35 Weeks...

How far along? 35 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain? 31 pounds, WOO WOO!! 

Maternity clothes? GAH. Nothing fits. Nothing, My maternity clothes don't even fit for Pete's sake! Who'da thought. 

Sleep? I'm still sleeping really good. I'm used to getting up frequently to tinkle now. It REALLY helps that I don't have to actually do anything everyday. If I had to get up and go to work after getting up 4 times a night, I'd be a DELIGHTFUL person to be around. :)

Best moment this week?  Getting a few projects done this week for the nursery!

Miss anything? I've been pregnant for about 9 1/2 months. Don't judge me but, I miss being normal sized... 

Movement? Yep. It's definitely less of a punch and more stretching and rolling movements. I feel bad for her in there- it's SO tight! 

Food craving this week? Lucky Charms still. I MUST have something sweet after dinner- loving fruit bar popsicles too. 

Anything making you sick? Nope. I've been very lucky! Now, I over eat EVERY TIME and make myself miserable. 

Gender? Baby girl, Lyla Joy Butler LJ!!

Labor Signs? I can feel my body getting ready. She's low so I get lots of pressure and I get crampy from time to time but nothing serious. I'm just ready!! My sister-in-law said it best- I told her that I was desperate to meet Lyla, that I was starting to get slightly irritated in general. She told me "Your mind is there for the last few months. You are ready to give birth. Your body just has to catch up." SO TRUE. 

Symptoms? Holy MOTHER of PEARL I pinched a nerve in my lower back. I tried for two weeks to stay off my feet and deal with the pain via tylenol and hot/cold compress and found NO relief. I couldn't get out of bed, walk, or even sit on the toilet without wincing in pain. Eventually I had a break down... I cried/yelled at Cade "HOW CAN I HAVE A BABY WHEN I CAN'T EVEN WALK!!!!". So... we went to the chiropractor and though I think he is feeding me bull 80% of the time- he readjusts my back and its feel so much better. I'm a happy lady. AND I said sorry to Cade for yelling at him. Everyone won in this story. :)

Happy or Moody? I can feel my mood swings. When they come, I know I'm just being a bitch or over reacting so I just sit quietly and deal so that I don't get myself in trouble. That works probably 40% of the time. Ha. 

Looking forward to? Meeting Lyla Joy. Holy cow yall, we have 31 days left. That's less than a month. It gives me chills just thinking about it. 

35 weeks.... BOOOOOM! Haha

Alrighty- a while back I blogged about how I was starting a quilt for Lyla... you can read about it real quick here. Anyway, I finished the binding and IT'S DONE!! YAY! It turned out wonderful. Here it is (sorry the light is weird!)-

My intention is to blog about the nursery as soon as I finish... which may or may not be when she's 18. Happy 4th everyone! Olivia says hello!

Cade's Input :)

Cade here!  Well everybody, for years now, I have seen my beautiful wife typing away to the readers of a journal that she finds therapeutic in so many ways.  Unfortunately, I think I may be the reason she needs this "therapy."  However, I'd like to say that I have become so proud of her mad skills as a writer, that I requested a space on her blog that I could write my opinions/thoughts on life and the pregnancy.  Here are questions that I feel are appropriate for the incredible things that are happening in our lives:

How far along is she?  33 Weeks, 5 Days (Dang, it's flown by!)

Does she crave anything that you find odd?  She really doesn't crave that much.  She HATES making decisions about what to eat for dinner.  If I hear the "I make decisions all day; so, I don't want to choose what we eat for dinner" statement one more time, I might go crazy.  :)  So, I usually decide what we eat unless she wants to try something new from Pinterest....in that case, I get spoiled.  I love my wife's cooking.....except her meatloaf.

What is the one thing that has changed the most during the pregnancy?  Amanda has always been a happy person.  She's a former cheerleader; and therefore, is able to smile and turn a thousand heads her way.  As much as she jokes on this blog, you guys don't know half of how funny she is.  I have to say that with her being pregnant, she is even more hilarious than she was before.  I LOVE it.

Best moment of the pregnancy?  Amanda and I went to the condo in New Braunfels a few months ago.  She said that she was just starting to feel Lyla moving around in there.  We were watching a Friends marathon when I put my hand on her belly.  All of a sudden, I felt the most incredible feeling in the world.  Lyla kicked/punched/kneed/head-butted my hand.....HARD.  It was the moment when it really sank in that I was becoming a father.

