Baby Shower in Birmingham!

I feel like I am getting so spoiled during the month of October. Jordan is transitioning from one practice to another, and in between, he took three weeks off. We've been to Tulsa, to Santa Fe, have gotten to spend TONS of time together (beginning each morning with him waking up before me and bringing me coffee - #winning!), and last weekend, we got to see so many friends and family members in Birmingham. 

Most of my family still lives in Alabama, so when it came time for a baby shower, Birmingham made the most sense as a host city. My sweet Aunt Dana, Mom's youngest sister, volunteered to host! She'd just re-done her beautiful kitchen in Homewood, and it was the perfect location to have a little party. The theme was "Mary's Little Lamb" - how cute is that?! 

I wanted to keep the guest list small because I like the idea that the people in attendance will really be a part of this baby's life in a meaningful way. Despite the nasty hurricane weather, I was touched that friends and family gathered to celebrate the arrival of this baby. Moments like these make me want to fall on my knees in gratitude for the love, encouragement, and support I always receive from the people closest to me. 

Every gift I received was SO generous, but a couple of highlights stood out from my two grandmothers: my dad's mom, who I call "Nonnie," gave me a pair of baby booties that my dad wore when he was an infant. So special!! My mom's mom, who I call "Gee Mommy" (I know, I made it up as a child, it works for us), gave me the Christening gown that all my cousins on my mom's side have been Christened in, beginning with me. I was the first grandchild on both sides, just like this baby will be, and so it was a really neat moment to think about the legacy of this beautiful gown. 

Another really unique thing about this time in life is that one of my best friends on earth, Ginny Tyler, is pregnant and is only THREE WEEKS behind me. How insane is that?! Totally by accident, we're pregnant together. What makes this even more significant is that Ginny and I have photos of us together as little babies, and now OUR babies will be friends! It makes me cry. I can't. 

Jordan saw that baby picture of us and asked if my hair had been burned in a fire. Um, NO THAT'S JUST HOW I LOOKED AS A BABY, thank you, Jord. 

Extra great was that my grandfathers came to pick up my grandmothers, so I got to see and love on the important men in my life, too! I'm missing one sweet grandfather, Hank, but he was there in spirit! 

Thank you so much to everyone who made this day memorable for us - I already count it as one of the sweetest parts of pregnancy to be able to spend time with such an incredible group of women. 

The Final Countdown

Jordan and I (okay, just I) saw this great web series that Whitney Port (of The Hills fame) did during her pregnancy called "I Love My Baby But I Hate My Pregnancy." Each week, she did an update about kind of a "real girl's pregnancy," with all the yucky stuff no one likes to talk about but everyone experiences. 

I haven't had as rough a time as Whitney Port, but I did love the idea of documenting a little bit of this process in an honest way because it's so special and once-in-a-lifetime. I love looking back on old photos and video, so more for Jord and me than for anything, I thought it would be fun to have some tape of these last 10 weeks. 

Here's installment one, where he and I talk about The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of this process. If you've ever had kids, I'm sure you can relate to lots of this - because, let's be honest, pregnancy is all of those things.

Also, somehow we end up talking about comic books. And the time I tooted on Jordan's foot. 

Hope you enjoy this early morning, no-makeup look! (The lighting gets better, I promise.) 

Yellow, The Space Between, and Landslide are copyrighted by Rockabye Baby! and are not my property. 

Ch-ch-changes!

Well, if we're changing one thing (bringing a new life into the house), we might as well change something else major at the same time, right? Seems like a good idea. We'll let you know if we've totally lost our minds in a few months. 

Today marks Jordan's last day with the practice we moved to Asheville and started with. That plural pronoun is on purpose - we were both adopted into the Carolina Smiles family. 

Lots of people ask us, "Why Asheville?" The truth is, after Jordan finished residency in Birmingham, we decided we'd have us a little adventure. We didn't have children and didn't own our home, so it seemed natural that if we wanted to strike out on our own for a little while, that was the time to do so. We chose two final options: Denver and Asheville. Jordan flew to Denver, interviewed with a practice there, then we both road tripped to Asheville for his interview with (what was then) Carolina Smiles (and is now Hendersonville Family Dental). 

It was a no-brainer. The fit in Asheville was like a hand in a glove - I'll always remember that first dinner out with the staff from Carolina Smiles: how warm they were, and how they made us want to move right then! 

While it will be so wonderful to have him closer to home, as his current practice is 45 minutes away and his new practice only 10, we will TERRIBLY miss the incredible people at Hendersonville Family Dental. One of the things being married to a dentist has taught me is that a lot of people are really, really scared of the dentist. I don't think I understood fully how much of a phobia it is for folks - fear alone keeps them out of the chair for decades sometimes. HFD takes extra care in making sure their patients are comfortable, not only in the dentist's chair, but before and after. The team is like no other and I know I speak for Jordan when I say that we are both so deeply grateful to have lucked into such an incredible group of folks. It doesn't happen that way for everyone right out of dental school, and we never took that for granted. This practice and the people who staff it have been etched into our hearts.

