The Nursery...Well the start of it anyway...

We FINALLY got our nursery furniture and spent all Friday night putting it together and setting it up. Tom did a great job putting the crib together and luckily the armoire and dresser came in one piece. I love the bedding. It is called "Tall Tales" and we thought it was just perfect given that we are most likely destined to have a tall kid!

I got most of the baby gear put away and organized but the nursery is a work in progress. We still need some organizational stuff (most of you know I am crazy OCD organized) as well as some other small items. The walls are a bit bare for now but one of my soccer players is painting us a picture to match the bedding and once Baby F arrives I plan on doing a name hanging over the crib with cute letters or something. Hard to do when we don't know the sex and therefore the NAME!

Since we are less than 4 weeks away, it feels good to finally get the nursery put together. In case anything happens...at least we have a crib!!!

The Crib

The Armoire

The newly covered glider and dresser/changing table

We are going to continue to work on the nursery this weekend so I will update the blog with pictures as it gets closer to being finished (if it ever does)!

That's all for now...Tom is making me go pack my hospital bag now but more updates to follow next week after we see the doctor!

6 Weeks to go....

Well it is hard to believe that we only have 6 weeks left! The time has flown by for sure. I guess I am one of the lucky ones as I have truly enjoyed being pregnant. Although check back with me in a few weeks when they say you really start to get miserable! Haha.

Not much to report. We still don't have the nursery set up as we are waiting for the dresser to arrive so they can deliver it all to us at once. I tried to go pick up what was in but who knew baby furniture was too big to fit in the back of an SUV....not me that is for sure. So our nursery currently consists of a glider with no cushions (they are getting recovered) and yep...that is about it! Although we do have a Pack N' Play should something crazy happen and we have Baby F before the furniture arrives - Lord help us if that is the case!

We took our last baby class last weekend - Newborn Care. It was pretty informative and we learned all we ever wanted to know about breastfeeding, swaddling, bathing, etc. Tom is of course an expert on swaddling and diaper changing now - but just wait till he tries it on a live baby instead of a doll that doesn't move!!!

We had a check-up yesterday and everything was looking great. I still measure right on track and yes the weight gain is still occuring! We go back in two weeks and that is when they start checking to see if I am dialated, etc. After that, it is weekly trips to see the doctor and then before we all know it Baby F will be here!!!

As always here are some pics of the ever expanding belly. It is really starting to stick out there as you can see and I can no longer see my feet which is always entertaining.

34 Weeks and counting...

The profile of 34 weeks....

We are headed to Lake Rabun this weekend for Labor Day and to Celebrate my sweet nephew Charlie's 5th Birthday! We love the lake so I can't think of a better place to go on my final trip before the doctor bans me from going anywhere that is more than 30 min away from the hospital.

Next appointment is September 17th....

8 Weeks to go....

Well it's hard to believe we have less than 2 months to go until we get to meet Baby Frericks. The time has flown by for sure.

Last weekend, we had a full but fun weekend. My mom and sister-in-law came to town for our Nashville Baby Shower. We had a great time and got a lot accomplished in a short time. We officially have our stroller (which is a travel system that includes car seats and bases) and also our nursery glider (thanks to my nephews for letting us have it).

Sunday my amazing friends threw me a great Baby shower. We came home with so much loot it is wonderful. Now if we could just get our nursery furniture in and set up, we will really feel like we are ready. Hopefully we can get that taken care of next weekend. Here are a few pics from the baby shower:

The cute invitation....

Welcome signs for Baby "Bigfoot" of course...

We went back to the doctor last week and everything checked out great. I measured right on track again and don't worry...I am still gaining weight. We go back every two weeks for a month and then it's down to every week.

Baby Frericks is moving and kicking like a champion. I think he/she is running out of room b/c they are constantly moving all over and pushing out on my stomach. It is really fun and surreal to feel. If Baby F is as active outside the womb as he/she is right now....we are going to have our hands full!

Really starting to stick out...

Large and in charge...

Our next appointment is the week before Labor Day. More updates soon...

P.S. The links below take you to the pics from my Soccer Shower and the shower last weekend...enjoy!

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Less than 10 weeks......

We have had an exciting week this week. It started with our trip to Chapel Hill, NC to visit the Boyle Family. We had a blast and Baby Blake is adorable. It was great experience getting to see what having a one month old is like but really she is so well behaved and quiet I don't think we got a true taste of it. We did get to witness her first swim in the pool and she loved it! Here are a few pics of Tom holding and feeding Blake. She was so quiet with him and we think it is b/c he is like a king size bed - perfect for sleeping! She did of course have a few poppers and nice poopy diaper while he was holding her...so he quickly passed her back to Mommy Cori.

She was so content on her big "king size" arm...

When we got home Sunday afternoon, I was treated to my very first Baby Shower with all of my Brentwood Premier soccer girls and mom. Big thanks to Mrs. Gunn and Mrs. Hunter for hosting and thanks to all of my wonderful soccer families for the great gifts. Tom and I have quite the collection of gender neutral onesies, bibs, sleepers and towels...and they are all great! I also have to give Credit to Shannon Boone who so creatively made the gift in the picture below out of diapers, onesies, towels and washcloths. Impressive huh? She should give up the whole soccer thing and focus on Baby gifts!!

How cute is this Diaper Cake...and she made it!!!

