Can I Step on my Soapbox for a Minute?

**This week has been busy but slow all at the same time! I had 3 doctors appointments this week, 2 for the specialist and 1 at my OB. Dr. Reed (the specialist) was worried about Christmas messing up my routine appointment so he had me come in on Friday...haha, whatever! But, I'm sure poor Josiah is tired of being poked with the ultrasound machine!! It's like he knows everytime we're at the doctor. He refuses to move when we're there, but as soon as I leave or get home he's squirming all over the place!**

Anyhow, this morning before I started my mission of baking peanut butter brownies, I was watching a little tv and eating breakfast. Anthony was getting ready to go play a round of golf...he might be a little crazy since it's cold and windy out! I can't remember what I was watching (or if I was even really watching, I was also trying to finish up a crochet project) but a commercial came on for the "HurryCane". It's an all-terrain cane that can also stand up by itself. Anthony by this time was in the kitchen and he heard the commercial and said "we should have gotten that for you mom for Christmas!" He was completely kidding of course. However, it did get me thinking...

Many of you may or may not know that I was adopted (that should be a whole other blog post), but to make a long story short I have a huge family because I keep in touch with both of my biological parents. A lot of people find this very interesting but to me it's just normal. It's always fun to answer the question "do you have any siblings?" Well...yes I do...lots: I have 3 older brothers and then I have 5 biological half brothers and 3 biological half sisters, but I basically grew up as an only child. So, how does that work? I have 3 older brothers, but they could technically be my dads! The youngest one is almost the same age as Anthony's parents I believe.

It can be quite a confusing to try and explain my whole adoption story. The easy short way is: it was a private open adoption. The long confusing way if you're up for it is: My mom's (and when I say mom I'm talking about my adopted mom, because she IS my mom) brother married my biological mom's aunt. Of course my mom and biological mom didn't know each other tho. Anyhow, my parents had just married off the last of my 3 brothers and had attempted to adopt a sibling group, but that fell through. Shortly after that my mom's brother contacted my parents and asked if they would be interested in adopting a baby. That baby just so happened to be me. So...had I NOT been adopted I would still be related to my mom's brother by marriage (he would be my great uncle), and I probably wouldn't even know my parents. But, since I WAS adopted, he is my uncle. Confused yet?? That's alright...it doesn't really matter anyway, we're just one big happy family!!

Okay, back to my point. My parents were grandparents when they decided to adopt me. I mean, dad was about to turn 50 and mom was 47/48 when they brought me home! To most of you that probably sounds absolutely crazy!! Many times throughout my life (mostly just through school) I had people ask if those were my grandparents, haha! It never really bothered me tho. The only thing I still give them a hard time about is that they were always party poopers when it came to New Years Eve! Other than that..my childhood on up was the same as any other kid. Mom was able to stay home with me and then eventually worked part time while I was in school. Dad still worked and coached me for many years in softball...he was even my catcher when it came to pitching lessons...poor guy I think he still has a bruise on his leg from all those drop ball pitches...sorry about that dad!

So what am I ranting about? Over the past couple of months I've either had or heard a few different conversations where people have said things like "there's no way I'd have another kid at this age" or "I'm through with mine, it's my time to enjoy now". Now I'm not saying going out and adopting a baby at the age of 50 is what everyone is suppose to do. But, it just irritates me that some people think they've earned the right to their "own" time once they hit a certain age. To so quickly dismiss the idea if a child was to end up on their doorstep is just sad to me. They have no idea what they could be missing out on. I count it an absolute priviledge to have had "older" parents. I grew up listening to the oldies on the radio with my dad, I definitely know a few "older" sayings, and I think I learned to hold a higher respect for the older generation (where some kids today have absolutely none). Not only do I think I benefited from having older parents, but I believe my parents benefited as well. If you were to run into my parents today I guarantee you would not guess their age correctly, or that they have 7 great grandchildren and almost 9 grandchildren. They have been very blessed with great health and have aged fantastic. I fully believe when you let yourself "get old" then you most certainly will. Something happens to a person when they stop being active. I'm sure I certainly kept my parents on their toes for many years! Not tooting my own horn, because I think the benefits were mutual. Now, look at these pictures and tell me if you'd ever guess mom is 72 and dad is 74!! Sorry mom, don't kill me for posting your age, but you look GREAT so you shouldn't be ashamed!



