Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I'm especially thankful for my husband, as he has put up with a lot this year. I'm sure he would agree that it's all been worth it and next year we'll have a little one crawling around begging for a taste of food from everyone.

We had a pretty laid back Thanksgiving and it was very nice. We went to Rockbridge for lunch and visited for a few hours. We stopped by Richard and Tina's on the way home and was able to visit with the Freeman's for a few hours also.

JD wanted a bath, so Aunt Doris pulled his swimming pool/bath tub/toy box/play pool into the kitchen, filled it up and plopped JD in middle of the kitchen floor after we ate. He loved it!

His Mom didn't love it after he got his clothes put back on and while everyone was preoccupied, JD decided he wasn't done and wanted to take a "bath" again! It's a good thing that Aunt Do had some extra clothes at the house for him!

I ran over to Springfield late this morning (thinking that the crowd would have died down a little) and got a glider for Ainsley's room. Springfield was still pretty crazy at eleven when I got there and I was so ready to come home.

Joel put together the glider when he got home (and I didn't even ask)!

100 years ago today...

A loaf of bread cost $0.05, The Boy Scouts of America was founded, Alice Wells became the first female police officer, and my Grandpa, Wilbur (Barney) Gracey Gillespie was born. Along with many others, I always thought Grandpa would live to see 100, and still can't believe he didn't. He's been gone for almost four years now, and is still thought of quite often.

I believe, the picture above is the last one we got of both Grandpa and Grandma together.

Some of the things I remember (and miss) best about Grandpa are:

• His weekly calls to check in on me. I would answer the phone, and he would say "Hey, Sis, how the hell are ya?" When he was done talking, he never said good bye, just hung up the phone!
• His bib overalls. That's all he wore in the last who knows how many years!
• How he would stick his one tooth out at you.
• "Warts on a dog's tail....(bow wow)"
• The way he would yawn REALLY loud.
• How he wouldn't just turn the tv down when he wanted to talk, but instead just hit the mute button. When he was done talking, he would hit the mute button again and you would get your ear drums blown out from the tv.
• The trip to Texas with Grandpa, Aunt Kay, and Dad. Me and Grandpa rode in the backseat together the entire way. Grandpa had the "straws", or tubes, sticking out of his head for drainage because he had fallen a week or so before, Dad had just had surgery on his face, and I had stitches going down my bottom lip and Aunt Kay was the only one without any injuries. When we got down to Texas, we had to find a hospital so we could get the tubes taken out of Grandpa's head. That was an experience, to say the least!
• Aunt Mid throwing a glass of Mountain Dew in Grandpa's face! Of course, it didn't phase him.
• The horses (and trail rides). There was always a horse at Grandpa's and he would always try to get me to ride them.
• Grandpa's flowers. After Joel and I bought our house in Chesterfield, he would walk me around his yard about every time I went over to tell me the different kinds of flowers and usually had to dig some up to send home with me.
• How he would push the floor lamp beside his recliner back and forth while talking to you. I would catch Joel doing the same thing in our old house after Grandpa had died.
• He loved babies, homemade ginger ale, solitaire, and reading.

He also loved his "girls". I think I called him about every day the week before my wedding trying to convince him to come to the our wedding. I told him he could come in his bib overalls, but that didn't work either. He told me too many times to count that he didn't go to weddings or funerals! Below are some pictures of me and Abby with Grandpa. I'm sure I could have found older ones, but these are the ones I came across this afternoon.

Wilbur (Barney) Gracey Gillespie Nov. 24, 1910-Jan. 9th, 2007

Random Thoughts

On our way home from Springfield this afternoon, I noticed something for the first time in my 26 years. Has anyone else noticed all the bird nests in the fall/winter after the leaves have fallen from the trees? I couldn't believe all of the nests that I noticed along the interstate. Of course, Joel thought I was crazy when I pointed it out to him, but what else is new? He's become accustomed to my random thoughts each day. I love days when I notice something for the first time, even if it is something as small and random as bird nests in trees. Joel had a good point, when he said there are a lot of birds, hence a lot of bird nests, and he wasn't kidding. I think I saw more nests than houses by the time we got home!

