The Big News Pt. 1

In order to use this blog as my memory keeper I thought it would be fun to record how we found out Greer was on her way and then how we shared that news with our families. Now... it's hard to talk about pregnancy without bringing up a certain "female calendar" or mention peeing on a very important stick. So, just bare with me. I promise to tread lightly and use soft language (I guess except "peeing" - oops).

So... back in March Will had his spring break and we had big plans to spend it in Aspen with friends. As fate would have it, the calendar lined up so that I would be waiting on a particular "aunt" to show up the day we left for our trip. Again, I'm trying to be delicate here. So anyway, Will and I hilariously discussed how to handle this because he was firm that I was not taking a test while we were on vacation. Did I mention in my last post that I'm impatient? Yeah... so you better believe I planned to take that test the day before we left. There was no way I'd be able "wait it out" on vacation. We were leaving for Colorado on Friday so Thursday morning it would be!

I came home from work on Wednesday night and told Will that I KNEW I was pregnant. The reasons I was so sure all qualify as TMI but you can call it intuition or blind optimism but I. Was. Sure. AND Will didn't admit it at the time but I convinced him that night, too. So we bought a test, I barely slept all night and then bright and early, at 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning I peed on that stick! I'm sorry, I just can't move past the fact that we get this amazingly huge news in our lives from a stick that you pee on... just can't get over it.

As you've gathered by now this test said that magical word - "Pregnant" - I mean, they should put ten exclamation points on that little screen, too. Whether you're excited or not about this major development I think that some exclamation points are appropriate. Just saying. A little punctuation is called for at this particular moment. There is a baby growing inside you INSERT TEN EXCLAMATION POINTS.

So, I waited all of zero seconds to wake Will from his peaceful, baby-free slumber by whisper-shouting, "Will! I'm pregnant!" We were both excited, stunned, nervous, happy,  terrified basically every emotion in the book. At one point Will just hollered, "What have we done?!" Haha. I thought it was an honest reaction to such an enormously permanent development. All in all it was a wonderful and hilarious morning at the Peeples' house. 

Now is where you might think I would start talking about our vacay. Except that before that can happen I obviously called my mom! I am not someone who could play this whole thing cool enough to wait and tell her in a fun, planned way. Nope. I called her on my way to work. She answered and told me she was about to call me to ask me something... to which I replied, "Oh, I was calling to tell you I'm pregnant!" We both cried. It was the best phone call ever. 

NOW we go to Aspen. Will and I were determined to keep our secret that week. It was difficult to keep something like that from a big group that we were staying in the same house with. Here are some highlights.

• Having a freakout moment in the security line at the airport thinking, "Can I go through those new scanners or am I supposed to opt out?! I can't opt out in front of Scott! I went through it... they're approved for preggos. Whew.
• Eating dinner with Robbie as soon as we got to Colorado and him asking out of nowhere if this would be our last vacation just the two of us. Will and I looked at each other dumfounded. Turns out Robbie just heard a kid crying in the restaurant and was trying to be funny. He about gave me a heart attack.
• I drank a LOT of virgin bloody marys that week. A lot.
• I told everyone that I was excited to be on vacation because I could just rest (I could already tell I was going to be exhausted most of the week). I was not there to go out or stay up late. Turned out I was there to sleep in, nap, go to bed early and lay around during the few hours I was awake. I was glad to finally tell all of them I was pregnant and not just super lame. 
• I did feel my first pangs of morning sickness on the trip but it's hilarious to look back now and think that I was sick at all. At that point it was really just feeling nauseated when I was hungry. I thought that would be the extent of it. Again, hilarious.
• I was a little terrified to believe the pregnancy was real. But I did buy our little baby an Aspen t-shirt to commemorate the trip. 

This post got crazy wordy and I am quite positive that you are all worn out by now. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I'll post about telling our families and friends soon. Until then...

Got to see Anna and Jennifer in Vail!

On my birthday before dinner. Definitely an amazing birthday!

At dinner one night.

Before the ski outing that went terribly wrong. More on that to come...

During said ski trip that went terribly wrong. Pregnant and afraid of heights... skiing wasn't the best idea.

