Patrick 24 Week Baby Bump and New Car

I hate taking pictures of myself while pregnant, but everyone says I will want them later on so below is a 24.5 week picture of the baby bump!

We also bought a new car! Yay! I am really sad to see my infiniti go but luckily it is just going to my sister so I can visit it if I want :) We drove all of the crossover SUVs that were in our price range and decided we liked the Acura MDX and Toyota Highlander the best. It was such a hard decision, but we decided on the Highlander. I think it will be a great family car! They didn't have our top pick for color, but i'm still happy about it! Below are a couple of pictures of our new car!

Glucose Test and Family Picture

Today I took my glucose test and I had been dreading this test! I was a little worried that I would fail considering the amount of sweets I ate over Christmas and my test was the Monday after Christmas weekend. I was also dreading it because I have heard such horrible things about it. I started drinking my drink and thought oh this isn't too bad. However, about half way through I started to feel really sick and could tell how sugary this drink really was! After drinking it, I immediately started to feel sick. I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it without getting sick. Miraculously I held on and was able to make it the required hour! However, immediately after the test I got violently sick. My results came back just fine, so I am really glad I don't have to do more tests!

We also bought Patrick's baby furniture this weekend! I am so excited about it and hope it doesn't take as long as they say it will!

We realized that we didn't have any pictures of Michael and I and the dogs. We thought we should get a family picture before Patrick arrives, so we asked my dad to come over and take the picture. I think we took about 50 before we got a couple that work. My dad had to hold treats in front of the camera to get them to look. Below are a few of the pictures.

Patrick is growing fast!

On the Thursday before Christmas we had a bit of a scare. I woke up and had severe cramps and pressure in my lower abdomen. I had big plans to finish all of my Christmas shopping but couldn't get off the couch because of the pain. I decided to try and rest and eat a little bit and see if that helped. By the middle of the day I still wasn't feeling better, so I gave my doctor a call and she said I could be having irritable uterus syndrome and to drink 4 large glasses of water in an hour and call back if the pain wasn't gone. Well it didn't go away so they recommended I go to the ER because it could be pre-term labor. I immediately burst into tears and called Michael and told him to meet me there. After an hour or so of testing, they found that baby Patrick was just fine and that he was growing faster than my uterus could grow and accomodate him. I was told to rest for the weekend until my appointment on Monday. They think everything should work itself out just fine and the contractions should stop. However, resting over Christmas weekend is a tad bit hard with the schedule Michael and I have. I was just so thankful everything was okay with Patrick! Hopefully my body will catch up to him soon! Although it was stressful, i'm glad we went to the ER and got everything checked out. It makes me feel so much better knowing he is just fine.

Hard to believe that this Christmas is the last one with just Michael and I. We had a great time hanging out with family, but were bummed about having to take it easy. We normally go to Knoxville on Christmas day and started driving there, but about half way there I wasn't feeling very well and the roads were getting bad so we turned around and went home. Although we didn't like missing out, I think it was the best decision. Michael and I just hung out with the dogs and watched movies all night. Not exactly what we had planned for Christmas, but still fun :)

Fun Weekend!

This weekend has been a blast! So many fun things!

On Thursday we had Michael's company Christmas party and it was really fun! It was an all night affair, so I ended up having to take a vacation day on Friday from being so tired! It was worth it though!

On Friday, we went to the Garth Brooks concert! It was unbelievable! He played from 7:30 til 10. I was so excited we got tickets to the original show, since he played all of the requests from the crowd after the band went off the stage. It was great!

On Saturday we went to lunch with Michael's grad school friends. It was great to see all of them, especially since Blevins lives in the Cayman Islands and Bethany lives in Charlotte. We also got to see Lisa and Michael and their new little addition, baby Jack. He was precious and just made me that much more anxious for my little Patrick to be here!

On Saturday night we went to an ornament party for Lund and April. It was fun to meet a lot of Michael's high school friends that I have heard him talk about but haven't ever met!

On Sunday we had the Whitson Family Christmas get-together with my dad's side of the family.

It was an eventful and really fun weekend! Love Christmas time!

Lately

Well it has been quite interesting lately with all of the snow! We had not had snow for years before we bought our house and thought it would be no problem living on such a big hill! Ha...not the case! I have had two pretty scary experiences in the past 2 years with my car. It does not have four wheel drive or even front wheel drive, so it is pretty much worthless in the snow. For the past week, it has sat in our driveway and I have a feeling it won't be moving for the next week either!

Last week was one of the most scary experiences I have ever had! I was on my way to a Junior League provisional Christmas party and the road to get there dips a little bit into a creek. A few others cars had gone in front of me and had no trouble, so I figured that my car could make it just fine. I knew it was pretty cold, but there looked to be no ice. I made it through the creek just fine, but the other car's tires dripped water which immediately froze. My car doesn't stand a chance in any ice, so I started sliding back down the hill towards the creek even though my foot was still on the gas. There is a big drop off from the road into the creek and I was terrified that my car would flip and end up in the creek. So I lightly tried to pump my brakes hoping the car would stop! It finally did about a foot from the creek! I was so thankful and very lucky! All of these thoughts were going through my mind about how to get out of the car if my car flipped into the creek! It would have been difficult to get out of the car in general, but since I was five months pregnant it made it that much more scary!

I, of course, was so shaken from the experience that I immediately called Michael who was at dinner with his family and told him it was an emergency and he had to come immediately. He is probably used to these calls by now, since he got a similar one around this same time last year, but he was there in less than 5 minutes. He ran across the creek almost falling straight into the creek to make sure I was okay. It was very sweet of him! The cops showed up right after he got there and I was very thankful for that! They got a tow truck to be there in 3 minutes, which was much better than the 45 minutes I was told at every place I called. Luckily, there was no damage to my car and it only had to be towed about 5 feet. I felt really silly, but was just thankful that everything worked out the way it did!

