A BABY Shower, Father's DAY AND 3 CM Dilated!

Lots of pictures in this one!

This picture was taken at 32 weeks! Wow does my face look round!

My mom and best friend, Lexie threw me a FABULOUS baby shower on Saturday, June 5th. The food was great, the decorations were adorable and the company of friends and family was even better!

Lexie and I. She is going to be such a great Aunt! She has already got Easton styling with cute shoes and outfits!

My momma and me! She is so excited to be a Nana!

My girls! These are my gals from college. Some live local others are from came from Wichita and Colorado! Thank you ladies!

Of course this was Josh's favorite shirt!

This was only part of the gifts that little Ms. Easton received! We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends!

This is the quilt my mom made for Easton. She has so many beautiful quilts and blankets that family and friends have made her. We love each one of them and can't wait to use them!

For Father's Day Josh got a new GRILL! So of course we put it to use!

Yes, this is Josh!

Josh and his dad on Father's Day.

We are 36 weeks in this picture. Yes, I am that huge right now!

Harlie, enjoyed the great weekend weather!

Ella too!

Since we celebrated Father's Day with everyone on Saturday, Sunday was a lazy day for us! Josh put together a Easton's swing, bouncer and Jeep stroller!

We are 36 weeks and 5 days! Last week we started going to the doctor on a weekly bases! Today's doctor appointment she officially started "checking" me. I am happy to report that I am 3 cm dilated, 70% effaced and -1. Dr. Grounds was very excited and surprised that I was so far along. She even told us that she didn't think I would make my due date! Of course this made Josh and I ecstatic, but it also made me realize that we need to get all the ball! We still have not made daycare arrangements, packed our bag, put the crib mattress pad on the crib bed, finished baby shower thank you cards and so much more. So I am sure I will be on over drive the next couple of weeks trying to wrap things up before Easton arrives. I have gained 53 pounds to date and have noticed my weekly weight gain tapering off! Ok by me!

A SUGAR scare, an ALL time LOW and EASTON CORBIN

Forgive me this is going to be an overload of information, stories, and updates. I started this post a long time ago and never finished. So I have a lot to catch up on...

Easton Blondell has been dancing away in my belly these days. I have had two doctors appointments since I last blogged and I am happy to report that mommy and baby are doing great. We did have a scare. I didn't not pass my first gestational diabetes test so I had to do the three hour test. Now this test involves FOUR! blood draws. My husband happily accompanied me to this procedure and walked around Providence Hospital for four hours with me! He was a trooper and we passed the time joking around and trying to not think about food! Within two days my doctor's office called and here is how the conversation went!

Nurse: Melissa you failed one of the fours tests
Me: and...
Nurse: Dr. Grounds said No sugar
Me: No Sugar... Not even Ice Cream!?
Nurse: No ice cream.
Me: My husband is going to die!

Luckily the next day following the no sugar phone call I had a doctors appointment and got some questions answered. I am borderline having gestational diabetes. My doctor said my test were the craziest thing. I can eat sugar... in moderation of course, but I also need to make sure I am not just eating sugar. Like don't have a piece of cake as a snack. Have it with your meal. Otherwise I basically feel like crap and my sugars go really high and then I crash. So if I want to feel like crap then eat just a piece of cake.


Ok, so I have cut back on the sugars and have incorporated more protein in my diet. So far so good. Don't get me wrong I still eat ice cream. I just make my husband scope it out instead of myself. He does a much better job of controlling portion sizes for me than I do.


At 34 weeks I weight 241! A whopping 47 pounds have been added to my ass, belly, thighs, even my arms have grown. Oh, and I can't forget my feet. These days my feet are swollen 24/7. In fact they sometimes get so swollen that I have rolls. Like the Pillsbury Dough boy. Cute, I know.



With summer hitting us and the temperature rising, I have also seen a change in my mood, emotions, and patience. I am out of control irritable. With everyone! I don't discriminate or play favorites. I have kept my irritability under control at work, but there has been many times I have had to walk outside before I went crazy on a co-worker. Speaking of crazy, I got a pretty embarrassing/funny story.

