Vylet Caroline is here!

As many of you know.. I was quite the "B" my last month and half of pregnancy ( I say month and a half because she was 2 weeks late) But being 10 months pregnant. You certainly have the right!

I went to my due date appointment.. No progress. I went to my 41 week appointment.. No progress. There was no light at the end of the tunnel for me. I was too anxious! If it wasn't my first baby I probably wouldn't have been so anxious, but with it being your first and wanting to experience everything.. time just drug on! At my 41 week appointment we scheduled a day for me to be induced. We planned that Friday. My doctor told me to call Friday morning to make sure they had room for us, otherwise we would have to wait until Monday. Friday morning rolled around and MIRACLE!! They had room for us. So we grabbed our last minute things and headed out the door. I text my whole family to let them know what was going on and that we were so excited! We turned onto the street that the hospital was on and my phone rang. It was a nurse at the hospital saying there were 2 girls that just came in that were in labor and that there was no room for us. Worst phone call ever. I started crying on the phone of course and told the nurse we just pulled up (lie) hoping she would say "well you're already here, so you might as well just come inside and we'll take you". But instead they sent me to the doctor's office to do a "stress test" to make sure the baby was doing okay. I was told not to eat sugar right before or it will look bad on the test and they will send me to Labor and Delivery... Remind you.. that is my goal. To get to labor and delivery. But what does that lady know?! So on our way to the Doctor's office, I made Romney stop at the gas station to get me and energy drink and some candy. I was bound to fool that test and for them to send me to the hospital! We got to the doctor's office and the nurse said she was going to call them and give them a heads up about what was going on. Do you think she did? Of course not! So when I go check in the receptionist asked me how I was doing not knowing she was about to get a story of an unhappy pregnant girl that is suppose to be getting induced at the moment. And do you know what she says?? "Oh, honey.. Don't cry!" Really lady? I'm 10 days over due my bags are packed in the car, on my way to the hospital and you're telling me not to cry?! I'm pretty sure I just stared at her and walked away. Then she kept asking dumb questions and my sweet husband kept answering them rudely (He knows what makes me feel better) Secretly I was glad he wasn't being very polite (which is not him at all.. he is always so nice to everyone!) He totally made me feel better. Then when the nurse called me into the back to check my blood pressure etc.. She asked me what I was doing there. I told her I was 10 days over due and the hospital sent me here. She asked me if I was in labor. Ummmm.. pretty sure I just waited for you for a half hour and you would know if I was in labor or not. (idiot!) So I just started to cry again. They put me on the stress test and everyone kept coming in to check the test and said "The baby looks great!" I was hoping they would say... "We should send you to L&D" (You would think after an energy drink and candy before 8:00AM something would give.. but no. He heartbeat and everything was perfect. Of course! (Of course I'm happy she is healthy... but I was just hoping to fool the darn test) Then the Nurse Practitoner came in and told me how sorry she was and literally cried with me and hugged me and said "Nobody knows how you feel, you cry all you want!" She made me feel much better!! All the other nurses can just... shove it.

Anyway.. they sent us home and Romney and I went and saw a movie. Sent out all of our "Psych.. no baby" texts to everyone and actually had a pretty enjoyable day together. I had finally just accepted I was to be induced on Monday morning and that was that. They couldn't make me go past 42 weeks! So there was my light at the end of the tunnel I suppose.

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:00AM to go to the bathroom. Took 3 steps and my water broke! I just said "Oh, crap! Romney, I think my water just broke!" I've never seen him jump out of bed so fast! He just said "Let's go!" Soooo long story short.. the hospital had to take us wether they wanted to or not! Ha! Suckers. So at 3:44PM I deliver our sweet baby girl.. Vylet Caroline Zackrison. And now I am no longer an ornery pregnant woman. I am just one happy mama with the cutest little girl ever. (Obviously!)

She is starting to be so smiley and responsive! It is so much fun. I can't believe how much I love her. Motherhood really is the best thing in the whole entire world. I am so grateful I have gotten this experience and it just keeps getting better and better! 

Birthday(s)??!!

I thought the first week of May would be full of Birthdays.. turns out we just celebrated mine. Guess baby Z wanted her own Birthday week!

