32 Weeks and Blessed

Today I am 32 weeks along and feeling it!! I am trying SO hard not to complain about the little aches and pains and the swelling, but this lovely TN, triple digit heat index weather is wearing me out. My "shrek feet", as we affectionately call them, make a daily appearance and I am doing my best to stay off them and out of the heat!!! But we are so abundantly blessed and that is why I feel guilty complaining about anything! God is good. His protection is over me and Reid.

This past weekend was a blessed one. I had a baby shower in Murfreesboro with some of my closest friends and my mom's closest friends. It was so much fun!! We got a TON of baby stuff and I am, again, overwhelmed at people's generosity and willingness to be a blessing to me and Jesse and now...sweet baby Reid. THEN, we got to celebrate Jesse's first Father's Day!! I know Reid isn't here yet, but Jesse is already a daddy, constantly talking to him and doing things to get ready for him and even singing to him...but don't tell him I told you so :). Just to give one example of how precious he is...we had a whirlwind week in Missouri and when we got home there was not time to get the house cleaned up before the shower. I really don't like bringing in MORE stuff to put away on top of a unkempt house! But, what could I do? So, I went to my shower, loaded up the car, got home and my baby daddy had cleaned the WHOLE house...even vacuumed!!! How did I get so lucky? What a man, what a mighty good man...hehehe!!!

OH - Our photographer, Kacey Randolph, who did our maternity pictures now has her website up and running! Please visit www.kaceyrandolph.com for more information!!

There is MUCH to do in the next 7 weeks to be fully ready for Reid's debut! Just as soon as I get done taking a nap I'm gonna get right on that!!



Here's a snapshot of some of Reid's presents at the shower and his GIANT giraffe from his Nana and Grandaddy!!!

Home is Where the Heart Is...

We are home from Missouri and had a wonderful trip despite the sad circumstances that prompted our visit. Adam's funeral services were so perfect and I don't think Adam himself would have changed a thing. We received real closure and are so thankful for how God takes a sad situation and blesses the lives of everyone involved. I truly believe that there were hearts changed for the Lord that day.

Ady is three years old and HILARIOUS! Jesse was so excited that he could sit and have a real conversation with her. She says the funniest things and it made Jes even more excited for Reid to be 2/3 years old! Ha! I keep trying to tell him that all the stages before that will be fun too. She repeats EVERYTHING he says. He's going to be a great daddy. That I know for sure.

I am so blessed to have married into such a great family. We always have so much fun when we visit and I NEVER feel like I "married into" the family. They always make me feel like I have been a Hanks my whole life. They are so excited to meet Reid Bennett. When we were saying goodbye, I realized the next time they see us, we'll be parents...which in turn kinda freaked me out. D-day is just around the corner. Whew!!! Can't believe it.

Precious Memories

We received the sad news this morning that our wonderful Adam Vermillion was killed in a car accident last night. Adam and Jesse had been friends since Jesse's sophomore year of high school and he was such a wonderful friend throughout the years. He became part of the Hanks family "unofficially" when Lindsay, Jesse's sister, had Ady, our niece. (However, if you ask Jesse, Nelle or anyone else, they will tell you he's always been an honorary member of the family.) He doted on his daughter and spent time with her and was an active, attentive father. When Lindsay called this morning to tell us, we were so shocked,completely devasted and frustrated to be so far away while the people we love are hurting so much. I can't imagine how Adam's family is feeling right now, but I pray they are able to lean on the Lord as their strength.

This has been a day of memories and reflection for me and Jesse. We've spent a lot of time talking about Adam and Jesse has been telling me stories all day. Everything from the first day they met to talking about spending time with him before our wedding. I am so thankful for the friendship that existed between Jesse and Adam and the wonderful memories that Jesse is able to share with me. My heart is broken for Ady, but I know she will always know how much her daddy loved her and how he doted on her. And we will all have stories that she will grow up hearing and know the truly wonderful person he was.

My mom has always said, "We wouldn't feel so much hurt when we lose people if we didn't love them so much while we had them. It's worth the hurt to have the wonderful memories and love in our hearts." I believe that God has a plan for all our lives and has set us out for specific purposes. We may never know what God's purpose was for Adam, but if it was to bring that sweet baby girl to our lives and make her into such a wonderful little girl or to be a great son, friend and shoulder to so many who loved him...mission accomplished and well done. In an odd way, I am thankful that there is pain because that means that there was such sweetness in the time we had with him.

