Jack's Furniture

Well last night we ordered Jack's furniture! It should be here sometime next week so Thad will have a busy schedule coming up; taking apart and putting together! Here is a look at it:

I'm going to put baskets on the shelves under the changing table! Hopefully our little dear Berk Tate will keep out of them! :)

This combo unit will be used as a dresser only since we got the changing table.

We love the dark wood and as a matter of fact just about all of our furniture in the house is a dark wood. I can't wait to get his bedding put on there and finally get him a place ready! We are so thankful for having had a healthy pregnancy up to this point and hopefully I will be able to finish out the rest that way. It's so hard to think of all the possibilities when you are pregnant that could go wrong and unfortunately those things have been plaguing my mind lately! As I mentioned yesterday there have been so many early deliveries and things that babies have gone through around our community, that it is really difficult to keep a positive attitude and not let the negative weigh in! I told Thad today that Jack hardly gets to sleep because everytime he gets still I am constantly poking and prodding just to feel his little movements! I am constantly praying that even with the discomfort I will carry him to full-term and that he will be our bouncing baby boy that we have dreamed of! (Though we will love him regardless!) Just thought I would share pictures of the furniture and I will for sure be posting pictures of his room once we get that done! (Hopefully with no interruptions from the little one himself!) Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we would really appreciate it!

Meadows

A Princess and 34 Weeks Pregnant

Well, today I am 34 weeks pregnant and getting more paranoid by the day! I have heard of 2 ladies who were supposed to be due around the first part of March who have gone into premature labor; one who delivered the baby at 4 1/2 lbs and the other who was put on STRICT bed rest with steroid shots until 40 weeks! I am hoping that Jack doesn't decide to grace us with his presence early, but at this point in the game I can't say that I would be disappointed that my discomfort would be gone! I have an appointment on Thursday and hopefully everything will be fine and we will get to schedule another ultrasound to see how big he is and how fluffy his little face is! On Saturday, Thad and I went to the Tech vs. OU basketball game (a Christmas present) and had a little date night. Berkley spent the evening with Gran and Pops and was wide awake when we got there at 10:45 to pick her up! (She wasn't wide awake for long though once we got home!) Before we went to the game, I got her all decked out in her Tech gear to watch the game on TV. And so I present to you: our Red Raider Princess! And you can tell in some of the pictures but not all of them, but she is getting so slender now and looking so much more like a little girl! It makes me so sad that her chub is leaving but so excited to see what this sweet little GIRL is going to be like way too soon!

1/23/10...A true princess!

1/23/10...This is her latest thing when you tell her to smile-cue tilted head and "CHEESE!"

1/23/10...This is her best "Get Your Guns Up!" expression! She has slowly gotten away from actually doing it with her "guns up" but she will always hold up both hands and shake them like she's got them up!

1/23/10...Once again, cue tilted head and "CHEESE!"

1/23/10..."Hmmmmm"

1/23/10...I love this one in black and white and she looks like a little ballerina doll!

1/23/10...LOVE this one just wish she was smiling!

1/23/10...Not minding the tutu one bit!

1/23/10..."Paging Dr. Meadows!"

Warm Enough To Play Outside

Yesterday it was so nice outside (mid-60s) and the wind was hardly blowing so Berk and I took full advantage of getting out! I think she has just really gotten antsy over the last couple of months with not being able to go out and run around! We went out back with the dogs because anytime she hears Maddox or Boogie bark it is "PUPPIES!" She surprisingly wasn't afraid at all, just a little put off by their excitement! She did tell them "No, no" when they started jumping close to her! I think the girl would have swung all evening if I would have let her but we went around front and rode in her wagon and on her Radio Flyer for a bit! She is going to be an outdoor girl for sure! She even tried to get in her swimming pool until she realized there was no water in it! But here are a few pictures!

1/21/10...She loved her Radio Flyer once she figured out that she could do it all by herself! She is so independent, which makes me so happy!

1/21/10...I love this profile picture!

1/21/10...This is a face that I can see in little Jack! I'm so anxious to see how many of Berkley's features he will have and how similar or different they will be! She thought she was hot stuff riding around!

1/21/10...And then of course she really had to be independent and try to pull the wagon!

33 Weeks

Well here is a picture of me at 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant with Mr. Jack! I look at that and just from LAST NIGHT, I feel like he has put on like 3 pounds! The discomfort is becoming more and more frequent at this point in my southern regions and 6 and 1/2 weeks seems like an eternity from now! (Though I hope that it will just "sneak" up on me!) I have my 34 week appointment next Thursday and will use a whole day off from work and hopefully get some things for Jack while I am in Lubbock. The poor thing hardly has anything to call his own but I'm sure that will change soon enough. We have found furniture and will hopefully get that pretty soon and then get to taking apart and putting together! (A great excuse not to have to help is lugging around Jack!) It's funny because as I was looking back at pictures of Berk and my journey with her, we had her room done when I was 27 weeks pregnant and I was washing clothes at 30 weeks! Boy how it is different the second go-round! I was thinking yesterday about my upcoming doctor's visits and everything and there is a very real possibility that Jack and Berk could be born exactly 18 months apart. The way that this could happen is because I have an appointment on the Thursday, March 4th (he is due Monday, March 8th); you see, when I went in for my appointment with Berkley Tate on Thursday, September 4, 2008, (just 2 days before her due date) I was only 1 centimeter dilated but had high blood pressure. There were a few questions that followed and then it was "Get over to the hospital NOW and we will have a baby by sometime tomorrow!" Talk about a "WHOA MOMENT!" Of course they were concerned about toxemia and pre-eclampsia, which thankfully I had neither, Berk just wanted to do things her way! (Nothing out of the ordinary with that now days either!) So, if I go in on Thursday, March 4th and have high blood pressure again, Mr. Jack and his big sis could be exactly 18 months apart! WOWZER! Are we ready for THAT BIG MILESTONE----most likely NOT, but we are going to have to get ready because it will be here sooner than later! But anyway just thought I would share a pic and some history! Hope you have a great week!

