Showered!

What a joy this season has been... When I think about the fact that I MAY not be pregnant anymore in as little as two to five weeks, mixed in with the feelings of excitement over meeting Baby G are twinges of nostalgia. I have been blessed to have an incredible pregnancy so far, avoiding virtually all of the unpleasant symptoms (morning sickness, fatigue, most aches, etc.). The worst part was the first and second trimester acne! I just relish each little kick, elbow, roll, hiccup... especially as they grow more and more dramatic lately, it's impossible not to want to watch my midsection undulate, knowing our little man is healthy and active inside! Beats watching "The Bachelorette" any day.

I also know that as equally wonderful as second, third, etc. children are, there's nothing like the experience of having your first. Everything is new and exciting and feels worth celebrating, getting "big" is a milestone to look forward to, and it seems like everyone wants to rejoice with you and know the details -- boy or girl, when is he due, have you picked a name, any cravings so far... It's this neat season where no one is a stranger and you just have so many happy and uplifting interactions throughout the day. Hard to explain. It's just really special.

And it has been made infinitely more special by a handful of people who have circled around me with constant prayers and encouragement... and baby showers! I have been totally overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from family and friends, not just those who hosted baby showers, although they are forever my heroes :), but also those who made a point to attend the gatherings. It has just been the sweetest gift to my heart--one that I will cherish ALWAYS--to sit and catch up with some people I hadn't seen in years, and others I talk to on a weekly basis. To know that they are with me and supporting me all the way with love, advice, offers to help... I can't explain it, it's truly a precious gift.

Not to mention, we have been provided for in incredible ways. You may remember some of my early apprehension over registering. I was stressed out about everything a baby NEEDS--knowing that the only things they need are a place to sleep, something to eat, something to wear, diapers, a car seat... but that my life would be so much easier if we had a decent stroller, an additional car seat for when baby is a toddler, a play yard, some blankets and swaddles to wrap him in, a Bumbo, nursing pillow, and the like. And boy, did my loved ones deliver. After five (FIVE?!) baby showers, we feel much more prepared to welcome our sweet boy into our lives! I am just thanking God and truly storing up these dear memories in my heart and my mind.

I want to devote the rest of this post to pictures from the parties. I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but I still missed a few (like a photo with the hostesses at a couple of showers -- YIKES!). So many of the people who read this blog had a huge part in making the showers INCREDIBLE, and I can never thank you enough!

May 21, 2011
Couples Shower for Baby G
Hostesses: Julie Ball, Patty Ball, Liz Medley and Tricia Veley (with extra help from Grandmother-to-be Teresa Boyer!)

Brad and I loved this get-together! Despite the males' initial resistance to the idea of attending a "baby shower," I really think everyone had a wonderful time. :) Brad made and sent out an alternative version of the invitation (see below - he had his aunts' permission and I blurred the address for posting here) and tried to "man up" the party by wearing his KA-BAR knife and "dismembering" (aka "serving") the panda cake that his Aunt Tricia had made! We loved celebrating with dear friends and family--male and female alike :)--who we don't get to see as often as we'd like due to living 5+ hours away from San Antonio. They served a truly lovely dinner, complete with china and fancy silverware, and we had the opportunity to catch up with family members and friends over the delicious meal. Aunt Liz surprised us by working behind the scenes in advance of the shower to gather special memories, stories, photos and advice from the guests, then laminated and bound everything into a keepsake book. Brad and I had the best time going back and reading what everyone had contributed and looking at darling old photos. What a treasure!

May 28, 2011
"Ahoy, It's a Boy!" Nautical-themed Shower
Hostess: Brittney Thorne (with extra help from hostess' mother Donna Holdgraf and Grandmother-to-be Nancy Thorne)

Oh my word, where to begin on this incredible, magazine-worthy shower! My sister-in-law Brittney just oozes creativity in all aspects of her life--she's a legit actress, writing and directing children's plays and performing in all kinds of plays in her free time. So it was no surprise that she pulled off one of the most original, creative showers I have ever seen. Each detail was so thoughtfully planned, and she made most of the decorations herself! She even made notes of all my food "favorites," serving a fruit salad with tons of pineapple, pineapple spritzers, a lemon-raspberry cake and other delicious lunch food. We played SUCH FUN games, too (not cheesy or gross -- a difficult feat at baby showers!). A special treat was getting to see so many guests from out of town who had traveled in for the party! I got to see girls I had babysat from the time I was about 14, and everyone wrote down a piece of advice in a cute book Brittney had made. My favorite was Kaylen Buschhorn's sage wisdom: "Always serve your baby something he likes for dinner. I always liked CHEESE." (LOL!) I couldn't believe all of the effort that Brittney, her mom, and my mom put into the shower. It was honestly perfect!

