1st Shopping Spree for Raegan Grace

Yay! Now that we knew we were having a little girl I couldn't wait to go shopping for her! Laura and I decided to get lunch this past Saturday and see what we could find for my little blessing!

Before we left I made two rules for myself!
1. I could not buy anything for Raegan Grace unless it was on sale and a good deal

2. Unless it was for her nursery!

I made these rules because I didn't want to buy unnecessary stuff that I know I could get at a baby shower. And well the nursery is my domain so it was okay if I spent money on that!

My main goal was to look for crib bedding!

We met for lunch at the mall and went shopping at two children's stores at the mall, but left each place empty handed.

We then went to Babies-r-us and looked at several cute clothes there! We also looked at bedding, but I wanted something without a theme on it! I had a picture on my cell phone of what I was looking for or something similar but no luck! We honestly spent the majority of the time sitting (yes sitting) on the floor looking at Baby Books! And again we left Babies-r-us empty handed.

We went to Buy Buy Baby and looked around the entire store. It was Laura's first time there and we checked out some crib bedding (but still no luck, I loved the one I had found online too much to compromise on anything else) and talked baby the entire time! Eventually we made it to the glider section and literally ended up sitting in the gliders for 30 minutes or so just talking and relaxing! :) Wish we would have gotten a picture of that! Two pregnant women relaxing in the baby store! On our way out of the store I finally found some things I wanted to buy! I found a cute bib and pacifier to give to Drew for Father's Day coming up next month! They were so cute! I also found some closet organizers to seperate clothes by baby's age.

Baby Bib I will give Drew for Father's Day coming up! A father to be gift rather! :)

Pacifiers I got for Drew for a Daddy to be gift: they say I love Daddy and Daddy's Little Girl!

Now noone tell Drew what I got him! It's a suprise! I can post it on here because I know he never gets on here! :) Hehe!

the closet organizers I got for Raegan's closet

After we left Buy Buy Baby we went to Kohls because we knew they had some cute dresses there! I found her one dress and Laura bought Miss Raegan two little outfits! So sweet of her!

1 of the outifts Laura bought Miss Raegan (thanks Laura)

the 2nd outfit Laura bought Miss Raegan (thanks Laura)

the 1st dress I bought Raegan Grace!

I dropped Laura off and then I had forgotten I had wanted to go to Michaels to get Raegan letters to put above her crib. So I went back and go the letters to spell her name. I still need to go get the paint and supplies to decorate them with but at least I have the letters!

the letters I am going to decorate and hang above Raegan's crib!

Later that night (after a boat ride and dinner with my brother and husband) I came home and researched more crib bedding. I still LOVED the set I had found previously that was saved on my phone! So I ordered it! So Raegan Grace got some pretty pink, green, and white bedding! I can't wait for it to get here so I can finish decorating her room! :)

the crib bedding I fell in love with and ordered for Raegan Grace!

I had so much fun shopping with Laura for Raegan Grace! I can't wait to finish decorating the nursery and the baby shower's to come, etc! It's going to be so much fun!

Our 4th doctor's appointment!

Okay, so I know I just posted in my previous blog about our last doctor's appointment but I wanted to add some more details about the actually doctor's visit and what the doctor said and everything!

Because it was our 20 week appoinment we were so excited to find out if Baby Smallwood was a boy or girl! The anticipation was so exciting!

The ultrasound tech took lots of pictures and measurements of the baby and kept saying "Awww, look at him sucking his thumb" "awww, look at how his feet are cross!" etc. So the whole time I am laying there I am thinking to myself this baby must be a boy if she keeps saying that. So towards the end she was trying to determine the gender and the baby just would not turn so she could see. But I am still thinking she must know it's a boy because she wouldn't stop saying "HE!". After about 20 minutes or so she had me turn on my side and about 5 minutes later she asked us if we wanted to know the gender and we both said "YES!!!" She said "Its a...... GIRL!" Drew and I both looked at each other and smiled from ear to ear! And then I turned back to the tech and said "are you sure?" She was like "YES, 99% sure!" I was like "okay, I wasn't sure because during the whole ultrasound you kept saying "he"!" She apologized and said she never knows what to call the baby before the gender is revealed! I just had to laugh! Oh and to add to this Drew was tearing up. It was so cute and sweet! Baby Girl already has daddy wrapped around her finger!

She gave us a bunch of printouts of pictures of the baby and a DVD! It was so fun watching the DVD later at home! The DVD showed the baby moving and you could hear the heartbeat and everything! Basically everything we saw at the ultrasound!

We then had to wait to go see our dr. When she saw us and looked at all the photos the tech took she said "the baby looks perfect and everything is going well. Just like a texbook case!" That made me happy! She even said my placenta looked beautiful. Which honestly creeped me out a little bit, but that's the best thing a gyno dr can tell you right? LOL!