Why do you like your daughter's name?  LYLA is a beautiful name.  Amanda came home one day with that on her mind, and we've never looked back since.  Seeing her name everywhere in the nursery verifies that we made the right choice.  I love seeing it, writing it, spelling it; and (when I hear her name) I can see her face.  JOY is the perfect middle name for our daughter.  Amanda's grandmother is a very special person to my wife.  If you know anything about the two of them, you'll see the reasoning behind many of Amanda's lifetime decisions (career, family focus, etc.).  Every "Joy" I know is a woman of God that leads people with determination and heart - something I can't wait to watch my little L.J. do on her own.

What is the best piece of advice someone has given you about becoming a dad?  "Get a gun.  Keep them hairy-legged boys off the front porch." - Mike Dobbs   Ironically, my father-in-law gave me this piece of advice about having a daughter.  I'm glad he didn't keep me from hanging around!  He put the gun away when Amanda and I got engaged.  I appreciate the gesture.  :)  Lyla won't be so lucky.  Amanda said that I can't get a gun until I have a safe to put it in.  Guess what I'm buying this next month?  Yeeeeeuuuuuup.....our Passports and Car Titles will be safe and secure until I get my gun.  Playas don't play.  :)

What are you most anxious about with having a baby girl?  There are so many things that freak me out about having a daughter.  I try not to let them get the best of me.  I will be WAY out of my element for the rest of my life, but one of the other pieces of advice I have been given so far was this: "You are the last line of defense for her.  Don't let anything/anyone through that you don't approve of."  I'm not a big guy, but I'm gonna intimidate the crap out of any punk kids!  

What are you looking forward to?  I can't wait to see how great of a mom Amanda is.  Although we will have different parenting styles, we will be complete as a team.  Not only that, there's a little one that comes along with Amanda becoming a mom and me a dad....her name is Lyla Joy.  She is gonna rock this world.....better get ready.

I guess I'll follow tradition: Picture Time!

This is me.

The most beautiful woman in the world on MY leg.  :)  Eat your hearts out guys.

As always, Olivia (even as a sleeping pup) says "YO!"

Hope you guys keep enjoying Amanda's blog.  Thanks for the love and support.

31 Weeks

Woo Woo- two entries in one week!! This is only happening because I'm procrastinating in my grad school classes. :)

How far along? 31 weeks and 6 days. 

Total weight gain? Good God, I don't even know. Somewhere around 25 pounds I think. It seems silly to even keep count now. 

Maternity clothes? Yep. I spend a significant amount of time in my pj's. :) 

Sleep? Holy-pee-every-hour. Enough said. 

Best moment this week?  This last trimester is slowly becoming pretty uncomfortable Cade is just taking it in stride. Bless his heart, he is just wonderful. I feel guilty for asking for things and complaining but he makes me feel like a super woman who doesn't complain enough given my lovely state. 

OR when Cade couldn't quit laughing and making Friends references during the breathing exercises in our birth class. It's a toss up. :)

Miss anything? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't missing those fruity summer drinks. And as always, I am counting down the days till that cold turkey sandwich and I meet again. WAY small price to pay though!

Movement? Yes! Still a worry-wart but she's in there, all cozy and wiggling around. 

Food craving this week? I'm still pretty wrapped up in cereal. This week its LUCKY CHARMS! Haha- we go through more than a gallon of milk a week. Also, I can make our daughter move like a wild thang when I eat mexican food. She's gonna come out a burrito. :) 

Anything making you sick? No, I'm doing great with eating. Obviously. :) 

Gender? Baby girl, Lyla Joy Butler

Labor Signs? No! We are still cooking. No Braxton Hicks or anything. *Knock on wood!

Symptoms? I'm beginning to feel my old symptoms from the first trimester. But, it hasn't been bad. I get worn out quickly these days- I can't run around ALL DAY like I used to! Sometimes it's aggravating because I really want to get stuff done but my body just will not do it. 

Happy or Moody? We got our 4D ultrasound last week and I'm still riding that high. It was just amazing. How can you not believe in God? Creating life is a miracle. 

