The life of Riley...

Once again Riley is my subject for our new camera. Here he is lounging out in the sun.

 He loves this little stuffed dog that Bob and Mike gave him when they came for Easter. It's his "baby".

 I was getting ready to crawl into bed and just thought this was precious.

 It has been in the high 80's, low 90's the past few days. He passed out in front of the fan after our evening walk today.

 Almost 32 weeks pregnant.

New Camera!

I went out and bought our new camera yesterday! I believe it was around February when I told John I wanted a new camera for when the baby comes. I wanted  something that took good, clear pictures. We started our research to see how much we needed to save up to make it happen. A few months later and viola! I'm in love with our camera and have already taken a ton of pictures (though most have been deleted because I'm still in the figuring it out phase).

 My best subject :)

 I was trying to figure out the focus and poor Riley was like "Again, really?".

There isn't too much to take pictures of now, but soon enough I'll have a little baby boy to click away at. :)

Scrapbook

I wanted to show y'all a gift from my shower. It's a Bray tradition for the first born in a family to have a homemade scrap book. I didn't have any clue about this tradition until the day of my shower. My mother-in-law started this scrapbook in January to have it ready for me by the end of May. She put alot of work into it, y'all. I wish I had a picture of it's actual size. We had to ship it to my house because it was so big. :)

 It's standing upright. This is also how far it will close. Each page has a gift inside. A long time ago women had to stay in the hospital for 10 days after giving birth. There are 10 pages here, each one filled with a gift. The tradition is that the mom is supposed to bring this with her to the hospital and open a page each day. The scrap book is filled with pictures and magazine articles that are baby related, so not only does the mom have a gift to open, she also has something to read.

This gift is simply amazing! I already adore my mother-in-law but after opening this gift and realizing the time and effort she put into it to make sure the tradition lives on makes me appreciate her even more. :)

31 Weeks

How far along: 31 Weeks. Ahh!
Total weight gain: 22lbs. total.
Maternity clothes: I wear anything comfortable.
Sleep: Knock on wood, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. However, I am starting to wake up around 3-4am every morning with my hips and legs hurting. I think being able to only sleep on my sides and with the extra weight I'm carrying puts all the added pressure on those areas.
Best Moment this week: Having Francine and Michael over for a few days. I am so happy John was able to see his aunt and uncle. It's not often we get to see family so I know it means alot to him that he was able to see them. I also got to see our sweet baby boy on Thursday. I already posted those pictures, but it was so amazing being able to see him. Totally made my week!
Movement:  Often. 
Gender: Boy!
Labor signs: Hopefully I won't have these for another 9(ish) weeks. Yikes, we're down to the single digits.
Belly button: It's half popped. Ha! And when I'm sitting, it's all the way popped.
Cravings: Food.
What I miss: I think I'm about ready for my old body back, however, I know I'm going to miss feeling him kick and move around. I also miss sitting on the couch and being able to breathe.

Stretch Marks: No stretch marks yet except the dark line below and above my belly button. Fingers crossed it stays this way!

What baby is up to: Weighing in at three-plus pounds and measuring 16 inches long, your baby is quickly approaching his birth length — though he's got to pack on another three to five pounds before D-day. Also developing at an impressive clip: your baby's brain connections (he's got to make trillions of them!). He's now processing information, tracking light, and perceiving signals from all five senses. He's also putting in longer stretches of sleep, which is why you're probably noticing more defined patterns of wakefulness (and movement) and rest (when he’s pretty still).
What I am looking forward to this week: Nothing. I started my summer class and it's going well. Tomorrow will be day 3, so not much going on with that yet. I'm not going to blog about it but some of you know why I'm not looking forward to anything this next week. Oh, wait! I take that back... John and I have been saving up and researching a really good camera for when the baby gets here. We finally found one we both love and we will be purchasing it this weekend! I am really excited about that because it's been a couple of months in the making and I'm ready to have it in my hands so I can learn how to use it. I'm sure I'll be blogging the crap out of pictures soon enough. :)

My pictures have been blurry lately. Not sure why. Oh well.

 

Happy 36th Birthday John!