She asked me if I had felt the baby move yet. I said no! :( She said she was not concerned that some don't feel the first movement till 22 weeks! So I am waiting. She also said my placenta was in the front which is thickening that area and making it harder for me to feel. Not that I know where a placenta is normally located, but okay! :)

Hehe! But she said everything looked great and she was very pleased with our pregnancy and sent us on our way to go enjoy the news of being pregnant with a Baby GIRL! :)

Here are a couple pictures that I had posted on Facebook. I don't want to post any that "show" my baby girl! After all she did have her legs crossed most of the time! She is already so proper and I love her being modest! :)

RAEGAN GRACE at 20 weeks sucking her thumb (May 26th 2011)





20 weeks pregnant May 26th

Raegan Grace 20 weeks!

Baby Gender Reveal Party

The day we had been anticipating was finally here (Thursday May 26th: Our 20 week Doctor's appointment)! We were so excited to go the doctor's office to find out if Baby Smallwood was a Baby Girl or Baby Boy. When we finally got to go back for our ultrasound we were so excited!


Here's a picture of Drew and I before we got to go back and see the tech.

Drew and I waiting to get called at for our ultrasound at the drs office!

The tech took lots of pictures and measurements of the Baby. She kept pushing on my tummy to get the Baby to move so she could see if it was a boy or girl, but the Baby just would not move. I was about to start crying because I was scared we were going to leave the doctor's office without knowing if it was a boy or girl. Finally, the tech had me turn on my side. After about 5 minutues the tech asked us if we wanted to know if it was a boy or girl and we said "YES!!!" She said "It's a _____" We were so excited!


After we left the doctor's office we went to Build a Bear to make a bear for our little one. And we went to Party City to get balloons!


We then came home and finished decorating our house for our reveal party!


Here are some pictures of the decorations!

The banner I made! :)

All the goodies! And my decor of paper laterns! :)

the favor bags I made (pic below of what's inside them)

more paper laterns decor

Soon everyone started arriving and we had our special get together!


I had a voting station too so everyone could vote BOY or GIRL!
Here is a picture of our voting station...

vote BOY or GIRL

We also took pictures for TEAM BLUE and TEAM PINK of everyone's guesses!

TEAM BLUE!

TEAM PINK!

We also took many other pics of all the lovely people who came to share in this precious memory with us.

Katie Beth and Tracy!~

Cindy and me!

Hot Pot! :) Katie, me, Lisa (aka "Mom"), Brittany, and Emily ("aka "lil sis")

Tracy, me, and Katie Beth!

The boys! Ian, Patrick, Brendon, and Drew

Windsor Family (my kindergarten team) Cindy, Angela, Fran, and me!

Angela and Kayla

Angela, me, and Kayla!

all the girls!

all my pregnant friends! Kayla, me, Laura, and ReNee!

After we ate dinner we investigated some Old Wives Tales...


Here are the results!!!

The key test!

Carrying high or low test!

Ring Test!



Leg Test



It was a tie! 6 boy checks and 6 girl checks!

After we investigated the Wives Tales it was time for the reveal.


While everyone was at the party, my friend ReNee took everyone in the baby's nursery to video tape if they thought boy or girl. She then video taped the actually reveal too. And she put it all together to get...this spectaular video. I posted it on Facebook for all my friends to see if Baby Smallwood was a BOY or GIRL! YAY!!! 

Watch video below!

If you watched the video all the way through you would know that IT'S A GIRL! We had a giant box full of balloons, so when we opened the box out popped PINK Balloons! In the bottom of the box was the Build a Bear bear we had made for her. We named her bear Carolina Grace and on the birth certificate it says belongs to Raegan Grace!

About to open the reveal box!

and out popped...

PINK balloons!!!

It's a GIRL!!!





Proud parents!

This bear belongs to Raegan Grace!!!

isn't it adorable?

So if you didn't catch it in our video, we named our baby girl
RAEGAN GRACE!!!

Here is a picture of what was inside the favor boxes you saw earlier too! :)

From Baby Girl: Raegan Grace!

We are so excited!

It was also ReNee's birthday...sooo....

A birthday is not complete without blowing out candles on at least a cupcake! :)

yay! Happy Birthday ReNee! And thanks for making our AWESOME gender reveal video!

Thanks to all who came out to share in this Baby Gender Reveal with us! We had such an AMAZING time! The Smallwood's are so loved and Baby Girl Raegan Grace is so blessed! Thank you God for these special memories with the ones so dear in our hearts! :)

Ahhhhhh!!! Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it! The day I've been waiting for since I found out I was pregnant is only a day away!!! In less than 24 hours we will know if Baby Smallwood is a girl or boy! I can't believe the day is here! I also can't believe that tomorrow I will be 20 weeks pregnant! I am half way there! WOW!!!!!!!

