-January 19th- Mark finally got his new Toyota Tundra! He bought it in December and had to have some repairs done to it which ended up taking almost a month to complete. At 5:42pm we found out that we are going to become parents! This was a bit of a surprise since we weren't planning on having kids quite yet. Mark was excited from the beginning. Me-not so much. I wasn't excited mostly because of school. I was supposed to student teach this fall and graduate in December! It was so close. I was able to say that I will graduate this year for a whopping 17 days. Graduation was so close and student teaching in the fall is way better than doing it in the spring. And, student teaching next spring with a baby at home is going to be tough. Oh well. Obviously heavenly father did not like our plan at all and for some reason we needed to have a baby in September instead of anytime after December 10th.
The reason I know the time that this new addition was discovered is because we were supposed to be at Nate and Scarlett's at 5:30 for FHE but we were still driving home from picking up Mark's truck and I had to throw together some kind of dessert in about 5 minutes so we could get to their house ASAP. I also had to pee really really bad since I had been holding it for a couple hours since Mark wanted to be home when I took the pregnancy test. We ran in the house and I headed straight to the bathroom. I took the test and laid it on the floor for Mark to watch for the results as I threw something together for our FHE dessert. A minute later Mark called my name. His voice sounded different but I couldn't decide if it sounded like the test was positive or negative. All month I had this feeling that I was pregnant but I thought it was just me and that there was no way I was and that the test was going to be a negative. Mark held it up for me when I got to him and I said "oh, no baby." He said, "No, look again" and held up the instructions that had a picture of what a positive test looks like and I then realized that our test matched that one! it was a strange feeling. I laughed a weird nervous sounding laugh and we embraced. I then finished putting together some magic cookies bars and we went to Nate and Scarlett's for FHE. Mark wanted us to wait until the end of the first trimester to tell anyone. I agreed to try and wait.
-January 29th- I got laid off from my job. This wasn't really a big deal. I worked 6 hours a week and I cold now work more at 20/20 Research which is the job that I love but couldn't work at because of my school schedule and salon schedule.
-February 3rd- Mark's company decided to close the Charlotte office. This came as a total surprise because they had just had the best January sales wise EVER. He found this information out from his last customer of the day. She asked why this was their last day open. He responded with "it's not." She said "when I called to schedule they told me I had to have it done today because it was the last day you were going to be open." Mark called the Raleigh office and the secretary said they weren't closing. He then called the owner a few times and he eventually answered and confirmed that ZEROREZ Charlotte was not going to be open after that day and that he was coming down to get the truck and clean out the office. This news was quite a blow to us. After the shock wore off, we were ok. We had savings and stocks that we could sell if necessary and we had food storage. Mark has been able to collect unemployment and it is enough to cover our bills. He is also receiving money each month from the V.A. He looked for a job for a little while but we have since decided that he is going to be going to UNCC starting this fall and he will get his masters in computer science. It is going to take 3 years and it will be 100%paid for by the ARMY! We will also receive about $1200 a month to cover living expenses! So the news of mark being out of work and a child coming into the world in September is a lot more exciting now! Mark should be able to collect unemployment until July or August of 2010 and by then I will have a real job bringing in real money! We will both be able to finish school without having to worry about working and going to school. Heavenly father has really blessed us! If heavenly father hadn't surprised us with this baby when he did, we probably would have put our baby plans on hold until at least one of us had steady employment and who knows how long that would take. It has all been so great and we are so grateful for all we've been blessed with.
-February- we went to a Bobcats game with Shannon and Justin. We knew they were trying to get pregnant in January and Mark was trying to get Justin to tell him they were during the game and Justin became suspicious that I was pregnant through Mark's comments. We went to Cookout after the game and Justin and Shannon asked if we had heard the latest gossip. We said no. Justin said "Shannon's pregnant" Mark said "so is Ashley". It was kind of funny. we made plans to get the rest of the old FHE group together and tell them all at the same time. Justin and Shannon made a cake that we brought out and it said 2 ppl here are knocked up (except it wasn't the word up, it was an arrow pointing up). There was screaming, laughter, talk of baby names, and the string test. The results of the string test: Ashley is having a boy, Shannon is having a girl.
-February 19th- I tell my dad that he is getting another grandchild! I bought Valentines Day cards for him and my grandmother (I was planning on going over there on V-Day but that didn't work out). I brought brownies over with the cards and we chatted for a while. I stayed for about an hour and then had to leave to meet Krystin at IKEA. They ate brownies while I was there but didn't open their cards. I left and a couple minutes later got a phone call from my dad. He and my grandmother were excited and they didn't say anything about being sure I finished school so that was good! I also told my mom and sister. I couldn't wait any longer without slipping up and accidently telling my family.