I mean, he looks like a dad already RIGHT?!

Greer's T-shirt that I got her on the trip!

 
 

   

Yep. It's a Mommy Blog.

So... in the interest of being ""Just Another Mommy Blog" here are things that I have learned and/or been surprised by during my first seven and a half months of being with child. I am definitely an optimist but I think that you will see a trend throughout this list that I am also a little bit delusional. I don't want to say (um, admit) that I thought pregnancy would be a piece of cake. HOWEVER, I will cop to the fact that every negative side effect of pregnancy was met with an "Oh, that won't happen to me" reaction. Well, all of them except I was totally prepared to gain 50+ pounds. For some reason I totally thought that would happen (and it hasn't... yet).

1. Morning Sickness. I was really surprised to have any form of morning sickness. I think I defaulted to the fact that my mom never had it and so I thought I would get to avoid it, too. I wasn't too sick but I was definitely not my best self for my first trimester. And I had the odd (once or twice weekly) sick "episode." My personal favorite morning sickness moment was when Mary Helen was in town and we got back from being out and about and I got sick in the backyard because I couldn't even make it inside. Greer let me know she was in charge pretty early on...
2. Baby Kicks. I first felt Greer rolling around at about 16 weeks. It was awesome. It really did feel like butterflies. And I guess I expected it to continue to feel like butterflies. Um... yeah, that is definitely not the case. Greer does not let me forget she's there - I swear I feel her moving around for about 75% of my waking hours. And she is strong. A couple of times I have told her out loud that she cannot actually push her way out into the world through my stomach. I LOVE feeling her move around but it does hurt at least once a day - I think that's when she just gets irritated and elbows me with all her strength.We'll just have to wait and see if there's a strong personality to go along with that strong little body.
3. I'm Not Superwoman. Yeah... it turns out I'm not Superwoman. I really went into pregnancy thinking I would be one of those women who didn't have to slow down just because I was pregnant. Yeah right. I'm sure everyone who has had a baby just laughed out loud at me. Two weekends ago I cleaned my house and this is how it worked - clean a room, sit on the couch for thirty minutes, clean the next room, another thirty minutes on the couch. Then I finished the house and took an hour and a half nap. Yesterday we drove back from Little Rock. Apparently sitting in the car wore me out - I napped from 2:00 - 5:15 and then went to bed at 9:00. I'm not exhausted all the time but I definitely get worn out a lot easier.
4. Impatience. I literally have to remind myself daily that it would not be best for Greer to be born today. I really like being pregnant but I am SO ready to see and hold this baby. Really I just want to see her. Maybe I'm really shallow and care too much about what she looks like. But more so I think it's that I'm just incredibly curious. Will she have dark hair and eyes and look just like Will? Will she look like me and make Will question her paternity with blonde hair? ;-) I just want to know! No kidding. I've literally daydreamed about being able to look at her and then putting her back inside my body. I am aware how embarrassing that is but I'm just being real.
5. Missing Work. I am incredibly blessed to be able to stay home full time when Greer is born. I let my office know a couple of months ago that the end of October would also be the end of my time there. Being a stay-at-home mom is something that I have always wanted to be. I have enjoyed the things that I have learned about business and about myself through my job in the last four years. But I am also so excited to start this next phase of my life... mostly. I have to admit I have been really surprised how nervous I am to exit the office working world. It's all that I've known since college and while I have not always loved the schedule or the stress, I do really like the sense of accomplishment and pride I get from my work. And it is scary to let go of that. But I just keep reminding myself that once I get to see this sweet girl's face my world will never be the same anyway. 

So, that's my list for now. I know that I will continue to learn lots about myself and about Greer over the next couple of months. 

From an update standpoint I had a doctor's appointment today and everything is going well! We had a slight blood pressure "scare" last week which caused some extra bloodwork, a small amount of stress, some added rest this past weekend and an extra appointment (today). BUT everything was right back to normal today. The only bummer news we did get today is that the Arkansas/Alabama game will officially occur without our presence. My doctor just doesn't want me to push it in the heat and with all the hills in Fayetteville. But I still have my Little Rock shower that weekend, which I am REALLY looking forward to! Also, I promise that some of my posts will include pictures. I'll post about the nursery and some other house updates and  I'll have pictures from the shower so... I know you're ALL looking forward those! Haha... until then!

