25 Weeks

We are at 25 weeks and going strong! I am happy to say that I have no complaints in this pregnancy. My little girl is kicking away and moving around so much. I absolutely love feeling her. Bryant finally was able to feel her little kick last week. He was so cute. His mouth just gaped open and he shouted that she just kicked him right in the hand!

My sisters got to see her move. They watched my stomach intently last weekend until it bounced. They didn't get to feel her move though. 

I went to see the doctor last week and got a great report. I can't believe that we'll get to see her face in 15 weeks. It's unbelievable. I feel so blessed to be her mommy. 

Spring Events

Hello all! Want to know what I've been up to lately? Celebrating birthdays-that's what. Nearly all of my immediate family birthday celebrations occur in the spring, so virtually every other weekend is spent celebrating. We celebrated my birthday in March. There are no good pictures of that-thanks a lot husband.

Then we celebrated Dad's birthday a week later. 

My sweet family. Thanks to Bryant for being our photographer.

Seriously, I'm the luckiest to have parents like these.

Last weekend we celebrated Leah's 21st birthday. I can't believe my baby sister is that old, but she is!

My sisters and my mom did Treetop adventures at Callaway Gardens to celebrate. Let me say; they are daring. I'm pretty glad I had the excuse of pregnancy to keep me out of the tops of trees obstacle course and zip line. It looked like loads of fun, but I'm pretty sure I would be terrified.

They are quite the daredevils! The course also included a dangling from the air ladder climb to a 75 foot platform that they zip lined off of. Crazy.Pants.

Later we celebrated with minicakes, ice cream, presents, and games.

I love these ladies!

The Beginning of a Nursery

I absolutely love home decor. Unfortunately, this leaves me in a constant state of domestic flux with tons of completely unfinished projects. Right now we are remodeling our kitchen in preparation for baby girl. I understand that she won't be born even needing to eat solid food, but we've wanted to redo our kitchen for the almost 6 years we've lived in our house. Nothing is more motivating than knowing that in a few months we will have more visitors than usual. So far we have had our cabinets painted and the walls have their first coat of new paint. Our new countertops should be installed in the next couple of weeks, and the rest of our appliances came today. 

This has absolutely nothing to do with the nursery, except that once it is all done I can really get to work on creating a perfect little room. Last night I ordered her crib and changing table. You can see them here. I knew I wanted a white crib all along, and this style looks almost exactly like the one my mom used for all three of us. I also ordered some prints from this Etsy shop to hang on the walls. I want the room to have a vintage and whimsical feel to it. I want it to be vibrant and full of life for her. I want it to be perfect. 

It's such a strange feeling planning for this little person I feel like I already know so well, but the truth is I have no idea who she is or will be. I don't know what she'll look like or what color hair she'll have. I don't know her talents or her troubles. I don't know her passions and joys, but I can't wait to find out. I can't wait to watch her grow into herself and find out who she is and what she likes. I just pray that we can lovingly guide her into who she will become. 

For now I'll just spread out all of the tiny clothes I've bought for her and breathe them in and imagine her.

"Do you suppose she's a wildflower?" - Alice in Wonderland

The Bun

Yesterday, while trekking back to my classroom from the cafeteria, one of my AP students from last year saw me just in time to ask one of my favorite pregnancy questions yet. 

"Would you mind telling me in layman's terms, how do I say this, how toasty is the bun?" 

I burst into laughter at his carefully thought out and gentle way of trying to ask how far along I am. 

On Being Quiet

For my close friends and family the idea that I'm "quiet" may seem a bit of a farce. They know I'm opinionated, creative, and quite capable of speaking my mind, but the reality is that I'm an introvert. When I have nothing to say out loud or contribute to conversation, I don't talk. That doesn't mean I'm not thinking or processing or planning in my head. It means that I don't want to share every detail of my thought process. Quite frankly, unless you are an introvert you probably wouldn't understand. I process information in my own way, and I need time and space to determine what it is I want to do with that info. I saw a link on Facebook to this Huffington Post article today, and I couldn't help but write a little bit about it. This may seem like a bit of a serious or moody post for me, but I sometimes feel a bit misunderstood by those who don't know me very well. There's no wrong or right to being introverted or extroverted, but it's important to understand what those different personality traits involve. If you know someone who is introverted, read the article and click through the qualities. I think the better we understand different personalities, the better we can all communicate. 

Happy Easter

We celebrated Easter in Tuscaloosa this year. It rained and rained and rained some more, so we didn't exactly get to take any Easter pics with nice springlike scenery in the background. Oh well!

It was wonderful to hear a really well thought out and inspirational sermon this morning. We shared a nice lunch with Bryant's immediate family-except his brother and wife. We missed extended family, too!

Bryant insisted on taking a belly shot. Here I am at nearly 22 weeks. 

I can't wait to meet this little girl. 

It won't be long before Bryant can feel her move. I tried to get him to feel her tonight, but she's stubborn and stopped moving as soon as he got his hand on my belly. He was really cute and excited at the prospect of feeling her. It's safe to say that we are both smitten already!

Baby Bagley is a ...

GIRL!

Today was incredible. We got to see her. We got to give her a specific pronoun. She got a great report. She almost weighs a whole pound and the doctor said everything looks perfect. 

I can think of nothing else. 

Bryant said he would have to get the tea set out to start practicing. He also warned me that I better prepare myself not to be the favorite. She's daddy's little girl. I'm okay with that. Daughters and their dads have a very special relationship.

What a cute profile, huh? I think her body is either twisted toward the camera or away. That's why her leg looks like a turkey leg. She had her hands above her head again. She sleeps just like her mama. One hand was on her face and the other on top of her head. She did stretch her legs out. We got a great shot of what appears to be long legs. See she does have feet.

I definitely felt her move around this afternoon. I look forward every day to feeling her a little bit more. 

We spent the afternoon oooing and ahhhing over adorable baby clothes, and I invested in a glider for the nursery. It's so hard to believe that in just 20 weeks we will meet our daughter, our little girl, our princess. 

We feel so loved and blessed, and we know that this little girl will be the same.