This picture was taken in April '12

This one is a few years old, but trust me, he hasn't changed!

This is probably the most recent one of both of them

The Bible tells us that children are a blessing (Pslam 127:3-5). It should not matter what age you are. There is no age limit for a person to stop having or adopting children (granted I'm not saying someone should adopted a baby at the age of 80, let's have some common sense). And, please don't tell me you want to have all of your children at a young age so you will be able to enjoy them and your grandchildren and not be "too old"....

And now, I will step off of my soapbox! All of that from a silly cane commercial...I better go check to see how my brownies turned out!!


Specialist Appointment

I had an appointment with the specialist this morning (Dr. Reed) and mister Josiah is doing great! I had another new ultrasound tech but she was super friendly. We attempted to get some cute 3D pictures, but of course little man decided to be difficult and keep his hands in front of his face...this has been the norm for him the entire pregnancy, haha oh well if he enjoys having them up there then that's fine =) She did get a pretty good shot of his foot...

Maybe that's the foot that enjoys kicking my right rib cage!

Josiah weighed in at an estimated 5 pounds (38th percentile) the ultrasound tech said she believes he'll probably be around 7 1/2 pounds or so, sounds good to me! He also scored and 8/8 for the different things they look for to make sure he is doing alright (fluid levels, movement, etc.). From now on I'll be heading to the specialist weekly, WOW, that means things are getting seriously close!

As of tomorrow I will have 6 weeks left...and I feel like I have SO much left to do:
*I'd still like to get some pictures taken
*I need to start thinking about what I want to pack for the hospital
*I'd like to see if we can talk to someone in the Gwinnett Medical NICU, just to ask a few questions (one question in particular is to see if I can at least hold Josiah before they take him to the NICU, so long as he is alright right after he is born)
*I need to call the insurance company to ask a few questions
*Pre-register at the hospital
*Finish reading a book I started about natural childbirth (we have chosen not to do any childbirth classes..no specific reason really..mostly we just haven't had the time)
*Get my hair done...this should be at the top of my list...my hair is driving me CRAZY!

As far as pregnancy goes, I'm still enjoying it for the most part:
+ I still haven't had any crazy cravings, which is fine with me!
+ I have a good bit of energy (minus today..I've been super lazy!)
+ I love feeling Josiah move around, especially when he's pushing his knee/hand/butt out and part of my stomach is harder because of it
+ Overall I feel pretty good!

- I'm tired of feeling like I wear the same clothes over and over..but there is no sense in going and buying anything new now
- Heartburn can go climb a tree! It's usually the worst if I eat a little too much or if it's something spicy. Sometimes it will randomly act up, and it can get to the point where it makes me have to cough/feel like I'm about to puke in my mouth!
- Sometimes my heart will decide to race and it will feel like I just ran a mile, I've noticed it tends to happen if I have my hands over my head for a short time (like washing my hair in the shower)


Other than that, not much has been happening in the Barfield household! I am super ready for Christmas, it's definitely my favorite holiday!! I just kind of wish it would get a little colder to make it feel like it's actually winter...I wouldn't mind a little snow either =)
Only 8 more days until Christmas, and I can't help but be thankful for the true meaning of Christmas...I am so thankful for my Lord and savior Jesus Christ and that we have the freedom to celebrate his birth!!

No More...

