32 Week Belly Shots

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Here is another picture Brad took. He then played around with Photoshop to get the vintage look.

Brad has started getting back into learning more about photography, and looking up cute ideas for pictures. Here are a couple of the pictures that he did today, which I think turned out FABULOUS!!! He sure is going to save us a ton of money by taking baby pictures himself, instead of going to a photographer every few months. I may be biased, but I think my husband is a very talented photographer.

School Baby Shower

During the last week of school, my coworkers showered Olivia and myself with some wonderful presents! The cake was made by a coworker, and was as delicious as it was cute. Once again, Brad and I feel so blessed to know so many people who are so generous and thoughtful! The last picture is a bracelet that was made by a fellow teacher. It is so cute and TINY!

The First Baby Shower

Here is a slideshow of the baby shower that I had last weekend. It was given by two friends, Liz and Carrie, and it was WONDERFUL!!!! They did a great job planning and putting it together! Enjoy the show!

Belly Shot and Home Improvement

Here is my belly shot from 28 weeks. (2 weeks ago) We have been super busy, and just got the picture loaded onto the laptop. I think I've grown even more since that picture was taken. I go to the doctor tomorrow for my 30 week checkup. I cannot BELIEVE that there are only 10 weeks left! That is absolutely crazy! We still have so much to do, but I feel that we can't get any of it done until the furniture comes in. Hopefully that will be in the next two weeks. Then we can get things on the walls, and get the drawers stocked!

Not only are we getting ready for Olivia by getting her room ready, we are getting things done around the house that we've been wanting to do forever! We had this tree in our front yard, and although it was a pretty tree, Brad and I both hated it. (You notice how I'm using past tense?) That's right...the tree no longer exists!! Everyday that tree dropped so many branches that we had to pick up. Also, the roots were getting so big, they were taking up the entire yard, and our grass was not growing as much. Every time there was a storm, I hoped that the winds would take down the tree...to no avail. During one of the most recent storms, we actually saw the top of the tree down by the ground! But never broke off.

As you can see from one of the pictures, the branches were very strong... strong enough to hold a grown man! The man you see in the tree is my father in law! Here are the shots of the tree before, during and after it was chopped down. Enjoy!! We sure are :)

Third Trimester

This upcoming week marks the beginning of my third trimester! Boy, time sure is flying by! I go to the doctor Wednesday for my 28 week checkup, and glucose test. After that, I start going every two weeks. I don't want to jinx myself, but I am so blessed to have had such an easy pregnancy so far. Except for the nausea in my first trimester, I haven't had many issues. Here is a list of some of my pregnancy woes:

1. Leg cramps- For the past couple weeks, my calves have started cramping up in the middle of the night. One night in particular, it happened in BOTH legs at the SAME TIME! I talked to my doctor about it, and she said to start eating a banana before I go to bed. Well, I feel as though I am going to turn into a banana soon!

2. Heartburn- I have never in my life gotten heartburn, so I wasn't sure what was happening when I first started getting it. I have to carry around a HUGE bottle of TUMS everywhere I go, because I never know when it will hit.

3. Pregnant Brain- I really didn't think this was a real thing, but as it turns out, IT IS! For some reason, all of a sudden, I cannot remember ANYTHING!!! I will open my mouth to say something, and will completely forget what I was about to say. Or I will walk into a room to do something and not remember why I got up in the first place. Yesterday in particular was really bad. I left my cell phone at home, along with a key for my cabinet at work.

Although there are some annoying parts of pregnancy, I know that there are some awesome parts of being pregnant, such as:

1. Baby Kicking- I have been feeling Olivia kick A LOT lately! It is so amazing to feel. I can tell that she is getting bigger and stronger. We have noticed that my stomach will start to sort of warp into weird shapes. Brad is hoping to get a picture of her footprint coming through my belly.

2. New and Expectant Mother parking- I love the up close parking places at Kroger, Babies R Us, and Church. (If there are any others, let me know!) I am starting to wish every place had this type of parking.

3. Childbirth Class- I almost put this under the pregnancy complaints, but there are more good things about this than there are bad things. I am enjoying getting all of this information, because I feel that I am getting a better understanding of what is to come. However, after seeing the childbirth videos last week, I am even more terrified of labor than I was before. This Tuesday, we will get a tour of the hospital that I will be delivering in, so that is really exciting.

4. Nesting- I have had a sudden need to work out in my yard ALL THE TIME! I have never had the need to pull weeds, or make my yard look amazing. However, now, I have been pulling weeds, and planting things. I am hoping that this nesting will cause us to win Yard of the Month in our neighborhood. Not only is our yard looking better, but our house is neater and cleaner for the most part, also.

We have already realized some of Olivia's personality traits. She is absolutely stubborn! She will be kicking away and Brad or someone will put their hand on my belly to feel, and she will stop moving. Not only will she stop, but she won't start again until that person removes their hand from my belly. It is the craziest thing! She was also getting a little mad at the ultrasound technician during the 3D/4D ultrasound. She would turn her head so that we couldn't see her, then she did start kicking hard. It felt like she was trying to kick the probe out of the technician's hand. I'm not sure where she gets this stubbornness from, but I don't think its from me. :)

I will update everyone with the results of the glucose test Wednesday! Till then, I hope everyone has a safe week.

Meet Olivia...

Brad and I are proud to introduce our beautiful little girl. We had the 4-D ultrasound done on Tuesday, and got these ADORABLE pictures...

We go back to the doctor at the end of the month (3 weeks) for a glucose test to make sure there are no gestational diabetes going on :)

The Name Game and Bellyshots

Not much to report this week. I have been feeling our little girl kick more and more, which is really exciting! Brad and I have decided to name our little darling Olivia Kate McDaniel. I have always loved the name Olivia, and when Brad heard it, he loved it too. We decided to go with Kate for the middle name since my name is Katy, and Brad's sister is also Kati. We decided to let that be a family name.

On Tuesday, we go for a 3D/4D ultrasound, so as soon as we get those pictures, if there are any good ones, we will get those posted on here. Wednesday is our doctor's appointment for the month. I just can't believe how fast this time is going! In three weeks I will start the third trimester. That is just unbelievable to me!! Anyways, here is the 24 week bellyshot, and a cute picture Brad took of my belly with Olivia's name spelled out with ABC blocks.