ALMOST THERE!

How far along? 39 1/2 weeks...only 4 days away from my due date!

Weight Gain:40 pounds...ahh! Thank God for Weight Watchers and the fact that they cater to breast feeding moms, I know I will be able to lose the weight in a healthy way! On a side note here is an announcement of things you should NOT say to a pregnant lady..."are you having twins?", "wow how many do you have in there?!", "wow thats a big belly!", "you are going to be huge!", "you look like miss piggy", "man how many months are you?!"....all of which have been said to me at some point during my pregnancy, most within the last week.  I can promise you through my smile and polite laughter I was thinking of punching those people in the face haha. 

Sleep:Whats this word you speak of?? Haha kidding...it could be worse. Actually I had the pleasure of taking a three hour nap today so I cant complain too much. Although heartburn is the devil, and I have actually woken up in my sleep throwing up...like seriously?! (I know gross sorry TMI)

Best moments this week: I had my last day of work yesterday which is really nice! So I guess I am officially on maternity leave.  It will be nice to relax and prepare for Greyson's arrival!

Food cravings:Starbucks hot chocolate....if you have never experienced it, you are seriously missing out!

What I miss:Not waddling around, and being a nice person...I have really not be pleasant lately (Sorry Chris!)

What I am looking forward to: Obviously I am just really excited to meet our baby.  I dream about all the things I want to teach him and watching him grow.  And mostly I just want to love on him.  I also cant wait to see Chris hold him for the first time...that will be such a sweet moment.  I am already in love with Chris and I know I am going to fall in love with him all over again by watching him become a dad :)

Milestones: Well I have almost made it to my due date....I really thought I was going to go early.  But God constantly reminds me that He is in control and its better that way. 

On that note, since this will probably be the last time I blog about this pregnancy I just want to say how truly blessed I feel to have the miracle of being pregnant.  These past 9 1/2 months have taught me so much about myself.  I honestly did not know how hard being pregnant was going to be.  It has tested me in ways I couldnt have imagined and pushed me to be a better and stronger person.  The first 5 months were tough with me being sick every single day.  There were days where I was sick and had migraines and all I could do is sit in my room and cry b/c the pain was so bad.  But then I would think about Greyson and I knew that I would go through whatever I had to go through in order for him to be a part of my family.  It strengthened mine and Chris' relationship so much.  He was by my side through all the sickness and did whatever he could to help me feel better.  He encouraged me and thanked me for going through this and it will always mean so much to me to have him by my side.  This last couple months were difficult as well with my scary car accident and being in the hospital, and then lasting injuries with my back that we cant take care of until after he is born.  Situations like that remind you whats important in life, and teaches you that God is always in control and protecting you.  I am thankful to be alive and thankful that God was taking care of Greyson through all of that.  These last few weeks have definitely tested my patience.  I am not a very patient person in general and I love to plan ahead for things.  I have had to learn to be patient (and then re-learn it day after day).  I am so close to meeting Greyson, and to be honest the anticipation is killing me! Not to mention thanks to my lovely pregnancy hormones I am pretty grumpy these days haha.  I now know what others meant when they said by the end of your pregnancy you are just "done".  I can definitely relate!  However before I started writing this blog it hit me that I really need to soak in these last days to have Greyson in my belly.  As of right now I have him all to myself....its just him and I and it wont be too long before I have to share him with the world.  I wont get to feel him kick and move around in my belly anymore, or have the hiccups that make my whole stomach jump.  And I will definitely miss those moments.  Those moments will stay in my mind way more than the hard moments of being pregnant.  I am thankful for the bad times and good times throughout this pregnancy and I know any day now everything will have all been worth it.  I cant wait to meet Greyson and I feel so blessed to have so many people in his life that already love him!

 Here are some pics from our Maternity shoot with Kelly at Daphne Photo Studio:

Cant wait to welcome the third member of TEAM HOOVER :) 

36 weeks

How far along? 36 weeks today! Cant believe my baby boy will be here in 4 weeks or less (I refuse to believe he will come late...haha)

Weight Gain:  Somewhere around 30 pounds...wont know for sure until my next dr. appt.

Sleep: depends on the night....some nights I sleep really well....other nights heartburn takes over and I cant sleep at all.  Not to mention rolling over is getting harder and harder! This heavy baby is making that almost impossible to do haha I am sure I look pretty funny trying to roll over from one side to the other ;)

Best moments this week: Last week we got to see Greyson on another ultrasound and just seeing how big he was from our last ultrasound made me so excited.  He weighed in at 5.5 pounds and his cute little nose was squished up against my belly haha :) I sure hope his nose is okay! I am pretty sure he is trying to get out of my belly he is just  not sure where the exit is yet.  As of right now he is trying to get out of my side and you can see him push on my side over and over its pretty cute.  Sometimes when he pushes his foot out to my side I just hold his little foot in my hand and rub it...cant wait to hold him in my arms!! Also another best moment is that my best friend Erin had her baby girl Leighton, I cant wait to meet her she is so adorable!