I never thought the words "I am f*$!%^g pregnant and I need to eat!" would EVER come out of my mouth, but sadly they did and they were shot right at my husband! I am pretty sure he was waiting for my head to start spinning like some possessed woman. There is a story and it does have to do with food, answering his cell phone, and much more, but I will skip those details. From the pyscho pregnant wife it was a downward spiral to the sobbing uncontrollably pregnant wife. The sobbing came from feeling stupid for getting so angry about something so meaningless and food. Needless to say that moment wasn't one of the highlights of my preganacy. In fact it was my lowest point. Now we look back and laugh at it. Thank God!

Recently we took a Childbirth class and we both LOVED it! Well as much as you can love talking about vagina's, labor positions, pain, and placentas. The class was very informative and helped Josh and I to understand how important it will be to communicate with each other. We both feel so much more comfortable about the whole labor and delivery process. We also learned that 8 is our magic number! Ideally I do not want an epidural and if we can dialate to an 8 without one then we are in the home stretch! However, I am also not ruling out getting an epidural. My goal is to avoid it, but remember things don't always go as planned. We also meet with a Maternity Coordinator at Shawnee Mission Medical Center and set up our birth plan. After taking the Birthing class I decided that I liked the idea of being able to labor in a tub to help ease pain and progress labor. So basically we are waiting on Easton! We are all setup at the hospital, we are knowledgable about labor and delivery, and we are ready to take care of a newborn (we took a Newborn Care Class also). However she needs to give us a least one more week because we have a one more class to take before her arrival.

We also recently celebrated Josh's One Year Anniversary of being Tobacco Free at the Brad Paisley Concert!

This is Easton Corbin. Our little Easton got her name from this guy.

Of course like a proud Momma I took a picture of her name!

Over a two week period we have finally completed the nursery! And we LOVE it! It is the most adorable nursery I have ever seen, of course I am a just a little bias. In fact the other Saturday morning I heard Josh get up, but he never came down stairs. So after about ten minutes I went upstairs to check on him. When I went into our room I didn't see him in bed, but the bathroom light was on with the door wide open and no noise. I instantly thought Crap, did he pass out on me! But he wasn't in the bathroom either. Where did I find him?!.... In Easton's room. He was sitting in the rocking chair reclined back just relaxing and looking around. When I asked him what he was doing, his response was "Sitting here practicing for when Easton comes". All I could do was just smile and think how Easton already has her Daddy wrapped around her pinkie. For the most part the nursery is completed, we do still need to find a little table to put next to the recliner/rocker and a book shelf to hold all the pictures, books, etc.
The first three pictures are what Easton's room looked like before we started the nursery. We just throw stuff in there and over time had a nice pile going.

A lot of love and family help went into this room. Josh and his mom painted the top of the walls pink!

Then the following weekend Josh and my dad began the chair rail and bead board. Needless to say putting up all the trim and paneling required a lot of tools from the Wiseman Depot!

This is the finished product! Isn't it too cute!

Then the night before our first shower Josh and Austin (neighbor) put together the crib and changing table!


And we finally have a nursery! A beautiful nursery for a little girl!

I LOVE my rocking chair! It swivels, reclines and rock! The arms are high and very wide!

Yes that is Bevo in the crib! Once we made up the crib that was the first thing Josh grabbed out of the closet and stuck in there.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this is not the original crib we purchased. We took it back because I could bring myself to spend that much money on a crib. So Josh took it back and we found another set that was much more reasonable.

Josh and I are constantly going into the nursery and just looking around or sitting in the chair. It is crazy to think in just 11 weeks Easton will be here and the nursery will be in full use, well at least the chair, changer, and closet! A huge thank you to my husband for making such a beautiful nursery for our little girl! Also a big thank you to my mother-in-law for helping with the painting, and last but not least my dad. Who helped make his granddaughters room a calm, comfortable, and amazing place! Lord knows we would have never got all the carpentry work done without you! Now I am in search for the perfect items to add to the wall!

The Wisemans/Bosleys headed to Arkansas the last weekend in March for my Memaw and Papaw's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party! It is a 7 hour trip for us and considering I am 5 1/2 months pregnant I believe I did VERY well with limited bathroom stops. It was a wonderful party and it was great to see all my family on my mom's side. My cousin Lacey thought she could help Josh and I in our what the baby wears home debate by making the most adorable tutu's for us.