Today is the fifth birthday I get to spend with John. We met when he was 30 and I was 22 (just about to turn 23). Where have the years gone? I love celebrating John's birthday. He is by far one of the very few best men I know. John is funny, loyal, honest, loving, and the most amazing husband. My favorite traits at the moment? His humor and support. These are the two things that have helped me tremendously through this pregnancy and first semester of school. I love this man with all of my heart and I wish all the happiness in the world to him!

Happy Birthday, my Johnboy!! I can't wait to spend many, many more birthdays with you!!

This is John's 31st birthday. We spent it at the beach with his family. We had only been dating about 4 months, but I knew he was the one for me. :)

 We have had some wonderful times these past 5 years....

One year ago today, John and I said our goodbyes as he headed to Quantico for five months. His birthday was also his first day of school. I don't think I have ever cried as hard as I did as I watched his car pull away from me. I was excited, scared, happy, and anxious. John had just spent 15 months unemployed after being laid off from United and this was his only job offer that would afford us the security of a job, as well as reach our goal of starting a family. Watching my husband drive away, I felt very proud of him. I'm still very proud of him. I cannot imagine how he was feeling. He thought he was set in his career that he had worked so hard for, only to be tossed aside, not knowing what the future held. But John is so strong and determined and was hell bent on making our family feel secure. So he took a risk. He jumped feet first into what I know was one of the scariest things he has ever had to endure. And I appreciate it. I appreciate him for working so hard to make our family better. He did it. He worked his butt off for five long months until the day he graduated.

The moment of graduation was very surreal for me. I couldn't believe that after 2 long years, we were finally going to settle down and not have to worry so much. Of course this job took us to California, but we still feel very secure, something we didn't feel for a couple of years. Our marriage has thrived these past two years and I could not love my husband more than I do today.

 5 long months later...

So, once again, Happy Birthday John! I not only love you for the person you are, but for always putting our family first. We may have had some forks in the road but together we trudged through them and we will continue to navigate these forks during the years to come. Thanks for being so awesome. :)

I can't get over...

how precious our baby boy is!

 His foot was by his face and it looks like he's trying to pick his nose with his big toe.

 I wish I had a picture of John sitting on the couch and nodding off. This is what he looks like.

Our baby boy is perfectly healthy, weighing in at 3 and 1/2lbs. He is 16 inches with some hair, but not alot. The tech told me that the screen ends right above his eyes so the dark area that looks like hair isn't really hair. She also said he will double in weight during the next 10 weeks so I need to picture this cutie with a fatter face. :) I have been nervous thinking about the upcoming labor & delivery but after seeing all of the ultrasound pictures, I'm just ready to meet him!

30 Weeks!

How far along: 30 Weeks. Ahh!
Total weight gain: 20lbs. total but I'll find out tomorrow at my 30 week appt.
Maternity clothes: I wear anything comfortable.
Sleep: When I'm not totally congested I sleep well, however, our baby's humidifier should be arriving any day now and I plan on using it until he gets here.
Best Moment this week: Having 3 whole days with John to hang out. We really enjoyed it and certainly weren't ready for him to go back to work.
Movement:  Often. Very often.
Gender: Boy!
Labor signs: Hopefully I won't have these for another 10(ish) weeks.
Belly button: It's half popped. Ha!
Cravings: Dairy Queen!
What I miss: I think I'm about ready for my old body back, however, I know I'm going to miss feeling him kick and move around.

Stretch Marks: No stretch marks yet except the dark line below and above my belly button. Fingers crossed it stays this way!

What baby is up to: Your belly’s increasing size is a definite clue that your baby is getting bigger every day, weighing in at over three pounds now (he’ll be packing on the weight at a rate of half a pound per week for the next seven weeks). Also growing daily is his brain, which is actually starting to look like the real thing with those characteristic grooves and wrinkles. And now that your little genius can regulate his own body temperature and turn up the heat, he'll start shedding lanugo, the downy body hair that's been keeping him warm up until now.
What I am looking forward to this week: Tomorrow is my 30 week appt. and last ultrasound. I'm ready to see my baby boy again. Monday is John's birthday and he'll get to share his day with his Uncle Michael, who has the same b-day, and Aunt Francine. They are taking 6 weeks to drive from Indiana and back and they will be staying with us this weekend.