Week 21 and Week 22

As you can tell - It's been a WILD two weeks. So wild I did not even get to post last week. So much has been going on and I've been extremely busy! I will first share a picture from this past week.

I had an incredible trip to Memphis to visit the family this past week. I flew in on Thursday and Poppy (my dad) picked me up from the airport. We went to a restaurant called Jim's Place where we met my sister for a "daddy - daughter" dinner. We RARELY get to do this - just the three of us. So it was a really nice evening. We stayed at the restaurant for about three hours just talking.  Poppy - who I truly believe was a writer in a past life, wrote Amanda and I an email the day after our dinner together. I won't copy and paste the entire note in this blog because when I go back and re-read it I cry (EVERY. TIME). But here was one paragraph from the note...

"I can say without a doubt that you both have a great sense of who you are, what you want and how
important your families are in your lives. I am so pleased with you. I would like to take all the credit but
your mother had as much or more to do with your great qualities and wonderful personalities. I would
like to believe that I added to your strong perseverance and drives for success."

Really - He's always written the best letters and notes. We had a wonderful time together. It was one of those nights I will cherish for forever.

Friday it was a "Marmi-Daughter" day. We started out the day by getting manicures and pedicures. Marmi and Amanda both took off work on Friday to hang out with yours truly.  People were still trying to make them work! Look at these women on their phones!

From our mani/pedi's we went to lunch, then to look at fabric for baby Shelor's room. We picked out some more great samples! This coming up Saturday I will be going with Mimi (Lenny's mom) to look at more fabric so hopefully by Sunday we should have ALL fabric picked out and ready to go!!

After fabric the girls went to Dillards where we had to buy me some new undergarments. Fact of life - new bra's are necessary when you are pregnant! If anyone wants my recommendation -- the Spanx bra is AMAZING. Pregnant or not -- seriously. It's truly the best bra I've ever owned. Just FYI :)

After our trip to the mall, we went grocery shopping at Kroger and Costco for Graham's birthday party that was taking place Saturday. We had the best day together. Just us girls. If I lived in Memphis - I think I would see my mom and sister every day. Is that weird? I just love them so much! And they are very.. very funny!

Friday night I got to go see my best girlfriends from home. We met at one of my favorite restaurants, Houston's, for dinner.  It was so wonderful seeing and catching up with them. And apparently, Houston's was quite the hotspot, because we saw a few other people we knew as well! I miss all of these girls terribly. They are pretty amazing - and it's crazy how all of us have changed and grown up over the years. I have known all of them since we were 14 years old. Let's just say... we have come a LONG way!!

Marmi had scheduled a massage for me Saturday morning. It was WONDERFUL. Oh my goodness. The girl who did it (Marmi goes to her regularly) explained to me I was holding a lot of tension in my neck and back. I knew this but did not know how MUCH. She rubbed out so many knots and kinks. I tried my hardest not to fall asleep while I was getting the massage - I wanted to enjoy every minute of it!

We had the best time at Graham's 2nd birthday party. Wow - what a party!! Here are some pictures.





The night of Graham's birthday party - I stayed at Marmi's house and had a slumber party with my other niece and nephew, Virginia and George.  We had the most fun! We built a big comfy pallet with pillows and blankets. We put on a movie and this little momma passed out! Virginia was so cute - she did not want to go to sleep! You could tell she wanted to hold on to the day because she had so much fun.

After a good night's sleep we got up and got ready for brunch with Poppy, Booboo and Grandaddy, Amanda, Don, Graham, Richard, Jean, Virginia and George. We went to Spring Creek where Poppy is a member and he treated us to such a yummy Sunday brunch. Here is a picture of Virginia and I before the brunch. Love this little girl so much!

And one of us walking to our car after brunch. I swear, look how cute she is. I swear this child has more J.Crew in her closet then I do. (This is unbelievable, I know).