June 4, 2011
Community Group Diaper Shower

God has spoiled me by surrounding me with a tremendous community in my church, Watermark. Brad and I meet with a few other couples on a regular basis to talk about our marriages, share prayer needs, do accountability, and just have fun. My dear, sweet friend Mariam decided shortly after I told her I was expecting that she would like to organize a community group diaper shower for Baby G. We are planning to cloth diaper after about six or eight weeks, but I knew we would need hundreds of disposables before we got to that point! At our "first annual" CG retreat earlier this month, the girls in our group hosted a fun afternoon of delicious snacks, sweet blessings and diaper-related gifts while the boys played cornhole out back (haha). I got tons of diapers and lots of other diapering essentials, like Desitin, wet bags, Arm & Hammer stuff, hand sanitizer, etc. It was awesome to know I was prepared with some much-needed items, but even more so to be reminded what a strong network we have as we navigate these next months and years raising Baby G!

June 12, 2011
"Baby Gaultney is Coming!" Dallas Shower
Hostesses: Michele Howard and Jessica Lewis

Michele and Jessica have had a huge impact in my life since I came to Dallas; Michele as one of my first spiritual mentors in the city--she and her husband Rick led our Foundation Group of young married couples before we transitioned to a Community Group--and Jessica as one of my very first "friends" in Dallas, since our cubicles were adjacent at my first post-college job. I truly would not want to imagine what life would be like without their sweet presence and strong influence in my life! They hosted a group of several friends and family members at Michele's house for yummy snacks (I took arms full of leftovers home because everything was SO. GOOD.), cupcakes, punch and fellowship. There were so many special touches. They printed Psalm 139:13-16 on a keepsake card for me and had a photo album/memory book for people to sign and write special words of encouragement. We played a SUPER CHALLENGING game in which we weren't supposed to say the word "cute" during the shower... Needless to say, I lost RIGHT AWAY, because everything was just too... well, CUTE! I found myself thanking God for seeing me through so many seasons and chapters and seeing fit to give me such a fulfilling life in my "new" city.

June 14, 2011
"Shower for Baby G!"

Most of you probably know that I work primarily from home, while the rest of my team of about a dozen people works at my company's headquarters in San Antonio. It is such a privilege to be able to stay in Dallas and work at the house, but admittedly there are days when I miss interacting with people or feel a little distant from the rest of the crew. I have to confess, I was completely touched when my colleagues told me they'd like to throw a baby shower for me before I am unable to travel. I made my last trip to San Antonio for a while so that I could spend time with the team and get showered with gifts, lunch, and cupcakes (from Cupcake Couture in San Antonio -- SO YUM) in the office conference room! They even decorated it, hanging banners on the windows and putting the cutest table runners and confetti on the long, granite conference table! They really outdid themselves, and it was a sweet send-off as I prepare to go on maternity leave in just a few short weeks.

I should mention, Nancy Thorne wins the gold star for attending EVERY shower she was invited to (three out of five!), even traveling to Dallas. Such grandmotherly dedication!!! So many people have represented, coming to multiple showers, rearranging their work schedules to attend, driving hours to be there, sending special gifts and sweet sentiments if they weren't able to be there in person... I could keep going and going and going, but I feel like I'm already being a little bit pollyannaish in my gratitude (I swear it is all sincere!!!!), not to mention that I'm already at 1800+ words in this post!

So I will end by saying that this has been one of the sweetest seasons of my life, and I owe it to so many people. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

"Big Noggin"

I got a call from my doctor's office saying that Dr. Norwood was going to need to do a surgery this afternoon, so I would need to come in right away if I wanted to see him (a little over an hour early). So I rushed out and got to the office within about 15 minutes, but he had already left. I ended up seeing one of his associates, Dr. Shannon McCants.

