Updates Galore! The Countdown Begins!!!

Yesterday was my 38 week appointment with the doctor and things are looking good! Maksim has dropped (Stage 2 now...he said I was a Stage 3 last week and now I am a Stage 2...I guess all that's left is a Stage 1...whatever all that means,  ha!), 80% effaced and about 1 cm dilated. Sorry if any guys are reading this and it weirds you out. I never thought I would talk in terms of weeks, effacement, dilation, stages, etc! But, here I am!!!


I asked the doctor whether he thought Maks would come early and he was very general in his speaking (I guess they are so scared of getting lawsuits that they can't speak freely) saying that he could be in our arms before next week or he could wait until his due date to grace us with his presence! I told him the only thing I am nervous about is that I won't know I am having contractions...or I will mistaken them for little pains...Doctor said I will for sure know. We live about 45 minutes from the hospital so that makes me slightly nervous, but from what I hear, the first one is the longest labor wise.


So, the news for now is that if Maksim doesn't get here before September 8th, then we will head into the hospital to be induced. I told my doctor my fear of being induced too early and he definitely made me feel better about it and said that he just didn't want me going past my due date. He said they like for the babies to weight between 6 and 7 pounds because anything bigger than 8 makes the delivery a little more challenging for the baby to maneuver down the birth canal. I am trying to be as nice with my words to not make anyone feel uncomfortable, here...bear with me!

The countdown for today is 15 days until my due date!!!

Grant and I spent the later part of yesterday visiting new babies! We visited two brand new baby girls from two girls/MOMS (!!!) that I have went through the pregnancy process with at the same time! Here are the beautiful baby girls!!! Maksim has some pretty cute girlfriend options to choose from :)

Isabella Ann Epting

(This is the "Tucker" that I wrote about two posts before)

Parents: Mike and Laura Epting

Laura was 2 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy.

Addyson Ann Butler

Parents: Rhett and Lauren Butler

Big Brother: Reese

Lauren was 8 days ahead of me in her pregnancy.

So, life is pretty much about babies at this point :) Fun! Fun!!!

Here is a little update to our work in Maksim's baby room! We stole this idea from the Epting's where you buy wooden letters and spray glue scrapbook paper to the block letters and then I used an box cutting knife (very small one) to cut the extra paper off of the wooden block letters and the final result were these cool designs! I made a little boo boo with some decals in Maks' room (you will see the final product later with the fix made with these block letters below the elephant decals) so we had to improvise and come up with a cool way to make it not look horrible :)

Here are the block letters that spell out "Maksim" (I used a camera on my Evo phone called "Retro Camera" and it gave these polaroid looking shots) and a picture of our changing table with some new baskets added (boring stuff to some, I would assume!)

On another note...

Today in my quiet time I read about "The Evil Personality". The scripture was from Revelation 2:12-13. Basically it just talked about how Satan runs rampant on this planet as John confirmed it in one of his letters: "The whole world is under the control of the evil one" (John 5:19). It says that we don't engage in a philosophy of evil; we fight against evil personalities...so Satan and his demons are very real! I liked the wording I read today where it said: "Forsake all thought of evil simply as a force in this world. Never depersonalize it. Recognize that there is a relentless, malicious intelligence behind all the pain you see....and when all hell breaks loose against you, rely completely on Him." 

I think that I needed to hear that this week. Not that "all hell" has broken loose against me or Grant but we have faced a few challenges but through it all we are confident in our Lord and his ability to take care of us. If you have ever seen any of my old posts, we have several situations where things seemed impossible to see past but the Lord has NEVER, NEVER let us down. It's pretty awesome if you look at things from an eternal perspective. Looking at things and situations from a worldly perspective will always leave you broken down and discouraged. 

'Til next time!!! I am trying to do better with my posts :)

About My Pregnancy

Thought this would be cute to do...

Your name? Angela Nixon

Fathers name? Grant Nixon

Were you trying to get pregnant? YUP!

When did you find out?  I believe New Year's Eve Eve. We had always said we wanted to "get pregnant in 2009 and have the baby in 2010" and I think this was God's funny way of laughing at us and keeping us guessing until the last day of 2009! 

