HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.

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Category : Words

Pregnancy Blog: 34 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 34 weeks

With a long weekend and the weather finally shifting to fall, this week has treated me alright. There’s really not much to update except that college football season is finally here! It’s kind of weird not have a beer in hand while watching the game, but I’ll live. Of course I don’t know how it will work out, but I’m pretty pumped that Iris is due during the one week that the Razorbacks have off. It’s just known around these parts that you don’t schedule anything for game days. Seriously. If you live in Fayetteville, you plan weddings, baby showers, and everything else around the football schedule. And now, it appears I’ve planned my baby by that rule too.

Not surprisingly, sleep is the roughest thing for me at 34 weeks. I’m always uncomfortable and of course I’m waking up every two hours to pee or to stretch my legs. During the day I feel Iris’ super strong movements. The cute little kicks have turned into me saying “ouch” more often than not. She also gets the hiccups every day, but thankfully those haven’t lost their charm just yet.

More than anything, I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. Now that we’re in September, I can officially say that next month – I’ll have a baby.
And a beer.

Pregnancy Blog: 33 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 33 weeks

I got so exited about the nursery post that I almost forgot to do this week’s update!

Here at 33 weeks I’m to the point where when someone asks me how I’m feeling, my response it completely different than how it’s been the past 32 weeks. Long gone are the days when I was upbeat and chipper responding, “I feel great!” Now I just start to rattle off the list of “my back hurts, I can’t breath, my feet are swollen, stairs are the devil, I don’t sleep, and I can’t imagine how I’m supposed to get any bigger.” To top it all off, I’ve come down with my second cold of the year. Now I REALLY can’t breath.

Okay – enough complaining! This week was still a good, busy one despite the pregnancy woes settling in. I spent much of the week in Nashville for my very last work trip before Iris arrives. Surprisingly, 9 hours in the car (each way mind you) wasn’t bad at all. I was a tad nervous about being away from home in case anything happened early, but after approval from my doctor, we hit the road. Everything went smoothly and we even got to stop in my hometown of Memphis for some BBQ and a tour of Graceland. Not a shabby way to spend a work day!

Besides the travel approval, the doctor’s appointment was easy breezy. I’m pretty sure it was the quickest appointment in the history of pregnant ladies. I was in and out the door in 15 minutes (usually the wait alone is an hour). My weekly visits will start soon, so that’s another sign that we’re getting closer…

A few pictures from Memphis & Nashville

Graceland

Graceland

Graceland

Nashville

Nashville

And one more of Iris & me this week!

Pregnancy Blog: 33 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 32 weeks & the baby shower!

Baby Shower!

I’m a little late on getting this week’s post up, but that’s because I’m sitting here typing this from a hotel in downtown Nashville. It’s my last work trip before the baby arrives and now at 33 weeks, I’m moving a little slow.

Despite the swollen feet and aching back, week 32 was the best yet! With my baby shower this past Saturday, my week was full of friends, food, and prizes for Iris. More than anything, I just loved having so many of my favorite people around, especially those who live out of town that I rarely get to see. I am beyond thankful for all of my eight (eight!) shower hosts and all that they did. It was truly a day that I will remember forever. And oh my goodness can I just talk for a minute about the baby loot we received? It took me forever to open up all of those goodies! So long that I actually started to feel bad for the guests. Hah. We are so grateful for everything we received.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Once we get completely organized I’ll do a feature on the nursery, which I’m sure will include lots of the gifts. For now though, here are some photos from the weekend (with more to come later, from Erin, who thankfully also took pictures while I was busy cracking open presents and talking to everyone).

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

My mom

Baby Shower!

Brandy

Baby Shower!

My niece, Mariam

Baby Shower!

Erin

Baby Shower!

GL & me

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Jessica & Brains

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Hillary

Baby Shower!

Beth

Baby Shower!

Kerri & Brandy

Baby Shower!

GL & Milton

Baby Shower!

Ashlee, Jill, & Jessica

Baby Shower!

Brains & Lacy

Baby Shower!

Family

Baby Shower!

After the shower…
Todd’s dad & my nephew Cole

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

Dinner with Memphis pals

Baby Shower!

Baby Shower!

A few Instagram pics from myself & friends…

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Smores wontons by Erin

Baby shower!

Just a few of the gifts

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

Baby shower!

