So now that we know that it's a boy, we can do all those things I've been ready to do for a month. You know, stuff like painting the nursery, buying furniture, organizing and cleaning out the closet and drawers, make baby stuff. The question now becomes where to start?
Monday, Sara was very sweet and came over and helped me clean the entire house. When I had such bad morning sickness nothing got cleaned, and now that I'm past that, I still don't have much energy to do much. Seems like I have about 30 mins or so worth then I have to sit about an hour before I can go again. As a result, I have managed the mess instead of eliminating it. Everything gets a good picking up once or twice a week, but nothing really gets cleaned. It wasn't fun and it wasn't pretty, but we got everything cleaned on Monday. Thanks bunches Sara, I could have never done it without you! So check one, house very clean.
Back on Saturday we started painting in Britt's room. I'm doing a cowboy mural on one of the walls. On Saturday, Gary helped by rolling most of the grass and sky and I cut in around plugs and worked on the edges. On Monday, Sara and I even had a little time to paint some. As of right now we have a big oak tree (with no leaves yet), some grass, several happy clouds (Bob Ross would be proud), a barn with silo, and the start of some woods. Kelsey has promised to supply me with pictures of some cows, and I hope to work on it a chunk of the day on Friday as well. So that outta count for about a 1/4 of a check.
We have finally it seems decided on a baby bed. It's a pretty convertible crib, going from bassinet height, to crib height, to toddler bed, and finally to full size bed. I think it's going to be very useful. Of course with Gary these things are always subject to change, and we haven't bought it yet, got to save up a bit more money, but I think that makes 1/2 a check.
Things yet to be started... cleaning out the junk closet. See lots of things are stored in the closet in the nursery. One side has all of my and Gary's winter heavy coats (I haven't convinced myself that I won't need them anymore). Then there is all that yarn in buckets under and over the clothes, then just stuff on the other side of the closet. Oh and did I mention that the baby's dresser is full of all of our fabric for quilting. Yeah, so I still have alot to do as far as organizing goes.
Finally, my biggest quandry so far, is what kind of baby blanket to make for him. I have rarely had trouble deciding what kind of baby blanket to make for someone (in fact only Sis. Kelly's has been a long thought process); however, I seem to have no ideas what so ever for making my own son a blanket. Go figure. I do at least know that I'm making him some booties, as soon as I can find my grandmother's pattern that is. She made one, and I need to make a second one, so that he has a pair.
So much to do, and for some reason, 4 1/2 months doesn't seem like all that much time.
Monday, Sara was very sweet and came over and helped me clean the entire house. When I had such bad morning sickness nothing got cleaned, and now that I'm past that, I still don't have much energy to do much. Seems like I have about 30 mins or so worth then I have to sit about an hour before I can go again. As a result, I have managed the mess instead of eliminating it. Everything gets a good picking up once or twice a week, but nothing really gets cleaned. It wasn't fun and it wasn't pretty, but we got everything cleaned on Monday. Thanks bunches Sara, I could have never done it without you! So check one, house very clean.
Back on Saturday we started painting in Britt's room. I'm doing a cowboy mural on one of the walls. On Saturday, Gary helped by rolling most of the grass and sky and I cut in around plugs and worked on the edges. On Monday, Sara and I even had a little time to paint some. As of right now we have a big oak tree (with no leaves yet), some grass, several happy clouds (Bob Ross would be proud), a barn with silo, and the start of some woods. Kelsey has promised to supply me with pictures of some cows, and I hope to work on it a chunk of the day on Friday as well. So that outta count for about a 1/4 of a check.
We have finally it seems decided on a baby bed. It's a pretty convertible crib, going from bassinet height, to crib height, to toddler bed, and finally to full size bed. I think it's going to be very useful. Of course with Gary these things are always subject to change, and we haven't bought it yet, got to save up a bit more money, but I think that makes 1/2 a check.
