Isabella Corrinne...

Well, we've officially decided on her name!!!  She shall be called..."Isabella" Corrinne.  We are naming her after Jeremy's great-grandmother (mamma of the grandpa that Jer looks so much like) & Corrinne is my grandma (my mamma's mom).  Isabella is a Hebrew name meaning "God's Promise"/"Devoted to God".  Corrine originates from "maiden" meaning "pure."  Her name will always have a special meaning to us all!  It is now so very special to be able to pray for her by name and talk to her by name!  She just loves when her daddy puts his face up to my belly and talks to her....she will usually give him a little kick or punch. =)  And she seems to always do a big dance whenever she hears her daddy leading worship with the band......I mean kicks and punches and wiggles all over!!!

I've been very busy as I've started preparing for little Isabella's arrival!  I've had a sewing machine now for a couple years but haven't had the time to sew much more than curtains or pillows.  Teaching seemed to take up SO much of my time!!!  So, when Jeremy was away taking our high school students on the ski trip (which I decided to sit out of this year) =).....I pulled out my sewing machine and began attempting to create little dresses for Isabella!  I'm starting with the basic jumper......I created my pattern from a 3 month dress I borrowed from Isabella's soon to be "bestie"...Charleigh!  It's a litte challenging trying to guess how big of a baby Isabella will be.....but I just did my best!  Here are a few of the dresses I've sewn...

My next sewing project is to use the leftover fabric to make little bibs that match her dresses...then of course I will be teaching myself how to make matching bows and headbands! 

Jeremy painted Isabella's nursery a few weekends ago.  It turned out just perfect...a very light pink!  Mamma Lloyd came in town this past weekend so she and Jer could paint the trees in Isabella's room!  Here is a picture of them painting......and I actually was able to help a lot too which was fun!  We decided to paint one brown tree in the corner....and two white trees on either side of the brown tree.  It's kinda hard to see the white trees in the pictures....but they look soooo pretty in person!

Here's the finished product...we were very pleased! =)

I painted the little letters to hang over her crib...Jeremy and I took our fabric to Lowe's and they were able to match the paint up exactly to match!

Mamma Lloyd gave Isabella her first little reading rocking chair!  So cute.....I mean of course the daughter of a first grade teacher must have her own little reading corner.  I plan on having a little basket of seasonal books next to her chair throughout the year for her to enjoy!  You can also see that Isabella's first baby doll is in the chair.......Mimi (my mom) gave her the doll for Christmas. (her first baby doll)

This was a little table that was originally used by Jeremy's grandpa (Isabelle's son) as a bed side table for most of his life.  Jer used it in college......we painted it black when we first got married and used it as a side table in our TV room before we had real furniture! =)  I decided to paint it green and use it as a little side table in the  nursery!  The Lloyd's also gave us a black and white of our Christmas picture in this cute little frame for Christmas! 

So, we are slowly putting her little nursery together...and it's so much fun!  We have our 30 week appointment with our high risk doctor tomorrow - so I'll have to try and update soon.

The next few weekends are going to be full of fun little showers and sweet times with family and friends! 

We continue to praise the Lord for each day that we are able to experience the growth of little Isabella.  We love just watching her little legs and arms move around......and it's so much fun to try and guess what body part we are feeling roll across my belly.  The Lord has been so good to us and we don't ever want to take one day for granted during this pregnancy.  He has continued to give me good health throughout this journey......and I'm so thankful that I've been able to continue walking most days of the week!  Some days I will just sit and pray for little Isabella....from her head to her little toes and tears will just flow down my face as I think about how perfectly and beautifully the Lord is knitting her together in the womb.  Such a miracle.....we serve such an amazing God!  Praise Him for his goodness to us each day.....

27 weeks growin' baby bump...

Here is the most recent picture of my growing baby bump! We went to the doctor on Monday and just listened to her heartbeat. It was right around 140 beats per minutes. They want it to be between 120 & 160...so her's just seems perfect! I will see my high risk doctor in 3 weeks and then go back to my regular OBGYN at 32 weeks.
I woke up at 4:45 am and it felt like she was doing jumping jacks...and practicing her tumbling! It was the strangest feeling...she was just playing hard I suppose! She played for about 30 min. then got comfortable and went back to sleep. =)
I just love feeling her moving all around...such a sweet little feeling.

Christmas & New Year's...

Our Christmas card we sent to our family and friends...