Food cravings:eww food just seems gross to me right  now.  There is no room in my belly for anything else and every time I eat I feel sick afterwards.  BUT Greyson will be here before we know it so I am just pushing through day by day and counting down until I get to see him. 

What I miss:I really miss being able to feel my hands!! I have such a bad case of carpel tunnel and its extremely painful!  Everyone keeps telling me it will go away once he is born so I am really hoping that is the case!

What I am looking forward to:Obviously I am looking forward to meeting my baby!  And this might sound weird but I am really looking forward to experiencing child birth.  I mean I am not excited about the pain or anything but I just want to know what its like! You read so much about it and try to prepare and everyone tells you their own stories so I am just curious as to what my experience will be. 

Milestones: Well I am officially 9 months pregnant and in my last month of pregnancy so I would say thats a huge milestone! Greyson is hitting big milestones now by gaining around a half a pound every week! If I go all the way to 40 weeks with him he I have a feeling he is going to be a big baby! Also we pretty much have everything ready to go with Greysons nursery.  I have all his clothes washed and put away and we have his furniture up and ready to use! Now we just need a baby to go with it!

Pregnancy has been such an experience and I feel extremely blessed that God has given me Greyson as my son.  I just pray that I can be patient over these next 4 weeks and not complain about every ache and pain and over all uncomfortable feelings that the last month brings.  I cant wait to love on my baby boy!!

Here are some pics from the last few weeks:

*Me at 31 weeks

*My good friend Brittany had her baby Walker and I got to go down to Lexington and visit them!  Brittany and I grew up together and we are so excited that our boys will get to grow up together too!

*Diaper cakes from my shower "A Star is Born". They have Greysons initials on them, so cute!!

*So my last shower had to be postponed due to the fact that I was in a bad car accident the night before and ended up having to be in the hospital while my shower was supposed to be going on.  I was so upset but thankfully my friends were able to still have me the shower a few weeks later.  I am thankful Greyson and I are okay and I am so blessed to have so  many great friends in my life!

*I officially cant see my feet anymore....haha!

*34 weeks...and running out of room!

*35 weeks....almost there!

28 1/2 weeks

How far along? I am 28 1/2 weeks...only 11 1/2 more to go! (But whose counting...haha)

Weight Gain:  25 pounds....I guess I am happy though that I am mostly "all belly"...I'm sure it wont stay that way haha

Sleep: I've bragged too much in my past posts about all the wonderful sleep I have been getting....its starting to go downhill.  But mainly its b/c I have been sick with a double ear infection, bad sinus infection and I'm pretty sure I have bronchitis...fun times!

Best moments this week: We got to see our baby boy in 4D and that was so much fun!  I always think that baby's look so weird in those pictures...and I'm not going to lie Greyson looked weird in some of them.  But whenever the baby moves a lot in 4D the pictures get distorted.  So luckily we were able to capture some really cute pictures (when he wasnt covering his face).  It was fun to get a little glimpse into what he looks like.  He definitely needs to fatten up some (he can use some of my 25 pounds I dont mind....haha).  We also got it all on DVD and I've watched it like 5 times already.  There are times where you can see him sucking on his thumb, stretching, swallowing, smiling, opening his eyes.  Hes a busy little guy in my belly!

Food cravings: SMOOTHIES.  Like I seriously cant get enough.  And whats horrible is that there are not any smoothie places close to me...so I have traveled pretty far to get them haha.

What I miss:I miss being able to move around a little smoother....its work trying to get up sometimes haha.  I also miss being able to breath normally....with a baby crowding my space and this sickness its been challenging!

What I am looking forward to: Well I have two showers coming up which I am so exciting about!  My assistant coach and Senior cheerleaders are having me a shower this weekend, and my best friend Erin is having me one the weekend after.  Greyson is truly blessed with so many people that love him already! One thing I am NOT looking forward to is my 3 hour glucose test on Friday...thats right I failed my 1 hours test :( I blame the cough medicine I took the day before I took my test...I didnt realize one of the ingredients was "high fructose corn syrup"....oops!

Milestones: I guess a milestone would be being in my third trimester!  I'm definitely more tired, and there are some not so fun symptoms in the third trimester, but that just means I am so close to getting to meet my baby!  Only about 79 more days!!

Here are some pics from the last few weeks!

My mom and niece Kali had me a shower a couple weeks ago and I had so much fun!  So much thought and planning went into it and it turned out perfect!  We got a lot of great gifts and we feel so blessed by everyones generosity!  

