It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Here are a few pictures of our house all decorated for Christmas, and a few from the Holiday Gala we went to on Saturday night. Enjoy!

Jason and I at the Holiday Gala


Lacey, Nicole, and I at the Gala. We are all 3 expecting! Lacey and I are obviously about the pop and Nicole is about 3 months along. So funny that all 3 ortho residents' wives are expecting babies!

PS-- I chickened out on getting the high-lights :)

Busy Weekend Ahead

This weekend we are going to be so busy, but it will be lots of fun. Today is not bad, since Jason is on call we don't make plans for Friday night, so I am hoping for a nice evening at home with him. Hopefully he won't get too many calls. I have beef stew in the crock pot for dinner. Mmmm. So no cooking once he is home. I am going today to get pampered a little by having my hair cut, a mini facial, and a manicure this afternoon. I am even considering getting a few highlights even though I have never put a drop of color on my hair before. I don't know if I am trying to make up for the fatness, or what, but I need something! There is no shame in highlighting your hair, I just have never done it. I just want that summer, sun touched look... We'll see if I chicken out.

Saturday will be a busy one as I have a joint baby shower tomorrow at 2:00, with the orthopedic surgeon wives. They are too sweet to do a shower for us, I am looking forward to it! We also are planning on putting the car seat in the car, and hanging blinds and curtains in Paisley's room. I of course need Jason for those things as he will have to do the blinds and hang the curtain rod while I iron the curtains. We are getting closer to being done in Paisley's room, just waiting on a few more things for the walls. I have ordered a monogram for above her crib, and another wall word for above her changer, and I am painting a small picture to put above her chest. I have sorted through her clothes in preparation of washing them soon, and it's so funny that I have 3 stacks of pink. Dark pinks and other dark colors, lighter pinks, and white with pink. Boy is she going to be a girly girl! Just like her Momma!

Saturday night we have Jason's Christmas party, which will be lots of fun I think. All 3 ortho interns and wives are going, which I am so happy about, and I know of a few other ortho couples going, and it will be great to get together with everyone. The dinner is a really nice one, at the Dayton Art Institute, and the dress is cocktail/formal. Are you kidding me!?! Any other time I would LOVE to get all dressed up in formal attire but really, at 9 months pregnant...ugh. I got a dress that fits my boulder belly and it is pretty comfortable, so I think it will be okay. My friend Lacey (one of the other interns wives) is also very pregnant and she is going, so that will be nice to have another expecting momma there too. The dinner is for all Grandview Residents and all Medical Staff. It will be fun to meet all the people Jason works with!

Sunday things will calm down a bit, but we are having a Maternity photo shoot done here at home at 1:00. I was a little hesitant to get them done, but I am afraid if we don't we will regret it. I am hoping for a few close up belly shots, but mostly pictures of Jason and I together, and maybe even bring Tyke in for a few. :) I think it will be very worth it, and we will look back and be glad we did it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Growing Girl!

Paisley Lane Spangler is doing great and growing even more than ever before! At my appointment yesterday, I didn't know what to expect, but I was very nicely surprised when they told me that not only has she grown, but she has grown from the 15th percentile to the 20th! She is now estimated to weigh 5.2 lbs, meaning she has gained almost 1 1/2 lbs in 2 weeks! Wonderful news! She is not caught up just yet, but she is on her way. I even get to wait 3 weeks this time before the next ultrasound. Still doing the twice a week NST's, but they were so happy with her growth that we will wait 3 weeks to check in on her again, that is, if she's not here by then. :) Great news!

Excited? Check. Nervous? Check. Anxious? CHECK CHECK!

