Baby Stuff

My sister found this beautiful dress at a very good price for Addison to wear for her blessing. I just fell in love with it!!! It comes with a bonnet, but we'll have to try it on her to see what it looks like. Thanks, Sis or Aunt Melisa!

A friend from church, Linda, just finished making this quilt for Addison. She is very talented and insisted that she make a smaller quilt for Addison when she is a baby and then when she gets older she can use it for her baby dolls! She thinks of everything! I told her the colors that coordinated with her bed set and she picked out the material and design. I can't wait to get her room set up and see how everything looks!

28 Weeks and Counting...

Santa Claus stopped by Claxton Elementary. I couldn't resist the temptation to tell him what I wanted for Christmas! My students thought it was hilarious that I sat on Santa's lap. They insisted that I was too big to sit on Santa's lap. I explained that I never will be too big or too old to sit on Santa's lap and tell him my Christmas wishes!!!


Here I am at 28 weeks. We are getting closer! 12 more weeks to go! March seems forever away. My belly is getting larger and everything is a bit more uncomfortable. It's nice to know that I'm more than half way there!

One Of The Best Things About Christmas Is...

One Of The Best Things About Christmas Is ... Getting to spend time with my adorable nieces and nephews! My mom decided that she wanted to get coordinating outfits for her grandchildren this year get a picture for her Christmas card. That's easier said then done...but over Thanksgiving, my family got together and attempted the impossible...to get five small children to look in one direction and smile at the same time! I was very impressed with how well they did. They also had an audience of 10 adults staring at them and making funny faces. Here are a few pictures...sorry mom if I've taken the surprise away from your Christmas cards.

Ryan, Katelyn, Corey, Kyla, and Elena

Katelyn was quite the model. She stayed perfectly still and smiled like an angel. Ryan also stayed very still and tried to help with his sister. Corey was hilarious. He has a new smile, more like a cheese when you tell him to smile. I didn't get a picture of it though! Kyla was more interested in taking her bow out and couldn't understand why we were making her sit on the fireplace when there were toys to play with! Elena (the youngest) did amazing! She liked being a big girl and sitting on the fireplace with her cousins, until she wanted to be a little dare devil and peek over the edge. I've never seen my brother (her daddy) or all the men in our family jump so fast to catch her. She never fell, she just was checking things out! It was ten minutes of exciting entertainment!

I like this one because it looks like our little Elena found out she was sitting by another cousin...oh wait, it's a stuffed Santa.

We're getting a little restless in this picture...still cute though.

My favorite...I think someone took Mr. Reindeer away from Elena and she decided she had enough! Between the four of us taking pictures, I'm sure mom will be able to pick out one for her Christmas card and hang the rest all over the house. I can't wait until next year when Addison can join her cousins!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Neil and I had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! We started by going to the doctor on Tuesday for our 25 week appointment, plus our ultrasound. I haven't scanned the new ultrasound pictures, but I'll try to post them soon. They are too cute! After the doctor, we went to Willacoochee to spend Thanksgiving with Neil's family. We got to take our nephew and niece (Payton and Kaylen) to the movies to see Madagascar 2 and we really enjoy spending time with our family and relaxing! This is a picture of our nephew, Logan. Isn't he adorable? Sometimes it's hard for little ones to warm up to us at first and then we leave for another two months (but it gets better when they get older and understand). We became good buddies while I was there.

This is Neil and Daddy Gene (Neil's dad) cutting the YUMMY turkey. I already miss the food!

While we were there we got to see Roxie's puppies! There are six, but they are still camera shy. They are about five weeks here. Oh, Roxie is Daddy Gene's dog. I wanted to take one home, but figured that a new baby on the way is enough for right now. I enjoyed watching them!

These are of me at 25 weeks. Yes, Neil is talking the baby! She already has him wrapped around her little finger!

