Welcome to the world

Lillian Ashley Grooms, born at 4:38pm on August 31, 2011
-6lbs 15oz
-20 in.

She is about three hours old in this picture!

Things that scare me:

Topping the list right now (other than GIVING BIRTH) is this lovely little map right here:



All of my hopes and dreams for having a baby this week or next weekend have been rapidly pushed aside by the Category 3 hurricane that may be headed our way. Holy smokes. While I have only been aware of this storm for about 20 minutes now, I have already visualized the following sequences of events.
-laboring as the walls of our beautiful, brand-new hospital cave in around us
-giving birth on the highway, assisted by random strangers who may or may not have medical knowledge
-bringing BabyGirl home to a wrecked house
etc., etc.
So let's start praying here people!

Nursery Sneak Peek!

Here is a quick glimpse of what has quickly become one of my favorite rooms in the house. We have a few more small projects to do in there, but otherwise we are officially ready for the Baby Girl! Well, at least as far as the nursery goes...
I will be 37 weeks this weekend, which means that she is officially "cooked," though I would love for her to stay put for a few more weeks so she can put on a little more weight. Key word there is little.
Sullivan P. also loves the nursery. We've had to relocate some of the stuffed animals away from our giraffe dog's schnoz level. I think our Baby Girl is in for a lifetime of slobbery toys.

Pregnancy Update

I've seen these on a number of different blogs, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Sorry there is not an accompanying picture. You should know by this point that we rarely photograph anything other than Sullivan and scenery.

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

Size of baby: About 4 and 3/4 pounds; almost 18 inches long. This means that she is almost done growing length wise, and just needs to pack on a few more pounds (please, not more than a few) before birth!

Maternity Clothes: Oh yeah. I can get away with a lot of summery, flowy-type dresses, but otherwise it's pretty much all maternity.

Gender: Girl! Although I do have recurring visions of hearing "it's a boy!" when she is born...

Movement: Homegirl is super squirmy pretty much all the time. She is especially active in the morning and at night. She is head down and I can typically tell where her back/butt are and where her legs are. Pretty stinkin' cool.

Sleep: I am wearing a tread in the carpet between our bed and the bathroom, but other than that, sleep is pretty good.

Cravings: It depends on the day, but on the whole, I crave ice water, chocolate, potatoes and citrus.

Symptoms: Rapidly expanding belly, check. Teensy tiny bladder, check. Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, check.

Milestone: I think we have decided on a name! We still have part of the baby name book to go through, but I am 90% sure that we are set on a name. And I love it! I had been wondering throughout the pregnancy if there would be a magical "AHA" moment when we stumbled across THE name, and I am happy to report that there was one. Mwhaha but I'm not telling what it is! Stay tuned.

Appointment update: I am having more contractions than is considered normal, so the doc checked me out last week. Everything is still closed up nice and tight, which is good. We want you to cook for at least three more weeks baby girl! This week is my last "every two weeks appointment" and from here on out, I will be logging a lot of doctor's office time.

Miscellany Monday

Okay, so I am attempting something new today...a link-up with another blog. Hurray for Miscellany Monday! Particularly since all of my posts tend to be miscellaneous anyways...perhaps this makes them more legitimate?

I'm going with a numbers theme today, enjoy!

1. The number of baby GIRLS currently residing in my belly (belly being the technical term of course). Sparkle Moonbeam, we can't wait to meet you in a few more months! Finding out this week if babyG was Sparkle Moonbeam or Abraham Lincoln Log and seeing her (her!) on the ultrasound was pretty stinking cool. We are so thankful that she is healthy. Not surprisingly for a Francis baby, one of her nicknames could be "baby bighead" since her head was measuring 1.5 weeks ahead. yowzers.


2. The number of disco balls Thomas parted with as we worked on cleaning out the future nursery and some of the attic this weekend. Dear Goodwill customers, please enjoy them as I rejoice over their departure.

3. The number of times I cried while cleaning out boxes and boxes of life memorabilia over the weekend. While it could have been over some awkward outfit choices and strange hairstyles, I think that my sentimental side was showing big time. Or maybe just the pregnancy hormones.