So, needless to say, we are looking at a new crossover SUV for me to drive. We originally sold my old SUV so that we would not have two large cars, but it looks like we are going back to 2 SUV's! I definitely don't want to have any car problems with Patrick in the car!

SEC Championship!

Michael and I went to the SEC championship to watch Auburn and South Carolina play this past weekend. It was so fun, especially since Auburn won! We went with Graham, his dad, brother and my dad. I kind of wished it would have been a better game for the South Carolina fans, especially since it was South Carolina's first trip to the SEC championship. We also got to see Peter and Sarah, one of Michael's good friends from grad school. It was so nice of them to brave the traffic and come hang out with us!

We have been playing with the idea of going to the National Championship, but have decided we just aren't going to be able to make it. It was very tempting, especially after we found out we could get tickets! But, with little Patrick on the way, it just didn't make sense for me to take vacation when I could spend that time with him after he is born. Oh well, maybe we will make it back to the National Championship again in my lifetime and he can come along :)

Patrick- 20 Week Appointment

Today we had our 20 week appointment and everything looked great! The doctor confirmed that it is a boy and said he is right on track and looks very healthy! We were so happy the doctors said he was healthy! It was fun to be able to see him again! He mostly rubbed and covered his face with his hands the whole time, so he must not like pictures :) Below are some of the pictures of him. I wish she had given us a picture showing his belly. He looked like he is going to be a little chubby baby, which I think is soo cute!

We have decided that his name is going to be Patrick Gallagher Mulloy. Gallagher is Michael's dad's and grandfather's middle name.

I'm also halfway through my pregnancy which is really exciting! Below is a 20 week pregnancy pick. My belly suddenly appeared out of nowhere :)

In other news, we are getting a new fence this week! I am so excited! I won't have to worry about leaving the dogs outside and chasing them around the neighborhood when they get out. My dad was kind enough to offer to tear down the old fence with some of his workers. They tore it down in a little over 2 hours, which was so speedy! We really appreciated the help! Hopefully the fence company can install the new one fast, so we don't have crazy wound up dogs! I have a feeling we won't get much sleep this week! Below is a picture of bailey thinking about trying to squeeze through the old fence. Hopefully we won't have any more of these moments!

Thanksgiving Weekend

It's been such a fun and low-key Thanksgiving weekend! It started out with a date night on Wednesday night. Michael came home from work with a beautiful bouquet of flowers! We went and ate at Yolo's and then went to Harry Potter. It was long, but good!

On Thursday we ate brunch with the Mulloy family and then went to Center Hill lake to eat with my mom's side of the family. It was great to be able to eat both meals and not feel full! Maybe pregnancy has some benefits :)

On Friday, we hung out and watched the Auburn game. It was a frustrating game, but had a great outcome. I can't wait for the SEC championship next weekend! Another strange thing happened to me on Friday that I had not experienced yet. I was very happy but for some reason could not stop crying. I guess it was the hormones, but it was still really strange! I hope that symptom doesn't pop up again! It feels pretty silly!

On Sunday I had my rite of welcoming into the Catholic Church. They don't tell you any details, they just tell you to show up to a certain mass. I wasn't expecting to stand up in front of the whole congregation for 15 minutes, but it was interesting nonetheless.

We can't wait for our 20 week appointment tomorrow! I hope everything looks good!

Megan and Ryan's Shower

Michael and I hosted a tailgate shower for Megan and Ryan and we had such a blast! We had Moe's cater and it was so good! It was so much fun and we enjoyed meeting all of Ryan's family. Below are a few pictures.

Megan and Ryan opening their presents

Michael and Matthew making jokes at Megan's expense. What else are brothers for? :)

Bailey wanted to be included in the party, but just couldn't stay awake for it.

Below are some of the pictures from the after-party to the shower!

It's a BOY!!!

Michael and I decided last minute to do an early 3D ultrasound to find out if our sweet little baby was a boy or a girl. We went last Saturday and we had so much fun seeing the little baby. The baby was a little shy so it took a little while to get a good glimpse, but the ultrasound tech said he was 90-95% sure that its a boy! We are both so excited, but I think Michael was definitely over the moon!!

No one knew that we were doing the ultrasound, so it was a really fun surprise for our parents. We decided to bake a cake that said "Baby Mulloy is?" on the top. We dyed the inside of the cake blue so when they cut into it they would know it was a boy. I think they were really surprised!

We are waiting for confirmation from the doctor to officially pick out the name and start the nursery. Our appointment is on November 29th and we can't wait. The doctor should also be able to tell us if she thinks everything is developing normally, so we are praying that our little boy is healthy!

New addition

We decided to start a blog although I never thought I would! Michael and I found out we are expecting a baby on April 17th and thought a blog might be a good way to keep track of everything that is going on in our lives.

It has been a very busy few months for us. I found out I was pregnant during the busiest time of the year for accountants. It was a challenge for sure! I have been very sick with this sweet little angel and keep praying that it will get better soon! It has been very hard to balance work, going through RCIA classes, being a Junior League Provisional, and Michael coaching 7th and 8th grade football four days a week! But, I think we are finally starting to see the light!

Below are the pictures from our nine week appointment! It was such a blessing to be able to see the little "nugget" (as we refer to it) squirming around! I can't wait until I can see the baby again!

We have also been looking at day cares which is way more stressful than I thought it would be! I thought it would be so fun to go and look at all of the sweet little children playing, but every time I go to one I feel myself getting more overwhelmed with the amount of families on the waiting list! I need to have faith that it will all work out and we will get in somewhere!

We are headed to Jacksonville next week for one of Michael's best friends weddings and I can't wait to get away and just relax!!