Showers for Cantley

Being the "guest of honor" at the baby showers was very surreal.  I couldn't believe that we were at this point in the pregnancy, when just a year ago we were just trying to accept the fact that we may never get to experience pregnancy and/or parenthood.  We have not taken any moment for granted and I really tried to soak it all in.  We are so blessed to have so many people that have joined our journey to Baby BooHeini.  They have continued to pray and support us this whole time and we are so very grateful.  We had 3 amazing showers for little Cantley!

Our first shower was given by my aunts and it was so sweet.  Cantley got so many wonderful things, and we could definitely feel the love being surrounded by so many lovely ladies that I have known for many, many years. 

My sweet hostess aunts: Aunt Julie, Aunt Tracy, and Aunt Kelly.

Looking like my mom in this picture.  Brett calls it "the Kath Path"

That little outfit was my dad's when he was a baby. :)

I saw a mobile with woodland creatures on Etsy that I just loved but it was super expensive.  My sister MADE me an even better one.  So cool!

Cantley's grandma's: Mama C & KK

Cantley's Aunt and my sweet sister

Aunt Rach (who is carrying Cantley's future wife)  & Aunt MG

The 2nd shower was given by my sweet co-workers at Southwind.  My school family has been some of our biggest supporters throughout this whole process.  I'm very blessed to call these sweet people co-workers and friends. 

I'm sad I didn't get a picture with the Pre-K & Kindergarten teacher hostesses & with the other people that were there, but I forgot my big mama camera & just had my camera phone. #placentabrain


Our final shower was given by 4 of our best friends.  We included the guys on this one and it ended up being a big, fun celebration.  The games were hilarious, the food was delicious, and our hearts were full, as we were surrounded by the people we share life with and get to share our baby's life with.  Cantley will be so loved by this loud and crazy bunch. :)

BBQ and Potato Salad..nothin' better!

                                  Bahaha

Nashville friends made the drive in to shower Cantley.

The amazing hostesses and 4 of my best friends.

So excited Brett got to experience all the baby shower fun!

These girls have been so good to me, Brett, and Cantley.

The shower was at these sweet friends' lovely home.

PawPaw & KK

Uncle Donald

Wes loved baby showers. :)

Memphis football from Uncle Jakey

Our friend Richard got creative with his gift wrapping.

Ready for baseball season with Coach Daddy

So stinkin' cute! 

Auntie Rach & Auntie MG

Aunt Kimmie & CoCo

Daddy, PawPaw, and Uncle LuLu

This is so funny!!!

Haha

Getting a little help from Kel..lol

Baby..Beer..BBQ?

The ladies' turn

Dominated..naturally!

Roz, being Roz..haha

Baby keg for the baby shower. 

Most of "Cantley's Crew"  

Cantley is one lucky little dude.  We got everything we could possibly need and so many wonderful things that we wanted.  We absolutely cannot wait for him to get here. 

Yay! Cantley is Cute!

I cannot believe that we are in the 3rd trimester and that Baby BooHeini will be here in a little over 2 months.  At times it has seemed to fly by, and at times it has seemed like we'd never get to this point.

I have had an amazing pregnancy experience so far..I know, insert eye roll.. but when you've spent the months before you got preggo injecting your self with meds and taking supplements and feeling pretty sick, bloated, and just not yourself, all the morning sickness & crazy pregnancy hormones ain't that bad.   But I've also been very blessed with an uncomplicated, smooth pregnancy as of now, so I know I've been lucky.  Let's just hope this last trimester, birth, and first couple of weeks with baby go as smooth..haha #nervouslaugh

We had a 3D/4D ultrasound today and got to see a sneak peek of what our little man is going to look like and holy moly is it cool!  Well first of all, we've already had to apologize for our child.  The ultrasound tech said he won Most Stubborn Baby Award.  He had his back turned toward us and would not turn around.  We did get a nice look at his apparent mullet he has going on back there.  Party on.  Then he put his hand up to his mouth and started chewing on his arm.  Next he decided to pick his nose with both feet.  My mom & sister , who were in the room, said he was acting like me.  Note: I cannot reach my toes to my face...anymore.  So I'm assuming they speak of my stubbornness.  :)  Here's some of the best pictures she could get:

                          Aww, his little furrowed brow. 

     You can see him putting his face on his little arm.  You can see his foot too.

            Snoozing away..look at those sweet lips!  Oh my word..

 

He looks just like Brett in this one...and I'm okay with that. :)

aaand this is my favorite!  He opened is eyes and looked at us just once.  I think that's his dark hair too, which explains the heart burn.

We cannot wait to meet our precious Cantley.  We have waited so long to get here and seeing these non-alien, human-like pictures makes it that more real. He is a miracle baby indeed, and we are so blessed to have gotten to this point.  Can you believe this is the same baby that started off in a petri dish?

"For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."  -James 1:3

Baby BooHeini Has A Name!

We have a name for this child and we love it!  He shall be called..... Cantley.   ( after his daddy) Brett's middle name is Cantley.  I've loved this name since I met Brett and we both wanted to use something meaningful and unique.  Now I can't imagine calling him anything else.  I love saying it: "Cantley just kicked" or "In Cantley's room".  Ahhh..it's just too cool!   It's so fun to see his name too!

We had a wonderful Christmas and Cantley got some precious gifts.

I kept thinking about how different next year would be when we have a 6 month old!  I still can't believe we are so blessed to be pregnant and that this is OUR baby.  I also thought a lot about Christmases past and how every year we would think, "Next year we'll be pregnant" or "Next Christmas we'll have a baby."  So if you're in that boat now, I've definitely been there and my heart goes out to you.  We spent 4 years of Christmases, Mother's Days, birthdays, etc. feeling this way and it's not fun.  But my advice to get through any holiday or event when you're feeling left out or down about not having a little one yet or for whatever reason is to:
 -Enjoy your spouse and your fur baby if you have one.  Cooper gets a stocking and we open it together as a family on Christmas morning.. and we take pictures of him..and it's awesome. 
-Hang out with the kids in your life- hang out with three at the same time 5 years old and under and that'll really make you forget about the baby waiting game for a while.
-Have fun with your friends.  Go on trips, to concerts, and long drawn out dinners. You know, the stuff you won't be able to do spontaneously once you actually have a child.  

-Drink wine. Because you can. ;)
-Leave early or don't go at all if you can't handle it.  I remember last year on Mother's day, I just couldn't make it to church.  I knew they'd ask all the mothers to stand. They may talk about what it means to be a mom, something I hadn't gotten to experience yet.  I wanted to be beside my mom to honor her, but I knew my heart was broken because it was another year of not having a child.  So I just met her for lunch afterwards.  Do what ya gotta do!

Also, Happy New Year!  I'm pumped about 2015 and I hope you are too.  A lot can happen in a year...