It's been so much fun listening to everyone guess what they think Baby Smallwood is! Early in my pregnancy many said girl now many are voting boy, so we shall see!

I always thought it was a girl from the very beginning. However, in the last few weeks I thought it was a boy! Drew always thought it was a boy, and now he's changed his mind and thinks it's a girl! Hehe! It makes me laugh that we both changed our minds. The best thing about that is that at some point during our pregnancy we were BOTH RIGHT! Hehe!

It doesn't matter to us either way... rather we have a BOY or a GIRL! We of course want a healthy BABY! But we are soooo excited to be able to find out what GOD has HANDPICKED just for us! I can't wait to see if GOD wants us to have a little girl or a little boy first! It's so exciting! I want to cry right now just thinking about that tomorrow I will get to know what GOD PICKED just for us Smallwoods! It brings tears to my eyes knowing this is what GOD has planned for us! I can't wait!

My appointment is at 2pm. So I still have to go to school and teach (only 6 more teaching days, 4 whole days, and 2 half days until Summer Break)!!! But will leave school early to make it to my appointment! Tomorrow may go by slow for me teaching wise! Hehe! But time has already flown by so before I know it I will be sitting in the doctor's office with my sweet husband finding out what God has chosen for us! Of course I hope Baby Smallwood won't be shy! Mommy and Daddy will be so disappointed! Hehe! Drew and I want to find out together because we want this to be OUR special moment together!

After our appointment Drew and I will go shopping for our gender reveal party. We already have most things, but we've got to get some last minute things too! :)

At 7pm tomorrow night we are having out gender reveal party! Our closest friends will join us for dinner and fun and then we will surpise them with our reveal!

So after all our closest friends and family find out then I will post it on Facebook! So patience friends! Hehe! I am going to predict that I will post it on fb around 8:30-9 pm ... so look then! :)

I can't wait to share in the news with everyone of what God has chosen for us! It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO exciting!!!!

Thanks for all your thoughts and love during this time! The Smallwoods couldn't be more excited! We feel so blessed! Love you all!!!

It's getting closer!

So the reveal is getting closer! 1 week and 5 days to be exact! I can't believe it's almost here! I am sooo excited yet so nervous for this next step. I think I am just nervous because that means I am half way done with this pregnancy and I just can't believe time is flying by!

Today, I ordered a bunch of stuff for my reveal party. I still have some things to figure out...like food and how I am actually going to tell everyone, but I've taken steps and we are getting close now!

I just can't believe in 12 short days  I will know if Baby Smallwood is a BOY or GIRL! It's just so amazing!

I am so thankful to God for this opportunity to be a parent. To have a chance to experience life as a family. To be a mom. It just brings tears to my eyes, knowing that God trust ME to raise this precious Baby as one of HIS precious children. That He trust my husband and I to raise this precious Baby. We are so grateful and thankful God for this opportunity He has given us!

I pray daily for my precious soon to be family. I pray that Drew and I will raise him/her up in a Godly home. That we will be the parents that God wants us to be. I pray that Drew and I will remain strong in all that we face while learning to raise a child. That we will trust in the Lord so that our precious baby will have an example to look at and follow. And ultimately an everlasting life with God.

I pray that our precious baby will accept God as his/her Savior. That him/her will want to know God in every way possible. I want my baby to live a Christian life and to surround him/her self around the best types of people. But at the same time I want him/her to be a positive influence and support system to those around him/her as well (especially those who struggle). I want my baby to love God, love those around them, treat everyone with dignity and respect. I pray God that him/her will be like You. I know that it is going to be hard for my baby in this world full of temptation and sins but I pray that my baby will remember God's words in times of struggles to TRUST in God with all his/her heart and not lean on his/her own understanding. I pray that my precious baby will glorify You, Praise You, and Honor you in all of his/her words, actions, prayers, and thoughts Lord God.

In your name I pray, AMEN!

18 weeks May 12th (2 weeks to go till reveal)

My 1st coupon experience!

A couple weeks ago I posted on Facebook that I wanted to learn how to coupon after my friend Tracy text me and asked me if I wanted to learn with her. We even signed up for a SouthernSavers Coupon class on May 23rd! I can't wait to go so I can learn more!

So people started giving me their advice and I even had one friend (a mother of a student I taught last year) actually text me who is not on Facebook that same day telling me to save her coupons...But anyway she told me she was an advid couponer and that she would teach me!

SOOOOO last Saturday I went to her house to learn the trade! Anyway, she told me she normally gets 3 papers every Sunday. And she organizes her coupons in file folders by the brand of ads (Example, RedPlum, P&G, and SmartSource). She paperclips them together and writes the dates on them (see photos below of how I organized mine) 

I just stapled the corner of mine, and wrote the date the paper came out at the top (ex: 5/1)

I then put all my same ads in this plastic envelope (each brand ad (ex: Redplum, SmartSource, P&G) have their own envelope)

This is just a way I organize it. You can use file folders, notebooks, etc.