She. Was. Awesome. She's YOUNG, I would guess early 30s, and totally down-to-earth and unpretentious. She told me she chose Dr. Norwood to deliver both of her own children, which was a great sign for me! She was very encouraging and positive. I was concerned that I had gained a couple of pounds since I saw Dr. Norwood about two weeks ago. She said basically that it's summer and I'm almost eight months pregnant, so I'm going to be carrying around some extra water weight and I need to not worry about the numbers on the scale. I'm still well within the healthy range, but it's bizarre to feel like gaining a pound or more every week is okay and normal!

I asked her about this thing the baby does where he'll just start shuddering really dramatically for several seconds. I hate sounding like a worrywart, but it feels like a seizure, you know? She said that's perfectly normal and is just the sign of a developing nervous system. It's not a seizure.

I also asked her about the hiccups, and if me feeling them in different places (not just my lower abdomen) means he is not head down all the time. She said he's going to be able to move around for a couple more weeks before he runs out of room, so it's very possible that he would be rotating positions. That's different from what Dr. Norwood told me a couple of weeks ago (he said once they find the head-down position, they like to stay there since it's comfortable). But it makes sense, based on what I'm feeling. Plus, it's no secret that our guy likes to move... I have been feeling him do acrobatics in there since 16 weeks. They can turn him to head down as late as 38 or 39 weeks, so she just said don't worry about it.

My doctor's nurse had told me at my last visit they would do an exam and draw blood this week, but they ended up deciding to wait until I'm 35 weeks and my doctor is back in the office. So it was a pretty easy visit. We heard the heartbeat (it was varying between 150 and 160 bpm) and she pointed out where his butt was. :) The baby was head down during the appointment, and when she found his head, she said, "There it is, what a big noggin!" Groannnnn. Just what I need after hearing last week that his head is really hard, too.

She didn't measure my belly but seemed pretty comfortable with everything. Great "bedside" manner... If my doctor were to retire, Dr. McCants would be an awesome choice for our next baby. She said she may be working weekends in July, which would mean she COULD deliver the baby (since my doctor only works weekdays). I'd be okay with that.

Next appointment is in two weeks, then after that I'll start going every week! It's really getting exciting!

This and That

Hi, all! I'm so sorry for the radio silence. I shouldn't make excuses, but I have been really, really busy for the last couple of weeks! ALL good things. :) But for the few weeks, I have spent my weekends being SHOWERED with love by family and friends! I am going to do a dedicated post on the showers sometime next week. Spoiler alert: I'm overwhelmed--in the best of ways--at the outpouring of love and support Brad and I have received. It has been incredible and I feel enormously grateful.

Speaking of gratitude, I need to write more thank-you notes! I literally have just not had time! :-/ If I owe you a thank-you, be patient: I am no less thankful, I am just a smidge busy. (sorrryyyy!!!!)

I'll briefly give you an update on what's happening in Baby Land, though I'll know more tomorrow after my doctor's appointment. I'm going every two weeks now, which is exciting! I have a sneaking suspicion the little babe has rotated in the last couple of days and may not be head down anymore... He gets the hiccups every now and then, and the last time he had them the little thump-thump was on my left side above my belly button, and the time before that the rhythm was coming from my right side. Who knows if that really means anything, but it used to be clear from the hiccups where his head was, now not so much.

The nursery. is. FINISHED!!!! At the risk of sounding like a tease, I'm going to wait to post pics until I get my nice camera (should be a few more days). For Mother's Day this year, I felt like I was given VIP access to this club--the mom club--by mistake. People would wish me a happy Mother's Day and I kept thinking, "Me? But I'm not a mom!" But believe me, I was more than happy to partake of the privileges. I got cards and gifts (including a groovy Mother's Day mix put together by my mom, audiophile Nancy Thorne) and even got treated to brunch by my baby daddy. Brad surprised me by buying me the digital SLR camera that I had been no so subtly hinting about for weeks, but we're still waiting on its delivery.

I haven't had any Braxton Hicks since those two or three contractions I had several weeks ago. Really, I'm feeling very good. The only bummer symptoms are that occasionally, very rarely, I'll get a little pinched nerve in my lower back, but it goes away pretty quickly. Other than that, I'm having a grand time watching my belly undulate as the little dude throws elbows and kicks. It has been so much fun.

I promise to share more soon! Oh, and newsflash: Less than FOUR WEEKS until the baby is considered full term (not preemie), and less than SEVEN WEEKS until his due date!!!

Until next time, here's a photo (well, a photo I took of a photo) of Brad as a baby lounging by the pool at his grandparents' house. It says, "I wonder what the peasants are doing today?" Hahaha. :)