On an even more personal (and potentially embarrassing to him) note, I have been so touched (and may be teary-eyed typing this) at how deeply Jordan has bonded with the women with whom he works. It is such a precious relationship, and I know those friendships will last beyond their tenure in an office together. It has made me a proud wife, as I always am, to hear how many patients are disappointed he's leaving, and to have so many staff members pull me aside to tell me the same thing. UGH, SO MANY FEELINGS -- damn you pregnancy, it's too early in the morning to be weepy!! 

Yesterday, the office threw Jordan a surprise goodbye potluck and invited me along. True to form, they also threw us an impromptu baby shower (how wonderful are they!?)! By the time the hour was over, we were all crying from laughter together, had stuffed bellies and Jordan and I had a stuffed car full of incredibly generous gifts. 

Liking who you work with is such a luxury, and these last two-and-some-change years have been life-changingly special to us both. Thank you for the amazing memories, Hendersonville Family Dental. We love you so much!! 

It's A....???

Jordan and I decided at the beginning of this ride not to find out the sex of the baby ahead of time. We thought, "There are so few true surprises in life, and we can always find out early with our future children...why not wait?" 

Little did we know it would start to drive us crazy around week 27. We are DYING to know! 

We've had several friends recently who were absolutely certain they were having one thing, only to discover their baby was the other. 

This question is looming so large in both our hearts right now - picking out names for a boy and a girl, wondering what special little touches to add to the nursery - that I thought I'd share a post about the old wives tales that "predict" the baby's sex. 

'Cause if it's all I can think about, by God, I'm gonna make you guys think about it with me.

(Also I'm using pink and blue for this post because it's a fun visual and not because I think boy = blue and girl = pink and gender roles and sexism and blah blah blah so cut me a break.) 

1. Where are you carrying?

Low = boy; high = girl. 

This test predicts that if your baby bump sits up in your ribs, you're having a girl. If you're swingin' low, it's a boy. Mine has been l-o-w this entire pregnancy, so signs would point to boy. 

2. What are your cravings like?

Salty = boy; sweet = girl. 

Really, I've had both. But first trimester and third trimester, they've been tending back toward the sweet - I've been able to put away sweets (even incredibly rich sweets) like nobody's business. I've also been reaching for fruit or fruit juice a lot, which is definitely in the "sweet" category! 

3. Fetal heart rate? 

> 140 = boy; < 140 = girl.

I (eek!) can't even remember what the fetal heart rate was the first time we got to hear it, but I do remember thinking, "That's a boy!" So...boy, I suppose. Also this is not scientific so it doesn't matter. 

4. What's going on with your skin?

Clear skin = boy; breakouts = girl. 

They say that girls are supposed to "steal your beauty," which supposedly means you break out more, your hair thins out, you have terrible morning sickness, etc. Apart from the occasional few breakouts here and there, my skin has been normal! 

5. Morning sickness?

No = boy; yes = girl.

As I was saying. The girl babies evidently want to make you miserable, according to these old pieces of nonsense. I was certainly nauseated and had some food aversions, but never actually got sick during my first (or any other) trimester. 

6. Ring on a string!

Circles = boy; back and forth = girl. 

This test is very witch-y and fun. You pluck a strand of hair from your head, loop it through your wedding band, and have a friend dangle the band over your belly. If the ring swings in a circle, it's a boy. If it swings back and forth, it's a girl. We repeated this test several times at one of my best friend's bachelorette parties, and it was always the same result for me: circles! Interestingly, we did the test on other people and it swung back and forth. So it felt accurate - even though, you know, it's a piece of hair around a ring. SCIENCE! 

7. Chinese calendar?

There aren't two options to choose between on this one - you have to chart the date your baby was conceived against your own birthday. For whatever it's worth, that math = a boy for us. 

8. Which side are you sleeping on?

Left = boy; right = girl. 

I have definitely been favoring my right side in these later months. That's the side I fall asleep on in bed and the side I end up lying on on the couch while binging episodes of VEEP with Jordan every night. 

9. Dad's weight gain?

None = boy; a little extra around the middle = girl.

As much as it would thrill me to watch my very trim husband pack on the pounds with me, alas, Jordan's still very trim (dammit). 

10. Mom's gut feeling?

I have to say, from Day 1, I've been feeling like this was a little boy. Early on in pregnancy - like, maybe week 8? - I went to a meditation session in Asheville (I know, SO very "Asheville" of me!). The intention I set for the meditation was to "get to know the baby." About halfway through the meditation, I started seeing a deep blue pulsing in front of me - sort of in that way that immediately after you close your eyes when you look at something bright, you can still see the shapes and colors of what you were looking at. 