Let's just say - when I had to say bye to everyone to come back to Charlotte - I don't know if I had cried that hard in awhile. It was so hard leaving. We will be back at Christmas which I am so thankful for. This is such an emotional time in my life and I miss my family so much. I am extremely (extremely!) lucky to live in such a wonderful city with a fantastic husband, but there are so many days where I wish I could just zip on down the road to my sister's house to sit and talk, run by Marmi's house to eat dinner, meet Poppy at his house to see his latest gadget. On the other hand  - When I do get to go to Memphis, the trips are so very special. They are PACKED with activities and events and the schedule rarely leaves any time to relax. I guess that's one of the lovely things about it. I do get the best of both worlds. I love Charlotte and my life here, and I love going to Memphis and visiting and how happy I feel when I am there and then I get to come back here. And I am so very lucky to have Lenny's family just an hour away from us. We get to spend a lot of time with them and it helps fill that need in me for family. Having two wonderful parents and three great siblings, a sister and brother in law, two nephews and a niece in Memphis - You can imagine how desperate I am to be surrounded by people and love here. And I am so blessed with the incredible in-laws I have, the wonderful sister in law, brother in law and nephew I have in Lenny's family. They are great people that I adore. Baby Shelor is going to be welcomed in to this world with SO much love. He/She has been moving a LOT lately. So I KNOW he/she can already feel all that love! (Or maybe it's just all the yummy food I'm eating! :) 

Until next week -

xoxo,

Sara



Week 20

We are HALF WAY there folks!! I can't even believe it. It feels like it's going by so fast. Here is the week 20 picture which I am taking VERY late (because tomorrow I am 21 weeks).

Can I just say that I really have been enjoying maternity clothes? They are really super comfortable.











I went to the Dr. this week for my 20 week check up and it was a great appointment! They weighed me right off the bat - 131 pounds! Total weight gain for the first 20 weeks - 9 pounds. My Dr. said that was perfect and right on track! I also got to hear baby Shelor's heart beat -- Again, the BEST sound ever. The heart beat was 155 and adorable as always. The nurse (whom I had never met before) said she guessed we were having a girl. I told her she had a 50/50 shot at being right but that she was one of the very few people who has guessed girl :)  We shall see! I am going to try to get people's guesses on video prior to baby S being born. It could make for a very special video if we can edit it right.

The Dr. finally came in and I of course immediately shouted "DON'T TELL ME IF YOU KNOW, DON'T TELL ME IF YOU KNOW!" ... I had absolutely thought that the ultra sound tech would either give him a note or write it in my chart what we were having - which he would obviously see and some how slip up in the next 5 months. He assured me that he does not know! Phew (insert sigh of relief!). He said that he has a hard time keeping a straight face and would absolutely slip up if he knew. Way to go, doc! He said "I will find out what you are having when you do!" So fun :)

We chatted a little bit about the next few months. I go back at the end of November for my 24 week check up and then back in December for my 28 week/gestational diabetes test. He broke out the measuring tape and measured my belly (they measure from the top of your uterus down to your pelvic bone - very interesting!) which he said was measuring at 19.5 weeks and looked right on schedule.

I then got a flew shot (the safe one for pregnant people of course!) and was sent on my way.
Followed by a very relaxing weekend -- thank you week 20 for being awesome!

I am so happy it is Monday - because THURSDAY I will be flying to Memphis!! I can't tell you how excited I am. Thursday I am going out to dinner with Dad (Poppy) and Amanda, Friday it's a girls day with Mom (Marmi) and Amanda, Thursday afternoon I get to see my best friend Alayne and then get to go out with all my best girlfriends from home to my most favorite restaurant in Memphis.  Must take pictures!! Saturday is Grahams birthday party and Sunday we are having a big family brunch followed by... dum dum dum... BABY REGISTERING! I fly back Monday around 2:30 and I'm sure I will cry the whole way. It's hard to leave Memphis after such fun weekends. But I do love the anticipation leading up to it. I will have a full report next week!

In case you are curious about Baby Shelor this week, here is what the updates say.. "Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (The way your baby is measured changes now.) He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system."
He or She has been moving a lot lately! It's so cute. Especially after I eat - You can actually see my stomach "pump" or "move" out a little bit where the baby kicks. It's so funny. I know it will get even crazier as time goes on. But I love feeling him/her in there. What an incredible connection...

I must go now, sorry this has been so short and sweet. After a full week of fun, I'm sure I will have lots to talk about after week 21...

Until then!
xoxo,

Sara