...Pediatric cardiologist prenatal appointments!!! I had my last appointment with Dr. V last Thursday, and it was crazy to think that the next time I see Dr. V we will have mister Josiah here! The appointment went great (as in there were no changes from the last time I was there). Dr. V said there is still some narrowing of his PFO, but that he could still see that blood was passing through to the right atrium, so that's a good thing. There is still a possibility that it could become more narrow by the time Josiah arrives, but we're just going to pray that it stays the same or even corrects itself!

I was kind of bummed that Michelle (my ultrasound tech) wasn't there. I actually had a couple of questions for her, but she was sick. I had a very sweet girl do the ultrasound for me and I could tell that she was still somewhat new. Michelle and I usually carry on all sorts of conversations while she's scanning. I asked this girl something when she first started and she didn't answer for like 2 minutes, haha! I can't imagine how long it probably takes to get really good at doing fetal echos though...everything tends to look the same to me but it's obviously not. I remember this girl did tell me that everyone refers to Dr. V and Michelle as the "dream team"...that's definitely nice to hear =)

For the past 3 appointments I've gotten used to having some sort of medical student shadowing either Michelle or Dr. V and Thursday was no different. When Dr. V came in he had a medical student with him and he watched as Dr. V took over the scan. It felt like this scan took extra long, but I guess Dr. V wanted to get one, good last look at Josiah's heart before he's born. This also answered my question as to why I had to keep going to both the pediatric cardiologist and the specialist. Since this is my last appointment with Dr. V, I will continue to go to the specialist up until I deliver so they can monitor Josiah's heart and make sure everything is still going well.


No More...
...Enjoying sleep! Up until about a week ago I really couldn't complain about how I was sleeping (besides the normal middle of the night bathroom break). NOW..is a different story. I no longer enjoy going to bed. I can't get comfortable, I think I turn over back and forth about 12 times a night, and I no longer take 1 bathroom trip but 2!!..I hope it doesn't get to 3 buy the end of it all, wishful thinking?? I know I've heard over and over you arn't suppose to sleep on your back. However, I asked Dr. Pohl about this early on and he said as long as I wasn't passing out, getting light-headed, or having trouble breathing I could sleep on my back. Again, about a week and a half ago it became uncomfortable to lay on my back for more than about a minute, ugh! Tums and I have become very close friends recently...that old wives tale better come true...Josiah you better come out with a head full of hair, buddy!


No More...
...Enjoying food! Okay, just kidding...I can't give up my nightly bowl of cereal (which has really been the only continuous legit craving I've had so far). But seriously, I feel like I look at food and I gain weight now. I know I'm not, but maybe I just feel like I am because I feel HUGE! I've honestly done much better than I thought I would with gaining weight. I think I'm right around 18-20 pounds at 32 weeks. Of course that estimated weight comes from weighing myself right after I wake up, pee, and I'm in my birthday suite...come on ladies..don't lie, you know that's how you do it too ;) Too funny, I had this conversation with 2 friends a few weeks ago and we were dying laughing because we all said that's what we do. And, when we go to doctors appointments we pick out the lightest weight clothes/shoes...anything to save a half a pound!


Alright, enough complaining. Here are some things that I'm still able to do or enjoy doing:

*Wear the same size shoe:
thankfully my feet haven't swollen or gotten any bigger/flatter
*Wear my wedding rings :
unless I've had a little too much sodium the day before..that usually happens on Monday, because of what we eat on Sunday
*Work:
still substituting
*Do a little exercising:
even though it's not always at the gym
*Wear pants that I wore before getting pregnant :
with my belly band of course! Thankfully my butt and legs haven't gotten bigger and I can still fit into them besides zipping/buttoning
*Go on dates:
Anthony and I are actually going on one this weekend to see Chronicles of Narnia the Musical at the new Buford Community Center, I can't wait...yes I'm a nerd
*Feel my little buddy inside kick away:
poor guy is starting to get a little cramped I'm afraid

**We are down to 8 weeks!! I'm sure they will drag by and fly at the same time!**

 

 

...The Nursery!