Weird, right?? 

Anyway, ALL of these (even my meditations "blues!") are just silly and fun, but they're something for us to focus on while we very impatiently wait to see exactly who it is we'll be spending the rest of our lives with. Most signs point to boy! But who. even. knows.

HURRY UP, DECEMBER 15th!! 

An Ode to My Husband, The Dad-to-Be.

Yesterday, while the storms were rolling into Asheville and plummeting the temps to 50 degrees (heavenly!!), I sat on the porch and did a journaling exercise from a pregnancy book I intended to use from month one, but...forgot about. Oops. 

Anyway, the exercise was to list all my favorite qualities about my partner, and to think about how those qualities will translate into him being a parent. It also asked what qualities he will balance about ME, so that I can go ahead and start thinking about the things Jordan will be better at than I will/vice versa as a parent.  

So here's the excerpt from my journal yesterday. 

When teaching someone a new skill, he’s very patient. 
He is thorough (almost to a fault) and completes a task to the best of his ability.
He values excellence and craftsmanship over quantity.
He values family and moral uprightness over worldliness and wealth.
He is a dutiful son and sibling, and cares deeply for his family.
He is an incredibly loving and loyal son- and brother-in-law, and has become a part of the McAnnally family in a really special way.
He loves to learn and values information. He is always hungry for more knowledge.
He isn’t idle and loves to do things outside or in the woodshop - project-based.
He cultivates appreciation for new things (like cooking and baking).
He is SUPER intelligent and retains information at a high level.
He is kind and giving to people, animals who are vulnerable and can’t help themselves.
He is fun and silly and doesn’t take himself too seriously.
He is EXTREMELY witty and quick, and is always making people laugh.
He loves to play instruments and learn new songs.
He is proud and private about things that ought to be private.
He is very honorable and is a man of his word - if he promises something, he follows through.
He loves Jesus.

I'm jumping into into that third trimester (what?!) next week! So we're 2/3 of the day through this adventure, and it's impossible to overstate the difference having a supportive, loving partner who also has a great sense of humor (thank God) in the bucket seat has made. 

Yesterday, our crib was delivered. We've been piling furniture, books, and baby clothes we've been gifted into the soon-to-be nursery for months now, but the delivery of the crib was the thing that, for both of us, made this all start to click into focus in a new way. 

There's going to be an actual BABY in there. 

So I stood at the door of the nursery, sneakily snapping out-of-focus photos of my precious husband, taking stock of this empty (for now) crib. 

And I know this baby doesn't know it yet, but it won the freaking lottery. I did a good job choosing a husband, but this little one just lucked into having a dad who will be...all the things. I tried to list them out just now and just started crying, so insert your own. Any good adjective, just throw it on in there. 

Kid, you've got a hell of a dad. 

(Mary Catherine reserves the right to pen another one of these cheesy posts as the pregnancy progresses. This is just how things are right now, people. Don't come to our house if you don't wanna get covered in gooey feelings, 'cause they're contagious.) 

How Pure Barre Changed My Life.

Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, you guys, but I am feeling particularly emotional about my last Pure Barre class this afternoon. At noon, I'll teach my last class before taking some time off to go grow this sweet baby. 

It's definitely time - my "demo's," where the instructor shows the clients how to set up positions, are getting a little laughable with this bump in the way. The clients at our studio have been so patient with all things pregnancy, particularly with the times when I'd get a move set up and then blank out completely. "Heavy tailbone, and...huh. Hmm. OH YEAH! Okay, 2 pulses down!" Hot mess. 

That kind of grace and community is just one of the many reasons I have loved this workout. If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember this post about me going to Pure Barre for the first time, then an update after I gave it a shot for about a month, posted here. I've been taking Pure Barre since March 2016 and teaching since August of the same year, so I've spent a lot of time in that studio. Here are my thoughts as I put the mic on for the last time (for a while, at least!) this afternoon: 

1. Pure Barre is the most effective workout I've ever done. 

Please ignore my weirdly huge left knee??

From a purely exercise-based place, all the emotion aside, I cannot say enough about these classes. My background in exercise was pretty limited in terms of what I'd tried in earnest. I grew up running (very slowly, but running), and that had always been enough. As I graduated from college, I realized that running alone wasn't going to cut it. I added in some light arms and ab work, but it was always exactly that: running for 2.5/3 miles, then arms, then abs, then I'd leave the gym. 

I'd done group classes like Zumba, pilates, and yoga, and found myself really digging the class atmosphere. I'm a person who is pushed harder by the presence of other, more in-shape people. And running was starting to get hard on my knees and shins. 

