My Turn Day

Those of you who listen to Kidd Kraddick in the Morning might have already heard about this, but for those of you who don't, I'd like to pass the message along. There are countless times in my life where I've wanted to do more. I've thought about how lucky I am in my life, and how I'd like to do something to give back. So, Kidd Kraddick has inspired me. February 10 is "My Turn Day." It's the day to announce to the world via Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, whatever, what you'll be doing to help out the world. It doesn't have to be something huge, just showing that you care. Who knows, maybe someone will see your status and it will inspire them to do something for their community. So, that's my plan, and I'd like to invite all of you to join me in celebrating "My Turn Day" this year. For more information you can go to myturnday.com. So far I've thrown around ideas about volunteering at the local library or offering to be a Big Sister. John had the idea to house an exchange student, but I didn't feel like that would be very fair to be housed in a house with a newborn baby. So, until then, you'll just have to wait patiently for February 10 to see what I decide on.

I've got my next appointment tomorrow morning. I keep wanting to just ask the doctor to do the ultrasound tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to see the sex. I know my close friend found out that she was having a boy at 17 weeks. I guess I'll just have to wait though...sigh.

John did the sweetest thing today. He was at the Moppet Shoppe today, working on their computers. It's a kind of ritzy store with lots of super cute (and kind of pricey) baby clothes. There was a table there with items marked down 75%, and John saw these white elephants. He decided that he wanted to be the one to get our baby's first stuffed animal. It's so incredibly soft, and I was shocked at how big it is. It just made my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. This weekend I'm going to work on getting the baby's nursery all cleaned out. It's not that we have a lot to put in it, I just want to be able to start decorating as soon as we find out the sex!

Abs of steel

So, here are just a few things I've noticed lately. First, my belly is SO HARD now. It's crazy. I made John feel my rock hard abs, and he agrees. It's weird, but I think it's because I've "popped." Looking at the picture, it doesn't really do me justice. I still feel like I'm not showing very much. My mom thinks that's part of the reason I'm able to feel kicks already because the baby's just hanging out in my internal organs instead of protruding very much. That brings me to my second thing I've noticed, I now refer to my stomach as a my belly. I'm not exactly sure when the vocabulary change happened, but it's just a little quirk I've noticed.

The girls at work say I'm showing now, and there's been a couple of requests for more recent pictures, so we went ahead and took a picture before the 5th. Here I am on January 24th at 16 weeks, 6 days.

I feel like it looks just like me pre-pregnancy, just trying to stick my stomach out more. I am wearing my maternity jeans in this picture. Woo hoo for maternity pants!

I've got a doctor's appointment this Thursday. I wish we were finding out the sex, but that'll be the next appointment. We have started moving more stuff out of the nursery. I'm in the process of going through our filing cabinet, just trying to get some of the old junk paperwork out of there. John has moved the bookshelf out of the guest room, and has moved most of the bookshelf from the office into the guest room. We were able to sell John's old TV to one of my co-workers (Thanks Adriana!), so we're slowly making more and more room. As soon as we find out the sex I think we'll definitely be moving stuff so we can get to work on decorating the nursery. Here's some links to some of the bedding I've found that I really like. We're still thinking Texas A&M for a boy, and pink and brown for a girl.

http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?DeptID=62438&CatID=62731&GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=157e78a&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=62438%7c62644%7c62645&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=25&CmCatId=62438626446264562731

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3388294

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3073533

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3386328

http://www.familybedding.com/shop.php?showProducts=true&categoryID=140&groupID=3098

OK, I'm off to watch John take his Biology test. Hope everyone has a good week!

Taylor Swift: the next Juliet.

Ok, are Michelle and I the only ones in the world who think Taylor Swift's song, "Love Story", is the most ridiculous and moronic song in the world? Seriously, you should take a look at the lyrics...none of it makes since. Basically, she likes a guy, he likes her, but her dad doesn't like the guy...so, of course the first place I would jump to would be to compare this "love" to the story of "Romeo and Juliet". There's more to it than that. At the end of the song, her dad finally approves, and gives his blessing for Romeo to propose to Juliet. That's not really the way I remember Romeo and Juliet ending. I read some posts and heard people say things like, "it's just a song, don't take it so seriously." Or, "if Romeo and Juliet would have had a happy ending, this song would be it." Ok, I can get that. She was playing up to a bunch of young girls to sell her albums, I get it. What I don't like about it is the way she is using "Romeo and Juliet" to sell her albums. You want to play up to young love, and write corny songs to sell albums, cool. Write another "Our Song". The teenage girls will eat it up. Don't leech off of a masterpiece like "Romeo and Juliet" just to make a buck. It's sickening. And if the whole, "Romeo and Juliet" comparison doesn't get you, let's make an obscure reference to another great work of literature. In the lyrics, at one point Juliet calls herself the Scarlet Letter. Seriously, no lie. She basically just called herself an adulterous woman, who is punished by the Puritan church. Yeah, that fits in really well with the song. Even if you tried to take a high road, and try to justify the Scarlet Letter reference by saying she was using it for some off limits, repentance, outcast type purpose, it just doesn't make since. There was no point in adding that reference except for pure dollar signs. I will the entire lyrics here so you can judge for yourself how completely empty, and worthless this song really is.