Biting The Bullet

Well... Here we are again. I quit blogging late last year when life got busy during the holidays. And then i just disappeared from the blogosphere all together. Will and I were hoping for a baby sooner than later so it became more and more difficult for me to blog about movies, TV and what I was loving on Wednesdays without typing OH, AND I CAN'T WAIT TO BE PREGNANT in all capital letters. So, in the essence of self control and respecting my hubby's privacy I decided to go MIA for a while. 

No need for the all caps craziness now... we are having a baby this fall. She's due November 12 and we couldn't be happier!

So, where have I been for my first seven months of pregnancy?... In a nutshell I thought it would be so cliche of me to be "just another mommy blogger." So, I wasn't going to blog. 

Then today I had two epiphanies. First, a good friend let me look at the notebook she kept when she first had her baby. It was really helpful for me but I could tell it was really fun for her. She read so many things that she didn't remember and it was sweet to watch her recall all of her little girl's "firsts" that she had written down. I am historically terrible at keeping any kind of journal or diary. But I was pretty good about blogging so this will really be a tool for me to remember this exciting part of life! My second realization was that 90% of the blogs I follow are mommy blogs! So, why wouldn't I want to be one of them? I mean... Come on... I know it was just a case of me over thinking the whole thing. If you get bored reading about my pregnancy or my kid that's totally cool with me. Just. Quit. Reading. ;-) 

So here I am. With so much news. Really just so much new. In the interest of brevity I am going to bullet point some things for now. Maybe later I'll go into some of them in more detail but for now here's the laundry list of life lately for some VERY Happy Peeples:

• On March 1 of this year we found out life would never be the same. We were having a baby! The next day we left for Aspen for Will's spring break. It was a whirlwind of a week and my tale of being newly pregnant and skiing for the first time is one I will definitely share some time.
• April and May were filled with excitement, nausea, nervousness and lots of Chef Boyardee (don't judge... when you're sick you'll eat anything that sounds good). This is also when we shared our news with family and friends which has been one of the most fun parts of pregnancy so far. 
• This summer has flown but the highlight was definitely in June when we found out Baby Peeples is a girl! I had acted really open to having a boy or a girl but deep down I really wanted a girl. I was thrilled! And Will put on a brave face and has gotten really excited about our little girl, too. *Side note: I just had to scroll through Facebook to figure out when we had this ultrasound! I'm already forgetting things! WHY did I resist blogging for so long?! Ugh.* 
• When we found out we were expecting we almost immediately started talking names. We landed on a boy name pretty quickly but committing to a girl's name gave us a lot of trouble. But after finally accepting that I was going to choose a name from a baby name book (something that I will now admit I have always judged others for) Will and I decided to name our sweet girl Greer Allan Peeples. We both really loved the name Greer - it just seemed strong, classic and just unique enough for us. Her middle name means a lot to me. It was my middle name and is my dad's middle name. It was also my great-grandmother and aunt's middle name. Both of these wonderful women went to heaven in past year or so and I wanted to honor them. Also, there aren't two better women for Greer to know she was named after... They were both amazingly strong and funny women. 
• I'm now in my third trimester and we're just 10 short weeks (at most) from meeting our sweet baby girl. Two weeks ago Greer's cousin Francis Holman entered the world and I cannot tell you how impatient that made me. Francis is beautiful and so very perfect. Looking at her sweet face just made me want to hold and love on Greer that much more! 