This was quite an eventful Christmas...we had lots to celebrate in our familly! We've all been praying for 11 months now for the Lord to provide Matt the perfect job that would be best for him and Brit. We found out Dec. 23 that the Lord opened up a wonderful job opportunity for him in Greenville.....praise Jesus! Last Christmas was a very difficult time for Jer and I....and so we had lots to be thankful for this year as we could feel our baby girl kickin' hard throughout the week. =)
We spent Christmas in Nashville with the Boyd clan....Daddy (Pappa B), Mamma (Mamma Boyd), Linz, John, Brit and Matt....along with Frankie (Brit's dog) and Chi & Smokey (Linz's dogs). It was a full house!
On Wed. Dec. 24, we hosted a big family brunch with all the cousins and Grandma from my mom's side of the family. It's been several years since we've all been together. G'ma enjoyed seeing all her granchildren, a few great-granchildren and there are 2 more on the way! Katie is due about 6 weeks after me!

Cousin pic...

Sister pic...


My mamma and sisters have been praying hard for our sweet baby girl...I can't wait for my baby girl to meet her Mimi and 2 aunties! I'm sure she will be spoiled rotten!!

Well, I had a little Christams surprise...we all sat down to open gifts and all of a sudden it felt like my baby girl was having spasms in my tummy! I finally realized that she probably had the hiccups! Poor little thing....too much excitment on Christmas morning I suppose. A few minutes later, we looked out the window and saw little snow flurries....such a fun Christmas morning!

Jer did not hold back on his appetite this week...I think this was his first helping of three. Check out his huge Turey leg...it is fun having 4 cooks in the kitchen...makes for a delicious Christmas dinner! (Well.....make that 6 cooks - John is "gravy boy" and Matt is the "turkey carver.")

All of us together Sunday morning at church. We cherish the times we're able to spend special holidays together and anxiousy look forward to the next time we're all together!

Jer and I headed down to Panama City for New Year's to hang out with the Lloyds. Jordo and Jer decided to make us homemade pizza! It was yummy!!!....they did a pretty good job...for
boys. =)

We had a girls day out...Grandma Smith, Aunty Kathy, Katy, Mamma Lloyd, Ellen and me enjoyed lunch together. Katy is due just three days after me! They surprised us with matching little girl outfits......so cute!

Here we are...about 26 weeks preggo!

Grandma Smith, Ellen, Me and Mamma Lloyd...such a fun little afternoon. =)

Planning her little room...

We finally decided on the fabric we want to use for her bedding and room! I love it and I think it will be just perfect. =) My neighbor is going to be sewing all her bedding...which is such a blessing! Her crib and changing table/dresser came in this past week too! So, now her room consists of 2 pieces of furniture and a few cute baby girl outfits along with a few gifts that friends and family have bought for us already. We plan to get started on painting her room a pale pink when we return from our long Christmas vacation! Jer's gonna paint the room and then Mamma Lloyd is going to join him in painting a really pretty silhouette of a tree and little girl swinging from it in a lighter shade of pink or maybe white! They are both so creative and artsy....I'm sure it will turn out adorable!
So, I thought I'd post pics of the furniture and the fabrics for the room! I can't wait to start seeing everything come together once the new year gets here.......

her little sleigh crib...

changer/dresser...

all the fabrics together...

fabric for the bumper & blanket front...

fabric for the skirt...

fabric for the blanket...

yellow fabric for background of monogramming & accents...

25 weeks...

We went last Thursday to see our high risk doctor for our 24.5 week appointment.  Our little one is just growing so fast!  Of course the first thing we look for on the ultrasound screen is her little beating heart.  Once we see those 4 chambers beating hard....then we know we can relax a bit. =)

The measured all the major fluids and body parts once again!  Her heart rate was 139 beats per minute.  They also checked the blood flow in her heart and the umbilical cord.....and placenta.  It took her forever to check this because our baby girl kept moving all around!  She would try to get an accurate reading and as soon as she would start tracking the blood flow......our baby girl would kick really hard - which would make static on the ultrasound screen and mess up the test.  It took like 20 tries before she finally got the accurate reading she needed!  It was so hard for Jer and I to not laugh because it was soo cute every time our baby girl would punch and kick.  She just did not want all the tests done I suppose!  It gets harder and harder to get really good pics of our baby girl but we did get a cute one of her little foot and a profile pic.  When we saw her little foot, Jer and I started discussing who's feet we think she will have.  Later during the ultrasound, the tech said, "Well, I wasn't going to say anything - but her feet are definitely long and narrow......bigger than the typical baby at this age.  Most babies feet look short and stubby....but her's are long!"  We started laughing sooo hard....b/c that means she probably has Jer's feet! =)  When we texted our family this funny story...my dad responded, "Well, she'll cross the finish line faster!"  Seems like our baby girl is already destined to be a runner!