God bless you, Adam. Thank you for welcoming me and being accepting of me and making me feel like a sister from the moment I first met you. You blessed us all.

Making Music and Making a Baby: 30 Weeks Pregnant

I can't believe we are at 30 weeks already! Everyone kept telling me that time would fly by, but I didn't think it would...until now! Even though I miss my flat tummy, I was looking at my baby bump yesterday and thinking that I'll really miss it when it's gone. I know I'll have the amazing trade off of looking at Reid every day, but I have loved this season of my life and, dare I say it, of my body. :)

We had our last doctor's appointment on Tuesday and everything looked great! We set the official date for me to be induced! Unless he comes early, we will be checking into the hospital at 4am on August 9th! As we were leaving the doctor Jesse looked at me and said, "We're having a baby!" Haha! I love how things hit us at different times.

We were so blessed to have Kacey Randolph do a maternity session for us this week. She took us to Cannonsburg in Murfreesboro (super cool place) and helped us feel comfortable and natural and let us use sentimental items and let us be "us". This girl is seriously talented and I can't express how excited we are with the finished product. Kacey, we so appreciate you blessing us with your gift!

One item we brought with us to the session was a guitar that belonged to Jesse's dad. We used it in several shots and as I looked at the photos, it really made me reflect on how much music has shaped who we are as people, as a couple, and what we will be as a family. We both grew up with music around us. Jesse played music with his dad and was in several bands in high school. He played a ton around his hometown and, of course, music (and God) brought him to Nashville and to me. His family was always supportive of his talent and didn't miss a show! When I was little, I sang before I talked. I grew up singing the Judds with my mom and the Andrew Sisters with my Aunt Julie. My family sings "Happy Birthday" in 4 part harmony. I used to serenade my household on Sunday afternoons and my family was there at every show I ever sang in in high school and college. Both Jesse and I grew up immersed in music. Now, as a couple, music is a daily part of our lives. Whether we are worshipping with the team at church, heading to one of Jesse's shows, sitting on the couch with Jes playing and me singing or cooking dinner to our favorite playlist...music is a huge part of who we are and a passion we can share. There's nothing more powerful than being on stage together on a Sunday morning as we strive to help others find the passion in worship that we have in our lives. Now that we are preparing to bring this sweet boy into the world, we are so excited to help facilitate the love of music in his life. He can be whatever he wants to be, of course, but we know that as a family, music will be a huge part of our lives. I pray he is a passionate worshipper and uses what talent I'm sure he'll have to glorify our Lord.

I am so thankful for God's flawless design and how he gives us things we never knew we always needed. I always wanted to marry someone who was musical, but I never knew how powerful of a force it would turn out to be in my marriage and family. Praise God, for he supplies all our needs.

****All Maternity Photos by Kacey Randolph Photography****

Third Trimester and SUMMER!!!!

I feel like I should win a gold medal for actually making it to summer with (some of) my insanity intact. It has been so hard to focus on school lately when all I want to do is focus on these sweet little kicks coming from inside my belly. Now I can sit and think about (and freak out about) becoming a mommy without feeling guilty that I'm not thinking about decimal points and fractions. :) We had our first baby shower on Tuesday. My work friends threw me a diaper shower and I was completely blessed by the amazing staff at LLE! We have diapers of all sizes and more wipes than I can ever imagine using...although everyone tells me that I will use every.single.one. My wonderful team blessed me with the diaper bag I have been OBSESSING over. Vera Bradley, Totally Turq. Its the cutest thing ever! I love it. I wanted so so badly to come home that day and fill it with baby stuff. Haha...like I said, obsessive. I can't wait until it's filled with all the tings my sweet son needs.

So the last day of school felt surreal. I walked out thinking, "the next time I'm here, I'll have a sweet baby boy living in my house." It still doesn't feel real! I just can't imagine the feeling of seeing his face for the first time and kissing his little cheeks and holding him skin to skin. How do you anticipate something you can't imagine?

As I was told by so many, the third trimester has brought. I mean, as if someone said "ACTION" the third trimester has rolled on cue and brought with it as many naps as I can fit into one day! I am thankful to report a normal blood sugar test! I was really worried about having to prick my finger every day and worry about all the things that come along with gestational diabetes. Praise God for his abundance of blessings.

So, I kicked off summer with a celebratory lunch at IHOP with Megan and Michelle and then a nice LONNNNGG nap and then Sex and the City with my girlfriends. Jesse is out of town playing in Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. I miss him like crazy. I think I go a little off my rocker whenever he's not here. I just don't feel like myself when I'm here by myself. He's my stability.