Then we went to Brunswick to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I only took pictures of our nieces and nephews for my mom's Christmas cards, but I'm not going to post them yet. On Friday, my mom, my sister, and I woke up at 3:30am to go shopping! It's a Pittman tradition for us girls to go get the deals! We got some good deals, but I sure did pay for it with sore legs and leg cramps for the next two days! I'm already over it though and can't wait for next year!

Temple Trip - Canning

Ever wonder what you look like with a hair net? We'll I don't have to wonder anymore. Neil and I went to the temple in Columbia, South Carolina and then went to the cannery. Safety rules or sanitation rules require everyone to wear a hair net! Neil and I couldn't look at each other without laughing! Don't worry, I didn't over work or lift anything heavy!

I caught Neil off guard in his fabulous hair accessory. He threw his away before I could get a picture of us together.

Here is a picture of us outside of the temple. The temperature was dropping. It was windy and cold!

Here is one of Neil's..."Let me take a picture of your growing belly". If you haven't noticed...I don't like pictures that are taken of me by myself. I don't mind pictures of me with someone...just not by myself! I'm trying to do better though. Here I'm 23 1/2 weeks. I need to keep the weeks on here so I can go back and write it when I eventually get the pictures developed.

Neil and I are getting very excited about the HOLIDAYS! We love getting to spend time with our families and enjoy our holiday traditions! Plus, we get a whole week off together for Thanksgiving! We are starting on Tuesday with a few days in Willacoochee and then off to Brunswick for a few days!

22 1/2 Weeks

Neil took this picture this past weekend. I am 23 weeks now! Only 17 left to go! The striped shirt kind of hides my bulging belly, but you can tell that I'm pregnant. I'll post more pictures when we are with other people, so Neil can be in the pictures too! With all the holidays coming there will be plenty of pictures!

Side Note: A little girl in my class came up to me and gave me this weird look today. She said, "I want a hug, but I don't want to hurt the baby". I give lots of hugs to my students all the time (especially her), so it surprised me that she was concerned about the baby. I explained to her that she didn't have to worry about hurting the baby and she could hug me anytime she wanted. She proceeded to tell me that my belly is getting bigger and if I keep getting bigger she might not be able to hug me (kids are so honest). If she thinks I'm big now, just wait a few more months! Anyways, I thought it was cute that she was worried about the baby.

Happy Halloween

Neil carved our pumpkin for this year. I was kind of grossed out this year with the smell of the pumpkin guts, so I volunteered to watch and take pictures!

Neil and I went to our "trunk or treat" at church Wednesday night. Our friends (Jamie and William) and us decorated William's trunk for the trunk or treat. Neil thought of our costumes for this year. Yes, we spent a total of $2 on our costumes! I'm so glad that I married a guy with a great sense of humor! I had to hold the bottom of my pumpkin, because my stuffing kept trying to come out!

She Moves!!! (A Little Halloween)

Last weekend, I went home to see my nieces and nephews dressed up for Halloween for their Fall Festival at church! I was so excited to get to spend some much needed time with my family. Neil didn't get to go...he had too much school work. This is a picture of 4 out of 5 of my nieces and nephews on my side. Yes, it is difficult to get everyone to be still and look at the camera for 2 seconds. Aren't they cute??? We have a princess, a contractor, a witch, and a race car driver.

On the way home (Saturday night) I was driving around the interstate ramp and felt a tickle across my stomach. I didn't think much of it until the next morning on the way to church when I felt a more distinct movement in my stomach. These small movements have continued throughout this whole week and I LOVE IT! I can really feel her at night when I lay down or in the morning when I'm waking up. Neil can't feel her yet, but hopefully soon!

Our Little Girl

Here are the pictures from our ultrasound at 18 weeks. We were not scheduled to find out the gender until another 2 weeks, but our doctor surprised us and took us into the ultrasound room. As you know, we are having a GIRL. As of right now, we are naming her Addison Kaylene Wilkerson. She is named after three of my favorite women. My mom's name is Kaye and my sister's middle name is Kaye as well, and my grandmother's name was Marlene. We combined the two names to get Kaylene. My grandmother passed away from cancer when I was 10 years old. She battled with cancer for 2 years and never gave up. I couldn't think of another person who I would want my little girl to look up to, then her great grandmother. I can't wait to tell Addison about her. I didn't leave Neil out, if it was a boy we were going to name the baby Eli after his great grandfather and great-great grandfather.