Tomorrow is yet another non-stress test for Paisley and I, and an ultrasound to check her growth, and boy am I nervous about this one. Jason is very calm and thinks everything will be fine, and deep down I think I do too, but some part of me is very anxious about this appointment, and I don't like it. Dr. Day has told me that if we ever go in for an ultrasound or a non-stress test and don't like what we see, we will deliver her, because she may do better once she is born, but I don't think they would take her at this point unless they were really cautious, or really worried. She has been growing the way she should, and putting on weight nicely, but still is very small, the biggest part of her is just in the 15th percentile, and her abdomen is just in the 3rd percentile, but they say as long as she continues to grow, and the twice weekly non-stress tests are good, we will push on until the 28th... Well on Wednesday I went to the Dr for my NST (non-stress test) and he measured my belly, and now it is measuring 3 1/2 weeks behind, too. (and holy cow, have you seen my belly?? SMALL is not a word I would use to describe it!) Until then, Paisley has measured small, but my belly has always been right on. In fact, I measured 32 cm at 32 weeks, and just measured 31 cm at 34 1/2 weeks. And I only gained a pound in that 2 weeks. Maybe she has just dropped, and that is why my belly is measuring smaller, and goodness knows I could stand to not gain that extra pound, but you just never know what's going on in there! I guess we will find out tomorrow. We are 35 weeks along now, and would love to see at least 36, and 38 would be even better. I will keep you posted!

5 weeks to go

A few weeks ago we were able to go and get a 4D ultrasound done as a surprise gift from a friend. It was so amazing to see some of Paisley's features. These pictures aren't great, as I had to take a picture of a picture, but if you look closely you can see her sweet little face. :) My family has already said that she looks like me! I would love for her to look like me, with red hair. :) But I would also love it if she looked like her Daddy! (You know, he is pretty good looking.) :) These pictures were done at 30 weeks.

Since I posted the last blog, things have been super busy. We have had 3 baby showers (what a blessing) and that means I have traveled home 2 out of the past 3 weekends. We had a wonderful time at the showers, and Paisley got some of the most precious gifts. She is spoiled already! Oh and people know me and my love of all things personalized, and Paisley has gotten some adorable gifts with her name/monogram already embroidered. She will end up loving personalized items too!

This cake was from a joint baby shower that I had with one of my best friends, Holly. She is having (well did have already!) a little boy and his name is Carter. (Hence the P & C on the top of the cake) Holly was about 4 1/2 weeks ahead of me and went into labor on her own on Friday morning, and had a beautiful baby boy later that day. She was 38 weeks along! Does that mean I'm next? Oh boy...

And here is Paisley now, clearly ready to get out of my cramped belly. (34 weeks along) I really don't know how much bigger I can get, but I'm sure I will inevitably grow larger than life itself. (If I haven't already) :) I get the sweetest comments, and yet the most awkward ones here and there too. Most people are very sweet and say things like "You don't look big enough to be 8 months along!" or "I was as big as you at 5 months pregnant", and my favorite is "You don't look pregnant except for your belly. Your face isn't fat or anything!" But I do get the occasional, "You are going to give birth to a toddler!" or "Your belly is huge!". I even had a child come visit our school the other day and he said his 1st grade teacher's name is also Mrs. Spangler. I said "How neat, we have the same name! Do we look anything a like?" I guess I asked for it... He said "No, she's a little skinny." Nice. I found myself immediately trying to explain my "fatness" to a 1st grader by saying "but but but, you know I have a baby in my belly" then I realized how ridiculous I was being and just moved on. Hmmm, I use to be "a little skinny"... I think....

I am now going to the doctor every Monday and Thursday for non-stress tests and my regular appointment in addition to the non-stress test on Thursday. I have become friends with a few of the nurses and grown to love my doctor. It was hard at first to change doctors, when I LOVED the Dr I had in Virginia, but I really am so happy with my choice here now. Paisley and I are doing great, and the last couple of tests she has had the hiccups which cracks me up. How am I suppose to document every time she moves when she is hiccuping every 4 seconds? So cute. And I am beginning to think she does not appreciate the 2 belts around my stomach during the tests, because about 4 minutes after they hook us to the monitor, she goes wild. On Monday, the nurse had to come in and hold her heart monitor on my belly because Paisley kept kicking it away. In fact, I had to be on the monitor for an hour because she was too active, and they couldn't get a baseline heart beat. Her heart rate was in the 170-180's the whole time until she finally cooled it a bit and it went down to the 140-150's. Dr. Day has even walked in my room and said "It sounds like a soccer match in here" because she was so active. Sheesh Paisley! Put on a show why don't cha! At this point, the Dr has decided that we will be going in December 27th, to have her on the 28th. That means only 5 weeks to go if she doesn't have plans to come early.