This one of course was made for Josh...




And to make sure I had my pink she made one for me as well! Thank you Lacey we LOVE them and can't wait to get Easton in them for pictures!


24 week pictures





April 3rd:
Saturday, morning I had a complete pregnant hormonal melt down. Josh of course was in Fort Scott visiting his dad while this all took place, but via cell phone he was able to reassure me. Ok so early that week, like Thursday morning, I had noticed faint squiggly lines on my stomach, an inch below my belly button. Now at first I chalked these up to the pants I were to bed (cut off jogging pants, sexy I know), but Saturday morning while standing in front of our bathroom mirror rubbing lotion all over my very round belly it hit me! These squiggly lines were not sleeping marks they were STRETCH MARKS! I absolutely lost it! I grabbed my phone and called my husband:

Josh: Hello
Me: (sobbing uncontrollably) I've got STRETCH MARKS!!!
Josh: Melissa... What.... Breathe!
Me: I can't!
Josh: Honey it is ok. I still love you!
Me: I know, but they are stretch marks....
Josh: It is ok.
Me: They are ugly!
Josh: Melissa we are going to have a beautiful little girl and I love you!
Me: I know, but they are still ugly!

Now that was my wonderful husband who was doing his best to make feel better. This next conversation is between my dad and I. I had called him once I got off the phone with Josh because damn it I just needed some more sympathy.

Dad: Hello
Me: (still sobbing uncontrollably) Dad....
Dad: Melissa what is wrong?
Me: I've got stretch marks!
Dad: What?.... You are pregnant.... What did you think would happen.
Side note: By this time I could tell in his voice he was trying not to laugh at me and was thinking "did my daughter just seriously call me crying hysterically about stretch marks".
Me: I don't know!
Dad: Melissa everyone gets them when they are pregnant.
Me: Nu-Uhhh... Jessi and Mindy didn't and I don't think Ashely did! ( These are my cousins ;) )
Dad: It is part of being pregnant.
Me: I guess. I will be over in a little bit.

Later when I ran some errands with my dad he told me that he was kinda pissed at first because he thought something really bad had happened, like Harlie (one of our dogs) had died or something worse. He also told me that when I got off the phone with him all he could think was "Good God". I told him next time I call upset that he may want to work on covering up his laughter a little better. He just chuckled at me and said next time I will let your Mom answer the phone.

Ok so many women get stretch marks when they are pregnant. I was just hoping I was one of those lucky ones who don't. So why did this hit me so hard. I think it was the realization that my body will NEVER be the same. I am not trying to sound vain or superficial, but I have always been pretty happy with my body. Yeah I would take a boob job and a couple nips and tucks here and there, but overall I was grateful I could eat a loaf of bread and still pull off a cute dress or a great pair of jeans. I am not going to lie... until the stretch mark episode I did have hope that I would return to a two piece swimsuit, but the summer days of two piece swimsuits are over. I just have had a really hard time adjusting to my "mom" body. In the end it will all be worth it!

26 Week Pictures




On April 6th we had our final sonogram and a doctor's appointment. The sonogram went wonderfully and Easton is growing like crazy! Her weight was 1 pound 14 ounces and her heart rate was 146 bpm. Mommy gained another 10 pounds topping the scales at 224. Yikes! To date I have gained 30 pounds! With just three over months to go... I just might set a world record for the most weight gained during a pregnancy!

I am going to close this entry with the thing I LOVE to her my husband say the most! "Momma" He calls me this all the time.... Momma I am home, Momma whats for dinner, Bye Momma Have a good day, and so on. He even answers the phone Hi Momma! It so melts my heart and is music to my ears! So Josh thank you for being such a wonderful husband, daddy, and best friend! I love you very much!
Oh, and Josh has officially moved out of the bed. He has relocated to the recliner and couch. We just weren't sleeping very well anymore in our queen size bed with my belly and pillows.

There is some MOVING AND SHAKIN' going on!