Looking forward to? Our last baby shower! Eek! My family is giving us a baby shower and I know its going to be just lovely. I am incredibly grateful for them and I know its going to be perfect. 

Alright, picture time!

32 weeks, 5 days 

A few weeks back we had maternity photo's taken. Oh my GOSH I was nervous. The lovely folks took these pictures were AMAZING. If you are ever in need of photography for any reason I highly recommend them. They are fairly priced and make you feel extremely comfortable. You can check out their website HERE. 

Again, hope everyone is taking it easy!! :) Olivia says hello and wants me to assure you all that she IS taking it easy this summer. 

Nursery DIY

In a dream world somewhere I'm not exhausted, I don't have an uncontrollable urge to nest and clean everything, and I'm not enrolled in two grad classes. Also in that dream world I can make the millions of things I've pinned on Pinterest for Lyla's nursery. Unfortunately, I've only gotten around to one DIY project which is what I'm posting about today! :)

You have probably seen this project on Pinterest- cardboard letters wrapped in yarn. I think these are just  precious so about ooooooooh 3 monthes ago I purchased the letters from hobby lobby with good intentions... there is a saying about good intentions... Haha.

Here is what you'll need: Glue gun, glue sticks, band-aides for when you burn yourself repeatedly with the glue gun, yarn (I wanted a thick yarn so I used a wool yarn from hobby lobby), cardboard letters (from hobby lobby), and patience.

First, the project was not too pricey. The letters were $2.47 but the yarn was $7- $8 a bundle because I was being picky and wanted nice thick yarn. :)

Next, you have to decide which direction you are going to wrap your yarn in order to cover the ends and the top... The A was SO hard. I won't lie. This is where the band-aide's come in handy.

I started off using lots of glue but if you have an easy letter like this L then you don't need as much because just wrapping the yarn will keep it in place. For this letter I wrapped vertically (you can see that in this picture) first then went back and wrapped horizontally to over the sides of the letter. 

When you're all done, you'll have something like this: (I'm replacing that flower... just an experiment that didn't work out.) :) YAY~

All this yarn wrapping took it right out of Olivia...

I hope everyone is having a good summer!

- Amanda

Life and 29 Weeks

Hi Everyone!

How far along? 29 weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain? 22 pounds

Maternity clothes? OH YEA! I'm so hot already!! I wear lots of skirts and shorts. 

Sleep? Last week I started having trouble falling asleep. Once I get to sleep I'm okay but falling asleep after I get up to pee every 4 hours is becoming kinda hard. 

Best moment this week?  There are SO many moments!! We took our maternity pictures this weekend and its was a blast. We used Milano's Photography and they were amazing. Honestly, I was freaking out about the pictures because I freak out about everything and they made us feel so comfortable. I really hope they turn out good! 

Also, we are in the last trimester which is very exciting. I registered us for a bunch of classes at our hospital that I'm really excited to go to. It feels like when your pregnant, all you are is anxious to keep growing your healthy baby and then one day you wake up and you've gained 20 something pounds and you're about to meet your baby! The time flies by. 

Miss anything? I miss by back not hurting! WHINER <----. At the end of the day, my lower back hurts like whoa. This weekend Cade got me a belly band thing that looks like one of those back braces that you see the employees wear at wal-mart. Fortunately, I won't be wearing this on the outside of my clothes. :) Supposedly, its supposed to really help your back by supporting this bump!

Movement? Yes! Okay, because I freak out about everything I am constantly thinking about her moving. During week 26, she slept for what seemed like the whole week!! She would only move a little at night and while I was sleeping. Scared me to death. My Mom tells me "Just wait till she gets here and it'll be even worse!". Usually she'll move a little bit here and there throughout the day but mostly at night when I'm posted up on the couch. 

Food craving this week? I'm still pretty wrapped up in cereal. This week its Applejacks. :)

Anything making you sick? Nope. Just ready to be out of school. 

Gender? Baby girl, Lyla Joy Butler

Labor Signs? No! She is right on track. At 28 weeks, my belly measured 28 cm. I feel so big though! 

Symptoms? STRETCH MARKS! Gah. They are itchy and not pretty. Here is the deal, at a certain point, the belly gets big enough to where you can't see around it. I have these stretch marks below my bellybutton and who knows how long I've had them because I haven't been able to see the underside of my bump in a while. Oh well, small price to pay for a healthy baby girl!