Things yet to be started... cleaning out the junk closet. See lots of things are stored in the closet in the nursery. One side has all of my and Gary's winter heavy coats (I haven't convinced myself that I won't need them anymore). Then there is all that yarn in buckets under and over the clothes, then just stuff on the other side of the closet. Oh and did I mention that the baby's dresser is full of all of our fabric for quilting. Yeah, so I still have alot to do as far as organizing goes.
Finally, my biggest quandry so far, is what kind of baby blanket to make for him. I have rarely had trouble deciding what kind of baby blanket to make for someone (in fact only Sis. Kelly's has been a long thought process); however, I seem to have no ideas what so ever for making my own son a blanket. Go figure. I do at least know that I'm making him some booties, as soon as I can find my grandmother's pattern that is. She made one, and I need to make a second one, so that he has a pair.
So much to do, and for some reason, 4 1/2 months doesn't seem like all that much time.
BTW, his name will be Elisha Britt, and we'll call him Britt.
We were scheduled for an ultrasound to find out what we are having. It will be August 21 at 3:15 pm. We will be at 18 weeks exactly then. Our final ultrasound will be a 4-D ultrasound on November 18 at 11:15. Very exciting stuff. What's a 4-D Ultrasound you say? My mother asked me the other day what the extra dimention was, and I couldn't tell her either. I found out however. A 3-D ultrasound are the pictures above and below this paragraph. They aren't like the old 2-D black and white photos, because the 3rd dimention is volume, allowing you to not just see the out line of the baby, but their facial features and what they are doing (like kicking, smiling, or sucking their thumb like below, and who they look like. (Gary is hoping for a baby with BIG Cunningham ears). 4-D is the video of the 3-D still photos.
I confess I'm getting more excited by the day about this baby. I am going over and over the budget: what can be cut, what can't, where we can make more money, saving for the hospital bills, college, daily expenses. I am mentally rearranging the entire house: what can't stay in the baby's room, what can, where we are going to put stuff that can't stay there, what else has to move in order to make room for that stuff. I am mentally and actually child proofing things: where are the plug covers, that chess set cannot possibly stay there, how easier are those bookcases to tip over, where are the child locks for the kitchen cabinets, are the cleaning stuffs out of reach. I am told that this is all completely normal, and it even has a fancy word - nesting. All I can say is poor Gary, if he has to continue to put up with the questions from me and more for the next 5 months, he might go crazy. 
I had a great time with my family in Alabama last week. I just wish I could stay for ever, or have more oppertunities to see them. In reality I know I will see them less after the baby is born because we won't have the money to fly or drive up there as often, and they won't have anymore vacation type to come visit than they already have. I just don't like thinking that they won't be a daily part of my kids lives. Needless to say, I've been overly emotional lately. 
While I was home though, we were able to spend some good quality time together. Mother and I went to town almost everyday, on Friday we went and looked at all the baby clothes in Decatur. About every 15 mins, Mother would say, "If I knew it was going to be a girl I would get this dress." I'm expecting about 15 dresses from her after we find out it's a girl, haha. On Saturday we went to Lowes with Daddy and while he was getting paint and stuff for the laundry room, Mother and I looked at baby decorating books. On Sunday afternoon, the three of us went to Babies R Us and started looking through the stuff I had picked out on my registery. I wanted her approval and thoughts, we also picked out a few more things that I hadn't decided on. On Monday morning, Grandmother and Mother and I all went looking for maternity dresses for church, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find dresses, I guess pregnant women don't go to church, or if they do, they wear pants or dresses that are entirely too short. That afternoon Aunt Melanie and Maghen joined me in the hunt and we where pleased to find 3 great dresses, 2 dress shirts, and 4 sleepers for the baby. On Tuesday, Grandmother and I went back to town and found another dress, a skirt to go with the tops from the day before, and 2 sleeping gowns (or now they call them sleep sacks) for the baby. On Wednesday and Thursday we just visited and spent time together. It was great to be home. 
My first baby gift that I got was from Abby, a great friend from back home, she knitted me a little sweater/top in cream with brown trim that will look good for a boy or a girl. I was so impressed! So now I have a little jacket/sweater/top thing, 4 sleepers, and 2 sleeping gowns. I can't wait to find out what we are having in about a month and start painting!