Easton has totally consumed our lives and we love it! It is Easton this and Easton that! On March 9th we headed to the baby doctor for a check up. Easton is doing wonderful with a heart beat in the 150s, mommy has gained another 8 pounds putting me at 214, and daddy is keeping up with mommy these days! For those of you who are keeping track I have gained exactly 20 pounds since my first doctor's visit at 8 weeks. The doctor said she was not a bit worried about the fluid they found in Easton's left kidney at our 20 week sonogram appointment and that is was probably gone by now. She did say that we needed to schedule another sonogram so we could get a good profile picture of little Ms. Easton. So on April 6 we will go in for round three of photos for Easton. Since the appointment is at 1:30 pm my mom is going to go to this sonogram and I am so excited for her to see her granddaughter!

On March 11 at exactly 22 weeks Easton became a mover and shaker! I think she has daddy's dancing skills! Around 8:30 pm while watching Grey's Anatomy and laying on the couch I felt this crazy rumble in my belly. When a fart didn't follow I figured it was Ms. Easton moving. I shot up and excitingly told Josh "I swear to God, I think I just felt Easton kick!" He came over right away and put his had on my belly and of course she didn't move. He went back over to his "man" chair and we finished watching Greys. After Greys he turned it to the Texas basketball game and I told him to come over here and put his hand on my belly while he watched the game. So I placed his hand on the spot where I had felt her move the most and not a minute later she gave daddy one heck of a kick! The strongest one I felt so far. He turned and looked at me with astonishment, excitement, and the hugest smile! The look on his face was truly priceless and I will never forget the love and amazement that I saw in his eyes as he felt his little girl kick. Every since that night Easton has not stopped dancing around in my belly. Prior to all this movement, I just finished off a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge and homemade brownies! I think she loved the ice cream and wanted to let us know!

Last Saturday, March 13 was a day completely dedicated to Easton. The only goal Josh had for me was to pick out baby bedding. My goals on the other hand were to register at Babies R US and Target, find a crib and changing table, and of course baby bedding. First stop of the day, Babies R US. We spent TWO and HALF hours in that store registering! Of course when you walk in there are aisles and aisles of baby stuff! I must say when the lady handed us the scanning gun we didn't know where the hell to start. Even with three different registry "must have" lists, it was just too much. So our plan of attack.... start at the first aisle on the right side and work our way down every aisle until we made it around the store. Along the way we looked at everything and scanned the items we thought we may need. One jumbo size box of diapers, a "My Mom is hotter than your Mom" bib and a "My first Royals Tee" pink shirt later, we left Babies R US registered, exhausted and starving! Side note: There are certain items that my husband got carried away with so please disregard the 5 packages of nursing pads that he scanned. He got a little out of control with the gun! After some very yummy Mexican food we headed to Target on 155th and 69 hwy. It sucked! We were in and out of there in 45 minutes. There baby section was small so we just registered for some basics. As we were walking out of Target I realized we didn't' register for a diaper bag. So I told Josh we had to go back to Babies R Us and register for one. So began the big diaper bag debate. I wanted cute, girly, and pink. Josh wanted something HE could carry around. He picked up ones that looked like ugly brief cases, dang bowling bags, or were back packs. I had to remind him that I too would be carrying this thing. After all my cute pink ones were shot down, Josh saw one shoved way in the back that matched our stroller/carrier. We scanned it and bolted! The final stop of the day... NFM of course. There we purchased our baby bedding ( I will post pictures of it later once we finish the room) and ended up buying a crib. I had not planned on spending so much on a crib, it just wasn't that big of a deal to me, but after searching forever, Josh and I found one we both liked. So with much reservation I gave into buying the $570.00 crib. Yes you read that right, $570 for a crib that does not include the mattress or the rails to convert it into a full size bed! Like Josh says "This is the only bed I am buying her while she is living with me". I of course LOVE the changing table/dresser that goes with the crib, however there is NO WAY in hell I was spending $800 on that. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I told Josh that we would order the changing table I liked at Babies R Us. It is tall (this was a huge issue for me), has places for baskets below, white, and simple. Best of all it is only $240.00 and I don't really think Easton will care what her little butt gets changed on as long as she gets changed.

Now we have to focus on paint colors and getting the nursery together! And here are some colors we are currently working with...






21 Weeks


Easton's coming home outfit.... Like I said if it was a girl she will be wearing pink, bows, and ruffles!


I leave you with pictures of our Babies R Us purchase....

Baby Furniture Outing and My Pillow Husband!