May 4th was my birthday and May 6th was Vylet's due date. My birthday was so fun and relaxing. It was kind of nice having my birthday be on a Sunday because we didn't feel like we needed to go out and do anything huge. And being 9 months pregnant I try to avoid going out in public as much as possible. I did go to church but only to sacrament meeting because I was lucky enough to get a migraine that day. So I came home and took a  much needed nap and then Romney and I had the afternoon together. My friend Jessica (pretty much our family out here) made me dinner that night and we just hung out with her and her family and had some cake and ice cream. It was a super fun day. I got a gift card and a new camera! We were in desperate need of a new one and with a baby on the way, we figured it was perfect timing... Except she was 2 weeks late.. so I guess we still had time. That cute little stinker took her sweet time getting here.

Glad I didn't look as big as Romney does.. Pretty darn close though!

Thanks Romney and Jess for making my Birthday such a fun day!!

The next week rolled around and it was Mother's Day! I was so excited to hold my own baby on Mother's Day and be an official "Mother" (even though I technically was.. but I still so badly wanted that baby here) But instead Romney and I enjoyed the day together and he bought me some beautiful flowers and a very sweet card. It turned out to be a really nice Mother's Day, even though Vylet had not yet graced us with her presence.  I thought I was having contractions early that morning.. but I was probably just dreaming about having them. I was desperate for any sign of that baby coming. I literally had 0 signs of labor.  So it turned out just to be one Birthday instead of 2. But thats okay! Vylet is here now and we love her so dang much!

Baby Z's room!

Well, we have a room for a baby and still no baby (4 days late). Still no signs of labor coming my way either. And if you have text me and asked me about her arrival, chances are I've probably ignored you or was rude to you. So I apologize. Being 9-10 months pregnant is NOT FUN! Needless to say I am one big grouch. Anyway, I've had people ask me about the "nursery" so I am posting a few pictures of it. It turned out a lot cuter than I had imagined it would! I wasn't even expecting to do a full on decorated nursery but was having fun with it and it wasn't very expensive so here we go!

I painted the dresser a coral color. So much work! But I thought it turned out super cute! I bought it about a year ago and have changed my mind like 8 times of what color to paint it. But I'm glad I chose this one. It definitely brightens up the room! And I'm obsessed with gold. 

I made the pillows for the crib bumper. I totally copied my sister in law. But I couldn't find a crib bumper that I liked. If you look too close at the pillows you can definitely tell I am the one that made them. (Not the best seamstress in town)  

Yep little one. You are late. (I should probably erase that or she'll never come)

This is the blanket my mom made. I LOVE IT!! SO MUCH! It has polka dots on one side which her and I both love and then stripes on the other. (Obviously) But it is a big soft blanket and I love it so, so, much. I seriously cannot wait to cuddle my newborn babe with it. 

Anyway.. there are some pics. All we are missing is a baby. 

**One of my best friends gave me a white glider and is making cushions for it.. but they aren't done yet, so when they are done I'll have to post more pictures with it. (I already had the rocking chair before she surprised me with such a cute/great gift!) Us Zackrison girls are so spoiled! (But we wouldn't have it any other way ;) )

Goldsboro Baby Shower!

Okay seriously, baby Z and I got soooo spoiled at her shower we had a couple weeks ago! We had so much fun! The shower was decorated so cute and we had such yummy food and so many fun people come! It really was a blast. Here are a few pictures:

Thank you so much to everyone who came! We appreciate it so much! Its so good to know that even being far away from home we have so much love and support in our lives and in our adventure out here in North Carolina. We really are so lucky! And a special thank you to everyone who helped... especially the Daughtry girls!! You are the best!

As you can see... I have quite the baby bump. Which is bigger now (hard to imagine, but it is bigger, but then again I am 9 months pregnant) The 2 comments that I had JUST TODAY were: 

1. From an employee at Sam's club: "You're not going to have that baby in here, are ya?" Ummm sir... I sure hope not. 

2. From a little girl that my friend was babysitting who came to Sam's Club with us: "Can you still walk?" This was after we all walked into the store together and were just about done shopping, while I was pushing my own cart. I just replied to her "Nope" and then she was really confused. 

Other comments that I have gotten:

• "That baby looks like its going to punch its way out!"
• "Are you even going to make it to your due date?"
• "Is she having twins?"
• "Its cute.. it looks like you have a basketball under there"

Being 9 months pregnant is so awesome. 

As much as I complain, I am SO GRATEFUL that I am 9 months pregnant. 

Last month of pregnancy and Retiree!

