Maren Michelle Howard

She's here!!! Maren was born April 16, 2009 at 2:13 pm at Lexington Medical Center. She was 7lbs, 5oz. and 19.75 inches long. O'Hara and I are overjoyed. Praise God for such a healthy, wonderful child!!!!

I'm tired, y'all

...though you may not be able to tell from this picture! Check out the size of that arm! Whoa! And ready to chow down.

Anyway, I am feeling different the past day or two: cold, heartburny, SO worn out! I keep thinking of things that need to be done. This last bit of pregnancy is making me a crazy lady.

Another Update

They're gonna induce on the 16th of this month if the baby hasn't come yet. That's pretty great news for a mama-in-waiting (to have an end-date!) 2 weeks, 2 days max!

My Main Squeeze

Just want to take a moment and appreciate my man. He worked so hard this past weekend on projects around the house and out in the yard! And I don't even think he's done. Mom says he's "nesting" with me. But he has just been wonderful.
I was watching Joel Osteen last night (we watch/listen a lot of times at night as we're going to sleep) and the message was about the 86,400 seconds that is God's gift to each one of us everyday. And I'm not wasting 'em today by being negative! I love and appreciate my husband!

At last...

She has a first name that O'Hara says we can share. Maren. So our little booger will be called Maren (among other things, I'm sure!) Maren Howard. That's right. No middle name yet. O'Hara is going to decide the middle name. NOT on his own, mind you. He will be picking from a list of names we complied TOGETHER. So, I'll fill you in when we're all squared away with that whole thing.

She is getting the hiccups ALL the time now. Her activity level remains HIGH. I researched online and "they" say that means I have a healthy placenta. Good. 'Cause although my thighs are a nice "healthy" size, I assure you the activity there did not come from carrots and grean beans.

We had supper with Kathy & Al last night in Lexington. Olive Garden takeout. DE-lish. I'm glad they'll be up here more in the next month with the baby coming and all!

I'm looking forward to 4 things coming up:
1) A WELL overdue hair apt. next Tues. with Michelle. At the moment, my hair is a nice combination of brown, caramel, and blonde at certain ends. It's tragic. Work your magic, Michelle.
2) At the doc next Thurs. they're gonna check me for action. I don't expect action, but it would be cool if there was some progress down there!
3) Julia Chase's 7th birthday party next Sat. It's a glitz & glam party...with makeup and nails, glitter, temp. hair color & tattoos, etc. Should be awesome.
4) A baby shower for us! Linda is hosting a shower next Sun. afternoon and it should be plenty of fun. I don't get to see the Sloans as often as I'd like to! Thanks, Linda! Can't wait!

Our little booger

She's getting big! We had an ultrasound apt. today and doc says she weighs 4.2 lbs!! It was so cool to see her moving around and yawning and blinking and sucking on her hands! We are SO EXCITED!!!!!!
SO this whole "naming the baby" thing is out of control. We have FINALLY come up with her first name(it was not an easy task) and now cannot agree on a middle name. Will someone tell my husband that the middle name is not that important because she'll never be called by it and then she'll likely drop it when she gets older and married anyway! So, for some reason O'Hara doesn't want us to tell her name yet. Maybe I can talk him into it in the next couple of weeks...especially if we can decide on a middle name!
It has been forever since I wrote on this blog. I wish I could say that I've been terribly busy, but that's just not the case. I'm pretty boring. I got my new camera and have taken about 5 pictures. None of them are of anything cool.
We are headed back down to Charleston this weekend to visit with friends and for me to attend Mindy's bridal shower. Last weekend was Dana & Vince's honeymoon shower at Guy & Renee's house, and we had a lot of fun. Even though I am such a homebody, it felt good to get out and hang with buddies and feel like a regular person...not just a pregnant person. It will be nice to have the baby and a nice glass of wine...and maybe 30 less lbs...hey, why not?
I can't believe that it's almost March already. Julia Chase will be 7 years old and then in April Parker will be 3!! David Jr. will be 27, our marriage will be 1 and we're having a baby! One day soon I'll post some belly pictures. It's getting big!

So...

I ordered a new camera and can't wait for it to arrive! Then, there will be no excuses for not having pictures on my blog. BTW, amazon.com is great. Not only did I order the camera, but also a case for it, a memory card, a 2009 engagment calendar, and a childbirthing DVD. This could end up being a problem, huh!
It was a good week-pretty low-key, as usual. My belly is bigger every day. I can't stop eating. The baby is kicking me up really high now. We don't have anything special planned for the weekend. So, that's all I've got. I swear I would write more if there was more on my mind.