Meadows

A "Tutu" Cute Video

Here is a video of Berk Tate Sunday afternoon playing with one of the tutus that Nana and Papa got her for Christmas. It is the first time that she has actually gotten them out of the drawer and brought them somewhere and tried to put them on! I can only imagine what the future holds! She already pulls clothes out of her drawers and brings them into the living room to show us; I can tell she will be one of those kids that comes home and changes 20 times! (Luckily she seems to enjoy helping with laundry also! :)) We went to the Dawson County Stock Show on Friday since we didn't have school and Berk really enjoyed seeing and getting close to the pigs! I guess it must run in the Meadows blood to be a pig showman! Hope everyone had a restful weekend! We, unfortunately attended a funeral of one of Thad's coworkers who was killed in an accident on one of their leases. It's been a hard week for us all, especially Thad, but hopefully it will get easier. Hope you enjoy the video and have a wonderful week! (33 weeks pregnant on Monday! A belly pic will be posted this week!)

Meadows

32-Week Appointment

Well yesterday I had my 32 week appointment (you know one of the good 5 minute ones that costs the insurance company like $200?!) Yea, well that was what yesterday was; a 45 minute drive and then 5 minutes to see the doc, gosh I LOVE those! (Can you sense my sarcasm?!) Sometimes I wish I could just call in and say, "Doc, the scale is reading _____ lbs., I have taken my own blood pressure and it is 112/68, I feel fine besides the constant pain of carrying a child that comes after you have carried one only 16 months ago, he has been moving like a spider monkey so I know that his heart rate is probably around the 130s or 14os like it's been and yes my feet are a little swollen and yes I KNOW that they will only become more swollen in the weeks to come." Now, wouldn't that be so much easier than wasting an entire afternoon and having to use half a day to take off work?! All kidding and sarcasm aside, the appointment went great; I gained another 7 lbs. (chalk it up to Christmas and New Years), making my total gain 26 lbs., my blood pressure was really 112/68 (don't know how that happened after the morning I had at school) and his heart rate was in the 130s and 140s. Yes, my feet are starting to swell but luckily not to the point of cankles yet (yes, I said YET because I know that is the next big thing). Everything is great and honestly I am VERY thankful that the appointment was uneventful and only lasted 5 minutes. Unfortunately payday wasn't until TODAY and I CANNOT for the life of me get to the point of starting to buy Mr. Jack gobs of stuff like I did for Berk! (Why is it that I am automatically drawn to all of the cute spring lines they are coming out with for little girls and the lack of cuteness for the boys things?!) My sister joked and said that Jack probably wouldn't appreciate being put in a dress (which I totally agree with), but then I reminded her that his big sister is bound to do it a time or two! (Of which I am sure I will get pictures that he will forever hate me for later in life!!!) But all in all things are great just counting our days and trying to enjoy the many joys of pregnancy! (Because this is NOT and I repeat NOT happening in another 18 months after he is born!) We will hopefully get the guest room cleaned and furniture taken apart in the near future since Sara got a storage building and she will be taking the furniture. We will be ordering his furniture this week and I hope that once we get his room together that I can start finding things for little Jack the way I did for Berk! (Thad does have the tendency to remind me that Berk had WAY TOO MUCH STUFF and that Jack has a good start thanks to some hand-me-downs from Jayden!) But again just counting down the days and trying to prepare ourselves for the many changes that lie in our near future! Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will hopefully post some pictures over the weekend!

Meadows

New Years/Christmas at my Parents

Well we finally got to go and see my side of the family on New Year's Eve and we stayed the weekend to celebrate our Christmas late. We had such a great time getting to see everyone and watching Berk interact (if you want to call it that) with her cousin, Jayden! Of course, she got WAY TOO MUCH stuff but she surprisingly plays with a large majority of it all! There really isn't much to chat about, just wanted to post some pictures from my family's Christmas. I go to the doctor next Wednesday for a routine check and hopefully all will look good. We will hopefully be scheduling another ultrasound in the upcoming weeks so we can see our little Jack one more time before meeting him! (Yeah, I can't believe that I'm saying just "one more time"! This has gone by really fast!) But anyway here are some pictures and I'm trying to get some pictures together of belly comparisons between Berk and Jack! (Don't worry they WILL NOT be bare belly!) Anyway hope everyone has a great rest of the week and I will post again soon!

Meadows

1/1/10...Auntie Rach helping Berk open her first gift!
1/1/10...Jayden opening a gift with Mema's help!
1/1/10...Mema with 2 of her 5 great-grandkids! (Of course Berk thought that it was her gift!)

1/1/10...Berk playing in one of the tutus that Nana and Papa got her!

1/1/10...Jayden being a big boy!

1/1/10...Miss Thang and her wild hair!

1/1/10...Nana with her 2 grandbabies!