-March- I had my first Doctor's appt. I was hoping we would be able to hear the heartbeat but they made us wait 2 more weeks to hear it.
-March 27th-30th- I went to Dallas, Texas to visit a friend! It was the first time Mark and I were apart since we started dating! It was a fun trip and it was great to see an old friend and her kids!
-April 20th- I am 17 weeks pregnant and we get to find out the sex of the baby! This was so exciting! As soon as the baby was brought up on the ultrasound screen, the technician said "well there you go dad." I immediately knew what we were looking at. It seemed very obvious but it wasn't so obvious to Mark. He had NO idea what the picture on the screen was! The technician then pointed to the screen and said "see this right here, it's a BOY!" We were so excited! We got tons of pictures and even a DVD where you can see him rolling over! There are even a couple of 4D pictures where he looks like an alien but his mouth looks like Mark's! It is so cute! We also found out that he is a week ahead of schedule so our due date isn't going to be changed officially but he is track to be due September 18th instead of the 26th! Hopefully we can hit on one of many family member's birthdays in September :) I am also hoping he decides he would like to come maybe around 36 weeks or pretty much anytime before 40 weeks, just as long as he is healthy enough to hack it in the real world!
After the appointment Mark asked if I was excited. Of course I was excited! I want all boys and my family was really hoping this was going to be a boy since my brother and sister both have girls. My dad said he needed someone to give all his train sets to. Mark then confessed that he always wanted a million girls and only girls but that he had gotten his hopes set on a boy ever since we did the string test and that he thought he probably would have been disappointed if it had been a girl. Before finding out the sex, we had agreed on 1 girl name and 1 boy name so our baby had a name right away which was kind of cool because everyone else I know didn't have a definite name for their baby until after the baby was born. Our girl name was Aubree Elisabeth and our boy name is Grady William Lee or Grady Lee William. I want William Lee and Mark wants lee William. We'll see who wins.
I had to go to work later and that is where I felt my little man kicking for the first time! mark didn't believe me and said I must just have gas and just think I am feeling Grady!
A few weeks later we found out that Shannon and Justin were having a girl. The string test is 2 for 2 so far. Interesting.
-May2nd- Mark feels Grady moving!
-May 6th- My last day of exams EVER!
-May 10th- Mark and I leave at 12am to drive to Miami to embark on our 8 day cruise! It was an 11 hour drive. Mark drove most of the way and it wasn't a bad drive at all. We arrived at the ship at about 12 and began our babymoon! Monday was a day at sea. We then went to Grand Cayman where we rented a scooter and drove around the island. The next day we went to Honduras where we got a taxi ride to the beach and then around the island. Then the next day we went to Belize where we went cave tubing and enjoyed some local food. We spent another day at sea and then our last day of our babymoon in Key West. We rented a car and drove up the keys. We enjoyed our day and ended it with the best key lime pie ever!
Sometime around the end of May or beginning of June, I can see my belly move when Grady moves! It's my favorite thing to watch. I also realize that I really like being pregnant and look forward to doing it again and again and again. I haven't been sick or had heartburn at all and feel great! We go to the gym 3ish times a week and I hope I can keep going up until the end!
-June 7th- I decide that I am definitely going to go the all natural route for labor and delivery. No epidurals here! I hope this makes the labor and delivery go much faster, I feel it will better for Grady, and also myself since I will be able to better push and I will also be able to move/walk around during labor. We'll see how this goes. It makes labor and delivery a little scary but I always said I'd go all natural anyways.
-June 12th- I want to paint our living room, dining room, and hall. Mark said I can do whatever I want but he's not helping because it will be the 3rd time it is painted in 2 years. OOPS! ha ha. This time it will last. I've never liked how it turned when we painted it a year and a half ago and I just can't take it anymore. I want a light beigy color. I am also ready to paint Grady's room so hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks.
Grady is always moving around now and it is great! It truly is one of the best feelings ever!
1 comment:
haha Ashley you are soooo funny! I hope that all natural birth works out for you. I said the same thing, until I had BIG contractions for 24 hrs before even getting admitted into the hospital! Then they gave me some nice little "juice" to totally speed it up. Oh and I don't think you are going to want to walk around during labor....but put that into your birthing plan so you can laugh about it later =)
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