Nursery in the making!!!

The nursery walls are DONE!!!! YAY!!!! I'm sooooooo blessed to have a husband who is VERY handy and can do everything himself and it's cheaper! :-) Anyhow, below are pics of the nursery walls and bead board! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Chris hard at work!

Here is a picture of the nursery bedding we are ordering. My MIL is making us navy curtains and we are going to use boat rope to tie them back just like the picture.

Here is the rug we are putting in the nursery too! It's the same rug that is in the picture above with the bedding.

As you can see, Chris and I are very excited and everything is coming along GREAT! Luke is one lucky baby so far, but not as lucky as us to be his mommy and daddy! :-)

On another note, my friend Danielle asked me for help! Her BIL and SIL have started an organization to help couples adopt. Please check it out and pray for them! www.becauseofisaac.org

Oh the side effects!

Well, I guess I spoke too soon! I have more and more side effects now! :-( Other than my feet, I have back pain and my sciatic nerve on my right side is excruciating! I can't even walk or lay down on my right side. And forget sleeping!!!!!!!!!!! Once I fall asleep I wake up with the absolute worst leg cramps known to man!!! So I just sleep for about an hour, wake up for an hour and the cycle repeats itself. So frustrating! Okay, I'm done complaining now as I would take ANY AND ALL symptoms for this lil man!!! I STILL FEEL SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED!!!

25 weeks and Christmas!

This past week has been VERY busy!!! I went to the doctor on Monday and Baby "J" is doing FABULOUS!!! I'm not though! My back is killing me and my feet are out of control swollen. I wake up with them swollen and go to bed with them even more swollen! :-( :-( :-( However, I wouldn't change it for the world! It's sooooooooo worth it!!! On another note, after many months of deciding on a name, we finally chose one! We prayed on the perfect name! Luke Robert Johnson. We pray Luke will be a Gospel of Christ just like Luke from the Bible! In addition to the doctor visit, I was having 9 people over for Christmas dinner and I had to cook, shop, bake and set up! I LOVED every minute of it and I plan on making it a tradition for years to come! Enjoy some of the pictures!!!

25 weeks!

Proud Daddy and I

The Foster Family!

The Johnson and Foster Family!

My Beautiful Tree!

As far as Luke is concerned, here's what's going on this week in HIS world!!!

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

24 weeks

Hi all!!!

Well, today marks 24 weeks!!! According to what I've read that if the baby was born now, he would have some chance of survival. However, I plan to keep him in for for another 16 weeks or so. :-) Once again, there has been nothing too eventful this week other than my feet are still swelling. They are swelling soooooooooooo bad that I had to buy new shoes. BUMMY! :-( Other than that, I've been great. I have two more gifts to buy and then I'm done Christmas shopping. YEA!!! Speaking of Christmas, I feel awful but I didn't even do Christmas cards this year. Chris and I decided that we should save the money for the nursery, which has painted walls and the bead board/chair rail is going up today!!!! SO EXCITING!!!! In addition, I'm doing Christmas at my house this year for the first time! I can't wait to cook for the 9 of us and use my fine china for the first time! HEHE! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Here's what's going on with "Nemo"

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How Far Along? 24 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? GAINED 13 pounds!

Maternity Clothes: STILL my best friend, but I'm growing out of the ones I have!

Sleep: Don't sleep ever!! It's so hard to turn from side to side. I make some funny noises! LOL

Best Moment of the Week: EVERY TIME he kicks mama!

Movement: All the time now!

Food Craving: RED VELVET CUPCAKES! I'm addicted!!!

Food aversions: FINALLY...NONE!

Gender: BOY! BOY! BOY!

What I miss: Wine, Sushi, Sweet Tea and soft cheeses! I also miss deli meat!

What I'm looking forward to: Tomorrow's appointment and my baby showers! I'm so blessed to be having 3!!!

23 weeks!!!

Today marks 23 weeks!!! My life has already changed (for the better) and I just KNOW it's going to get better!!! Have I ever mentioned I LOVE being pregnant??? Yes, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! I enjoy waking up everyday to see how big my belly is! HEHE! Anyhow, this past week has been a busy one for sure! We bought all of the supplies (paint, paintbrushes, crown molding, bead board, etc.) for baby "J"s nursery! Chris started painting the room and is actually working on it right now. He's such a good daddy already! We also went to the Pompano Yule Tide Christmas parade with my brother Chris and his girlfriend Mariah! We ordered a pizza, propped up our lawn chairs and watched the parade in the cold! MY FAV!!! Friday night was quite an adventure as well. I had my annual Christmas party from work and it was at the Hardrock!!! At 23 weeks pregnant, the Hardrock takes on a whole new meaning! LOL!!! It was great being able to dance and to watch all of my other friends dance from a barstool. :-) We had plans to go to the Ft. Lauderdale boat parade on a yacht, but after Thursday and Friday, I was T-I-R-E-D, so Chris ended up running the boat instead of being a guest on the boat for extra cash.

PS. We're down to two names....FINALLY:

Luke Robert Johnson

Cole Robert Johnson

Anyhow, here's what's going on with "Nemo" this week!!!

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing his for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't phase him when he hears them outside the womb.

22 weeks and a crib!!!

I've made it to 22 weeks!!! I can't believe I still can't believe I am pregnant and going to be a mommy soon!!! My life couldn't be better! I truly have EVERYTHING I want!

Anyhow, Chris and I decided to take advantage of "Cyber Monday" to purchase our crib! HERE IT IS!!! Too bad it will be here tomorrow (Monday) and we've done ABSOLUTELY nothing to the nursery! LOL! In addition to buying the crib, I had my first Pea in a pod experience this past Saturday (Thanks Amy) and boy was it AWESOME!!! We saw Amy's "friend" Devon at the store. She picked out outfits and helped us try them on for 3 hours!!! I caved and bought a few things and they TRULY are the most comfortable clothes I have EVER put on. I might shop there after Baby J is born!!! LOL!!! Here I am at 22 weeks with my new outfit!!

Baby J has been very active these past couple of weeks! I feel him EVERYDAY and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! It is such a great feeling! :-) Here's what's going on with him this week!

At 11 inches and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

He's the length of a Spaghetti Squash!