I seriously cannot believe I am in my last month of pregnancy. And boy am I a sensitive one! I don't know why women are so touchy and I really wish there was something we could do to help the touchiness/grouchiness situation, especially while we are pregnant. But for me.. there isn't much you can do. And honestly I haven't been to grumpy that much during my pregnancy its only been the last few weeks. I am just getting fatter and grouchier and more uncomfortable by the day. Romney knows if I am grouchy to just let me be grouchy and I'll eventually get over it. I always try to apologize for being grouchy because I usually don't have anything to be grouchy over. I am just grouchy! Super annoying. And it doesn't help when strangers look at you and say "Wow, you look like you are ready to pop!" Umm... that doesn't make me feel any better, that just makes me think, that you think, I look huge and yes I am 8 months pregnant and yes I am huge, but please, please, please, don't point it out. Its already as obvious as it can be.

Speaking of strangers, and speaking of being pregnant, I feel like people are judging/assuming/stereotyping a situation that isn't necessarily true. (Which I do all the time.. but I don't tell the person what I am thinking!) For example: On our way home from D.C. we had to stop and get gas. We had plenty of treats in the car including my pretzels and my now and laters which of late, I cannot live without. So when I was looking around for a snack I didn't really see anything I wanted. Romney spotted a treat for himself and we were both extremely surprised I didn't want anything (That NEVER happens, not rarely.. NEVER!) So we go up to pay for the candy and the cashier comments "I bet I know who's idea this was!" And looks at me and smiles. I politely told him it wasn't my idea and that the candy was for my husband. (I don't think he believed me) Then the next week Romney and I went out to dinner at a little burger joint here in town and yes we have been in there a lot lately but NOT because I am "craving" it.. Romney suggests it a lot more than I do. And our waitress comes up to our table and asked if "Andy's (the name of the restaraunt) was my favorite place since being pregnant." I was like "It's not my favorite, but we certainly like it!" (mind you, we had just discovered it when I was like 6 months pregnant) People just think that since I am pregnant that whatever I am eating I must be craving and that we can all just blame it on the pregnant girl. False. Not the case. We are just hungry, alright? Same story goes with grocery shopping. I feel like if I get the slightest thing that is unhealthy people are assuming that since I am pregnant I just eat whatever the heck I want.. Which sometimes I do.

Now that I only have a month left, I am officially "retired"! And hopefully I stay retired for a long, long time. I think it will be weird not having a job and not feeling guilty about it.  But it will be so fun to be a stay at home mom and I am SOOOO THANKFUL that I get to be a stay at home mom. It was nice to know that, that is what Romney and I both expected when we had kids. I told him I would work if needs be, but luckily I don't have to. Such a blessing! It will be weird to be home all day with MY kids and not someone else's children. Especially since I have been babysitting for the last 10+ years and being a nanny. It will definitely be different, but I anticipate it will be fun, even with working nights and weekends. Although.. I do hope I get to babysit my nieces and nephews every once in a while. They are all just the cutest!

Here is a couple pictures from my "nanny-ing days" boy do I miss them! Those days were seriously the best. I recommend everyone move to NY and become a nanny. I worked for the best family ever and still miss them all the time! I can't believe how big the kids are now! Love them so much.

Spring has sprung!

I say spring has sprung because it was 86 degrees here today. Jealous?

Isn't spring just the greatest?! Especially this year... And its only just begun! A couple weeks ago Romney and I got the chance to go up to Washington D.C. and visit my best friend April. We always have so much fun when we go up there. This time we got to go on a tour of the Pentagon! That was way neat. April's friend works there a few times a week and has access to it, so he was kind enough to take us on a tour early Saturday morning.  I don't think I ever realized how big the pentagon is. And I have never felt like I was 8 months pregnant more than I did that day. (pretty sure I waddled like it too) I was feeling pretty good, but once I started to go down hill... I went down hill fast! And then we still had a half mile to the car, they don't just let ya conveniently park right up front. I literally, barely made it to the car. Longest walk of my whole entire life.  Still it was pretty dang cool to go in the Pentagon and suffer and see what it looks like. (Unfortunately you can't take any pictures) It would be a lot more exciting on a weekday when there are lots of people there and lots of the military personnel dressed up in their uniforms.

We went to Cafe Rio just about everyday. Rio is just always a winner and Romney and I both wanted it... Everyday. But especially me.. and look at this.. they don't charge you for enchilada style on their burritos out here AND they have military Mondays (half off your meal!) Freaking awesome.