Were did you find out? Blake and Allison Butler's house in their master bathroom...used all the pregnancy tests she had and went to Walgreens to buy some more expensive ones because my responses weren't 100% clear. Funny story...I went to the Dr. the next day and took 2 tests and they were negative and they told me I wasn't pregnant so I got 3 more very clear "PREGNANT"/ "NOT PREGNANT" tests and they were all "PREGNANT". Needless to say, I switched doctors immediately :)

How far along were you? 4 weeks-ish

What was your reaction? SOOOO excited and wondering if the tests were really accurate! Too hesitant of the tests to believe I was REALLY pregnant because some tests came out YES and some came out NO

Who was the first person you told? Grant then Allison and Blake

How did you tell the father? He was there

What was his reaction? So excited!!! We were kind of in disbelief...it was the first month that we actually tried and we got pregnant. I had been off birth control for about 3 months before that though, but we were kind of "family planning" it up to try to not get pregnant until the month when we were trying...and it all worked. 

When is your due date? September 11th at first and then September 8th and that date has been pretty steady

Did you have any morning sickness? Nope. I was extremely lucky. Well, I take that back...I did get sick maybe 2x but I think it's because I took my prenatal vitamins at the wrong times 

What are your fears? Delivery and that I don't know something that I am suppose to know or I didn't bring something I was "suppose" to bring to the hospital

What are you most happy about? Maksim getting here! The nursery! Having a baby!

Did you want a boy or girl? It didn't matter to me

What did the father want boy or girl? Boy :)

Do you know what your having? BOY!

Do you have a name picked out? Yep! Maksim "Maks" Samuel Nixon. See earlier blog posts on the reasons behind the names

How much weight have you gained? HHHAAA! Definitely not saying...let's just hope there are like 3 babies in there so the weight would make sense :)

Have you felt the baby move? YUP! 

Do you plan on a natural or medicated birth? Epideral but nothing over the top medicine wise...I want to REMEMBER seeing my baby for the first time!

Are you scared about labor? YEP!

What do you think will be the worst part of labor? Getting the epideral and the contractions beforehand. I am nervous I won't know what the contractions feel like and I will barely make it to the hospital in time.

Have you taken any classes? Nope

Who will be in the delivery room? Just me and Grant (and the medical staff, of course...hopefully!)

Are you having the birth videotaped? Nope unless Grant and I set up our phones or something but we won't be videotaping anything further down stairs than my belly :)

Do you think you will cry when you see the baby for the first time? I am sure I will!

What do you think the fathers reaction to the baby will be? He just might cry too! 

How do you think family and friends will feel? Ecstatic!!!

Busy, Busy Couple of Months

I may or may not be able to get back to a "normal" blogging schedule, but I do miss it! This may be a long one, but the blogging world may need to be filled in a good bit!


It said the last time I posted was back in June! Wow! A lot has happened since then! Basically the months of May through now are pretty crazy busy with my job, Camp Electric. We haven't exactly slowed down so that's GREAT but the busier part of the job is behind us for now. Camp Electric went AWESOME! We had a great two weeks! We had bands such as TobyMac, Family Force 5, Salvador (my fav!), Cloverton (the band that won Camp Electric's "Rock the Camp" contest...amazing! You will be hearing of them soon!) and a ton more! It was a great few weeks!


Yesterday we had some pretty exciting news from our friends, Mike and Laura Epting! Laura has been exactly 2 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy and I got a call Monday night saying Laura was headed into the hospital having contractions about 3 minutes apart (WOW!) and got updates throughout the night that Tucker James Epting would be here in the morning! So, around 8:30 a.m. we got a text saying Laura was pushing and then from there we didn't hear anything until about 9:30 a.m. with a very simple text saying "Baby was born 8 lbs, 12 oz! Mom and baby are doing great!" and that's was it. So, I get a text from Momma Laura saying to call her. I was thinking that she was gonna fill me in on the delivery since the night before I told her to "remember everything so I will know what's coming". Well, as we are talking, Laura says "WELLL, we have a surprise!" and here I am thinking they had twins but instead, Tucker James Epting turned out to be an Isabella Ann Epting! It's a GIRL, not a boy like we all thought!  From what I understand, the three ultrasounds they had were not 100%-for two of them the baby's legs were crossed and for the one they found out the sex it was a picture from behind, so it was just a mistake. The Dr said that it looked like she owed them a few girl outfits! Here's a picture of me and Isabella!