Then I go to http://www.couponmom.com/ to search for deals of the week. I use http://www.southernsavers.com/ to compare. I am still learning southernsavers, but I know more about couponmom from my friend until I go to my southern savers class at the end of the month.

But once you go to couponmom's website you create a free account, and then I just researched deals for the week by clicking on grocery store deals tab and drug store deals tab and click on the store of my choice.

I then look at the sales, and see if there is anything I want and if I have a coupon for it.









the left corner tells you where to find the coupon (Ex: 5.01 RP=May 1st RedPlum ads)

I know if I have the coupon by looking at the left corner. It says 5.01 RP that means it was in the May 1st paper and it was in the Red Plum...so then I just go to my file folder envelope marked RedPlum and find the corresponding coupon and cut it out (and because I bought 3 papers, I have 3 coupons to cut out). Now you will find dates like 4.10 etc that you may not have coupons for, that's why I have a folder to put them in so I can save them for a while. And I don't cut out coupons till I know I will use it, because there's no use in wasting work. Plus you will find something you may not have bought before you may buy now just because you get it free, or can make money on it. Hope this makes sense.

But this is just a little background on how I was taught to organize myself and my coupons and how I find what I want to buy. And this may change once I go to my class, but this is what I know for now. Way more than I knew before last Saturday.

Anyway, today was my first shopping experience. I went to Wal-greens. I had 3 coupons for Fusion Gillete Razors, and 3 coupons for Buy 1 Get 1 Free Right Guard Deodorant. So I went to Wal-greens and grabbed 6 things of deodorant (they are regular $3.99 each) and 3 packs of razors (regular $9.99 each).

I seperated my merchandise into 3 transactions. (2 deodorants and 1 razor per transaction).

I gave the cashier one Right Guard B1G1 coupon, and one $4 off coupon for the razor. My total came out to $9.99. I paid it. Now because I bought that merchandise from Walgreens they printed me a $5 rewards coupon and a $2 rewards coupon.

My 2nd purchase was again 2 deodorants and 1 razor again. This time I handed them my B1G1 free coupon, my $4 off coupon for the razor, and my $5 rewards coupon I got from my previous transaction. I tried given them the $2 rewards coupon, but it didn't work. Which I later learned from my friend that if it didn't scan then she should have typed it in. So my total was $4.99 but it should have been $2.99 if I would have use the $2 rewards I got. And again when I paid the register printed me another $5 rewards and another $2 rewards for buying those products.

So I just repeated the 3rd transaction the same as I did for the 2nd. And again paid $4.99.

So my total bill at Walgreens came out to about $20. And I have $11 rewards to use towards my next purchase. And if I would have known I could have used 2 $2 rewards today if I would have told the cashier to type it in. I just didnt' know...but I am learning... My total before coupons would have been $60, so I SAVED $40!

I hope this makes sense.

You can print coupons online too, I am just working with Sunday ad papers for now, unless I know where there is to print one at. I know southern savers has some you can print and couponmom website has some too (links above)

Here is a pic of all I got today at Walgreens! :)

Our 3rd Doctor's Appointment

On Tuesday May 3rd we had our third doctor's appointment. No ultrasound though, so it wasn't too exciting. I had to give her a urinine sample, and get my weight and blood pressure checked. When Dr. Morton came in, she took the hear-rate doppler and we got to hear Baby Smallwood's heart-beat. Which was the most exciting thing about our appointment. She didn't tell me the heart-rate and I didn't ask, so I am not sure if the doppler tells us the heart-rate or not???

But she did confirm my next appointment which is Thursday May 26th. I'll be 20 weeks and at that appointment Baby Smallwood's gender will be revealed! :) YAY! I cannot wait for that day! 19 days and counting!

I am currently debating about doing a gender reveal party that everyone talks about and that I've read online. Not sure yet. :)

Drew and I are so anxious though for May 26th! :)

I haven't posted any Baby Bump pics on my blog yet. Honestly, I have forgotten about it. Facebook has a lot of photos though. I am going to try and upload the ones on Facebook on here so I can have them in one place! :) Plus, I would like to print this blog at the end of the year as a suggestion from a friend (Heather) to make a book so I can have hard copies! :)

BABY BUMP PICS THUS FAR...

10 weeks (March 17th)

12 weeks (March 31st)

14 weeks (April 14th)

16 weeks (April 28th)

I will post more pics later! I am doing bi-weekly photo sessions, hehe! :) I will start doing weekly photos once I hit 20 weeks! :)

Look for more updates and pics to come soon! :) Thanks for reading!