Me at 26 1/2 weeks

"Do not open until November 29th 2013"

Me and my beautiful mom after my shower.  I am so lucky to have her in my life.  She put so much thought into my shower and worked hard to make it perfect.  Greyson is so lucky to have her as his Grammy b/c she is going to love him so much (and I'm sure spoil him too haha)

Greyson Christopher Hoover at 28 weeks....most precious face I have ever seen in my life <3 br="">

23 weeks

Heres a little baby update!



How far along? 23 weeks today! Only about 17 more to go until I get to hold Greyson!

Weight Gain: Not sure I will find out at my next doctors appointment Monday.  I can honestly say that I love my pregnancy body though so I honestly dont care at this point what I have gained as long as I am healthy and so is Greyson.  Since the time I was about 12 years old I have had some serious struggles with body image.  I really never learned to appreciate my body until becoming pregnant.  You go through so much change and its amazing to me what a womans body can adapt to.  I have never felt this confident about my body before and I really believe God has used Greyson to help me heal of my insecurities and body image issues.  God truly works in mysterious and amazing ways!

Sleep: I feel very lucky in this area.  I have not had many problems so far sleeping.  I am sure it will get harder the farther along I get but for now I will just enjoy the fact that I'm able to sleep well!

Best moments this week: Well as of last night Chris finally felt the baby kick!  This past week his kicks were getting stronger but I wasnt with Chris b/c I was away at cheer camp.  Last night he was talking to Greyson and then Greyson kicked him haha.  It was so cute and I loved seeing the expression on Chris' face.  I can tell Greyson missed his daddy while we were away this week! Also today I actually saw my belly move when he kicked which was so funny and exciting to see! 

Food cravings: Nothing specific really.  I have had a bit of a sweet tooth lately but nothing specific comes to mind.

What I miss: Having a worry and care free attitude.  God is really working on me with this.  Ever since being pregnant I have been worrying like crazy.  Its so difficult to love something so much, but not have any control over what happens.  But I know through this process God is teaching me to truly place my trust in Him.  I cant control everything and I dont want to!  I would much rather God be in control than myself.

What I am looking forward to: I have three baby showers coming up in about a month and I am so excited!  The first will be my family shower and it will be so much fun to have mine and Chris' family together to celebrate Greyson.  I am also having a shower with my friends and my cheerleaders are having me one.  I am going to have one spoiled baby!!

Milestones: I think its so cute that Greyson's sense of hearing has developed.  I can tell when he hears stuff going on b/c he starts moving like crazy.  After the Justin Bieber concert he was dancing all night haha.  And everytime at cheer camp when the camp would start cheering, he would start moving around.  It was so cute!!

July was crazy busy for me between my missions trip and cheer camp.  So here are so pictures of the past few weeks of mine and Greyson's adventures!

**Cousin Kali giving Greyson kisses! She is going to be such a good cousin to him, she already loves him so much.

**Baby Greyson at 20 weeks.  It was hard to get a clear picture b/c he was moving around so much.  I am already so in love with him and could stare at his pictures all day long.

**We went to the Justin Bieber concert and I made shirts for my nieces, me and my mom.  Kali and Addies said "True Belieber", my moms said "Grammy Belieber" and then this is the shirt I wore.  Greyson will probably hate this picture one day hahaha.

**Me at about 21weeks.  My belly was really popping out that day so I just had to snap some pictures!

**My gross swollen feet after a 17 hour bus ride to my missions trip in New Orleans.  This wasnt even as bad as they got!  I think I gave cankles a new meaning hahaha.

**Me and three of my beautiful prego friends.  We all went to Ruths Chris for dinner and had a prego girls night out haha.  We are all due within a month of each other!  Erin is first with her due date being November 5th, then me at November 29th, Caitlin at December 5th and Emily December 10th. (I think I got all those dates right...) It will be so fun for our kids to be so close in age!! I also have 3 more of my close friends that are pregnant right now! New babies will be everywhere here in a couple months!

**22 weeks

**Me and Jennifer, my assistant coach, at cheer camp!

**I am so lucky to have Jennifer coaching with me!  She took care of me all week :)

**Me and my seniors at cheer camp! Cant believe this group of girls are Seniors already.  They grew up way too fast!!

I have to take this moment and brag about my cheerleaders for a second.  I am so proud to be coaching such a great group of girls.  They went into camp having to take a few steps back b/c we had no experienced flyers on Varsity.  And most of JV was new to the squad and some had never stunted.  They all pulled together and worked as a team to be able to learn stunts and perfect their routines.  Both squads won safety ribbons (not dropping anyone), both got blue ribbons (the best you can get) on both of their evalutions and both squads got spirit sticks every day.  My Varsity won most spirited on the first day, and won most spirited of the entire camp on the final day.  One of my Varsity girls was even invited to be on FCC Staff next year which is a huge honor.  Both squads bonded and grew spiritually and I am very excited to get this season started.  I am so blessed to get to coach these amazing girls!!