I'll apologize in advance for my next thought...but I noticed after my shower (before putting on my belly butter) that my toilet seat has a film on it. I've been applying so much belly butter to the back of my thighs and butt that it rubs off on my toilet seat and when you don't have the belly butter on, you kind of stick to the seat. If anyone comes over to our house and uses the upstairs bathroom over the next three months-I'm sorry if you stick to the toilet seat! If I had better genes (or maybe if I hadn't been eating Mexican once/twice a week) and didn't have stretch marks, this wouldn't be a problem.

Why do pregnant women have such crazy hormones? I cried yesterday during Oprah's Favorite Things show and I've been bawling like a baby all through The Biggest Loser tonight. The makeover show always gets me, but never as bad as tonight.

My last random thought/question for the day is: Why does my husband like to try to wake up the baby? If I meet him walking down the hallway, he has to grab my belly and shake it a little and just chuckles while shaking it. I can guaran-damn-tee you that he won't think it's so funny once she's out of my belly!

Baby Shower

Jennifer, Rita, Callie, and Alaina put on a wonderful baby shower for me yesterday at the Jacksonville Country Club. I can't believe all the nice things we got for Ainsley. We're so lucky to have wonderful family and friends. The food was all very good, especially the potato soup (which was my only recommendation!) The cake was adorable and very tasty. I brought some leftover cake home and Joel has been eating a piece here and there over the last day. I love how he's okay with gaining weight right along with me!

We received so many gifts yesterday that we filled up my car and Mom's. By the time we got everything in the house, the entire living room looked like a baby bomb had exploded! We got our travel system, exersaucer, travel swing, high chair, play gyms, diapers, onesies, towels, bath stuff, lots of cute outfits, and other things that will be all be very useful!!! Joel couldn't believe all the stuff we got and how much stuff a baby needs.

Ainsley's closet is really filling up, and her dresser is pretty full of socks, tights, onesies,blankets, etc.

Joel put together her stroller/car seat earlier this afternoon. Thanks again, Grandma Rita for her travel system!

We're going to get the mattress for her crib this week and then I'll post some pictures of her bedroom. We also have to take back the chest of drawers and exchange it with a new one. Thanks to Jim and Mark for coming over earlier today, the chest of drawers that needs to go back got moved out to the garage, so Joel doesn't have any excuse this week not to exchange it!

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is this week. Where has this year gone? January is going to come quickly with the holidays and our trip to Dallas over the next month.

Thanks again Jennifer, Rita, Callie, and Alaina for the shower. Joel and I both appreciate everything you guys have done.

Welcome to the world, Baby Augustus!

Josh and Kathleen, or more formally put, Uncle Josh and Aunt Kathleen have a new addition to their family! Augustus Charles Clark was born Wednesday at a whopping 9 pounds 8 ounces. He's going to be a big boy, just like his big brother. We visited the Clark's tonight for a few hours and it seems so surreal that we will have a little "Gus" of our own in a short few months. While holding the baby, I wondered if I would really know what to do with Ainsley after she arrives. Will we know what to do when she cries? How will she know if she's hungry? Josh and Kathleen sure seemed to know what to do when the baby started crying, and I really think we'll be just fine.

Late last week I noticed that my belly button has popped out like a turkey timer. Except, the turkey in my oven isn't quite ready to come out yet! I think it will pop out a little more during the next few months, but you can definately see it now through my shirt. Joel has been able to feel her more and more when she is kicking as she gets stronger. It seems like every time someone tries to put their hand on my belly to feel her, she stops kicking though. We still think she's being shy like her Mommy. Below is a couple belly pictures at 27 weeks.


Last weekend I was able to get the basement Christmas tree put up and most of our Christmas decorations out. Ainsley's room even has a small tree, even though I said I would never do it!

Vegetable Soup Did The Trick!

I passed the three hour test!!! I'm convinced it was all because of the vegetable soup we had last night. Even if it wasn't that, I'm going to keep telling myself that so maybe I'll start eating a little better. That thinking will probably only last a few days, I'm sure! I got to St. John's around 5:40 this morning and had my iv in and the nasty lemon-lime crap down by 6. Before my test yesterday, I had to drink an orange flavored mixture and I told Joel that it really wasn't that bad. This morning, however, I didn't know if I would be able to keep the lemon-lime mixture down. It was a lot worse than the orange. The lady that watched me drink it told me that if I threw up, then I wouldn't be able to do the test today and would have to come back. I was determined to keep it down and get the test over with.