Overall, I'm feeling much better.....I still have to eat very often and rest lots - but that's to be expected I suppose!  I love my cool morning walks.......and I can't wait til I have a sweet baby girl to take with me each morning!  I think I've gained about 16lbs overall and my high risk doctor was so pleased with the baby's growth and my health that he doesn't want to see us for 6 weeks!  So, we will just enjoy the holidays.....and all the good food......and keep on growing!

Here are the latest pics....

Baby Bump Growin...

Here's my most recent baby bump picture!  I'm right at 23 weeks here. =)  I'm just now starting to wear my maternity shirts......even those most of them are still a little too big!  I have plenty of my normal shirts that still fit me....so that's usually what I wear.  The question I receive most these days is...."so how far along are you now?"  and I say...."oh, 23 weeks....almost 6 months pregnant!" and they say..."really.....I mean you are hardly even showing".....and then I say, "yep! I'm definitely 23 weeks pregnant!"

I asked my doctor at my last appointment how she thought I was progressing and all.  She said that I am just "perfect."  She said that I will probably wake up one morning and my tummy will look like it grew over night!  Well, that will sure be a fun morning to wake up and feel like I have a HUGE tummy! =)  At this point, I've gained 13 lbs......so we shall see how much more I will gain in the next 17 weeks!

We will have our next appointment with our high risk doctor next Wednesday so hopefully I will have some more cute baby pictures to post. =)

23 weeks...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Lloyd's!  It was such a fun time for us all to be together and celebrate the many things we are thankful for this year!  I was definitely so very thankful for this little life inside of me.....and it was so great that my nausea had subsided a lot......so I was able to enjoy all the delicious food! =)

I've been feeling our little girl move around since week 17.  I just love feeling her little legs kick, her little hands punch and her little body wiggle around.  I usually feel her first thing in the morning when we wake up (I think that's her way of telling me she's ready for breakfast).  I also usually feel her move a little after I eat......but other than that she's a pretty calm baby girl....so far!  Now that I've been getting more energy and I'm able to do more during they day, I've been a little busy bee getting all the Christmas decorations up, finalizing nursery colors and fabrics and Christmas shopping.  My baby girl is super still all day long....probably snoozing and growing.  Then, when I crawl into bed at night she begins to move around and wiggle!  Such a fun way to fall asleep each night.  

Well, the second day we were at the Lloyd's she was moving lots!  I had just finished eating my yogurt and animal crackers (one of my favorite snacks) and she began to kick her little legs!  Ellen, my sister in law was sitting with me and I told her to put her hand on my tummy.......and she felt her!!  So, I raced to find Jeremy - I told Jer that he had to come and try to feel her.......and sure enough he finally felt her!  Then, Mamma Lloyd felt her.....and then Jordo!  Pappa Chip was at the studio so he missed out....but I'm sure there will be more opportunities soon!

We went for our 22 week appointment a few days ago.....and it was a quick one!  They just checked my blood pressure, weight and listened to her heartbeat!  We still always get a little nervous before each appointment.....so we are always anxious to hear or see her little heart beating.  There's definitely been times when we see her legs kicking on the ultrasound screen and Jer will ask, "Is her heart beating...is she ok?"  Then, I usually laugh and say....."Babe...if her legs are kickin - her heart is beating!"  Well, this time I heard a loud beating noise.....but wasn't sure if it was my heart beating or her's.  I asked the doctor if she was ok and she said, "oh, she's just as happy as a lark in there."  Such great news to hear!  

We are beginning to slowly prepare her little room just for her!  Her room is cleaned out and all ready for all her special little belongings!  We set up her crib.......and her little hutch.  But, we are still waiting for her dresser to be delivered.  We've pretty much finalized the fabrics we are going to use for her bedding and all.  I've been trying to do some research on the best car seats, strollers......and most importantly the most functional jogging stroller!  Oh, I just can't wait to take my baby girl jogging with me!

Well, we will do our best to post a tummy pic this week......because it's definitely growing bigger each day!  I'm starting to pull out my maternity shirts....I wore my first one last night to our youth Sunday School Christmas party!  It was so fun to try on my red maternity shirt and look in the mirror to see that it is finally starting to fit! =)  Just a reminder that our baby girl is growing...