I really enjoy the week at singing school every year. I never would have imagined that it would mean so much to me, before I started going. However, a week of good and Godly company, clean fun, and a complete lack of phones, tvs, internet, work, and all things worldly, does my soul good. I may be a bit physically tired afterward, but my soul gets recharged. 
Each morning the boys cook and serve breakfast, before we head off to devotional with Bro. Charles. He preaches a 30 min sermon, and sometimes, you can tell when he has to sit down that he just got going. Our theme verse this year came from Colossians 3:17, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Over the course of the week we came to understand that everything we do, whether we say it or actually do it, it should be to God's glory, to reflect possitively on his name, because no matter what we do or say, when people know that we call ourselves Christians, they draw assumptions about us, our family, our Church, and our Lord. We should always want to bring glory to His name by the way we act. Not shame. We also learned, if what we are doing doesn't bring honor to him, if where we go, who we hang out with, the movies we see, the music we listen to, then we don't need to be doing those things. Finally toward the end of the week, we talked about how we are to always give thanks when we pray, and that we can only pray and be thankful in what Jesus has done for us, and continues to do for us, interceding on our behalf. 
Then we split into classes. This year they added a class or two. There is the preschool class, this year it was all 2 yr olds, one 3 year old and one 4 year old. There biggest accomplishment we were told was learning to sit in their chairs and not get up. They added a 6 and 7 year old class, for those who are learning to read. There is an elementry school class, a middle school class, and the year the highschool/adult class was split up into a highschool class and a college/adult class. We worked on all sorts of things in class: beating time, rhythms, pitches, and leading. We had two morning classes and then lunch. 
Later on in the evening after everyone cleaned up from the dusty and sweaty condition they were in from the games, we had supper, and evening assembly for more leaders to practice. After that we had an hour or so in the evening to play volleyball, walk around, visit, sing sacred harp, and just visit.
In the dorms, I enjoyed my last year for sometime with the girls. Talking about all sorts of boys excluded subjects, and trying to figure out when they would know if he was the right one to marry. Most of all I enjoyed our nightly devotionals. Laura always does them, and she has a great deal of insight into the scriptures. This year while the boys talked more about our theme verse, we focused on the book of Ruth, covering a chapter a night. Gary and I before we got married spent a good deal of time studying it together, but as always I was delighted to find even more in the beautiful story. There are so many wonderful pictures of Christ and His relationship with us and with the Church. It's also a great short read, if you are looking for something short to study. 
Finally, at the end of the week we have a Friday night assembly to allow other to see what we've been doing all week. Parents want to know that their kids are learning, the local Baptist Association whose campground we use want to know that we are doing something constructive, and the church whose building we borrow on Friday night, enjoys hearing the singing. I got several pictures of all the groups, and recorded the high school class, but I forgot to have someone record our class.
The final thing I will leave you with is the high school class with Bro. Bryce. The first song is a song in the little book, I don't know the number in the new book, but it's one that Bro. Bryce wrote. The second song that they sing deserves a little recognition. The lyrics come from the old Lloyd's Hymnal, a tiny little book with around a 1,000 songs, but no music. In the past, a leader would have lined out the song, to one of the 5 to 10 sets of music that the congregation knew. The style of singing is still practiced in some parts of the country such as the Smokies. During the week, Bro. Bryce wrote the melody, and in class they wrote the other three parts. I sat in on that class, because I have always wanted to know how to write music. I have tunes that I make up, but no idea how to write them down or how to write harmony. One of the happiest things for me from this year was learning how to do this. My finished version independently done, was almost the same except for the tenor line, Bro. Bryce looked over it said it looked good to go round up some people and see how it all sounded together. I found some folk who didn't mind, and they actually liked it. My goal is to write a song by singing school next year, and they plan to have a class just for writing music and singing music that we've written next year. The highschool class's verison of the song is beautiful, I hope you will enjoy it.