oops.

My blog is so totally dead. It's tragic. I promise that Mark and I have been living and breathing and doing normal things.. but I just haven't blogged about it! I think I might have baby brain. As in... my baby is the only thing I can think about. No really. I think about her all.the.time.

Which leaves zero room for thinking about my blog. But fear not. Because once I give birth to her, I'll want to tell the world! And also tell you about every single thing she does :]



Our little puppy wuppy knows something's up. She loves to cuddle my belly these days and never wants to leave my side. Sometimes at night, I'll catch her with her face smushed to my belly. I wonder if she can hear the baby's heartbeat, or if she likes to feel the baby move inside me. No idea, really, but I do know that dogs know what's up!

As far as how I'm feeling...

Well, I was having this excruciating back pain in my mid-section that lasted for two days. But it miraculously went away, and now I feel great! I'm having lots of pressure, and sometimes feel like this child could drop right out of me at any given moment. But I'm sleeping much better and have absolutely nothing to complain about. I feel great and love pregnancy to death!


I think it might be neat to make a prediction about our daughter. I mean, why not!?

Adalyn Reese
10-13-10
7lbs 6oz
20in
2:19am.

Lots of light brown hair and looks like me.

So I guess we'll see how accurate I am!! If you have any predictions about her, throw them my way!


I'm trying a new recipe out tonight - chicken spaghetti - so I'll blog about it tomorrow with pictures. I'd rather be having this:

a chicken bowl from Chipotle

but oh well. Hopefully the chicken spaghetti rocks tonight!

my 37 week watermelon belly

just when you think I can't get any bigger...

Total weight gain/loss: I'm not telling. And you can't make me :)

Maternity clothes? I'll miss the stretchy pants, I'm not gonna lie!

Stretch marks? I'm sorry to say that they love me. They appeared around 31 weeks.

Sleep: I flip sides all night long (still!) from hip pain, but I sleep pretty soundly. I get up twice to use the bathroom, and I sleep with a pillow between my knees. It isn't ideal. I can't wait to sleep on my belly!

Best moment this week: I guess getting one step closer to having our house in top-notch order for her arrival.

Movement: She moves all day every day. Her head is so low that I can feel her turning her head deep down in my pelvis.

Food cravings: Nope. I've never had a "craving" this entire pregnancy. I just eat like usual!

Gender: Our sweet daughter.

Labor Signs: No signs of true labor, but I do have frequent contractions and cramping. She has definitely dropped, my body is preparing to feed her (ahem..), but that's about it.

Belly Button in or out? It's completely out. I'll have to be sure to take a photo before I deliver her!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on!!! Hopefully they can stay on for the remainder of the pregnancy, because I love my rings!

What I miss: a pain-free body. I'm pretty much in constant pain, but it's always manageable and no big deal. I can't imagine not being in pain, or not peeing all the time, or sleeping soundly through the night, or not feeling exhausted when I stand up for long periods of time. But I guarantee that I will miss pregnancy like crazy; it's the most amazing thing!

What I am looking forward to: going into labor and experiencing childbirth the way that God has designed for me to experience (since everyone is different!) I can't wait to have the feeling of "never feeling more alive!" than when I give birth to our baby and meet her for the first time. It's overwhelming to think about, and I can't begin to fathom the awesomeness of it all!

Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy every instant of your pregnancy and don't wish it away. Your baby's birth day has been planned since the beginning of time by God, so there's no sense in wishing it away. The last few days/weeks with your spouse are precious, so enjoy it to the fullest!