So... we've got 2.5 months, 3 showers, 1 Hog football game, 2 weddings and much more to go before Greer gets here in November. Lots to be thankful for, to look forward to AND to blog about! Until then, Happy Labor Day! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday 11.16.11

Okay, so far so good this week... I've blogged every day! And here are my loves lately:

1. Family Time. This is really that I am loving the anticipation of family time. We are headed to Little Rock on Friday for Ray's 30th birthday party, the UofA vs. Miss State game, Peeples' Thanksgiving and Haley's baby shower. I am SO excited about all of those things that my head might explode thinking of all of them in one weekend. Excitement. Overload. So, then I head back to Nashville for three days of work (insert Debbie Downer sound effect) and then it's back to the Rock for Thanksgiving weekend extravaganza. Church with Pop & Carol (I love our tradition of going to church on Thanksgiving!), supper and fireside in Sheridan, Friday night dinner with Grandmamma and then Sarah Williams' wedding on Saturday. Whew! I cannot wait for the next week and a half of intense family time!

2. Still an Awkward Turtle. If anyone is worried that I have gotten my act together since my Awkward Turtle Post from several months ago then take a deep breath. I have not. I continue to be a super awkward turtle. I was tagged in this photo on Facebook today:

Yep

 3. The Weather. You can all complain as much as you want to that it's 70+ degrees in November. I will take EVERY warm day that is thrown at me. Every. Single. One. 

4. Find My Animal. This is my dad's company. It's a super cool concept and the even better part is that it works! You register your pet online, get a tag and an ID number and if your dog or cat or horse or whatever runs away then you report it as lost and they automatically send flyers with your pet's info to all local shelters, kennels, vets, etc. There is even an iPhone app so that you can report your pet missing from wherever you are. This week someone in Arkansas had five horses stolen from their land. So far four of them have already been located! For more info on the company go here. To sign your pet up (it's only $10 per YEAR for crying out loud) go here. 

Dexter's flyer and the tag you get from the FMA website!

 That's all for this week. Go register your pet. Happy Wednesday! 

 

To Tell The Truth Tuesday 11.15.11

So... we're going to try this out. I saw on another blog (yes, I'm a major blog stalker) something similar to this and since the theme of my blog is "random word vomit" picking one day to tell random truths seemed like an obvious choice. So, without further ado... here we go. 

1. I hate drying my hair. Usually in some capacity I map out my week trying to figure out when my hair needs to look good and when I can get away without washing it. Lately I've been going with the washing it at night model and loving it. Sometimes I'll let it dry on its own, sometimes I seriously put it in a wet bun and dry it the next morning. Yes, my hair hates to dry so much that I can wash it at night and dry it in the morning. Fascinating stuff, right?

2. I am WAY too excited about Breaking Dawn. First of all, I know that I am 25 and that Twilight is completely ridiculous. I know that phrases like "vampire baby" and "werewolf imprinting" are beyond absurd. Here's the thing... I don't care. Wizards and Storm Troupers and Hobbits are all silly and fake, too. But sometimes, it's just really fun to get all worked up and excited about fictional people (or non-people) for the sake of entertainment. And I am super pumped to go see Breaking Dawn on Thursday at midnight. Judge away.


3. If I could eliminate two things from Earth they would be mosquitoes and pimples. I am aware that I should say nuclear bombs and world hunger. But I'm just not an overachiever like that. I believe that the quality of life for a LOT of people would be increased if we could just get rid of mosquitoes and pimples. 


4. It's not even Thanksgiving yet. You have zero excuse for already decorating for Christmas. I don't care who you are.


5. No name alliteration for my kids. This is beyond random so prepare yourselves. I think that names with alliteration are really cool. I also read somewhere that people whose first and last name start with the same letter are more successful because their names are easier to remember. This sounds crazy but it also kind of makes sense. Maybe Gordon Gekko made all his money because people remembered him - not because he was greedy. Well, my kids are just going to have to be successful off merit alone because there are no names that start with P and go with Peeples. No kidding. Peter Peeples? Paul Peeples? Penelope Peeples?!?! No, no, big no. Also, this is not a hint that there is a Peter Peeples on the way. Just wanted that to be clear. ;-)


These are my incredibly random truths this week. Happy Tuesday!

Memory Monday 11.14.11

Let's play dress up! Ever since I was a little girl I have LOVED to play dress up. I had dresses and gloves and faux fur shawls (true story) and wigs, the whole nine yards. And I loved it. Growing up I loved Halloween and I always wanted to take my costumes to the extreme. Then I got to college... being in a sorority in college is like the Mecca of getting to dress up. We had 5+ costume functions (we called them functions at AR, some people call them mixers or parties or whatever - we called them functions) every year. Heaven. 