Jason is off the last week of December so that worked out nicely. In fact, he only has to work 2 days from Dec 20th-January 3rd. 2 24 hour shifts that is. He has started his 2 months of ortho and is enjoying it, but boy is he exhausted. He stays busy all the time, even when he is at home he is preparing for cases the next day, working on some type of presentation he has coming up, dictating cases, etc. He loves what he's doing, but this year and next he will work unbelievable hours. He goes in at the latest 6am every morning (this morning he went in at 4:45am) and works until at least 6:00pm week nights. He is on call on average 2 nights a week, but when you are on ortho, it's home call. With home call you may not even have to go in, or you could be gone all night. For example, on Tuesday he was on call, and came home at 8:30pm for 15 minutes, and got called back in, and didn't come home until the next night at 8:00pm. Yep, no sleep at all from Tuesday morning when he went in to 9:00pm ish Wednesday night. Friday night he was on call and never had to leave the house, until 3:45am, and he had to be there at 4:30am anyway. I don't know how he does it. And really, he doesn't even complain about it. Such a trooper. I guess he will have no problem adjusting to sleep-less nights with a newborn!

She's An Angel!

Chubby cheeks, eyes sorta opened. :)

Side view,



Happy, HAPPY, soon to be parents!

Yesterday I had an appointment to have a routine ultrasound done at a nearby hospital. I am having ultrasounds every 4-6 weeks to monitor her growth, and yesterday was the exciting day to peek in at her. I LOVE going in for ultrasounds, as it never ceases to amaze me how much she has grown and changed since the last time. Speaking of last time, (4 weeks ago) we had an ultrasound and I was 25 weeks along, and Jason and I were noticing her large nose! Jason lovingly said she was going to have the "Runyan nose", and I was laying there thinking we were going to have to buy some really big hair bows to off-set that snout! Even piercing her ears crossed my mind (Remember that "Friends" episode). But I am happy to say that she has grown into her nose as of yesterday! Whew!

Jason didn't get to go with me to the ultrasound because he had surgery's all morning, so I decided to have them make a video. At the first sight of her face, you could see that her eyes were open, and she was blinking. It was so so precious. A minute later, she yawned and it was so sweet to see. I was so happy to have gotten the DVD to take home and show her Daddy! As the ultrasound went on, everything looked great. She was measuring right on track, until we came to her abdomen area. She was measuring only 26 weeks along there. Very weird to me, and a bit concerning. Has anyone else had this issue or know someone who has? She measured again, checked the blood flow in the umbilical cord, then took the numbers out to be approved by the doctor. Then, the doctor came back in with her and said he was going to suggest to my doctor that we be monitored more closely. (I go to have my ultrasounds to a hospital were I think there is a high-risk doc). He said there was no reason to think she was in danger right now, but he wants to watch her growth even more closely. SOOOO, I will be going in again in 2 weeks for another ultrasound, and having weekly non-stress tests until 32 weeks, then they will start me on 2 times per week tests. I was freaked out at first, but I have calmed down quiet a bit as I know she is doing fine because I feel her moving most of the day. The Dr. really wasn't too concerned, and the ultrasound tech seemed un-alarmed, too, so I guess everything is a precaution. SO I will be having my first (of many it seems) non-stress test on Thursday, then heading home to Tennessee right after for a long weekend. I am so excited to be spending the day Friday with my Mom doing some baby-stuff shopping in Chattanooga, having lunch, etc,(we NEVER get to do things like that since Jason and I live away) and then having our first baby shower on Saturday, along with a 4-D ultrasound. It's going to be a great weekend! The bad part is the drive home, alone, with swelling feet, but hey it will be so worth it.

Two for One!

I haven't updated our blog in over a month now but today is yucky and cold, and I'm feeling really bloggy, so you are getting 2 in 1 day! Sorry for the overload! :) I just posted the long overdue pictures of our house, and I felt guilty not mentioning our little girl!

