December 13...

December 13th was definitely the best day of my life! Weston Alexander was born at 7:38pm weighing 7lbs 3.5 oz and measuring 19.75 inches long. Chad and I arrived at the hospital at 6:45am. We were so ready! By 8:30 my doctor had induced me and we were set! My contractions came on faster than he would like so he gave me a shot to slow them down. The baby’s heart rate decreased a few times so I had to lie on my side most of the labor and I was not allowed to get out of bed. The doctor and nurses suspected that the cord was in the way somewhere. After my epidural, my doctor broke my water and within a few hours Weston was here. Unfortunately, he was born with the cord wrapped tightly around his neck, so the doc had to cut it quickly which resulted in Weston not getting that last bit of blood from the placenta. His coloring was very pale (red blood cell count low) so he had to stay in the nursery until the next morning after being checked by his pediatrician. Chad and I were able to hold Weston for the first time at 1:30am. They would bring him in to nurse and then take him back for observation.

Weston was such a trooper. Thank God he is now healthy and happy! We cannot be any happier. Life is so different now. It is all about Weston. We love him SO much.

Slideshow of Baby Weston

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39 weeks!

Today I am 39 weeks pregnant! I cannot believe that the end is already here! Tomorrow morning, Chad and I are headed to the hospital at 7am to get induced!!!!! I am so extremely excited and nervous too! I cannot wait to meet my lil' man and snuggle with him. The portable crib is all ready to go next to our bed, his car seat is installed in Daddy's car, and the house is all tidy for when we return home! We are ready!

Pacifier Clips

I am counting down the hours/ minutes until I get to meet my lil' baby boy! Chad and I are so excited. We are trying to think of things to keep us busy so we are not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs! SO I decided to try to make these pacifier clips. Target sells them for $5 each. I know I could make them cuter and cheaper. I bought the clips at Michaels and used ribbon I already had. After sewing on the velcro, I decided to buy the iron on velcro instead. I also tried Liquid Stitch because the velcro would not stick to certain ribbons. Then, I checked out Etsy and some people made their pacifier clips out of fabric. So I tried that too! I actually like the fabric one the best! Except I think I made it a little too short.The first 2 clips are made from ribbon. The last one is made out of fabric. I made the buttons on the last 2 clips out of fabric. Now that I have figured out how to make these, I think Baby Rigdon may have a pacifier clip to match his outfit each day! Ha ha!
(If you click on the picture, you can see them up close)

Delicious Shortbread Cookies

Check out this recipe on the blog Clover Lane. It is a pretty easy and scrumptious shortbread cookie recipe! I made them yesterday for our friends holiday party. Chad and I LOVE them! They will probably be gone by lunch time today!

Every year, I make festive chocolate covered pretzels for our family. I have the Chinese take out boxes all decorated and ready for the pretzles for when they are finished. I plan to make them a few days before we go home for Christmas. I think I may make these cookies as lil' gifts too. I just made a gift tag to tie to the cookie bags!

I could be addicted.

Hats! Hats! Hats! I am in LOVE with baby hats! Chad thinks I have gone a little overboard with all of the hats I have bought the baby. Hey! Well, I have not bought all of them. Some of my dearest friends made me some too! I LOVE the handmade ones the best. Etsy may become another addiction in the near future. Uh oh.

Chad got word that earlier this morning his old office where he worked in Mount Vernon caught on fire! More than 150 firefighters tried to control the five alarm blaze. Check out the pictures! Crazy. Feeling bad for his old co-workers. They must be shocked.

38 weeks

Somehow I managed to wear all non-maternity clothes in this picture! You can definitely tell the shirt is stretched to the MAX!

Christmas Tree Farm!

Today, we ventured to Mineral in Louisa County (about an hour away from C'ville) to help our friends find the perfect Christmas tree! Chad and I bought a wreath and later in the day I stopped by a tree stop on the side of the road and bought some garland to go up our stairway. Tonight is the Darden Prom. Unfortunately, I am just feeling WAY to big to be getting all dressed up and dancing. So Chad and I pre-gamed at our friends house with them until they left for the party. Today was a great day to spread some holiday cheer! Best of all- SNOW!

Lighting of the Lawn

Photo courtesy of UVA Today Blog
Last night, Chad and I went to the UVA's Lighting of the Lawn. I prepared some hot chocolate with cinnamon in it and then we met at our friends house. We walked to the lawn from there (which was about a mile....come on baby). The lighting was supposed to be at 8pm, but ended up not lighting until almost 10pm! By then, my legs were tired from standing and my body was pretty numb. To make matters worse, we had to walk back to our car after that! Even though the lighting was not what I had expected, I had a great time catching up with my C'ville peeps since we did not see them last weekend. On Saturday, we are looking forward to going to the Christmas tree farm! Our tree is already up so we will be getting a wreath and some garland. So excited! Time to get out my cheesy teacher Christmas earrings! ;)

Happy Howlidays!

Can you tell I have a little time on my hands?? Pepper and Norma are enjoying the extra walks they get throughout the day. I look hilarious walking them. Walk, squat, walk, squat! We are getting just a little antsy to meet the baby! I know I have 2 more weeks left. Guess I need to get started on another project to keep myself busy.

Chad read the other night on the Internet that swinging can also help induce labor. Well, what do you think I was doing this morning on the playground? Yep. Swinging. After high school, I really could not do too many of the rides at the amusement parks. I have a weak stomach. Well, swinging is another "ride" that makes me nauseous. Blah.