Addison was very active throughout the whole ultrasound. She was moving all around. The technician pushed on my belly to make her uncross her legs, then she got mad and moved around a lot more! The picture above is her head down and her body curved to the side.

This is her getting ready to kick her legs out straight!

This is my favorite. As you can tell this is her little foot.

This one is hilarious to us. She has her legs stretched all the way over her head. She is quite flexible!!!

This is the next shot from the picture above where she kicked her feet out. If you look close her hand is resting on her forehead. She seems to like to keep her hands above her head.

These pictures make me want to hold her, but the tech reminded us that she weighs about 9 ounces and is about 9 inches long. We want her to grow a lot more! Everyone continues to ask if I have felt any movement, but no not yet. Mayble in a few weeks!

We're Tickled PINK!

Neil and I went today for our 18 week appointment. Everything went great! The baby's heartbeat is strong and our doctor surprised us and moved us into the ultrasound room! We found out that we are having a GIRL! She was so active, she wouldn't sit still! I asked the technician if we could go buy pink and she told us we could buy all the PINK we wanted because she is definitely a girl! Neil and I are beside ourselves. We were happy before we found out, but now everything seems even more real. Now we don't have to call the baby it anymore, now it's she or her!!!

A Weekend Home

This past weekend, Neil and I went to Brunswick to visit my family. Friday night we stayed with mom and dad and then went with them to see my sister that lives in Jacksonville. This is a picture of us with my sister's kids, Ryan and Kyla. Ryan is not real excited about me having a baby. He doesn't like to talk about it, but we did ask him about names and he has decided that he's going to call our baby Pickle.


While we were in Jacksonville, we went to a new/used childrens' store called Once Upon A Child. We were going just to "look". We saw a husband and wife unloading a crib. My dad (who will talk to anyone) and Neil asked the couple about the crib. They were going to sell it to the store for whatever they could get. My dad began to tell them about me expecting and how we were looking for a crib. My mom and I were in the store browsing around when a lady came up to me and said, I met your dad and if you want our crib, you can have it. I was quite shocked and wondered what my dad had got me into. When I went outside I saw a beautiful crib. The sweet lady explained that she paid about $499 for this crib and it was in great condition, but apologized for the few dents. The lady refused to take any money and simply said, "I hope this blesses your life" and gave me a hug. After Neil and my dad loaded up the crib and we started on our way home, we realized we didn't even get their names. To those wonderful people, who were so nice to give us a crib...Thank You! Here is a picture of the crib. Right now it's upstairs above my parents' garage until we need it!



Neil and I don't ever get pictures of us together, so we took advantage of having someone to take pictures for us. In the picture above, I told Neil to quit poking out his belly. After he reassured me that he wasn't sticking out his belly, he thought this picture would be funny for our scrapbook!

17 weeks

Corey's B-Day

I thought that I had posted some pictures of my nephew's 2nd birtday party, but I realized that was my sister-in-law who is so good at posting. This is one of my favorite pictures of Corey. This face fits him perfectly because he gets so excited over everything. When he sees Neil and I, he runs to us, gives us big hugs and then is off to find something else to get excited about. He's such a cool kid.


Look at these cuties! Neil and Elena are becoming best buddies. Elena already has her uncle wrapped around her little finger. He'll do just about anything for her!

This is Katelyn and Elena. These are two out of three of my nieces on my side. My other niece, Kyla is around, but she's too busy to stop for a picture, especially when their is a yard full of your cousins' toys to play with!

Corey wasn't concerned about anything while he was eating his cake. He didn't care that I took several pictures of him and kept distracting him or that he had cake all over his mouth and hands. As usually he's enjoying one of life's sweet moments...birthday cake.