4. The number of times I went to the regional spelling bee in elementary and middle school. Also, it's the number of times I have used spell check since starting this blog post. Sad, isn't it?

5. The number of days off I have this week. Three cheers for spring break! Amusingly enough, we only have five weeks left of school when we return. Holy time warp Batman, where did this year go?

6. The number of cups of food Sullivan has eaten in the past twelve hours. He has very strange eating habits. I'm going to bring two poop bags on our walk later this morning...

7. The number of pears currently in our fruit basket. Thomas and I both love fruit, ensuring that our daughter will not be able to stand it.

8. The number of brushfuls of fur that I removed from Sullivan yesterday. I'm pretty sure he's the hairiest dog on the planet. My house is also evidence of this. Oy.

9. The number of things on my to-do list at home this week. You know you're an adult when you're super excited to clean out closets and organize bookcases.

10. The number of times baby girl has kicked as I've written this post. Feeling her (yay, no more "it!") move is definitely by favorite part of pregnancy so far. I know that these gentle movements will later become painful and uncomfortable, but hey, let's live in the moment.

11. The number of beavers visible from my bed. I counted them yesterday out of sheer curiosity. No, this is not some sort of weird fetish. Thomas has been collecting beavers since 3rd grade and it is one collection he could not part with when we got married. Most of them are pretty cute.

Look for a more serious post later this week about Easter and its glorious meaning for the world.

TOMORROW and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in

Woohoo! Less than a month between posts (barely)!
Not one but two moms at school today asked me if I were pregnant. Actually, they asked me if I am expecting, which is still the funniest terminology to me. Expecting...to gain weight? To not sleep? To be blessed with the cutest baby ever?
yes to all three!
This means that I have a certifiable baby bump, which thrills me to no end, since I have been struggling with merely feeling a little thicker around the waist. Typing this out reemphasized the utter ridiculousness of this thought. I am getting over myself.
I have received several name suggestions from some precious kindergartners at school. My two favorites are:
Abraham Lincoln Log
Sparkle Moonbeam (I couldn't pick just one of these and I thought they flowed nicely together as a pair).
So, we will refer to BabyG as one of these following our appointment TOMORROW when we find out whether the lovemuffin is a boy or a girl.
I will post some pictures next time, hopefully from our fancy shmancy ultrasound TOMORROW.
Did I mention that we're having an ultrasound TOMORROW? I am just a wee bit excited. Last time we saw the baby was at 6 weeks and 4 days; TOMORROW it will be 19 weeks and 4 days. Meaning that it will look like a baby rather than a miniature jellyfish.

ps) 2 gold stars for whoever can figure out where the title of this post comes from.
pps) Baby A.L.L or S.M. must love blogging because he/she is thumping away like a wiggly little fish.

I'm back! A mishmash of a post.

So, a little while ago (ahem 2 months ago), my friend Natalie gave me a blog award! Oh, the irony, since I have been such a slack blogger this year. I have sat down many times with bits of posts rattling around in my brain but have been unable to complete anything--obviously you know this if you have checked my blog any time in the last two months!
Well, there is a good reason, or at least a partially good one!

drumroll please....











We're having a baby! Yes, 2011 is the year of babies. I am the 6th teacher at my small Christian school to get pregnant, along with what seems like scores of friends, both real and virtual. I don't have any cute ultrasound pictures yet since our first ultrasound was at 6.5 weeks, meaning the baby looked like a little blob (a cute, sweet blob, but a blob nonetheless).
I am 15 weeks and feeling pretty good, although every time I think that I'm over the *"morning" sickness, it rears its ugly head again.
We are excited and terrified, and we can't wait to see who this little person is that God has blessed us with in late August or early September.
This blog will not turn into a pregnancy blog, but I do want to take time to record fun moments, interesting dreams, weird stories, etc. Grow, Baby G, grow!

On an unrelated note, please pray for the people of Japan. Stay informed, stay connected, and give in whatever ways that you can. This page is a sobering look at the devastation.






*This term is false, as the so-called morning comes to mean any waking hour of the live long day.