I am just going to throw this out there.... peeing in my panties... not fun! The most recent prego symptom. If I laugh hard, sneeze, or don't go right when I feel the urge, boy do I pay with some dribble! Dear God, please let my bladder return to normal once Easton is born. We continue to have the nightly pillow battle in our queen size bed. This is so not sexual so get your minds out of the gutter! ;) The pillow battle involves me strategically placing three pillows so I can sleep comfortably. One between my legs, one for my head, and one for my belly/boobs. Poor Josh must sleep around all three and has sacrificed bed space for my pillows. Oh, and once they are positioned he dare not move them! I honestly do rip his head off! Thank you real life husband for allowing my pillow husband to join us every night in bed so I can sleep comfortably!

So this past Sunday was a very eventful day for us. We ventured out in search of baby furniture. Wait... I better give you some more details. I had originally ordered some very cute bedding from Babies R Us only to be disappointed when I got it. It wasn't what I was expecting so I returned. So not only are we in search for baby furniture, but we are also back on the hunt for baby bedding. Oh, and if I don't make up my mind soon, I do believe our little girl will be growing up in a pink John Deere Room. The afternoon began at USA Baby. Holy crap they have a lot of furniture, mobiles, bedding, letters, borders, strollers, car seats and so much more crammed into that store. I am sure we looked like a couple rookies in awww! We cruised up and down the aisle only to leave empty handed and hungry. After a cheese hamburger and chocolate milk shake we headed to Nebraska Furniture Mart. Land of Furniture opportunity! After strolling through the baby section once we went back through it and picked out our favorites. While standing in front of one of the cribs we liked our conversations went something like this:
Me: Josh do you like this one?
Josh: Yes, ummm... I like that other one too.
Me: Well which one do you want to buy?
At this point we must had overwhelmed rookies written all over our face, because an older couple began laughing at us and our inability to a make a decision on a crib. We left NFM with the new Easton Corbin and Jason Alden CD and no crib. We completely underestimated the while baby furniture buying process. This coming weekend our goal is to 1. find, buy, and stick to baby bedding 2. register for baby items at Target and Babies R Us and 3. decide on baby furniture. Wish us luck....

So we stopped by Books A Million Sunday so I could pick up nursing books. While checking those out I found book called "Life Lessons on Raising a Girl" I opened it up and read a couple of pages and got all teary eyed. Josh came back over from the children books section and I showed him the book. We got it and he ended up reading half of it that night. It isn't like a novel. It has one to two liners on each page about raising a girl. Josh read them to me all the way home and when we got home. He even folded the corners of the ones he liked! Some made us laugh, some made me tear up, and some made us think about Easton as a teenager. It was one of our great Mommy and Daddy moments that I love.

This past Sunday evening I had one of THOSE moments! You know the ones you say to yourself Awww... Shit.... All I could think was Josh and I really don't know what we are in for with this baby! What brought this about you wonder.... I was reading one of my two breastfeeding books and just read the part where the baby will need to nurse every two to three hours. Hello moment! Oh, and the hours do no start when you finish feeding, but when you START feeding! Holy shit we may end up divorced! Every two to three hours... I need sleep! Josh needs sleep! We can get pretty nasty when we don't have our sleep. To some of you this may sound ditsy that this is such a shocker to me, but seriously I don't have any kids so how the heck would I know this tid bit of information? Don't get me wrong I knew Easton would have to eat, but I guess I just didn't realize how often it was. Have I mentioned we have NEVER had a newborn?! So if you come and visit us, call, or text and I seem to bite your head off or be kinda snippy, moody, or whiny, please forgive me. Oh, and if Josh seems to be a jerk, just let it roll off your shoulders because we will (like many parents) be running on very few hours of sleep! So that was my Holy Crap moment where I officially realized Easton would forever change our lives! Oh, and I am currently accepting any tips or advice from those Mom's out there that have nursed.



I am going to leave you with some of Josh's favorite lines from his father to daughter book:

• Let her sleep on your chest when she's a baby. This is when the world begins to make sense.


• Tell her to believe in true love, just not in junior high.


• Show her how to throw a right cross. That will stop any boy from picking on her.

And his all time favorite: Dance with her always. She'll never be too young or too old.