Up at 2AM

I was up at 2AM this morning. Normally she wakes me up at 4AM on the button kicking and I have to go pee but this morning it was 2, and I couldn't go back to sleep. So I laid there until about 5:30 when the sprinklers came on outside, and then I really couldn't sleep so I got up, fed Harper, showered, got breakfast for Dave and I at T&T and was ready to start the day at 7AM.

Dave told me he doesn't like "chipper, energetic, morning Katie" because it isn't natural. Which is so true...even Harper was annoyed at being up so early. I guess its good practice.

Work as been picking up and I am now enjoying what I am doing again, because the new clients are fun, and the projects are challenging. Six months ago I was so bored and ready to be done, but now I am rethinking coming back to work. There are pros and cons to both, and I am going to list them out below. Regardless of what ends up being the final verdict, I am so BLESSED to work for a great man. My boss Ken Dickenson is allowing me to take 3 months after she is born, with benefits to decide if I want to come back. He and I both agreed that trying to make the decision before she gets here is kind of pointless because a lot can and will change between the time she is born and when it is time to go back. Right now I work 20 hours a week, and I have full benefits, which is unheard of with part time work, so I am very weary to give up on this job, because if I decide that I do want to go back, I am not going to find a gig I enjoy as much, and is part time with benefits. And as if that wasn't enough incentive, we have even discussed me working from home or bringing her into the office. Daycare is not something I am willing to do, mainly because financially I don't have to work, but it would be really nice to not pay out of pocket for benefits, and still have my steady pay check.

Here are the pros and cons for going back.

PROS:
-Benefits
-Extra Money
-Steady Income
-Getting out of the house
-Working with adults daily

CONS:
-Added (possibly unnecessary) Stress
-Wishing I had more time for myself
-Missing the opportunity to just focus on Fay, she will only be this age once
-Obviously it would be nice not to work and be able to do whatever I wanted with Fay all day every day, but I am worried I might get bored.

I am so glad I don't have to decide now. We will meet her, see how we both feel, and then decide. Options are good and I am so thankful that I work at a company that will give me this choice. Often times I don't feel like I am old enough to have these conversations about work, benefits, family, and money.

The weather has been so NICE, its like we live in LA again. Midland's weather can't be beat in the state of Texas if you ask me. Its dry heat when its hot, and the nights are cool. We have real seasons and the desert is beautiful this time of year. It was 55 this morning when I was up at 5:30.

Here's to the weekend!

K

Lame Blogger

I am a blog addict. I love reading my friends' and friends of friends' blogs but yet I can't seem to keep mine updated. So even though I don't have the pictures to upload from my shower, and our mini shower in Austin, or any new belly pics, I will still give you a low down on what we have been up to.

September is a great month. My INCREDIBLE friends threw me the most beautiful and sophisticated baby shower, and we got the most amazing gifts. Pictures to come of the gifts and nursery which is almost finished. Dave and his sweet father painted her room the same weekend as the shower and the baby bedding that I lost sleep over turned out PERFECT.

Now all we lack are the canvas paintings my mom is going to do for the room, our chair (which we pick up in Dallas OU weekend), and our changing table/dresser that Dave is going to paint/redo for me.

I also washed all of her clothes and bedding in her baby detergent and hung everything up on her baby hangers. I have never had so much fun doing laundry :)

Young life is in full affect this year and Dave has been tutoring our kids in physics. I love having them in our house all the time, and its great knowing they have a comfortable place to hang out. They are all sweet, smart, wonderful kids, and we love them so much.

Other than writing thank you notes (on the cutest stationary that Jessica Ray gave to me with Fay Marian Joyner monogrammed on it), we have been laying kind of low for once. It has been nice, and we are in town again this weekend which has been a rarity for us to be in town 2 weekends in a row.

We started our baby classes at the hospital last night, and it was weird. All I could think about was the baby class in Baby Mama...Dave and I both wanted to laugh out loud on several different occasions. Normally the breastfeeding class is the last one but because of scheduling issues it was our first one, and we had to watch this video and look at plastic models of boobs and nipples. I am not sure Dave and I are mature enough to breastfeed! This one woman on the video looked like she was at least 50 and had old wrinkled, saggy boobs, it looked entirely unnatural that she was on the example video.

