36 Weeks - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

How far along? 36 weeks...where in the world did that come from?! And where did all that time go it felt like we had?!

Due Date? January 14, 2014 (I'm gonna go ahead and say she'll for sure be here by the 17th/18th at the latest...but we haven't discussed details with our doctor yet.) 

How big is baby? Bryleigh is about 18.75 inches long and approximately 5.75 pounds.  She is about the size of a crenshaw melon.

Maternity clothes? Yep!

Stretch marks? Nothing new here!

Sleeping? I spoke to soon last week...Monday-Wednesday night including tossing and turning for hours before finally falling asleep each night, and I've been waking up pretty early every morning.

Miss anything? Just being able to go and do as I please.  The tougher parts of hyperemesis (on top of all the changes that come with any pregnancy) have left me feeling pretty weak, so I get really tired really easily.  I'm looking forward to a nice 3 mile jog on the treadmill!! (My "get-fit" goal for after Bryleigh gets here is to train for and run a 5K with my momma!)

Movement? Love this baby girls movement!! She goes non-stop - left hip up to sternum - pushing and rolling around!

Food cravings? Not much is sounding good these days, with a pretty small appetite on top of that this week.

Food aversions? Thankfully although I haven't had much sounding good, I'm not turned off by anything specific either.

Gender predictions? GIRL!!!!  Brad let Dr. Harris know at our appointment this past week that I had been having those feelings about delivering and finding out it was a boy at the very last minute...so he just set up the sonogram and took a look at our little miracle!  We got to see lots of her, including confirmation that she is in fact a girl!  It was the first time we had seen her since week 18, so we were so thankful for him doing that for us.  Dr. Harris let us know, "All things point to girl, but leave room for God showing you that he is ultimately in charge." - SERIOUSLY love my doctor! :)

Symptoms? Ugh, had some sick days this week, including sleeping with the trash can by the bed Saturday night and some pretty rough nausea most of the day Sunday. (Four...more...weeks!)

Belly button – in or out? Just flat...it will poke out a little when she moves around from time to time.

Wedding rings – on or off? Um....about that...When you get them off and feel like maybe you should keep them off...keep them off.  I put both rings back on while I was getting ready the other day out of habit and had a lot of trouble getting the engagement ring off...the wedding band is still on there! :(

(I DID finally get my wedding ring off!! While sitting with my family at Williams Christmas, I just kept messing with it until it came off! Praise the Lord - I really did pray for that!!)

Mood? Definitely had some "emotional" moments this week...But being 36 weeks pregnant, I think that makes it okay! ;)

Labor signs? During our appointment this week, Dr. Harris confirmed that Bryleigh is head down and has started moving into the birth canal.  During the check, he said that I haven't dilated at all yet, which is totally okay with us since we REALLY need her to wait until 2014!  (And before you ask why or try to convince us 2013 is better for tax purposes, I'll give you one word: INSURANCE.) 

Best moment(s) this week? This was another fabulous, FULL week :)

Tuesday - We had our 36 week appointment with Dr. Harris and my first check to see if I was dilated, along with the Strep B test.  Both were a little more painful than I had expected, but I've always had pain/discomfort associated with those types of things (coming from the endometriosis and any scar tissue that has built up).  Like I mentioned earlier, we were able to SEE our sweet baby girl, and we got confirmation that it is definitely a baby girl!

On Monday - we made our LAST payment!!!

So incredibly blessed and thankful to have our budget

to Dr. Harris paid off without putting any of it on Credit!

Wednesday - Planning the hospital packing...If you know me, you know that I am a planner and a list maker!  I've received three different emails encouraging me to "Pack the Bags," so I figured I'd at least start by making a list of what all will need to go in to those bags!

We had our small group Christmas Party on Wednesday night, which was also a celebration for our sweet Bryleigh.  These are the people that have walked with us for the past year.  We have prayed together, cried together, and laughed together, and each of them have been a HUGE encouragement to Brad and me through our roller coaster of a year - Brad's weekly traveling to Connecticut, the fears of infertility and possibilities of IVF, the excitement of finding out we were pregnant, and the hardest journey we've faced to date...living with hyperemesis.

Our small group showered Miss B with some sweet gifts

and us with some fun diaper messages for those

middle-of-the-night changes!

Brad was SO excited to get his "Respect Her" bat from Mike!

Thursday - Alan's family got in town for our weekend of Christmases!!  Any time with those four is LOTS of fun!

Friday - Mom and Dad got in town in time for some Taco Soup on Friday night followed by our family's Christmas.  Tate is definitely in to opening presents, and although he always stopped at the box...once he realized there was more he inside, he was SO much fun to watch.  And it's definitely a special time since it is Baby Sister's (Olivia) first Christmas.

A Christmas Tree FULL of presents!

Mimi, Pappy, and the babies! There will be one more in there next year! ;)

Tate loved getting to help pass out all of the presents!

Baby Sister was WORN out from all the excitement!!

Tate slept on a pallet all weekend, and Friday night he got

to sleep in the living room with Mimi and Pappy!

Saturday - My mom's family always gets together on the Saturday before Christmas for some good food and a gift exchange.  It's definitely one of my favorite parts of Christmas!  This year it was at my Aunt Becca and Uncle Don's house, and Brad and I were so blessed by sweet words from Don and a prayer over the remainder of my pregnancy and Miss Bryleigh's delivery and life by my cousin Jeff.  (I've mentioned before, but I'll say it again...we are so blessed with an amazing family!!)

He might have fallen asleep ON the pallet,

but THIS is where he ended up! :)

Miss Olivia's loot from her 1st Williams' Christmas

Uncle Brad was on "Mickey" duty

Sunday - I woke up sick around 5:00 on Sunday morning and fought the nausea most of the day, but we had some last minute stuff we needed to get done before we finish up our family Christmases.  (When Brad asked why I thought I got sick again today, I informed him, "Because we actually have stuff we need to do today..."  That seems to be when I get the sickest.)  We did have a pancake breakfast with Alan's family before they headed out to do spend time with Candice's family for a few Christmas gatherings.  Thankfully, we were able to head out for some errands after the Cowboys game (YAY BOYS!) and got everything finished up that we needed to.

Some last minute snuggles with Olivia!

Looking forward to? This week we celebrate another baby's birth - Jesus, and that is where our focus will be.  Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year, and I can't wait to teach Bryleigh about the ultimate gift we were given through that little baby's birth, and ultimately His death on the cross.  I'm looking forward to the wonderful Christmas Eve service with both sets of our parents and time with Brad's family on Christmas Day.  And did I mention I'll be FULL TERM on Christmas Eve??