Milestones: She's "full term," although I don't really like that term :)

~~~~~

I've been a terrible, horrible, no-good blogger. I know! I've just had nothing to blog about, but truly I've had lots to blog about. I've just.. been preoccupied, I guess. We've yet to pack our bags for the hospital, but we're going to start packing tonight! Life is the same around the Cox household. Piper is currently demanding my attention -- she sits next to me on the couch and waves her paw at me to say, "Excuse me!! Please pet me!" It's the cutest thing ever - she waves like a human being! Speaking of Piper...

It has been much too long since Piper has made an appearance on our family blog, so there you go. You're welcome. And I know, she's absolutely delicious. I could eat her with a spoon. In fact, I think I will!

And as for me, I've just been cleaning the house with Mark and preparing everything for our little one. Yesterday, I got a haircut:

Because it just so happens that one of my good friends here (who also happens to be another AF wife) is a hair dresser! And as for the rest of the week, lots of laundry is calling my name, as well as a midwife appointment, a third trimester class, our final birthing class, and.. that's about it!

a new toy!

Our new video camera came today!

For my 23rd birthday, I decided that I needed a new video camera. For the baby, you know. And for Mark! It's smaller than an iPhone and we love it so much! It has an LCD flip-out screen that swivels and everything. And, of course, it's small enough to fit in the diaper bag and comes with an adorable little case! Now I will always be able to video tape Sharkie for my husband!

Ok, we actually have another video camera. But it's the normal big size, which is much too large to lug around in a diaper bag.. so this one will work perfectly! We just decided to test it out a few minutes ago, and I chose to record our firstborn (naturally!)

Piper has THE life, doesn't she? She just as docile as they come. We love her!

And we love our new camera.

being 36 weeks pregnant means that...

...each night, you turn into a fire-breathing dragon. The joys of heartburn!

...people suddenly like to make predictions on when you'll go into labor..

...the skin on your belly feels like it can't stretch another centimeter without ripping in half.

...your baby is now a pro at hiccuping, and you wish you could teach her the age-old methods of getting rid of them. Like holding your breath. Or swallowing your spit 10 times in a row really fast.

...you're actively preparing to breastfeed. If you know what I mean. (Ok. And have been for many weeks now!)

...when out in public, people look at your belly and then your face. And they dart out of your way like a big bus is coming through the aisle!

...by this point, you wished you owned stock in toilet paper, because you go all the time..

...and before you do anything or go anywhere, you pee first.. just so you can comfortably move around.

...people start guesstimating the weight and size of your baby based on the size of your belly. PS. There's no correlation. Not really, anyway.

...you start dreaming about labor, your child, and your husband every.single.night.

...some days you are so anxious and eager for your child to arrive. The next day, you're thankful that you still have time to prepare for their arrival.

...massages still make your world go round.

...most conversations with your spouse revolve around pregnancy and your unborn child. Just because it's fun. And you never get tired of making predictions about what they'll be like!

...watching your baby squirm around in your belly - and watching your belly roll - is your new favorite pastime.


The majority of the time, I can't wait to go into labor. And, if it were up to me, I'd have her at exactly 37 weeks.. just so we could spend more time as a family! But then.. really.. we only have 3-ish (??) weeks left as "just" us. Shouldn't I just cherish these moments? She'll come when she's good and ready - and when God gives her the little push to send me into labor! I really don't want to "rush" these last few weeks. I'm positive that I'll miss her being in my belly, feeling her little squirmies and hiccups and wiggles.

I can't even begin to imagine how our lives will change after her birth, but boy we are so excited! Mark is dying for her to come. Pronto! But I can promise you that we will be spending these last few weeks just enjoying one another. If you know us personally, you know that we are attached at the hip - and love it that way! Life couldn't be better!

my wild man from Borneo!

not much has changed!

My little Sprout at 14 weeks :)

I'm 23 today!

What does one do on their twenty-third birthday?

Wake up and eat a bowl of Cocoa Fruity Pebbles in bed.
Go to Petco for Frontline, which is way over-priced.
Head to Williamsburg to buy my mother's birthday gift.
Fail to resist the long-sleeved body suits at Carter's for Sharkie.
Go home and decide I want Mexican food.
Eat an entire vat of guacamole!!
Tidy up the house and do laundry.
Watch Mark install the car seat in the car.
Help husband clip dog's toenails (success!)
Take a nap with your husband on the couch.
Eat a cookie for supper.
Blog.


I've wanted to be 23 for as long as I can remember. I love odd numbers, and 23 just always seemed like the perfect age to be. So here I am! My nephews' cards came in the mail today.. and it's no understatement to say that I stood there and cried forever when I saw them.

Isn't that the cutest thing ever? I guess when you turn 23, you grow a neck. Since I clearly have a neck, and Clayton does not! :) I also look a little apprehensive about my claw fingers, don't I? It's the cutest thing I've ever seen, and it's on my refrigerator now!


So that's what this 23-year old did today!

nothing to blog about :)

Oh me. I'm such a bad blogger these days. I don't have a single thing to blog about.. because, well, my days are now spent:

thinking about my baby
feeling my baby move
cleaning for the baby
organizing baby things
thinking about childbirth
and basically anything that has to do with baby

And, let's face it: that doesn't leave much room for blogging material. I'm really sorry. I'm positive that things will pick up once I actually birth her. And then my blog will get really interesting. :) :) :)

We're still tooting along in birthing class and only have about 2 sessions left! We still have to cover the stages of childbirth in serious depth, postpartum, and breastfeeding. Yahoo!

We mention fear in the majority of our birthing classes. About how our culture has conditioned us to fear birth, fear pain, and doubt our ability to do things. She encouraged us to say it out loud that we CAN do this and that God made our bodies to birth our babies. And, supposedly, our brains hear it and start to believe it. Or something. I don't fear labor at all. Or the pain. I just want her to be healthy and okay.


Yesterday, Mark came home from work and massaged my feet, grilled our supper, took me for a walk, and then studied the Bible. How did I get such a catch!?

My birthday is coming up in 2 days, and we don't really have plans. I might go to the outlet malls or something. I guess. We'll see.