It wasn't until after we found out we we're having a boy that I got excited about shopping and decorating. While going to different stores and looking at baby clothes, I noticed I would tend to enjoy anything with monkies on it. I even bought Josiah a little sleeper with monkies on it. About a month and a half ago people began asking me how I was going to decorate the nursery. Good question...I hadn't really thought about it, but thought I might end up sticking with the monkey theme. However, the more time that passed, the less it appealed to me...

Finally, after much thought, I decided on a theme....primitive american (or early, colonial america). The more I thought about it, the more I fell in love with the idea! I shared my thoughts with Anthony and he was on board as well! I started searching online for crib bedding sets, and that's when I realized that this theme was going to be more difficult then I had imagined...

After many hours of searching and marking off the option of paying someone an arm and a leg to make crib bedding/curtains, I decided to attempt to sew the curtains and crib skirt myself. I found some awesome fabric at Hobby Lobby that will work perfect. I had gone to a few antique stores to look for a few decorations and had almost given up hope until one weekend back in October.

Anthony and I decided to head to Monroe because we had heard they have a few awesome antique stores! Come to find out the Saturday we chose to go was also when Monroe had their fall festival, so we killed a few birds with one stone. We got up early Saturday and headed to our church rummage sale for missions. They had a TON of stuff, but nothing we were really looking for..they ended up making over $3,000 for missions!! God is GOOD!!! After the rummage sale, we headed to downtown Monroe and stopped to walk around for the festival. There was SO much going on, and perfect for families! We actually ran into Anthony's cousin Will, his wife Kristin, and their little girl Jayden. They told us about the old cotton mill antique store and we decided to check that one out first.

WOW...talk about an antique store! Anthony has mentioned a few times since we've been there, that that was the best antique store he's been to so far. It was HUGE and we ended up finding 2 things to put in Josiah's room. We came across a really old 1776 American flag framed, but opted not to pay almost $600 for it..haha! Before we left we came across a vendor that had tea-stained flags!! They came in all sizes and were incredibly affordable. We picked out a 13 star flag that was 17X28, and we also bought a metal barn star for only 8 bucks! I ended up puting the 13 star flag in a frame I found at Hobby Lobby. I also backed it with burlap to make it look even more primitive.

The first thing I actually made for Josiah's room was a decorative piece that spelled out Josiah's name to hang above his bed. It turned out decent, but I am having to re-glue the letters with wood glue (they don't want to stick with the hot glue I used). After framing the flag, I decided it was time to start on the curtains. I found a simple pattern online for a valance, some fabric from Hobby Lobby, and went from there. It didn't turn out too bad for my first "big" sewing project. I also found some cheap pannels at Anna's that matched pretty well with the valance. I didn't like how they were made to hang, so I ended up cutting the tops off and sewing a pocket for the curtain rod to go through.

Anthony hanging the finished piece!

You can kind of see the crib skirt here...

It took me and entire Saturday to make the valance and fix the curtain pannels, so it took me a few weeks to get in the mood to try and attempt the crib skirt! Finally, a couple Saturdays I decided it was time to get it over with. Again, I found a simple pattern online to use. It took me 2 days to get this project done! I wouldn't say either of these things were hard to make, just time consuming!! I'm sure it wouldn't have taken a more experienced sewer nearly that long =)

Overall I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. It has definitely helped pull everything together and make the room look more finished. We also bought a 9 hole cubby organizer thing from Target. We also have one in the "dining room" that we use for books and Anthony's cans of tuna...haha, don't ask, just know we go through many cans of tuna in the Barfield household! And, storing them in a basket in the bookcase is a perfect place since we don't have room in the pantry.

Definitely adds some storage!

This was my rocking chair when I was little,
and it matches his furniture! 

The only other thing I plan on doing to Josiah's room is possibly add some shelves and picture frames to the empty wall in his room, but that can come later. Now all we need is a baby to put in the crib =)