18 weeks

I forgot to post a recent belly shot so here it is--what a looker! Bea wanted to be included in the picture, too. Unfortunately I am growing in all directions. I just wish there was a big stop sign to tell my backside that that isn't where the baby is. But as Jenny McCarthey says your bottom does explode!

One more day and it's killing me!

Just another day in paradise? Is that how the song goes? Well, it is not paradise waiting to see what kind of child Russ and I are going to bring into this world. We finally go to see Dr. Wilder for our 18-20 week ultrasound and appointment and I am so excited.

We only have one sonogram picture and that was taken at 7 weeks and all I see is a blob of whiteness. So seeing arms, legs and other various body parts will be a treat! My only concern is that my sweet little baby will act a little bit like its father (and maybe its mother too) and be very stubborn about not uncrossing those legs. I have spoken to many of my friends about this matter and thus far have gotten this advice:
1. Drink a coke and eat a candy bar to get the baby ready to go.
2. Jump around the ultrasound room.
3. Wait til next time. (this is terrible advice)
At least 2 of those might work but number 3 is not my best virtue. Whatever we find out our main concern is that we have a healthy baby.

As some of you know Russ thinks that we are having a girl, but I have no intuitions on what we are having. I have had all the symptoms that come with having a girl: nausea, crankiness, carrying low, and a fast heartbeat. Plus Russell swears by the online Chinese calendar. Apparently all you have to do is enter in your birthdays and the due date and voila! you get a gender. Who knows?! We shall see tomorrow so stay tuned I will definitely post what the doctor tells us!

Please say some prayers for us for a healthy baby!

Spring Cleaning

Ahhhhh......Spring Break! Instead of laying on the beach in some tropical place that I cannot pronounce sipping on a fruity drink I am in Portland tackling my spring cleaning! But I have to tell you I really don't mind! There comes a point when I have to re-organize my clutter in order to feel sane especially since most of my down time is devoted to my grad schoolwork or to sleeping (my favorite hobby these days).

My first job was to take care of Russell's terrible closet. I use the word terrible in a nice way because if you saw the before pictures you would be truly horrified. I love my husband very much and he does soooo many wonderful things for me, however, ladies beware they do resort back to the little boy status. The little boy status I refer to are behaviors they still do even though they are working, professional "men"-

1. Leaving their clothes: EVERYWHERE!

2. Forgetting whether the dishwasher is dirty or clean.

3. Leaving muddy items on nice clean floors.

4. And my true favorite: the toliet seat they forget to put down!

Well, I survived reorganizing Russell's closet! There was a silver lining to this joyous event, I was able to throw out his very obnoxious ORANGE Hawaiian shirt! We have been having discussions about that shirt for years! I tell you years, there is no joking about the orange shirt! I am hoping that he will not notice this has happened. So please help me keep this secret!

Back to that lovely chore of Spring Cleaning! I think everyone should try it because it feels so good when you finish. For my teacher friends I feel that I can survive the rest of the school year without screaming out in frustration about my house's messiness, well at least until April:) So I am attaching pictures of my accomplishment!

A little bit of news before I stop, Russ and I go to the doctor on Wed., March 26th to find out what our little one will be! How exciting!!! We will keep you updated!

Meeting Dr. Wilder

On Thursday, Russell and I met our new doctor, Dr. Wilder, for our first initial visit. I had been going to Dr. Doucet, but she went on emergency maternity leave and I was in a pickle! SO after asking around to everyone I knew, I set up an appointment with Dr. Wilder.

During the visit we got to hear the heartbeat which was very fast. Russell has a feeling that we are having a girl. I don't have any premonitions. Although we have checked the Chinese calendar, heart rate wives tale and I have taken a pregnancy gender quiz. All three tactics give us mixed answers....so I guess we will find out at next appointment on March 26th! Now that we have found our doctor, Russell and I feel much better about the situation. WE are so excited and it will be hard to wait until March 26th, but I need to practice a little patience. Patience is a good virtue to have when you are a new parent, so I have heard!

For all my teacher friends, Spring Break is only 13 days away! Yea!!!!! We are going to Baton Rouge to see Mick and Enjoli! It will be fun to catch up and share preggo stories! I will post a 16 weeks picture next week. I feel that there is probably not much difference between 14 and 15 weeks, so I will wait to see if I get any bigger.

14 weeks!

What a beauty! Here I am starting my 14th week! I never thought I would want to chronicle my waist growing, but my friend did this and it was really cool! Russ and I went to the new doctor on Friday only to go home without meeting him due to the fact that my medical records were not sent over from my old doctor. Boy were we not happy!

We are all doing well. This weekend Russ and I set out on the task of finding a book on how to prepare your pets for the new baby. The book is on order so we will let you know what we find out!

I have been busy with my graduate classes this semester so I have not been as avid a pregnant person as I have wanted, but if my child happens to have an articulation disorder I will know what to do. Hopefully, that will not happen!
As Russell is yelling from the other room so we can watch our favorite Monday night show, How I Met Your Mother, I will sign off for now. Enjoy our pictures of our journey into parenthood! And it's okay if you want to laugh.......but just a little!

Yes, WE are having a baby!

Well it finally happened! Russ and I have entered the realm of realizing that we are grown-ups and feel that we can handle the task of raising another human. Even though it seems, to Russell, that I still need practice giving the dogs enough water!

We had been praying for a baby to come into our lives for over a year and we found out right before Christmas. Talk about a wonderful Christmas present! We thank God everyday for bestowing this gift to us!
As of today I am 13 weeks, but I feel like it has definitely been longer. I am so excited about this new LIFE-CHANGING event but I do have some concerns:

1. As I look around my classroom I see character traits that I do NOT want my child to have.....to those of my teacher friends you know what this means!
2. The sleep thing or lack of it freaks me out! I operate best on a minimal of 10 hours a day.
3. When we bring the baby home---NOW WHAT?!
4. One word: CHILDBIRTH ( For those of you who are in the " I have given birth to a human club" I need your advice)
5. Lastly will my backside ever return to its original shape? Or do I have to do lunges til I am blue in the face.

All in all I am sure all these concerns will be addressed at some point in time by my friends and family! I am very blessed to have two wonderful sisters-in-law who will help me with anything I need! Marcie, Russell's sis, who just had our precious nephew Jack in March 2007 and Enjoli who is expecting our other nephew Camden in June!

We go to our doctor on Friday, so I will post some more news and hopefully a 1st trimester picture then!

The Liberty Bowl-Go Bulldogs!

It was so cold!! Brrrrrrrr......

Me, Russ, Dad and Buck

Since Russ and I are used to those mild South Texas temperatures we enjoyed getting to wear our layers! This year we have been avid sports fans and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to spend time with Dad and Buck while going to a great football game. My favorite part of football games is definitely game food! I ate a corn dog, funnel cake and drank hot chocolate! Yum....but I soon realized I was not 13 anymore and cannot handle that much junk food! Next time I will know better! But they sure were tasty! Laura--I am going to have to say that Fletcher's Corny dogs doesn't have anything on the Liberty Bowl's Pup dogs!