Its a BOY!!

How far along? I am 17 1/2 weeks. Its starting to go by kind of fast which  I am excited about.  Only about 22 1/2 weeks left until we get to meet our baby! (But whose counting...haha)

Weight Gain:I havent checked since my last dr. appointment...I'm trying not to focus on this part too much.  I've always been someone who has had body image issues but I am starting to really learn how beautiful a woman's body is.  Funny how its taken being pregnant and gaining weight for me to realize that.  Instead of focusing on gaining weight I really just want to make sure I am healthy so that my baby is healthy.  Its amazing the ways that God created woman to adapt to pregnancy.  I've been having a bumpy road when it comes to being pregnant but I think its really a beautiful thing to grow a child inside of you and weight gain goes along with that!  So I know as the weeks go along, those numbers on the scale are going to keep moving up...and I am just going to embrace it instead of being terrified to look!

Sleep: I really consider myself lucky when it comes to sleeping.  I may be having a hard time with sickness and migraines and all that...but I am so far not having too much trouble sleeping.  I did have some trouble this week b/c I sprained my neck from throwing up so much (an injury I already had from a car accident so my neck is just week), so that prevented me from sleeping a couple nights...but my neck is starting to feel better thankfully!

Best moments this week: Yesterday our good friend Andrew had us a "diaper party" and some friends and family came over for a cookout and we revealed the sex of the baby.  We had everyone choose a balloon depending on what sex they thought the baby was.  Then at the same time everyone tried to blow their ballon up.  Most people chose a pink balloon but little did they know that I had poked holes in all the pink balloons so they wouldnt blow up.  So all the blue balloons blew up revealing that we are having a BABY BOY! It was a fun moment and I am so happy to not have to keep it a secret anymore! 

Food cravings:So I very randomly started craving fruit snacks the other day haha.  I havent had fruit snacks in years so I have no idea where that came from! I went to the store and literally stood in the fruit snack aisle for 5 minutes trying to decide on which ones I wanted.  So random but man they tasted good!

What I miss:I really miss having energy.  I barely have energy to shower (dont worry I still do!) much less do anything else.  I have to say my husband is amazing for picking up my slack.  Most days I either am throwing up, laying in bed all day with a migraine or recovering from those days.  I do get bursts of energy every so often and hopefully those days will become more frequent here soon!  But seriously Chris is awesome for taking care of me and our apartment and even working extra hard at work when I cant...love him so much!

What I am looking forward to: I have a lot of really fun things coming up!  In just 2 1/2 weeks we get to see our baby on another ultrasound and that will also put me at the halfway point in my pregnancy!  Also non pregnancy related I am excited about taking my nieces to the Justin Bieber concert in a couple weeks.  They are going to have so much fun and I cant wait to see their smiling faces when they actually see him in person!  And lets be real I love me some Biebs so I am excited too haha ;)

Milestones: A big milestone for us would be deciding on a name!  I thought it would take us until the day he was born to pick out a name b/c I am so indecisive and really couldnt think of any names that I loved.  But one day it just hit us and I feel less stressed knowing we already have a name.  So in just a few months our precious Greyson Christopher will be making his grand entrance into the world...we cant wait!!

I know I complain a lot about not feeling good, but I honestly would go through anything in order to bring our baby into the world.  The other day I literally almost had a mental break down.  After 3 days straight of being very sick and having a migraine and then learning that I had sprained my neck and being in the most excruciating pain I have every felt, I literally thought I was going to go crazy.  I couldnt do anything but just cry and pray.  I want so bad to enjoy this pregnancy.  I know so many people who are not able to have kids, and it took us a year to get pregnant once we started trying, so I really hate complaining b/c it makes me feel selfish.  So a couple days ago I decided to write my child a letter.  I just started writing from my heart and it honestly helped me see the bigger picture.  I am already so in love with this baby, and as much as I dont like being in pain I know that it will be worth it for my baby to grow healthy and strong.  I cant promise that I wont have bad days and complain...but I know God is preparing me to be a stronger Mom for my son and for that I am thankful!

Here are some pics from this past week!

After we revealed the sex to everyone we decided to take a pic of us blowing up the balloons of what we originally thought the sex was.  PS my husband looks super hot here <3 nbsp="" p="">

This is a pic of my good friend Emily and I posing with our bumps!  I kept saying I was going to take weekly bump pics to document the pregnancy and this is actualy the first picture I have taken!  I'm beginning to move out of the phase where you cant tell if I'm pregnant or if I've just been eating a lot haha.  Emily looks gorgeous pregnant and I am so happy to be pregnant at the same time as her!  Fun fact: I actually have 5 close friends who are pregnant right now.  So fun to have kids who can grow up together!!

Cant wait to find out what the rest of my prego friends are having :)