I know it was Corey's birthday, but Elena needed to sit in Corey's new chair. She had to have a little help sitting in it or she would have toppled over, but couldn't you just eat her up???

Picture of "the bump"

This picture is for my brother, Jonathan. He asked to SEE a picture of the "baby bump" from my previous post. He won't tell you because he tries to be tough, but I think he's a bit excited about being Uncle Jaja again.

Disclaimer - This is after a long day of work and I just woke up from an hour nap!

It's Official...I have a BABY BUMP!

Okay...at almost 15 weeks, I finally have somewhat of a baby bump! Last Thursday I went to bed and woke up and couldn't fit into my pants! I have been anxiously awaiting to be able to show that I am expecting and then when I did I cried. Happy tears for a minute and then worried tears because I had nothing to wear to work. My bump is not noticeable to the average person, just to those who have been waiting to see a little pooch. I never thought people would be so excited about me gaining a little belly, it's been a lot of fun! Thanks to a friend from work, I have several maternity pants and shirts to wear, however, they're still too big. My pants are too small. I broke down and bought the next biggest size pants to wear for the next few weeks.

Neil and I went to the doctor for our 14 week check up and everything was GREAT! The baby's heartbeat was steady and strong! I go back when I'm 18 weeks and they have scheduled for us to find out the gender of the baby around 20 weeks, which is towards the end of October for those who are counting!

10 Week Ultrasound

Neil and I went to the doctor last Thursday for our 10 week appointment. We were scheduled for an ultrasound. I wasn't sure how the baby would look because on the last ultrasound, it was a cute little blob. So, I didn't want to get to excited but here's what we saw.

This is the baby's profile. You can't see the legs or feet in these pictures and I was a little nervous, but my sister and sister-in-law saw them when the baby kicked on DVD that we showed off, so don't worry!
This is a view from the backside of the baby.
This is the front view. The lady pointed to the eye sockets and nose. This was the most "alien like" picture.

Our baby is already photogenic! The heartbeat was very strong at 167 beats (anywhere between 120 and 180 is fine). The baby was jumping all around the whole time. We were surprised how well the pictures turned out because it wouldn't be still. On our chart the doctor noted where the technician wrote, "Very Active Fetus". I was very proud, but hope he/she calms down when their born! We our scheduled to find out the gender of the baby around Oct. 9! Just for the record Neil and I don't care, we just want a healthy baby!

Do they look old enough to you?

My nephew Ryan and my niece Katelyn are about to go to pre-k! It feels like just the other day I was holding them in the hospital right after they were born! Didn't we just finish potty training? Now two of my most favorite people in the whole wide world are going to school! Before I know it, they'll be driving! I can't wait to talk to them about their first day. Happy School Days, my sweethearts!

A Few Notes About Pregnancy...

I am very excited and a bit apprehensive to say that I am over morning sickness!!! I don't want to say that to loud because I'm only 8 weeks, but I can't help but to celebrate! Here are a few stories and tips I picked up on with morning sickness:
-Every commercial seems to be about food that looks wonderful, however, the thought of eating it makes you run to the bathroom.
-Morning sickness is such a funny name...for me it needed to be evening sickness, which was just in time for Neil to come home and enjoy my most miserable time and trying to explain to him that I felt descent for some of the day.
-I picked Neil up some pizza one night to try to be a good wife and make up for not caring about what he ate...so he wasn't home yet and the pizza smelled so good. I figured a few bites wouldn't hurt. I sure did enjoy those four little bites. It was almost worth throwing it up a minute later!
-I love to tell everyone about being pregnant! I tell anyone who will listen!
-I LOVE ultrasounds!!!
-My mom took me to the Motherhood store a couple of days ago and insisted that I get some clothes for when I wake up and can't fit in to anything! My mom got a kick out of me trying on maternity clothes!
-A huge thanks to applesauce, grilled cheese sandwiches, pop-ice, chicken noodle soup, peppermint, and cheese puffs!
-I went up to my classroom to get things ready for school and I was able to catch up with my wonderful colleagues. They are extremely excited for me and already rubbing my stomach that shows no sign of being pregnant, something I decided I'm going to have to get use to!!!
-I have a new respect for pregnant women who suffer from morning sickness. I had a friend call today and tell me she was pregnant and so sick. I was excited for her, but my heart went out to her because now I really know what it feels like. She cried, I cried and tomorrow after work, I'm going to take her little girl to the park and to get some dinner so her mommy can hopeful get some rest! My new goal is to try to be more sympathetic and service minded to all pregnant women. I wish my sister wasn't finished having children...I could relate so much better now. She has truly been my life saver and has listened to me cry and then cried with me!
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I go back to work tomorrow! I'm really a kid at heart and I get so excited about a NEW school year. I miss the teachers I work with and of course my students! So, here's to a new and exciting year, full of fun and excitement everyday!!!