I am finally 30 weeks and I feel like the next 10 weeks are going to go really slow, but I am glad it is football season because that will help the time move. The ranch is almost finished and I am really looking forward to having Fay down there soon after she is born...so we can relax and hang out. Life is good and we are happy.

xxoo
K

Labor Day Weekend

Well we packed up the fam and headed to A-Town. We left at 5 AM Thursday so Dave could make it to a business meeting and I went shopping for a shower dress and baby stuff. The best part of the weekend was seeing our friends so many great visits! And going to the game...We also made a stop in Llano on our way home and stayed the night with my Grandmother Mary Fay (Fay's namesake) and it is always so good to have time to hang out with her...she is one of the best people on the planet!

I am 27 weeks and starting into the third trimester! I am feeling pretty good but the ride home was REALLY uncomfortable and car trips are becoming increasingly less appealing. Fay is moving around alot and she is starting to have her own schedule. She really likes to get active around 8 and 9 at night, and I am now able to look at my tummy and not just feel the movement but I can see it! So weird...This coming weekend is our shower and I literally feel like it is Christmas. I have wonderful, amazing friends that are hosting the party and it is going to be one fun baby shower! Thanks ahead of time to Shannon, Haley, Laura, Anna, Emily, Toffee, Allison, Sarah, Megan, Lou, and Leigh...I will post pics after the big event.

Tummy shots are coming later this week

xxoo
K

Nursery Update

Well, I have changed my mind about the nursery. I have returned the stuff from dwell and I am now centering the entire room around this awesome nursery rug I found at Anthro. It is so freaking cute in person and it had twin bedding that I am using on the day bed that will go in Fay's room. Dave was a little confused as to why I still have no crib and no crib bedding picked out, but I have a rug and a big kid bed all ready to go.

He obviously doesn't understand...There is this really cute shop here in Midland that makes custom crib bedding and the woman who owns it, Kim Snead is brilliant. She has helped me pick out some really cute fabric to do the crib in, and she is incorporating some of the material from the anthro bedding into the crib bedding. I think it is going to be fantastic. Crossing my fingers.

And the crib bedding is orange and white, not that we are crazy UT people, but at least Dave likes that part of it.

Speaking of UT, we are really looking forward to this weekend in Austin. Harper is coming and staying at our favorite doggie place, Taurus Dog Training on Lamar. I love that we still board him there occasionally, the people still remember him and he LOVES it there. It makes me feel in some way, that we still kind of live there. Like the fact that I am getting my haircut at my old salon, and we will get to take Harper to Town Lake on Sunday. We are still partial Austinites...at least I like to think so.

I am now 26 weeks and about to start the 3rd trimester. My main beef with this part of pregnancy is the tummy muscles...they are being stretched and pushed and they HURT. This is different from round ligament pain which I also have as my belly continues to lead the way, but the muscles I am talking about are right under my ribs and it feels like I have done a MILLION sit ups. Not a joke...I am so sore, and it makes it hard to roll over at night or pull myself out of the car.

I realize that other people have it much worse, I don't have stretch marks yet (which I am sure will come, because I am not that lucky) my shoes still fit, and I basically do everything that I did before, but the stomach muscles are going to kill me.

Yesterday was the opening day of dove season, which is considered a holiday where I am from. Dave got up and went for a sunrise hunt yesterday morning with Harper, and then we went to a big hunt last night with a bunch of my family's friends. Dave shot well and Harper retrieved well, and I went with my cameo, belly, and boots!

Fay is already starting down the hunting path and she doesn't even know it. If her grandfather has anything to do with it she will be one helluva shot.

This fall is going to be full of new things for us and I am really excited, the ranch is finally going to be finished, I won't be working for the first time in 6 years, and we are having a baby. I don't know if I can handle all the goodness God is pouring out on us, and there is a good chance the Longhorns could win the national title. It is going to be an amazing few months!

xxoo
K,D, H, and FAY!

