And Along Came Lila...

Our little Lila Tate is here! I'm so very, very behind on posting so I promise to catch up in the next few days.

Lila Tate Tyson

Born January 5, 2012

7 pounds, 4 ounces

19.5 inches long

perfect in every way

Perception

To my sweet Lila Tate,

We made it! You listened to your mama and you weren't a Christmas baby.  You still came home with lots of loot - I can only imagine Christmas next year! 

Now you can come anytime you please (preferably before you are a 9 pound peanut). For posterity's sake, and in case I should someday forget how large I was.........

.....This is how others see you......

.......And this is how your daddy loves to see you - he finds it quite humorous.

Baby Business

With all of the negative press surrounding Craigslist, I just had to share my recent experience with the site. It goes without saying that baby gear is expensive, so when I saw a listing for the swing we had registered for at a fraction of the price, I immediately sent the seller an email.

I spoke with her on the phone a few times, and the next day Mom accompanied me out to her house to see the swing. Cash in hand and Mom by my side to navigate (and for courage, ha), we pulled up to a ridiculously gorgeous house and were welcomed by the sweetest woman and her adorable twin boys (previous owners of said swing). It was such a pleasant experience, and we walked away with the swing AND a Bumbo Seat with a tray for less than the asking price of the swing.

The Lord gives :)

Bump Update

How Far Along: 33 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby T is the size of a pineapple (about 4 pounds and 17 inches long) She's been measuring ahead until a few days ago, but now she's back on track. Dr. Callison has scheduled a growth ultrasound for December 7th, and we can't wait to see her again.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: a whopping 24 pounds. don't judge me.

Maternity Clothes: I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans (one from Forever21 - $13!). Other than that, I'm still wearing normal clothes. Tunics and leggings are my go-to now.

Gender: It's a GIRL :)

Movement: She moves pretty regularly, and has shown a new-found interest in cheery Christmas music. Now that she's running out of room, Chase and I have fun watching her move from one side of my belly to the other.

Sleep: We've been incredibly busy, so I'm usually so tired that I sleep pretty good. I'm having to get up at least once during the night and sleep with a pillow between my legs. I'll be happy when she's here and I can stop sleeping on my left side!

What I miss: having a waistline!

Cravings: fruit, fruit, fruit, pancakes, and french fries from Shaggys or Chick-fil-A

Symptoms: Still feeling great! I'm starting to feel the extra weight and pressure on my joints now. It's getting increasingly more difficult to shave my legs or tie my shoes. No swelling (yet) and I'm so thankful.

Memorable Moment from this week: It's amazing how many people feel the freedom to talk to you about your very insecure body during pregnancy. Kendal and I were out running work errands and scored a great parking spot because it was for 'Expectant Mothers'. After exiting my car, a man parked near us rolled down his window and yelled, "Looks like you earned that spot!". I'm sure he meant well, and we had a good laugh.

Sweet Surprise

This is old news, but I wanted to share a few pictures of the housewarming/labor day bbq/gender reveal party we had a while back. Chase and I went on a Wednesday to find out the gender of baby T, and we were both absolutely shocked to find out 'it' was a 'she'. Absolutely everyone was convinced we were having a little boy. Still in shock, we left the doctor's office and headed to our favorite little cantina to talk about what in the world we were going to do with ruffles and hairbows and all things frilly. 

That Friday night we shared the news with my family. If there's one thing my family loves, it's Krispy Kreme donuts. I had planned to buy a dozen of the original glazed and place a pink, strawberry glazed donut smack dab in the middle. However, I was unaware that Krispy Kreme no longer makes strawberry glazed donuts for some unknown reason. We improvised, and put the news in the top of the box. I'm not sure if they were more excited about the donuts or the news. They were gone before I could get a picture of the chaos.

A few days later, we invited more friends over for the housewarming/labor day bbq/gender reveal party. Chase used the occasion as a good excuse to buy a new grill, and we served brats and burgers with sides like my Aunt Crissy's famous Greek pasta salad.

Our sweet friend Sarah, who is a baker extraordinaire, created gender reveal cupcakes for us. Chase thought the 'gender color inside the cupcake' was getting a bit too familiar, so he decided to switch it up and had Sarah fill all of the cupcakes with yellow icing except one little pink one.

After lunch, Chase made sure everyone had voted for what they thought the gender would be, and then everyone bit in. There was a bit of confusion when everyone saw yellow....until Jonathan, the self-proclaimed 'baby whisperer', discovered pink inside his.

-what a sweet surprise -