I was home a little before 10 and the nurse called me around 2 and told me I passed. I was so happy when she told me, and she just laughed at me! I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm nuts.

I'm taking off tomorrow and going shopping. A lamp, frames, and anything else I can find that's cute for the nursery is on my shopping list. I'll post pictures this weekend/early next week of the baby's room. We got the furniture over the weekend and I'm hoping to get it a little more "put together" this weekend. We have to take the chest of drawers back to Babies R Us because the top three drawers are screwed up. They have a new one ordered and when it gets to Springfield we have to take the other one back and pick up the new one. I was so proud of my husband/soon to be daddy....he only complained a little about the extra work!

Hello, Third Trimester!

Sunday was the first day of my third trimester. I'm wondering where the last two went. It seems like just a few weeks ago Joel was giving me daily shots and we were hoping that everything would work out this time. We're both so glad all of that is past us and we only have a few short months until we meet our little girl!

I had my monthly appointment this morning and didn't get the best news. I failed my glucose test and now have to go for the three hour test. The nurse informed me that I failed it by quite a bit, which I probably could have gone without knowing! I'm planning on being at St. John's tomorrow morning bright and early (well, not so bright...but definitely too early for me) at 5:30 to start my test. I called the lab today and they told me that is the best time to get there and I shouldn't have a wait. The doctor told me that almost all women who fail the initial test end up passing the three hour test, and that is because they have to set the bar low on the initial test because approximately 15% of pregnant women have gestational diabetes and they don't catch it. I'm hoping I pass this one and everything will be fine. I don't know what I'll do it if I have go on a "diet"!!!

Dr. Huston said I'm measuring good and the heartbeat sounded great. I asked him about my last sonogram and he said that I'm measuring good on the outside, but I do have another sonogram around the first part of December to check the growth. I gained 7 pounds last month, which I'm blaming on all the neighborhood kids. If more would have trick-or-treated, I wouldn't have had to eat all the leftover candy! Or, maybe it was the brownie/ice cream kick I was on for awhile...but I don't think my weekly/biweekly trip to the Mexican restaurant had anything to do with it at all!!! So, what does a rational pregnant woman do when she finds out she failed her glucose test? I know what I'm doing, hoping that one night of healthy eating will somehow affect my test results in the morning, and that is making vegetable soup for supper. I'm sure there are a lot of people thinking-Trista, eating vegetable soup????? I've discovered that it really isn't that bad, even if I do still have to pick some of the vegetables out of it!

I'm meeting with a few women that do in-home day cares over the next week, and I'm hoping to figure out the daycare situation by the end of the month. These next few months are seriously going to fly by. We have something to do for the next ten or so weekends, and I've got to get the rest of my Christmas shopping in sometime. At least the basement Christmas tree should be up by early next week if I can talk Joel into helping me with it! It seems kind of weird putting a Christmas tree up 1. Before Thanksgiving and 2. When it's 70 degrees outside, but that's how this pregnant lady rolls!

Unexpected Surprise

Tonight I had an unexpected surprise. I'm not talking about finding a $5 bill or two band aid wrappers in the dryer after washing Joel's work clothes. Nor, am I talking about Mom's unexpected visit before she went into work tonight so she could see the painted baby's room and clothes that are filling up her closet.

My surprise that could have never come around, period, is a stretch mark. Well, it's not exactly ONE stretch mark, but an entire clump of stretch marks on the back of one of my thighs. I'm talking about 5-10 dark purple/red little stretch marks, people! I've been watching my belly closely for stretch marks for the last month or so and have been happy not to find any. I never thought to look on my legs, and boy was I surprised. I hollered at Joel to ask him to look at them, and when he replied "Oh My God!", I knew then my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. So I marched directly into our bedroom and smothered some belly butter on the back of my thighs and will continue to do that every chance I get.

What does any rational pregnant woman do after finding her first "set" of stretch marks? Well, I can't exactly answer that question, because I don't think I fit into the "rational" group. I know what I did. I went into the kitchen, heated up a brownie and then put three scoops of cookies and cream ice cream on the top of my warm brownie and plopped myself on the couch and enjoyed it!