She is doing wonderful and kicking and punching most of the time now. I will be 29 weeks along on Sunday. I haven't felt the hiccups yet, but I am so looking forward to that feeling. Being pregnant is such an amazing miracle. My favorite thing right now is being able to look down at my larger than life belly and SEE her kicking, or rolling, or whatever she is doing! I love that Jason can see it too. I have tried to catch these what I call "escape attempts" on video, but I haven't had any luck yet. A friend told me to put a plate on my belly and watch it move around, and I can't wait to do that one night while Jason and I are relaxing on the couch. Oh the entertainment! I am going to the doctor every 2 weeks, and have been for a month now. I guess he wanted to start seeing me more often a little early because of the clotting issue. The shots are going good, by the way. I did indeed learn to give them to myself, even though I thought I could never do it. It's just a part of my day now. Get up. brush my teeth, get my shot. It takes about 5 seconds, and it's the most important 5 seconds of my day. At my last doctor's appointment, he said my blood pressure was great, her heart rate was perfect, and my belly is measuring right on the dot. We are still doing ultrasounds every 4-6 weeks to monitor her growth, and I have my next on on Monday, I love being able to check in on her and see what she's up to. He said we are really doing fantastic. Great news! I guess we already make a good team. :) We are still looking at going in on December 27th or 28th to have a c-section or be induced. It has to be planned because I have to be taken off the blood thinner for a day before delivering.

We have a name for our sweet baby girl! After MUCH thought and going through the girls section of 3 baby name books, we decided to name her "Paisley Lane Spangler". We will be calling her Paisley. It's so great to be able to call her by name now. Here is a picture of us at 26 weeks, and one at 27 weeks. I think it's the most we have ever grown in a week. BIG difference, even though I only gained 2 pounds in that 2 week span. I can't even imagine what's coming in the next two months. I hope I am made of at least 10% stretchy elastic...

26 weeks

27 weeks

Our humble home :)

Better late than never! We have finally got pictures to show of our humble abode! Hey, it only took me 4 months, but we got there. If you are a facebook person, you have already seen these, but for all of you who don't facebook, sorry for the delay! You will still be missing a living room picture, and a nursery picture, because we are still working on a few things in those rooms, (a lot in the nursery) but hopefully soon I will post a picture of the living room at least. Sorry for the overload of pictures! Have a great weekend!

A few cute things...

We have known that we are having a baby girl for about 3 weeks now, and we have already started preparing for her arrival. Since then, we have picked out bedding for the nursery, picked a paint color for the walls, started looking at nursery furniture, and almost decided on a name. I have started putting clothes in her closet, and it is just too cute! I go in her room a lot and just look in the closet and the sweet things out little girl will be wearing in less than 4 months. Hopefully, soon, we will paint the nursery, and get the furniture in there. I will definitely post more pictures when we do! Here are a few now, and the latest of my growing belly. Have a great day!

This is a pillow that matches her new bedding. We are going to put it in the rocking chair.

A view of her closet! :)

A few of our favorite outfits.

Half Way to Parenthood!

Today Jason and I went to have or "big" ultrasound to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. We are very happy to announce that baby Spangler is a GIRL! We are very excited! She was moving all around, giving the nurse a time trying to get the views she needed. She was even sucking her fingers and kicking as we watched. So precious!

Ohioans...really!?!?

It certainly doesn't seem like it, but Jason, Tyke, and I have been living in Ohio for a month now. Boy that's a sentence I never thought I would say! I have always enjoyed Ohio, just being the southern girl I am, never thought I would live here. Speaking of the southern girl I am, I can't say ANYTHING without someone looking at me funny and asking "Where are you from?". I mean really, 1-2 sentences, and they are asking me. I was at Target one day and walked up to the snack counter and said "I would like a small, cherry, icee." (Blame it on the pregnancy, I never liked them before) The guy looked at me and said "You're not from around here are you" I said 7 words!! Geez! I just hope they are thinking that I'm a southern bell and not a hillbilly!

We are getting settled in. We still don't have much hanging on the walls yet. I just feel like it's such a commitment. Once you put a whole in the wall, there's no moving it! I lay pictures out and move them around. I will have to make a decision soon, and stick with it! We have been pretty successful at growing grass, which was luck I'm sure. Although Jason has quiet the green thumb, I am beginning to think he could grow anything. We had sod, so we didn't have to start from seeds, but it's still been a lot of work just to keep it watered the appropriate amount. Jason has been working for over 2 weeks now, and got his first paycheck yesterday!! YAY!! So proud of him. He has earned every penny. He worked a 24 hour shift on the 4th of July, and has to work another tomorrow, and I know he dreading it. I just can't imagine going in at 7am, an not getting off until the next morning at 7am. We are hoping he can get some sleep tomorrow when he's not busy. Last time, he slept zero.