This past Friday night my friends and I in Nashville decided to bring back the costume "function" and threw a surprise birthday party for our friend Edie... 80's style. Dressing up like the 80's is probably my FAVORITE costume theme, too. I usually go with the Flashdance/Let's Get Physical look but this time I went Madonna Lucky Star and it was awesome.

So, in honor of dressing up this past weekend here is a walk down memory lane and some of my favorite costumes...

I started at a young age - this was my favorite "glam dress" growing up. And the drawn on beauty mark was a MUST. It was the era of Cindy Crawford, after all.

Alice in Wonderland - Sophomore Year. BTW, Haley (tool girl from Home Improvement in the front) is having a baby in a month. Love it.

I was the bad witch for Kappa Rush Junior year.

I was an Indian (not PC at all) senior year. Also, you can tell its college because Brit and I are rocking crop tops. Ah... the good ole' days.

Fred and Wilma - first Halloween as a married couple. So we decided to dress up like one from the stone ages. Har har.

Cat scan. Get it? Cat scan. And the wig has nothing to do with it. Promise.

This is from Edie's party this past weekend. Ignore my face.

*I had intentions of going back to look for older costume pictures but forgot. This post is now a day late and a dollar (read: a few photos) short. Oh well. At least it's here.

Happy Monday (er, Tuesday)!

Ketchup

It's time to play catch-up. I typed out "Catch Up" as the title of the post and it didn't seem very interesting. So I changed it to "Ketchup." Let's just chalk it up to being rusty in the blogosphere and being in a weird mood. So... I don't have any valid or exciting excuses for being MIA for three weeks. Every time I thought "I should definitely blog today" I just didn't. Simple as that. But here's what's been going on in the life of Caroline Bridges Peeples since we last chatted:

• Mom came to town. We went and saw an awesome 70's and 80's cover band. Check them out here. And, if they come to a town near you then definitely check them out. They were amazing. We had a blast. And then we did a LOT of laying around on Saturday. I had a list of about three-days-worth of things that I wanted to do that Saturday with her and we did exactly zero of them. It was a great day, though - just hanging out with my mom is one of the most fun things I can think of doing. We had a great weekend all around.

Fuzzy pic. But you can still tell that my mom is such a babe.

• The next weekend was the AR vs. Vandy game.  Our house was at capacity+ (11 people slept there including Will and me) and it could not have been more fun having the house that full! We had a blast showing off our fabulous city and spending some QT with friends. The Hogs' performance on the other hand... 

• Last weekend we did almost nothing and it was the PERFECT weekend. Friday night Will cooked steaks and we hung out at the house. Saturday morning Will coached his 8 year old Ensworth basketball team. I have to say, watching him coach is surreal and really fulfilling. I am so proud of him. Then I raked our back yard (ugh) and finished some house projects. We watched the football games and built a shelf for the house that night. Church and lunch and lazing about (for me - not Will - he studied) and Sunday was over. Time for another week to begin. 
  
  
  
  
  

  

  He looks like he's yelling at this kid but I promise he's not.

  

  Before.

  

  After. Only good part of yard work - seeing the results.

And here we are. We've had friends get engaged, Will's mom in town and Will has set off for Durham - all so far this week. It has been busy but fun. So, if you have ESPNU and no plans tomorrow night - watch Belmont take on the Duke Blue Devils. If you have plans, good for you but you should be watching the Duke/Belmont game instead. Just saying. 

In blog news - I have over 7500 views now so I should probably step my game up. Here's a breakdown of my day-by-day plan that I will TRY to adhere to going forward:
Memory Monday
To Tell The Truth Tuesday (this is new and will be random things that I feel like I need to "come clean about" - like not feeling guilty for loving Twilight, HATING drying my hair, being really good at six degrees of Kevin Bacon because I have no life, you know... things like that)
What I'm Loving Wednesday
Theater Thursday 
TGIF (just randoms of what's going on in life)
Here's hoping I actually do any of this next week.
Happy Thursday!