Since June, I have grown quite a bit in my pregnancy...I am now 37 weeks along and the doctor said this is considered full term so he could be here at any point! We are getting excited but I also realize how much I truly have to do. We got the bulk of Maksim's room done. SOMEONE (ok, me!) had the bright idea to paint stripes in Maks' room (never again...well, unless we pay someone!) will I want stripes. I love the final product but this has been a few months in the making. I am sure this is all common sense, but you have to paint the base coat and then we waited a while and then measured out the lines and then Grant and his Dad drew the lines, and my Dad and Grant's Dad taped off the lines and then the painting came! It sounds easy, but it's definitely not!  Here are a few "sneak previews":

More pictures will come soon! We have a few decals to put on the walls (a 5 1/2 foot tree and a family of elephants!) and a few really cute wall pieces that I am excited to add, so as soon as we have the finished product, I will devote a whole blog post to the room! This baby is pretty much spoiled and he's not even here yet! That blob of black on the carpet is our cat, Jack! We heard/read somewhere that in order to keep your cats out/off of the baby furniture that you need to put aluminum foil in the pieces so we put foil in the carseat and pack n play that Grant assembled last night! Looks funny but hopefully it will keep the cats from intruding in our baby's stuff. I think the animals are wondering what is going on, but they will be fine! 

And, a few final pics of me pre-baby! My AMAZING husband surprised me and my sister, Kristina, with tickets to see SUGARLAND at the Snowden Grove Amphitheater last Friday! I have a few top bands that I love and Sugarland is one of those!!! Here we go for all of you that need my list, ha! 

1. Lady Antebellum

2. Sugarland

3. Carrie Underwood

And, poor Grant pretty much HATES country music and I am pretty much their biggest fan! He's a great sport though! He had originally planned on going with me to Sugarland and then realized we had a youth event planned that night so he got Kristina to come with me. It was an AMAZING concert! Blazing hot, but amazing! Here are a few snapshots: 

Until next time! It won't be as long, promise! Hopefully I will try to update every day or every other day...unless Maksim graces us with his presence earlier than 40 weeks! 

A Million Reason's Why

It seems like I took a month or more hiatus from blogging! But, I guess summer is the busiest time of the year for The Nixon's. I thought I would give you an update on our lives before time got away from me again!

1. It's wedding season! With wedding season come showers galore! 
2. I have been on 2 trips to the beach in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Once to Destin where Grant was the speaker for a Senior's retreat and the other time was for Amanda's Bachelorette Weekend in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach!
3. This is the busiest time of the year for my job, Camp Electric! Our camp weeks are July 11-15 and then July 18-22 so we will pack up and move to Nashville (where the camp is held) for that time...so I will probably be absent from the blogging world AGAIN at that time. But, you are forgiving people, right?!
4. I threw two wedding showers on back to back weekends. My sister-in-law (in above picture at the beach) is getting married in 13 days! AHHH! And, one of my best friends, Grace, is getting married two days after Camp Electric ends! The picture of Grant and I is at the "Western Themed" Shower for Grace and Mark at our house!
5. I am now 26 weeks pregnant (picture is 25 weeks, picture below).
6. Grant has been busy planning summer events for the youth and working on our Saturday night services at the Arlington campus! Pretty soon, trips will take him out of town for 3 weeks and then we have about a week in there and then I am out of town for an additional 2 weeks. 
7. I have about 3 1/2 months left in my pregnancy! AHHH! It's cool but scary at the same time! That time is assuming Maksim comes on time (which they never do, right?) Always either earlier or later. My vote has always been earlier for him. I just hope not TOOO early. 
8. We have been picking up a few cute things here and there for Maks' room! I think we pretty much have everything but a rug for his room and we just need to paint it. We have the paint ready, but haven't really had a free moment to do anything with the paint. 
9. The youth group is about to head out to San Antonio, TX here in a few weeks so I am excited for them!
10. AAAAANNNDDDD, last but not least, I have my first baby shower coming up! AHH! I haven't even registered yet! Any tips?!

That's all for now! Who knows when I will be back on but I will make an effort to try!

  

"You of little Faith...why do you doubt?"

