16/17 Weeks

This picture was taken last weekend at 16 weeks...

I am definitely starting to get a bump. Most of my pants will no longer button, so I have had to be very creative in rigging them up. I have started picking up a few maternity clothes here and there and while I haven't started wearing any of them yet, I am sure I will start pretty soon. I have also started to bump into things more, which is weird since my stomach is only sticking out an inch or two more... apparently I usually cut it close when trying to do anything! I have almost gotten stuck twice in the stalls in one of the bathrooms at work!! In my defense, they are tiny and they have the most awful placement of the biggest toiletpaper holders I have ever seen.

This week I started having some major pain in my right hand/wrist. I woke up Thursday night in some of the worst pain I have ever felt (I know, I know... labor will be worse!) I got Chris to get me some tylenol, which dulled the pain enough to at least go back to sleep. Later that night I had a very vivid dream about our baby. I dreamt that the baby was a boy and that he was pretty little and had a ton of hair when he was born. A lot of people say what you dream is what will really happen. Let me tell you why I disagree with that in this scenario... Chris and I were both pretty big babies (I was almost eight pounds and I think Chris was about eight and a half pounds) and now I am 5'8" and he is 6'4". We were also both bald when we were born. I think we will have an eight/nine plus pound bald baby. We also named the baby Elijah Sutton. Elijah is the name we have been leaning toward for the first name so that isn't odd, but Sutton is a name I came across over a year ago then forgot about. Several times I have tried to remember that name and couldn't, so I thought it was odd that it came to me in a dream.

I went to my 16 week ob appointment recently, it was pretty uneventful. I got to hear the heartbeat (158ish) which was great, they took some blood (which I was apparently supposed to do last time, oops!) and that was it! I go again in two and a half weeks for the BIG ultrasound. We will get to have a look at our baby for the first time since it was the size of a pea. Don't get your hopes up though... we have opted to keep the gender a surprise to us and everyone else (except maybe the doctor and ultrasound tech!)

Until next time...

13 Week Baby Bump...

Or lack there of!

I finally got off the couch and took a picture! I am actually showing just a little bit. Before I got pregnant my waist was abnormally small (in my opinion), now I feel like it looks more normal.

Everyone (except my dad :) ) please ingnore the exposed outlet in the background! It is waiting to be changed out.

I am sure in a few weeks or so there will be a lot more belly to show!

12 Weeks, 1 Day

After a little longer than anticipated, Chris and I are happy to announce a baby is on the way! As everyone knows, Allison is also expecting and her twins should be here sometime in November. I am due February 5, so these cousins will be a little less than three months apart! We had an appointment Wednesday where we got the hear the heartbeat for the second time!! The heartrate was 180 bpm and from what we've read and what everyone keeps saying that means it's a girl. Chris has said from the beginning it was a boy, but I think he may be changing his mind :) I don't really have a preference either way, as long as he/she is healthy!!

Below is a picture from 3dpregnancy.parentsconnect.com and is about what the baby looks like now. He/she is about 2 1/2 inches long and 1/2 ounce. That's quite a change from the 1/8 inch when we found out only six weeks ago!

I am looking forward to trying to keep the blog a little more updated with how things are going and more pics of our nieces and nephews. We are rapidly approaching the "Birthday Season" which runs from the very end of August through the very beginning of March. Currently there is a small break in October and January, but that may change if our little one decides to come a little early. I think there are only two birthdays (Christa and Chris in June) that don't fall in that range!! I will post a picture of my little bump as soon as I get my butt off the couch!

Meet Simon...

Most people know that we did not have pets growing up (with the exception of the evil rabbit) and that I am not a big fan of other peoples pets... I was actually afraid of dogs when I was little! I don't mind looking at them or even playing with them, but it's all over when they want to sit on me or lick me!! Enter Simon (and Max and Natty)...