Enter: Pure Barre. I started this workout a few months after an ankle injury that prevented me from running regularly. The difference I saw in my ENTIRE BODY - arms, abs, thighs, butt, posture, strength level, endurance - took about three weeks to start and hasn't stopped yet. I don't feel like I ever plateaued, I don't feel like it ever got easy. One of the complaints I hear is that Pure Barre isn't enough cardio. I'd encourage you to attend one of the new Pure Empower classes, a 45-minute cardio-centric class that has even the instructors dripping sweat. WOOF (but in the best way).

It has changed my body, my confidence in myself, and my perception of my own strength. I'm not an Olympian, but it turns out I can work pretty hard and achieve the results I want. Who knew?? 

2. The clients are incredible. 

Cuties Cher and Mary Frances at Halloween last year!

One of the things that Pure Barre Asheville has cultivated is a ubiquitous sense of community and positivity. When you hit the door, you'll be greeted by name by anyone standing in the lobby. For me, these days, it's been, "Look at you, cute pregnant girl!! How are you feeling??" (This happens on days when I am most certainly NOT cute, so that should tell you something about the level of support these clients offer me all the time!) 

My very first time, I was so nervous. Upon entering the studio, I was greeted by the women who became my "8:30 family" (the class time I always chose) - Linda, Vanessa, and Kendra. These ladies, ranging in age from younger than me to closer to my parents' age, made me feel so welcome and right at home. I include the part about their ages to add another dimension to the wonder of Pure Barre - I know of a client we have who is 19; I know of a client who is in her 70's. And these are REGULAR clients. The same goes for size, shape, and race. We've got clients all across the board, all of whom show up and prove their inner badass every single time. We show up to work out, not to put on a fashion show, not to judge each other. It's the most supportive workout environment I've ever seen - every SINGLE time.

There is something about a group of women (although we have several male clients too, who I absolutely adore!!) banding together to lift each other up that is all too rare in this world. Girl power is a THING. The Spice Girls had it right. And Pure Barre is absolutely dripping with it.  

3. The team I teach with is next-level amazing. 

Fellow instructor Christina and me, also at Halloween last year! 

Pure Barre is hard. There's no getting around it. It's a challenge mentally and physically to push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of doing. In order to feel good and encouraged by that challenge, rather than defeated by it, you need a team of people who's going to ensure you see yourself as a dadgum fitness warrior. That's exactly what exists at PB Asheville. 

These girls are just precious and delightful and energetic and wonderful and uplifting and ALL the rest of the adjectives. It doesn't hurt that they're all knockouts, either. I mean, why not have something pretty to look at while you're sweating your vital organs out? 

I moved to Asheville with no friends or family, and have found both here. I love sitting around after class and chatting with my fellow instructors when the studio is empty and no one else is around. We've shared fears, hopes, developments in our dating lives, pregnancy stories, career moves, engagement stories, house-building excitement - it's just a really special group of people.

There is no greater gift than helping another woman realize her potential - to see it written across her face that she did it after all, even when she thought she couldn't. I've watched clients go from not being able to hold a plank position for more than 10 seconds to breezing through the 90-second plank during warmup. I've seen people struggle through a few push ups early on, then conquer those things with no problem after a couple of months. 

Pure Barre changes people's lives because it changes the way people see into themselves. One of the things you'll hear repeated on the mic from instructors is, "You're stronger than you think." 

Well, you are. 

4. Carrying this baby around is a lot easier. 

I mean, I don't even want to imagine what carrying this monster baby around would be like if I didn't have a strong core to start with, thanks to PB. 

(Probably very hard.) 

A strong body and mind going into a pregnancy is something that's helped me exponentially. Not to mention walking into a studio three-four times a week where people say, "You look great!" even if you don't FEEL great; where people are pushing themselves to be their best. It makes me word harder, sweat more, and, most importantly, keep showing up and giving it my best shot. I am not Gal Gadot by any stretch (holler at your girl who filmed parts of Wonder Woman while she was 5 months pregnant ARE YOU KIDDING ME), but I can hold a 90-second plank in my sixth month of pregnancy, damnit. And that's not half bad. 

-- 

So, for now, farewell to teaching. It is weird to close this particular chapter because I feel like this was the last thing to "go." Months ago, when I was planning out when I'd probably need to step away, this day seemed like it was years in the future. It's here, and it means that Jordan's and my life is about to start getting really different with the arrival of this little baked potato. 

I am so grateful for this year of my life I spent with a Britney Spears mic strapped to my head, ra-ra-ing our wonderful clients, cutting up with instructors, drinking a million smoothies, getting wisdom and development from our studio owner, Flavia. Pure Barre has been a gift from God to me, as have the people that inhabit that studio daily. I'll still be taking classes, of course, but for now, I'm taking a minute to be still, to be thankful, and (at noon) to go get after it one last time. 

Nothin' but love, PB.