We've Got A Heartbeat!

Neil and I went to my doctor's appointment for an ultrasound. I was so excited to see what the baby sort of looks like. Well, I was a bit disappointed to find out that I am not as far along as I thought. I'm only measuring 6 weeks and three days. However, the best part was getting to hear our babies' little heartbeat!!! It amazes me that such a small baby (.5 cm) can cause a person to have so much emotion already! I couldn't help but cry, it was the best sound ever! The nurse wrote Hi Mom on our ultrasound picture and it didn't register that she was talking about me until Neil nudged me. I wonder when the reality of being a mom will hit me??? For now, the pictures from the ultrasound and hearing that heartbeat has made morning (evening) sickness a bit more bearable. As soon as I can get to a scanner, I'll post some pictures!

Joah (Neil's best friend) and Lydia's Wedding

Joah and Neil have been best friends for forever. They have been through a lot together. They have certainly laughed A LOT in all the years. Joah just graduated from UGA, got a good job in Macon, and got married in May to Lydia. We are so proud of him! I couldn't go to the wedding because it was on the last day of school for me, but Neil went.
This is Joah and Neil at his wedding. It's very hard for them to be serious, so I absolutely love this picture!

I did get to go to the reception. It was beautiful!

CONGRATULATIONS JOAH AND LYDIA!

Morning Sickness

I am now 6 weeks and 5 days into my pregnancy and thought that I was going to be one of those lucky people who wouldn't experience morning sickness. Besides being a little tired and emotional, I have felt GREAT. I was even feeling a bit guilty about feeling so great when everyone shared their horror stories about morning sickness. However, last night as I was deciding what to eat, nothing seemed to sound good. After much looking, Neil gave me a suggestion and we ate. After dinner, I felt yucky. I have no better word to describe it than yucky. I told myself it was just a tummy ache and went to bed crying. This morning I woke up with the same yucky feeling and it has stayed with me all day long. Thank goodness I'm a teacher and am off for the summer. I have exactly 3 weeks to get this under control and go back to work! All I have done today is eat small portions of anything that sounds somewhat desirable, wrote a post for my masters class, and just took a shower at 7:30 pm. The best part of my day...Neil came home an hour early, looked at the pile of unfolded laundry, dirty dishes in the sink, our unmade bed, pregnancy books scattered across the floor, me still in my pjs, and he said "I love you" and gave me a hug!

BABY

Neil and I are extremely excited to announce that we are having a BABY! We went to the doctor on my birthday, July 1 and found out that I am five and a half weeks pregnant! We are due on February 27, 2009! Watch for more updates!

Katelyn's 4th Birthday

Katelyn turned 4 on June 4. She had a princess party at her house. Neil and I were so excited to get to go spend time with her and our family.
This is a picture of Katelyn with her brother and cousins. Look at those party hats!

I love this picture. My sister-in-law hates for people to take pictures of her. Katelyn and Karen look so cute!

This is my kind of girl! She got a guitar in her lap and riding on her hot wheel. What a life.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birtday to you, Happy Birthday dear Katelyn, Happy Birthday to you!

Katelyn is enjoying playing with her Uncle Neil! Happy Birtday sweet girl!