I'm ready for the R&R that comes with summer and ready to get this place ready for a perfect homecoming for Reid. Not that he's going to go around checking baseboards when we bring him home from the hospital, but I want everything to be ideal for him. Nothing has ever seemed so important creating the PERFECT environment for my sweet little angel.

Weird Weather and Weird Hair

The weather today has been total madness. Even as I watch the news for the millionth hour in a row I STILL can't believe the massive amounts of water that have overtaken the Nashville area. As if I needed one more thing to freak me out, now I've already told Jesse that once Reid gets here we will NEVER drive in the rain just in case it is like this again and we get flooded on the interstate and have to wade out of our car to the side of the road, baby in tow. He laughed, of course. My worries and scatterbrained thoughts are nothing of consequence to him lately, which is good. ONE of us has to be sane around here!

So we had a wonderful, lazy Saturday morning. Lounging around with the dogs, no t.v. on, reading and basking in the quiet. We had planned to go register today and so around noon we decided to get ready to head out. I took a shower and afterward felt very tired and told Jes I wanted to take a nap first (LAZY)...AND woke up 2 hours later! whew! When we went downstairs we both had a dozen missed calls. Apparently the weather had gotten bad? lol. Thirty minutes later we were putting couch cushions in our downstairs bathroom and rounding up the dogs. Everything turned out fine of course, but not for everyone. We are still amazed that I-24 is flooded and cars are completely submerged and a trailer floated down the interstate and was destroyed and cars were FLOATING down the itnerstate upside down? What in the world? Where's the Ark??? We are praying for everyone affected by this horrible storm and especially the families of those that lost their lives. Weird weather.

On another note...sooooo we all know I have STRAIGHT hair. The straightest. There in no curl in there. Well, so today I took my shower and decided that I wanted to take a nap. I've done this before. Just woke up, blow-dried my hair, straightened and went along. NOT TODAY. When I woke from my nap and looked in the mirror, my hair was straight up CURLY!! Where did these curls come from? When did my hair decide it wanted to be wavy?? It was so weird. It was everywhere and I had no idea what to do with it. I don't know how to have curly hair. Ha! Anyway, I've heard pregnancy can make your hair change, but it just really weirded me out. Pregnancy totally takes over your whole body. Weird Hair.

Weird Day.

What a Week!!

Last week was so crazy! Didn't feel well the whole weekend before, but Monday morning (my 28th birthday) I woke up feeling fine. Had a great day at school and a wonderful birthday dinner with family. Tuesday morning...not so great. Woke up throwing up. Poor Jesse. He just loves me no matter what. That was a goooood thing on Tuesday morning. Since it was the last day of TCAP I HAD to go to school, ended up throwing up mid-test, sleeping in the nurses station and looking like DEATH the whole rest of the day. I am so thankful for the wonderful team I work with. They took excellent care of me. Luckily, I had an ultrasound that afternoon and was seeing the doc anyway. He said I had a virus and not to worry. Yeah right! But I did feel better by Wednesday morning so praise God!

I'm so excited that I got our glider for my birthday! The nursery is really starting to come together! J put it together for me and I love to just go and sit in it and imagine rocking my baby! Jesse had to work on Tuesday so my mom went with me to the ultrasound. It was so special to share that with my mom who is so supportive and excited about her grandbaby. We just could believe it when we saw that sweet profile on the screen. He has gotten so big. He weighed 1 lb 8oz! That's in the 63rd percentile. Doc said he's right on track!

Friday night and Saturday morning we had our childbirth class. It was so neat. We both feel much more prepared for the upcoming delivery. There's a lot to know, but being in the know makes us so much more comfortable. Jes did great. He held a HUGE plastic baby and practiced changing diapers and swaddling. He's going to be such a good daddy. He listened attentively and is so interested in learning as much as he can. He's amazing.

Today was church outside the walls and we went to work at the Stones River Center in Murf. I raked and trimmed bushes and now I'm sore. Guess we know who has NOT been working out lately. It was a great time, though and such a blessing to BE a blessing. Then we went to White House to buy a black shelf we found on Craig's List. That was the last piece of furniture for the nursery! Time to get busy working on it! Can't wait.

All in all it's been a great week! Can't believe I'm going to be 24 weeks tomorrow! I am just LOVING being pregnant! Every day is a new adventure! Reid is growing, growing! Every day we grow more anxious to meet him.