Congratulations

Congratulations Adam and Emily!
Brady Timothy Buskirk was born on Valentines Day!

Babies Babies Everywhere

My college roommates drove from south Florida (Miami/Lauderdale) to come to my shower. In the photo on the top left are Robin, Frannie, me, and Indiana. Robin is about 17 weeks pregnant, Frannie is 12 weeks pregnant, and we think Indiana should drink the water and give her son a sibling :).
Top right is my friend since middle school, Amy, and her 5 month old son Blake. How cute is he?!

Chris and I were so thrilled to be able to spend some time with the Fredrick family recently. We got to see Rory, wife Kim, and adorable son Dylan (6 months) recently. They were visitng from Virginia where Ror is stationed in the Navy. Rory is one of my closest friends since high school. We spent high school together then college and are now going to experience parenthood at the same time of our lives. They certainly have the parenting thing down... Dylan is the happiest baby I've ever seen and just being around the 3 of them made us smile.
Rory's sister Megan and I have also been friends since high school and Chris and her husband Jimmy are childhood friends and long time fishing buddies. We celebrated Jimmy's birthday this night we spent with the Fredrick family. In this photo I'm about 32 weeks and Megan is about 19 weeks.

O Baby Preparations

Mom and I spent hours painting pink polka-dots in the nursery. Chris did the chair rail and the solid pink bottom half. We had a lot of fun and I absolutely love it. Chris also built a changing table topper for our sweet girl's dresser and installed her car seat in my new mama mobile. I traded in the little BMW for a CRV (small SUV). I love it!

Showers

I am sitting here on my birthday -- the last one in my 20's trying to prepare myself for hers. I wanted to get some pictures posted from my beautiful Showers this past weekend. I am so blessed to have such amazing friends and family. My sister flew in from Mississippi, and I had friends who drove from hours away to spend time with me and bring tons of great gifts. Our long time family friend Cheryl hosted a shower in Bradenton on Saturday 2/9 and my super cute neighbors hosted one here in Apollo Beach on Sunday 2/10.

3D/4D Ultrasound

This is amazing... These are sonogram pictures of our baby girl at approximately 30 weeks. It's amazing to think I was born at this gestational age. My mom went with Chris and I to see our first glimpses of her in 3D -- it was incredible.

Christmas

Christmas Day... where the tree should have been, but wasn't this year. Christmas really snuck up on us this year, but the important things still made it "Christmas"- spending time with family and celebrating Jesus's birth. Being pregnant at Christmas this year was very special. I keep being reminded that these moments will never be repeated the same way and I am so grateful for them. Feeling our baby kick and move while singing "Silent Night" in a candlelit church on Christmas Eve made me so emotional I could barely sing the words. And being with family knowing next year there will be one more, is an overwhelming and awesome thought. Next year at Christmas our baby girl will be nearly 9 months old. I know there will be no "present" like her.

Thanksgiving

My sister and Tom and my nephews came to visit for Thanksgiving. I loved having them here. The years we aren't able to all be together it just doesn't feel right. Though, it also made me wish we could be with our family in West Virginia where we spent Thanksgiving when my sister and I were kids. My sister, mom, and I all have favorites that only my Grandma can make her way-- mine is her homemade rolls, my sister loves her homemade noodles, and my mom loves the Pecan pie. After nearly blowing it up, my mom made an awesome turkey this year though... long story, but one that reminds me why family and holidays always create memories. Thanksgiving weekend signified 24 weeks-- 6 months! for Baby O. Its so hard to believe-- it is flying by. I am feeling her move a LOT now which I still love. Chris has tried a few times but says he can't feel it-- she seems to stop moving when he puts his hand on my belly. Though, I think thats pretty fitting. Those daddy hands will always be there to comfort and soothe her-- it just seems right that would start now. Because I'm posting these Thanksgivng photos a bit late, I'm quite a bit bigger than this photo. So I'll just have to get some Christmas ones up soon! Things are going so fast-- its hard to keep up. Our latest adventure has been choosing a crib which we recently managed to decide upon. Next will be tackling painting the nursery and registering for all that fun baby stuff. I'm still feeling great which I'm so grateful for. Tomorrow I go for my glucose test-- I'm a little nervous about it, but hopefully I'll do well. I've had my fair share of holiday goodies especially lately at work! But, I've been really trying to keep in mind that the baby needs nutrition in addition to chocolate :). And I've been working out regularly still- I'm still able to do a slow jog and have been doing some work-out classes though its hard not to feel a bit awkward with all that belly. Not to mention my balance is pretty thrown off these days. But we couldn't be happier. Its just now finally dropping below 80 degrees so its starting to feel like Christmas. Good thing because its next week!