The baby is growing fast and so is my belly! I love it, but it is frustrating not having anything to wear! I have bought 2 pairs of maternity capri's, and they have been my lifesavers. Still a little big, but there's no wearing the old clothes. It's stretchy waist bands or maternity pants at this point. We had an ultrasound on Wednesday, and got to see it again. It had been about 6 weeks, and it has changed so much! It was kicking and stretching, you could see hands and feet, and we tried to see if it was a boy or a girl, but it was a bit too soon to tell and the tech couldn't get a good angle. He said if he had to guess at this point, he would say boy, but don't take his word for it. He saw a little something there, but it could have been the cord. SOOOOO, I guess it's still 50/50. :) I go to the doc again on the 30th, then I will get to have the big ultrasound about 2 weeks later and maybe then we can see for sure!

I went home for the 4th of July and Tyke joined me on my first venture home from Ohio. It's about 5.5 hours, compared to the 4.5 hours it was from Virginia. That last hour makes a difference, let me tell ya! Tyke's not much company since he sleeps most of the way :) I had put my bags in the back seat, and at one point I looked back there and Tyke was in my bag, sleeping. It was too cute! Here's a couple pictures of him I snapped with my phone. What a cutie!

Just "Plum" Cute!

I never made an official announcement on our blog, but Jason and I have great news! We are expecting a baby! It is due January 3rd, and at this time he/she is the size of a plum. Here is a picture of our new reason to smile!

We are currently sorta homeless I guess since we moved out of our place in Virginia yesterday, and don't close on our new house in Ohio until tomorrow. Jason and I have laughed saying we have never been homeless before! We will be proud new home-owners tomorrow! We are super excited to get in and get semi-settled. We have family helping all week, so we are very blessed by that. Have a great week and I will post pictures sometime soon of our new place!

Catching Up

Jason and our nephews, Carson and Taylor after graduation. Aren't they the cutest!

I am really bad about not updating this the way I should, but I must say, usually our months are pretty uneventful. This past month, however, has been the opposite! Since I last blogged, we have gone on vacation, Jason has graduated from Medical School, (Wow!!) and our house has been completed. Not to mention, the packing, packing, and more packing that we have done to get ready for the move.

For vacation this year, we were planning on going to Hawaii, but a turn of events with the house, and essentially the down-payment, kept us from doing that. We got a wild hair one Sunday afternoon, and decided to look around for a vacation. We both have always wanted to go to California, so we checked on flights out there. with our frequent flyer miles, we could get out there for dirt cheap, but what would we do once we got there. We decided to look at cruises. We ended up finding a cruise out of the LA area, going to Catalina Island, and Ensenada Mexico, and booked it that same day! That week, the swine flu broke out, so they canceled the Ensenada stop, but we still had a great time! We took the day before the cruise and toured the LA area. It was a blast!

Next came graduation. What a wonderful week! We got to spend time with our "VCOM Family" and later that week with our actual families. We haven't had a visitor to our house in a long time, so it was nice to have everyone up. The week before was full of events to get everyone together. On Wednesday night, there was a class party at a local restaurant. Thursday night was the Awards Banquet, (so fun, we all got to dress up!) Friday afternoon was a huge family picnic with food, games, music, ect. And Saturday morning was the best of all...Graduation! I love that they announced Jason as Dr. Spangler!

Finally, we got the last batch of pictures from our house. They are now just putting the finishing touches on it, cleaning, landscaping, etc. We are suppose to close on June 16th. Getting ready for closing is a bit stressful. They need so much documentation, and being so far away, it's an event to get it to them. But I guess anything worth while is work! It will be great in a few weeks. We are so excited!

Progress. MAJOR progress!

So here are a few pictures of our packing progress and of our new home to be! We just went to Dayton last weekend for a pre dry-wall meeting, and these are the pictures we took. It's amazing how quickly the house has gone up. We got our letter yesterday saying that we are going to close June 16th...perfect timing since I will be in school until June 12th. In the past week, they have hung the drywall, and added the brick. The drywall will be complete on Tuesday, and the wood siding will be started on Monday. We are thrilled to have a house to move into in just 5 weeks, but it's getting pretty sad to think of the great friends I will be leaving at school, and the students I have taught the last 4 years. Bitter-sweet, that's for sure!