Things are getting Real

I can't sleep, and everyone knows I am not a morning person. This is an unusual experience for me, its not even that I am that uncomfortable I just can't go to sleep. I was up at 4am this morning and in the office by 7:30am! Fay is already having a huge effect on our lives...but the best part is that Dave and I never have time together in the mornings. We are always rushing out the door, with a coke and breakfast bar, barely able to kiss goodbye. This morning was different, his alarm went off at 6, he fed Harper and instead of crawling back in bed for another hour or so of sleep, I turned on the light brushed my teeth and waited for his return to the covers. We had a whole hour and half this morning to hang out with each other. It was really really nice...we talked and laughed and it was the best start to my week.

Maybe being a morning person after Fay arrives will be good for us :) Because snuggle time under the covers, laughing and feeling her move is the kind of stuff life is made of.

This weekend was fun...Anna is in town and we went swimming at Laura and Jason's house yesterday. Annie (9 months) came over with her mom Ellen and she had on the cutest bikini! Watching her splash, laugh, and smile made Fay seem even more real. I realized that will be us this time next year and it makes me crazy happy to think about.

A few other things have started to occur to me. I realized that I better learn how to do hair. I can't french braid, I can't do anything, and Fay is going to expect to look good. At least my mom is really good at hair, and she can hopefully teach me how to fix it, although she may not have hair for a long time, because I was bald for the first year. But my mom is really good at a lot of mom things, that I hope I can learn to do, or otherwise grandmother will have to help with every arts in crafts project and cook her dinner!

I am 24 weeks today. 16 more to go :)

The Dallas Experience

This past weekend we went to Dallas to visit Dave's parents and look for baby stuff.  I was late eating lunch with my girlfriends before we were supposed to leave, so Dave was in a huff and a hurry to leave at 2pm on Friday, and thus the story begins....

I was inside getting the last few things together and Dave had taken our one bag (we packed in the same bag) out to the car to load up, when he realized it was locked and he didn't have his keys.  So, he sat the bag down behind the car, and apparently never moved it.  Because when we arrived in Dallas we had no bag...and nothing for the whole weekend (a Target run got us through the next couple of days).  At first we thought it was kind of funny and that surely we had just left it out on the driveway and our friends the Souths (who were feeding Harper) could go by and it would be sitting outside, but when they arrived the bag was no where to be seen.  They checked every where inside and out, but no sign of anything.  Its about now that we started adding up just how much it would cost to replace everything in that bag, our dental night guards alone would be 600 a piece, not to mention the bobbi brown makeup I have been collecting for years.  It was going to be close to $3500.

We tried telling ourselves that the neighbors might have picked it up and they hadn't contacted us because they didn't have our numbers.  We decided to hold out hope on filing an insurance claim or police report until Monday morning when we headed home and still hadn't heard anything.  Luckily the insurance was going to cover it, and the police report had been filed so we thought the story of the lost bag was coming to a close.  

But here's where it gets weird...after being home for about 15 mins the phone rings and an unidentified woman asks if we are looking for a brown duffel bag.  Dave says that we are and she tells us that she works in a building on Andrews Hwy (down south) and that this brown bag had appeared in the lobby of the their building on Friday afternoon and no one had claimed it so she went through it, found our number on the dental case of Dave's night guard, and was calling to get our bag back to us.  We were bewildered...how did this bag end up in the lobby of a random office building down south, when we had headed out of town going the exact opposite direction...Dave went to pick it up and nothing was broken or stolen...truly crazy.  But it did appear the bag had been drug under the car.  

So all we can figure is that we ran over it when we backed out of the drive way, drug it a good ways, and then someone found it in the road, picked it up, decided they didn't want it and left it in this office building.  I guess God answers prayers in the most uncommon ways.

Here is the bag after being drug behind the car:

I am just so thankful to have our stuff back...but still can't figure out how it ended up in the lobby of an office building next to the Coke machine.