The Friday before the Fourth my mom and I went to Allison's to help clean a little and prepare for the fish fry. While we were in Allison's small kitchen, Max (Jade's puppy), decided my foot made a nice pillow... many, many times!!! Then on the fourth as we were all loading up to go back to the falls, Simon decided he wanted to ride with me. He jumped up on my leg, the seat where I was trying to sit, and just like Max decided my foot was a good pillow. I can't imagine my bony foot being too comfortable to sit on! After we got going, this was my view. I can handle this!!

Fourth of July 2010

This year for the fourth of July, I wanted to channel Martha Stewart and try something a little creative. Above is the final result... or half of it anyways!

Below are the mixes after I colored them; it took a LOT of food coloring to get them to these colors.

I started with the blue on the botton, then the white and finally the red on top. I thought they would turn out as these perfectly striped cupcakes and I was definitely wrong, but I think they turned out even cuter. They look almost tye-dyed.

I forgot to take a picture of the red layer before I cooked them, but here is what they looked like after they finished cooking!

Mmmm... I just want to "lick the screen" as Allison said about my squash :)

I took them to Matt and Allison's fourth of July fish fry and this is what I came home with... I guess they were a success!!

I didn't take many pictures while at Matt and Allison's, but I did break the camera out for my annual trip to the falls.

Wouldn't you love to have this in your back yard?!?

Jade really enjoys living on a farm. She loves to look for creatures, she found this little guy on this visit.

She searches high and low to find as many creatures to take back to the house... I think Matt and Allison enjoy that :) :)

Girls, girls everywhere!!

Simon came along for the ride too. I think he enjoyed the fact that it was so cool!

Blaire, Aston, and Ethan talking and playing in the water (which is VERY cold might I add)!!

More GIRLS!

Allison and our cousin Cora, she is one of the sweetest girls (along with her sister Jasmine) in the world. She will come love on you anytime!

A group picture of the kids that went on this trip to the falls. Have you ever seen so many girls?!? This was not even all of the girls that came! Poor Ethan is just way outnumbered, although he will probably like the odds later on...

There was a great turn out for the fish fry and the weather was actually bearable (especially compared to the past few years!) It is fun to see kids that don't see each other very often get together and pick right back up where they left off. I can remember going to these as a kid and those memories are definitely all good ones!! I am looking forward to next year with all of the new babies that will be around!

RC Cola & Moon Pie Festival

In June Chris and two of his friends ran in the RC Cola & Moon Pie 10 Mile race. This is one of the most difficult 10 mile courses on top of it being at the end of June when it is a million degrees outside!!

The race started at 7:00 a.m. so I had to get up bright and early to get there in time to take pictures. This is Chris's friend Brent crossing the finish line. His friend David had already passed at this point, but I didn't have the camera on yet so I missed him :(



Here is Chris finishing a little after Brent. He, like everyone else, was just drenched in sweat!

After all the runners (and walkers :) ) get done they get all the RC, Moon Pies, fruit, water, breakfast foods they want. It always seems so weird to see all these healthy people chowing down on RC and Moon Pies!

Last year I walked around the festival and yard sales (where I got an awesome old highchair for $10!) for a little while after the race was over, but this year I decided it was just too HOT!! When I got back to the car, a little before 11, it was already 88 degrees and very humid!

Even though it is always so hot, I always look forward to going to the RC Cola & Moon Pie Festival and Race!!!

Mmmmm... Squash!

One of the thing I love most about summer is fried squash! Friday Allison brought me some from Kathey and John David's garden. I finally had time tonight to fry it up... Here's the result:

Of course by the time I got done frying it all, Chris and I had eaten about half. I also made some chicken and green beans, because what's a meal without a meat (according to Jade at least!). And I wasn't really hungry for dinner anymore!!

The only down side to fried squash is the clean up; the after:

Luckily I have a great husband who usually does the dishes, especially if I cook! I am definitely looking forward to many more meals of fried squash this summer!