What a magical weekend! Now I can’t wait to get home and set everything up. Thanks again to everyone who has helped make this baby journey extra awesome.

Xoxo

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

These blogs are kind of funny because by the time I write them, the week that I’m writing about is almost over. So that means as of today, I have around two more months left of this growing a baby thing.

That’s only eight more Saturdays of not having a baby, ya’ll.
And that’s if she doesn’t come early.

During our 31st week, Todd and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. I honestly can’t believe it’s been that long. Last year we jetted off to Vegas for the weekend to celebrate, knowing (hoping) that it might be our last summer without a baby. Smart thinkin. This year we kept it simple by grilling steaks and watching football. It may sound like Todd chose our itinerary, but nope. It was me. I’m counting down to fall for more than one reason, and one of those reasons is that I’m going through major football withdrawal.

Every year we try to remember to pull down the airbrushed backdrop that we used at our wedding and take pictures of us as the years go on. This year I especially didn’t want to miss that tradition.

From our wedding…

On our second anniversary…

2nd Anniversary / 2009

This year…

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

This week was also all about preparing ourselves as parents for Miss Iris (well, as much as you can anyway). Todd and I did a Labor & Delivery class during the week, which included a tour of the delivery area of our hospital. Then, we spent our Saturday learning about baby basics, which wasn’t really that necessary but it certainly didn’t hurt. Except for when they passed around the poo chart. That was gross. I was mostly there for the afternoon (FOUR hour) session that was all about breast feeding. Don’t worry, I let Todd go home for that one. I’ve always planned on going the breastfeeding route, but was completely clueless about the process before this class. If anything, I’ll feel more confident about it going in.

Other happenings this week…

Todd got crafty & made Razorback onesies

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

Our “baby” from our class

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

My mom made us dinner.
Shrimp & grits, rosemary lemonade, & chocolate pie from scratch.
I want more… now.

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

Taylor had her baby!
I got to meet Mr. Seger Monroe Sutton today. So handsome.
Now it looks like I’m up next, followed by GL. We can do this!

Taylor had her baby!

* * * * *

This upcoming weekend is my baby shower and I couldn’t be more excited. More than anything I just can’t wait to see everyone, especially my pals who are coming in from out of town. So yeah, next week’s post should be a fun one!

Pregnancy Blog: 31 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Yee haw, we’ve entered over into the 30s!
That’s another big milestone that always seemed so far away.

This week has gone by fast, but all in all it was a good week. I had another doctor’s visit today, which mostly involved waiting and about five minutes of the doctor actually visiting. Once again, everything looks good! The doctor measured my tummy and I’m measuring two weeks ahead (not much of a surprise). She wants to keep an eye on that and if it doesn’t even out, she might schedule me for another ultrasound closer to my due date to get a better idea of how big Iris is getting. I imagine that if Iris really is measuring that big, there’s a chance that they could induce me a little early, but that’s something I won’t know till we get a lot closer.

At this point, that sounds fantastic. Despite being exhausted all the time, sleep is officially a challenge. Lots of pillows certainly help, but for some reason my legs feel just awful all night long. If that doesn’t wake me up, my bladder will. I probably get up about every 2 hours, which I suppose is nature’s way of getting me ready for my life come October. Iris has been kicking up a storm lately, which is cute and all but that doesn’t help the sleep situation either. And by kicks, I mean really hard jabs. I can now feel what I assume are tiny feet and hands poking up at me, which is pretty amazing mixed with a little creepiness too.

This week Todd and I took advantage of some soon-to-expire hotel points and spent Saturday night at Embassy Suites in Rogers. Yeah, that would be about 20 minutes from our house. We played tourist for the day and visited a couple of town squares, toured the spot where Walmart first started, browsed antique stores, and gave Five Guys Burgers a try. I’m so glad we decided to do something like that by ourselves before Iris arrives, even if it was just up the street.

Some photos from the week…

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Vintage find: Kenny Rogers pearl snap shirt

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Walton’s Five and Dime

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Pretty soaps inside the Walmart museum

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Hotel room

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Five Guys

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Vintage find: Lemon yellow girl’s dress

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Nursery sneak peek

IMG_9071

Random thing of the week:
Todd’s baby book led to the discovery that his mom & my mom…
shared the same gynecologist! How crazy is that?

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

We have a couple busy weeks ahead with a labor & delivery tour, baby classes, and my baby shower. It’s all happening... and I’m so excited. XOXO