As for the rest of the weekend we had a great time.  Dave's cousin Joe, his wife Gilda, and their 9 month old daughter Charlotte came over to the Joyners for lunch Saturday and we had a lot of fun meeting the baby for the first time.  We also were able to go baby shopping!  I think we have finally made some decisions about bedding, furniture, and our stroller.  I think I am most excited about the stroller.  I had been researching it for some time, and came across the Baby Orbit line....this is not your ordinary stroller.  It has all these amazing features and it's design is for people who travel a lot.  The starter kit includes the infant carrier, the car base, and the stroller base...I had found it online before we saw it in person and Dave had been adamantly opposed to spending that kind of money on a stroller/car set...but when he saw this beauty in action and all that it could do he too was smitten.  So, I think the grandparents are chipping in and we hope this is what everyone says it is.  When we were in the store looking at it, another customer came up and said she had the orbit and it was the best money they had spent, she went on and on, which is the best kind of endorsement you can get, another parent who has used it with both of her kids.  

We also like this bedding from DwellStudio:

We also got to spend Sunday night at the Ballpark...the Rangers won and Fay got her very own Josh Hamilton jersey...it is TINY and oh so cute!

Nancy also got us these cute swim suits!

I put my hand in the pic so you could see how tiny they are!

And the cute longhorn shoes my mom got us!

We have received so many other cute and adorable gifts/outfits...these were just the most recent purchases.

Well I haven't been feeling too good today, a little morning sickness, so I am headed off to bed.

xxoo

K, D, H & Fay!

I Don't Know How to Spell My Own Kid's Name! :)

So...as it turns out I have been misspelling our sweet daughter's name.  For those of you that know me this is a very typical Katie thing to do.  Thank God that Dave's cousin Carol let me know what the proper spelling of Marian is...I have been spelling it Marion!  I am a moron...Dave's Grandmother, where we got the name spelled it Marian.  So the final and proper name is FAY MARIAN JOYNER...and no I didn't misspell Fay...My Grandmother spells Fay without and "e".  

Now that we have that minor detailed cleared up, here is what Dave and I have been up to.  We took a week long trip to Buena Vista, CO with our Young Life group.  Dave had 8 guys and I had 9 girls in each of our cabins.  Midland took 67 kids, and there were a total of 461 kids from all over the country.  For those of you that have been to a Young Life camp you are aware that it is literally the best week ever.  We and our kids had the most AMAZING time, and a number of kids were really changed by Christ's presence in their lives that week.  Dave was a total kid at heart the entire time, playing bball, sand vball, four square, hiking, running, playing ultimate frisbee, sliding down the water slide, swimming, running obstacle courses, rappelling, roping, and all kinds of other crazy stuff.

I on the other hand had to take it a bit easier, so my WONDERFUL sister Amy flew in from LA to be with me and help out with my girls.  She took over my adventure activity duties, and hiked, climbed, swam, and go carted for me.  I am so thankful she was there and it was fun to spend a full week bunking with her.  She let me have the bottom bunk so I didn't have to try and get my pregnant butt up the ladder.

Here are some pics from the week:

All Camp Volleyball Tourny

My girls and one of Dave's guys

Dave missing teeth at Carnival night

Amy before she got a pie in the face on my behalf, now that's love

Dave's group before horseback riding.  

461 Kids made it to the peak at over 13,000 Ft.  The camp Dr said I couldn't go, so instead I lounged by the pool!

Longhorns.  I love this pic.

Dave stayed with his guys step for step and made sure ALL of them made it to the top. Way to go guys!

At the base

Before it got hard.

When we returned from our week at camp we had our big 21 week sonogram where they measure all of her parts to make sure she is developing well.  I am happy to report that she is right on track and perfect.  The sono tech's word not mine, although I think she is pretty damn perfect too.  We got to see her heart (all 4 chambers), her brain, her face, her legs, she was confirmed as a girl again, and overall she was just kicking away!

Here are some of the belly pics I have been getting requests for.  I am 22 weeks today!

Not a flattering pose or face...but you get the idea

Harper kissing his baby sister!

Belly

Thanks for checking in on us!  We are all doing great.

xxoo

K, D, H, and Fay!