, I just didn't have a feeling about any one of them being "the one".  I keep praying for clarity on the situation. Lenny tells me not to worry and that every thing will fall in to place as it is supposed to. He's so much more calm than I am. I trust that it will fall in to place, I just wish I had a hunch on just HOW and WHEN it will fall in to place :)

We had a great weekend together. Friday night we got to go out to dinner with some friends of ours, Lance and Danielle. We went to Harpers restaurant and I had a REALLY yummy veggie burger. Saturday morning we went to the annual "Wade Family Christmas Breakfast". I brought a dish that I found the recipe for on Pinterest and not a single drop was left of it. It was very yummy! Yesterday afternoon we pulled out all of our Christmas presents and wrapped them for the family. I didn't realize how exhausting that could be - We fell asleep on the couch together afterwards (Lenny told me I had a steady snore going on... but I don't believe him.) Last night we did an annual Christmas dinner with Brady and Niki, our really good friends who also happen to be our neighbors :) Instead of doing gifts for each other, we pick a night and go out to a nice restaurant and spend time together. We went to Barringtons (YUM!!) and it was so so so so good. We didn't get home till 11 o'clock last night which, for this girl, is late! It really was a great night. 

Today Lenny and I got up and we went to 10:30 church. It was great being able to go since we have been traveling in and out of town so much recently. I did end up getting really hot though and had to step out for a little bit to get my water out of the car and cool off. We went out for Mexican for lunch and came back and got to work. I had purchased a new filing cabinet recently to "get organized" and we pulled out every bill and paper we had and organized all our files. It went MUCH more quickly than I had imagined and I feel so good now. Every thing is in its appropriate place and in alphabetical order. After that I had about 4 loads of laundry to do. 

This week is going to be crazy. I have meetings scheduled at work every day and a doctors appointment Tuesday morning (where they test me for gestational diabetes). I am having dinner with my girlfriend Jill Tuesday night and then we leave Thursday for our trip to Memphis! It's going to be an amazing trip and I have been looking forward to it for weeks. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them. 

With as much as I have been thinking about this daycare situation and as busy as things have been. I really have been trying to take a deep breath and enjoy this moment. We have 13 more weeks of this pregnancy and this is really the last time it will be just "us" for well... at least the next 18 years :) 

I came home Tuesday night (the night after looking at daycares) and I had been at an event for ISES and when I got home, Lenny had made me some dinner to eat (he's amazing). I went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed and I noticed that our iPod dock was up at the top of the steps and the nursery door was closed. I opened up the door and all of the furniture was in the middle of the room. Lenny had painted the nursery without me knowing. I could have cried right then and there. I don't even know if he understands how much I appreciate him doing that. He knows how much I worry about stuff. I worry about the whole parenting thing and just how to do it. Are we going to be good parents like we hope? Are we going to do and stick to the things we say we are going to? How is this going to change our dynamic with each other? And then I have a moment like this where I walk in to the nursery, totally unexpectedly see that my husband has taken care of this task and I realize that we are going to be fine. We will be okay because we love each other and we take care of each other. We always have each others backs. This baby is going to be welcomed in to the world with an extraordinary amount of love. And that is comforting. 

Until next time!

Xoxo,

Sara

Week 23 and Week 24

I promise I am not trying to skip weekly posts and go to biweekly posts! It's just been a crazy month I guess.  Let me start out with a picture from week 23/24 :)

The baby bump is in full bump form! It's strange to have a belly like this - I went shopping for Christmas presents this weekend and was walking through J. Crew and picked up a skirt I thought was really cute. Then realized that 1) don't buy anything for yourself. and 2) this is not going to fit you right now. I guess being pregnant is at least saving me money on clothes? 

Lenny and I had our two year anniversary on the 21st. He has been in and out of town for the last month working on a huge project with work. He had to be out of town on our actual anniversary but got to come home the weekend before and he planned a night out for us. We went to the Melting Pot for dinner and it was oh oh so good. Here are a couple of pictures from our night. 

 

It is amazing how quickly two years have gone by. I can truly say that I married an incredible man. He is my best friend in the whole world. We have fun together, we are silly and make each other laugh but respect and love each other equally as well.  Our "partnership"  is strong and we always have each others backs. I can't wait to start our family together. Lenny is going to be the best dad. I know I've said this before, but I mean it with all my heart. He is a grown up little boy and I see how he his with children that are not his own - I just know our child is going to look up to him think he's the best in the world. I need to stop writing about this because I feel tears in my eyes. I'm quite emotional these days!

Another fun thing we finalized this week is... the NURSERY! woo!!! Below are a couple of pictures I took with my phone of the fabric we will be using. The pictures are kind of dark - sorry!

 

I am so so excited with how this has turned out. All the fabric was purchased and shipped and arrived late this week to everywhere it needed to go. Lenny's mom, Mimi, is going to make the curtains and a pillow for the rocker. Marmi is having one of her best friends make all of the bedding. It's going to be gorgeous. Hopefully everything will be completed by mid-January. I will be sure to post pictures once we are finished. 

I had my 6 month check up this past week with my OB. Everything was right on track! I got weighed again and I believe I have gained a total of 15 pounds! (I was told this was normal btw)  My doctor was telling me that when his wife was pregnant he bought her some "carb free" ice cream and he said that she really liked it and it helped her sweet tooth.  I told him that it only sounded good if I could put some reese's cups on it. Anyways - the baby's heart beat was 152! Best sound ever. In the journal book it says that the baby weighs about a pound and a half now and measures over a foot long. So crazy! I can't believe how fast this time has gone.  And I know with Christmas coming up, it's only going to go by more quickly.

My next appointment is on the 20th of this month where I get to do the "sugar test" and they find out of you have gestational diabetes.  On the 13th, Lenny and I have appointments at a few day cares. Hopefully we will have a better understanding of that process and a decision on what we would like to do. It surely is overwhelming. Lenny tells me I put too much pressure on myself which is probably true.

I will leave you with a picture of our little family on Thanksgiving. I love my husband and our baby!

Until next time!

xoxo,

Sara