Well, we are officially less than 10 weeks away from the arrival of Baby Frericks. As always the belly is growing and growing as you can see in the picture below. We are getting very excited and can't wait to get the nursery set up and ready. Our furniture comes in at the end of the month so I am counting down the days.

30 1/2 weeks.....the belly button is hanging on for dear life...

We have another shower next weekend hosted by our amazing friends and then our next appointment on August 18th. More updates to follow...

11 Weeks left....

Yesterday was our 29 week appointment and everything looked great. We heard the heartbeat and it was as fast and strong as ever. I have gained more weight....of course no numbers will be shared...and the belly is measuring on track (about 29 cm - although it looks much larger).

It is hard to believe that we have less than 3 months left as the time has flown by for sure. We go back in 3 weeks for our next appointment and then after that it is a visit every two weeks and our next ultrasound.

We have stayed pretty on top of things and have already registered, completed birthing class, picked a hospital, chosen a pediatrician and tossed around some names (well - we really only have the boy name as he will be Thomas Jr. and if it is a girl...well we will call her Baby F until we come up with something...haha).

As always here are some pics of the ever growing belly. Tom and I looked through all of our pictures last night and it is insane to see how much the belly has grown from my 14 week picture to now. For comparison, I have posted a 27 week and 29 week picture below...INSANE how much it grew in just 2 weeks!

27 Week belly v.

29 Week belly....look how much it has grown in just 2 weeks....

We are off to Raleigh, NC today to visit the Boyle family and meet Baby Blake for the first time. Tom is excited to practice his new swaddling skills and diaper changing!!! Then it is back to Nashville on Sunday for my first baby shower with the Brentwood 92 Premier Girls (and former players). I am so excited to see them all and wish them good luck as they head out for pre-seasons which start next week!!!

Next appointment is August 18th so more updates will follow...

Birthing Class 101

Tom and I finished our birthing class and it was entertaining to say the least. We took a weekend long course this past weekend where they cram 6 weeks of information into 2 days (10 hours). We basically learned everything from how my internal organs change as the baby grows (aka. get crammed into 1/3 of the space they are used to) all the way to how to diaper and swaddle a newborn.

I have to say I was quite disappointed in one thing...having gone to a private school in Atlanta, I was subjected to Sex Ed and subsequently the dreaded Miracle of Life video in 5th, 7th and 9th grades. Tom on the other hand had one semester of sex ed in high school and has NEVER seen that horrible/terrifying video. I couldn't wait for him to have to watch a couple of birth videos in class to get him ready for what actually happens in a delivery room. BUT.....the new videos they show these days are so weak. They show about 2 seconds of a baby being born and that is it!!! So needless to say, I may have to find a copy of the Miracle of Life to show Tom just so he can be as prepared as I have been since 5th freaking grade.

Tom has officially changed his very first diaper also (even if it was on a lifelike doll with a strange resemblance to Chuckie). I have to say he did quite well. He didn't put it on backwards or anything, although the poor doll had quite the wedgie at first. He has also mastered the "football hold" which will come in handy during those first weeks of bathing in the sink. This particular technique will also allow him to hold Baby F while keeping one hand free for the tv remote and watching Notre Dame football...which we all know will be #2 on Tom's priority list (right behind Baby F of course...)

So I think we are both a little more prepared for what Child Birth is all about. We have two classes left to take. One is Newborn care which is a short one all about what to do with the baby once we get it home and don't have the nurses helping every step of the way. The last will be Infant CPR which should be pretty cool.

That is all for now. We go to the doctor on Wednesday this week so I can't wait to see how much Baby F has grown.

P.S. According to our class instructor...we are most likely in for a large baby so everyone start praying for me now!!!

And the Third Tri-mester Begins...

We have had a busy past few weeks. Where to start....we spent 10 wonderful days at Lake Rabun for July 4th. We did a lot of sunning, swimming and fire-works watching (shout-out to Brad Halter and his awesome fireworks show...). We also ran the Annual Rabun Ramble. I did the 5K...slowly...but I did finish and if there had been a pregnant group...I may have won a medal - or not. Congrats to Brooke Halter and Laura Halter Sardone who did medal in their age group and to PJ for running his first ever 5K - at age 7!!! Also, Congrats to Rachael Webster for winning her age group in the 10K and coming in second overall....yeah she finished her race before I finished mine...haha oh well.

Baby Frericks is officially 27 weeks along and as of last Thursday I am now in my third tri-mester. Baby F is as active as ever. He/she seriously kicks all day long and with those big feet - see earlier post - there is never a dull moment. It is an incredible feeling for sure!

With the help of Eileen, my sister-in-law, we have officially finished registering for Baby F. Talk about overwhelming...who knew there were like 70 diaper bag options. Tom and I finished up this weekend after a few hours at Babies R' Us and Target (and babysupermall.com). We are excited about all the goodies we picked out - now if we can just figure out where to put it all (fingers crossed we sell our house soon).

According to Tom, I am "nesting" so I spent the rest of the weekend cleaning out all of our closets, cabinets and kitchen. I am just trying to make space for the baby gear in case we haven't sold our house come October!

As you can see the belly is getting bigger and bigger everyday. The belly button is hanging on for dear life but as of now it has not popped out yet.

27 Weeks...

and growing!

We go back to the doctor on July 28th so more updates coming soon...