Happy or Moody? I feel happy! I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable which can make me a not very nice person at the end of the day but overall, I am so happy to be growing our baby girl. 

Looking forward to? I looking forward to meeting Lyla. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and her due date is in a few months. I am really anxious to finally meet her. I can feel her moving around in there and I'm so excited to see her face and meet her- know her personality. 

Also, we are having a 4D ultrasound on Saturday!! Our parents will both be there and we are very excited to share that with them! I can't wait. AND I have a shower on Tuesday given by the girls at work. I am really excited for that too! These ladies are so dang creative I'm sure this shower will be something from a magazine. :) 

Olivia and Me! 29 weeks!

Ha. Olivia is looking around my bump at the camera.

The nursery is painted and we've got all the furniture! Woo Who! I'm glad to have the ball rolling. I am almost done with the quilt and hopefully I'll get the bed skirt done in the next few weeks. I didn't take any pictures of how the nursery looked before we started. Boo. It originally had white walls and a dome light.  Here is the nursery so far. We have a long way to go but it's starting to come together. 

This is looking into the nursery from the door. Hopefully I can find baskets for that console and that'll be the changing table. 

Looking at the door from the other side of the room. I plan on putting pictures in each frame of that window sitting on the dresser- then hanging it above the dresser. :)

Here is the crib and closet... opposite of the dresser. I just washed some clothes and Cade was hanging them up for me. :) Ohhhh, getting ready!! Eek!

Well, I'm sorry it's been so long. I hope to be updating more frequently when school gets out with fun little projects I want to put in her room. 

This last week was absolutely horrible. My friend Kim told me that things come in 3's and I do hope she is right. On Tuesday, when we woke up, we discovered that Cade's truck had been broken in to. They didn't take much but, GRRRR, it irritates me. How LAZY to rob someone else instead of work like the rest of us and get your things the right way. Blah. Later that day, we had to put down our oldest and last ferret, Braxton. He was Cade and I's first pet. He had such a wonderful, fun life. He could romp around with the best of them when he was young. Unfortunately, he had an insulinoma  which made his blood sugar extremely low. Usually he'd come out of it with a little Karo syrup and food but, last weekend, he just couldn't shake it. His blood sugar dropped to below 40, which is pretty much flat lined. We took him to his doctor and he had said that it was our choice. Braxton's sweet little life just wasn't what it should be. He wasn't eating, he couldn't play, and he couldn't go to the restroom on his own. Cade and I decided that it was time. Putting an animal to sleep is the absolute WORST part of having pets. I gave Brax some love and went and sat in the car. Cade stayed to be with him while he went to sleep. I miss him everyday but he is having fun with his sisters now and NOT feeling sick at all. 

We miss you B!

I hope everyone has a good week next week. I just know this one will be better than the last. :) As always, Olivia says Hey!

- Amanda 

25 Weeks

Hey Hey!

Hope everyone is doing good. It's been a while!! Everyone over here at the Butler house is rolling with it. :) I had my first experience with Braxton Hicks this last week. Holy smokes. Let me just tell you... apparently they can be pretty darn painful and achey. :( This too shall pass. At least Lyla's healthy and growing!

In my absence, Easter has come and gone! We spent the whole weekend with our families and it was fabulous. Lots of belly touching and eating. My kind of holiday! We decorated egg's with Camilla, which was so cute it hurt. :)

 Here we are dying our eggs...

And here we are... err... thinking about dying the eggs. :)

My sweet, sweet man on Easter. He is so handsome. :) 

Alrighty, on to the baby goods...

How far along? 25 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain? 17 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yep, starting to break into the shorts. My extra white, slightly slowlen legs are lookin' mighty fine these days. Ha.

Sleep? I am sleeping just fine. I get up to tinkle a lot but, I'm still sleeping pretty soundly. 

Best moment this week?  We had our first baby shower this last weekend and it was AMAZING! I down right cannot believe how much great stuff we got. We sat up stairs for an hour looking through it all and gawking at all the teeny tiny outfits. It's surreal having all this baby stuff in the house. I had been pretty good about not buying stuff so all our baby shower stuff up stairs is awesome. I'm partial to the oober tiny socks. They are SOOO cute! I'll post pictures of the baby shower soon.