We also did what we do best up there and went shopping. April loves to shop just like us.. so we went to a huge mall and had a blast. Surely spent more money than we had planned, but we found some sweet deals and April had cards and coupons to makes those deals even sweeter. It was awesome! Romney got a killer deal on a suit. At first we couldn't find one he liked so we were sad, but then we found one... and he was super happy! (P.S. how cute is he holding Eve's hand? He's going to be the cutest dad ever!) <3.

Romney even taught me and Eve how to play chess. It took me a while to catch on, and I don't think Eve ever did catch on... But it actually isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Surprisingly it can be a pretty fun game! (I just told Romney about how I kinda liked it and then he started to brag about how he won a chess competition.. in like 3rd grade) Clearly, he's proud.

I am so terrible at taking pictures when we go and do fun stuff.. but here are some random pictures that I do have: 

Candace gives the BEST massages. We found Goldsboro street, more like accidentally drove on it. (our town is called Goldsboro) We went to D.C. cupcakes. Delish! So much fun! We will for sure have to go back in the summer... if we get invited. (hint, hint April) Twice a year just isn't enough. 

Countdown: Single digit weeks!

So I 9 weeks left in my pregnancy. (Yikes it's gone fast!) I feel like just last month I was only 9 weeks pregnant! But I certainly don't look or feel 9 weeks pregnant. We are getting super anxious to meet our little girl... but on the other hand, I think we are both relieved we still have 2 months before she gets here.

I am finally done with all the sickness. I try not to eat too much in the mornings because then I will usually be sick for the rest of the day, but its much better than being sick everyday, all day.. so I'll take it! For the longest time I thought pregnant women were just being babies about most things, but it turns out they aren't! Being pregnant is hard! And extremely exhausting. I saw a quote that explains it perfectly:

Ha SO TRUE!!!

I haven't had any weird cravings. I am just thirsty ALL THE TIME. And water just won't cut it. It needs to be Crystal Light or something with flavor. I try to drink water.. but its rough! Romney has been good to go and work out with me. Some days it is so hard to get off my butt and go. I get tired just from unloading the dishwasher.. its awful. Netflix is just getting more and more tempting by the day. (Any show suggestions???)

I stopped going to Ruby Tuesday after Christmas... Whoops. (My boss never called me and I never called him.. so hopefully we are still on good terms, but I'll probably never go back there, so I'm not too worried) But am continuing to babysit a few times a week. I don't know how people are pregnant and already have children... it is so hard. So I am trying to enjoy these last couple months without any children of my own ;)

Ha I don't know why.. but I have found this to be true as well. Women are just touchy alright?!

I almost forgot! I fainted. I went to go take my Glucose test and they told me I couldn't eat anything. So I didn't. (Obviously) And then I drank the drink that everyone talks about and claims is so disgusting. It didn't even taste bad! I had lime and I thought it was quite tasty. I had to wait an hour before they could draw my blood, they gave me a timer so I would know when to go back in and get it drawn. When I had about 20 minutes left on the timer I mentioned to Romney that I needed to eat something or I was going to pass out (But you can't eat anything until after they take your blood) Then I had about 5 minutes left and I told Romney that I was probably going to pass out. He was just like "Ha, really? Are you okay?" and then we didn't think much of it. I just put my head between my legs and hoped that would help. Finally the stupid timer went off and we went to the lady to draw my blood. When she was taking my blood ( I was trying to keep my mind occupied.. I HATE needles) I could feel my body getting ready to pass out (I've fainted a lot in my day, so I knew it was coming) So I told the lady I was feeling light headed and she asked if I usually faint when getting my blood drawn and I told her yes. She was like "Why didn't you tell me? I would have had you lay down!" So she quickly took out the needle and I could just feel my world going dark. Next thing I know, I hear Romney calling my name and my head was resting in his hand. When I finally opened my eyes and saw Romney he looked TERRIFIED! I have never seen that look on his face. I answered a few questions to make sure I was all the way there and then asked him how long I was out. He said it was only like 10 seconds but that it was the longest 10 seconds of his life. He said when I actually passed out my eyes weren't closed and that I was making weird sounds. He said it definitely didn't happen like it does in the movies.. it was a lot more scary/freaky! (sounds a little disturbing to me.. glad I didn't witness it) at least now he knows what to do if I ever pass out at home. Ha. I was doing pretty good... I hadn't fainted in almost 3 years! Thats a pretty good streak. I'm quite positive I will pass out during child birth, Romney probably will too. Hopefully its not at the same time or else we are both in trouble!