Yes, two posts in one day! One was a test run for a new app Grant got me for my Blackberry. The picture came out entirely too large, so I will have to mess with the app a bit (I had to fix on the normal computer). Grant and I have been blessed to be able to go to Destin, Florida Sunday, so I plan on updating from my new application! I have such a sweet, thoughtful husband!

Today I was reading in my devotional (that I LOVE and have recommended a ton on my blog!-See picture below) called "At His Feet" by Tiegreen. 

The verse today was from Matthew 14:22-32 about Jesus walking on water. We often hear about this in sermons, but there is something cool about reading it again and a getting a renewed message from the passage. In Matthew 14:31 it says: 

"You of little faith," he said, "Why did you doubt?"

And, I often feel like Jesus says that to me...sometimes DAILY. When issues come up like our huge medical bills for Maksim, an unexpected expense with maternity leave, cars dying, lights at church failing to work...(a lot of my faith issues come with finance worries)... God ALWAYS pulls through and I find myself saying "Why did I ever doubt?" God is CONTINUALLY FAITHFUL to us in more ways than we could ever imagine! 

Here is a tid bit from the devotional: 

"If our ears are truly open to Jesus, we will probably hear such a rebuke daily (referring to Matthew 14:31) It is a gentle rebuke, coming from One who understands our frailties better than we understand them ourselves. But it is a firm reminder that the life we live is to be radically different from dependence on our human senses and reasoning that most of the world understands." 

Today's devotional ends with this (and I will, too):

"We must get to the point where we hear His voice alone and become deaf to all others. Then we will know what it's like to walk on water."

Chinese Sub & Jerry's!

Thanks to my sweet friends who made my birthday dinner and dessert WONDERFUL! Dinner at the Chinese Sub Shop and then dessert at Jerry's Sno Cones! Both of which I was introduced to this year! I am spoiled!
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Birthday and Mother-To-Be Day

It's been a while since my last post! 

WELL, it was a crazy fun weekend! I had my birthday and Mother-To-Be Day all in one! I was extremely spoiled! Grant got me a new camera (see other post) for my birthday and for Mother's Day he bought me a dozen roses and spending money for our Florida trip! Grant is speaking at a retreat in Destin and they GRACIOUSLY allowed me to come along! And, my bosses GRACIOUSLY allowed me to go! So grateful! We have 6 days of not doing anything at all! It's going to be super nice!!! 

My side of the family got me a prenatal massage! Sooo nice! I think I am going to hold off on cashing it in until after Camp Electric...when I will need it! Grant's parents got me a pedicure and manicure!!! NICE! I think everyone wants me to relax!!! 

Here is a super cute onesie that my bosses bought for me! It's from The Bomb Mom Website which is TobyMac's wife's website! They got me a maternity shirt and a onesie for Maksim! 

My wonderful friend, Chelsea, took me out to eat at my favorite restaurant, OLIVE GARDEN! She was passing through on her way to see her parents and stopped in to see me! She gave me some fun shopping money and I bought some maternity shorts (I wish I could wear these shorts all year round when I am not even pregnant. I have a complex with shorts...always have and maybe always will unless I wake up one morning and I have Heidi Klum's legs!) and I bought this cute onesie for Maks! I know, I know! #1: It won't be baseball season when he gets here and it's a newborn onesie, #2: he won't be able to wear it for long, and #3: The Braves are pretty much on a losing streak right now, but faithful fans will stick by them!!! It might be kinda mean to push this on Maks, but he's gotta learn young! 

I have a little more shopping to do with my shopping money from Chelsea and I will have a BLAST doing it! 

On my actual birthday, we had one of my favorite lunches! Spaghetti with my family and then after my Mom left for work, my Dad, Kristina, Matt, Grant and I went to Lowe's to pick out paint colors that matched these bowls/place settings that Mom has and we painted her kitchen! It took us about 3 hours tops even with clean up! I was impressed! She was totally surprised! Here's the end result!

It's funny how paint can really change a room! It even makes her table look better and new! It goes with the country look of the space. My Dad and Kristina looked at me funny when we started the bottom color...they were unsure about it, but I think now they love it! It even makes the dark blinds pop!!! 

My Mom and I are throwing a shower for my sis-in-law this Friday so I am excited to use the new space! 

More pics to come! Showers galore this weekend!