Miss anything? I can't remember anything. Holy cow... I mean, not a thing. Several days this week I walked out the door and left my lunch. I can't remember things for my classroom. I've been promising my kidos popsicles for weeks now and I HAVE them, I just forget to bring them. It's irritating because I am usually really good about remembering things! So yes, I miss my brain not being pregnant. 

Movement? All the time. She really likes it when I lay down on the couch. I can see my whole belly moving around. It's so COOL! She has her lazy days... I don't like those days. I miss her when she's not  moving. 

Food craving this week? I've been loving honey nut cherrios lately! 

Anything making you sick? Yes, summer not being here yet. 

Gender? Baby girl, Lyla Joy

Labor Signs? Braxton Hicks though that's not a sign of labor-- just friendly foreshadowing of the 'fun' to come. :)

Symptoms? My back starts to hurt at the end of the day. I can't really stoop down and pick stuff up quickly. 

Happy or Moody? At 24 weeks I was crying everyday, for no reason what-so-ever but this week has been really good. 

Looking forward to? We are having maternity pictures taken on May 19th. I'm really excited and a little nervous. I didn't really want to but Cade insisted that we'd want to remember this and he's right. I feel a little blah these days but one day we'll look back and be glad we documented all this. 

Here we are!

Olivia says hi!! Good Luck to all my teacher friends with the STAAR tomorrow!!

LOVE YOU ALL!

~ Amanda 

22 weeks!

Hey everyone!! Another update on Lyla! We are 22 weeks and 2 days along. She is the size of a papaya (which I had to Google, ha). Everything is going great. I'm feeling good, feeling her move constantly, and well, just blissfully happy.

How far along? 22 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain? Somewhere around 15 pounds

Maternity clothes? Umm, oh ya. Though I'm most comfortable in a t-shirt and stretchy shorts. It's already starting to warm up outside so sweat bullets if it breaks 75 degrees outside. Oh this summer is going to be just fabulous. :)

Sleep? Like a rock lately. I'm getting up about twice a night to tinkle.

Best moment this week? There are so many moments every week and everyday. It's tough to pick one out as more important than another. My favorite moment this week was when Cade inquired if I could "even still see my feet". Ha. I looooove my husband and he has such a great sense of humor about all the weird stuff that happens to a woman when she is pregnant. Wonderful.

Miss anything? No. Not this week. :)

Movement? All the time. It's one of the most wonderful feelings I've ever felt. EVER. I will really miss this feeling when she's born.

Food craving? Deviled eggs... maybe its just easter getting to me.

Anything making you sick? We have crayfish in our class right now and I feel like when I leave school I smell like those nasty little bugs. Ugh. I am also really grossed out by beef. Weird.

Gender? Baby girl, Lyla Joy.

Labor Signs? No

Symptoms? Only having to tickle every hour or two.

Happy or Moody? I am feeling great! Very happy!

Looking forward to? The third trimester. We are almost there!! That'll mean only 12 more weeks till we meet baby girl! I'm so ready.

22 weeks, 2 days... barefoot and pregnant!

Alright, Cade's grandmother gave us a rocker a couple of years ago and we always said we'd use it in our nursery one day. We'll about two months ago the rocker disappeared. Cade told me he had taken it to his Dad to get it glued together and in good shape so that I could have it reupholstered for the nursery. On Friday night Cade surprised me with the rocker... ALREADY reupholstered!!! Yall... he did so good! Here it is, finished!

The woman who covered the rocker for us kind of gave us a back story on the chair. When she refinished it, she found almost 5 different fabrics. The rocker was made in 1876... can you believe that? Cade's grandmother's mother was rocked in the same rocker Lyla Joy will be rocked in. It makes my heart swell to think about what a huge part of history we'll have in her nursery!

One last thing! I've been looking for bedding for her crib for several months and I can't find anything that I like. I decided that I wanted to make a quilt for Lyla's crib... something she will always have. I found the fabric at Quilt Asylum in McKinney... if you ever need any fabric or patterns, this place is wonderful! They are a little pricey but its worth it. Here are the first three blocks I worked on tonight. It's going to be CUTE when its done. :) I'll keep y'all posted.

Talk to you all soon!

-- Amanda