We were both young when I first saw you.
I close my eyes and the flashback starts:
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air.
See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.
See you make your way through the crowdand say hello;
Little did I knowThat you were Romeo; you were throwing pebbles,
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet."
And I was crying on the staircase,begging you, 'Please, don't go.'
And I said,"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'
So I sneak out to the garden to see you.
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew.
So close your eyes; escape this town for a little while.'
Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,
And my daddy said "Stay away from Juliet,"
But you were everything to me; I was begging you, 'Please, don't go,'
And I said,"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'
Romeo save me; they're tryin' to tell me how to feel.
This love is difficult, but it's real.
Don't be afraid; we'll make it out of this mess.
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'
Oh.I got tired of waiting,Wondering if you were ever comin' around.
My faith in you was fadingWhen I met you on the outskirts of town.
And I said,"Romeo save me - I've been feeling so alone.
I keep waiting for you but you never come.
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think-"
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said,
"Marry me, Juliet. you'll never have to be alone.
I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress;
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'
Oh, oh.We were both young when I first saw you...

Ridiculous

Rant Off

What was that?

Phew, after a crazy weekend, I'm back in the swing of things. I drove to John's grand-parents' house on Saturday morning, after picking up his cousin along the way. Elizabeth's shower was a lot of fun, and I think she got all TON of the stuff she wanted off of her registry. We had to leave straight from the shower to go to Tess's house, for the bachelorette festivities. We went to Olive Garden for dinner, and then back to Tess's house for games and gifts and lots of laughs. I stayed up all the way to 2:30 a.m., and I'm not really sure how I made it. I was glad to have Rachel in the car with me on the way home to keep me awake.

Monday morning, I picked up Mimi for a little bit of shopping...for me. Mimi was ready to hit every shop within a mile radius of Youree Drive. For those of you not from around here, that's probably a half a million or so. :-) In all seriousness though, we both had such a good time. It was nice to spend time with her. It seems like, even though John and I live in Bossier now, it's almost as if we see my family even less. I hit DSW, of course, and was able to get shoes for Elizabeth's wedding and two pairs of flats. I spent too much money, but there's no way I could go much longer in heals all day long.

John started school on Friday, and he's already staying incredibly busy with it. I think he's done with all of his assignments for the month of January, which is pretty impressive because he's taking fifteen hours this semester. It's definitely a full load, but he wanted to make this his tough semester, since from now on he's going to have a lot more on his plate. I'm just so proud of him. If he stays on track, he'll be able to get his Associate's by May of 2010.

My friend from work, Audra gave us an umbrella stroller and a pack and play today. It turns out her aunt had flown down here for the holidays a few years ago, and bought the stroller and pack and play for the visit. She hasn't used it since, and Audra's grand-mother just wanted them out of her house. So, woo hoo for us!

The most exciting thing, I'm starting to feel the baby move. At first, I really wasn't sure, but last night after laying down in bed I could definitely feel it. As soon as I would change positions, I could feel it again. Then, driving home from the grocery store it felt almost as if my stomach just moved on it's own. So cool! I can't wait to feel the stronger movements.

OK, John's taking the bookshelf apart, and I can hear struggling, so I better at least get in there and supervise.

Enjoying the second trimester

Today makes 15 weeks and 3 days. Life has definitely been better the past few weeks, and I'm sure John would agree with that. The barely-eating, walking zombie he has been sharing his house with is finally gone, and he has his wonderful wife back! Thankfully, my energy has returned, for the most part. I'm getting a lot more done around the house, and I know that John loves actually having me cook meat again. Poor thing, his office Christmas party was actually the week after Christmas at Superior Steakhouse, a really yummy restaurant in Shreveport. They had a selected menu that we could choose from, and knowing that I wouldn't finish whatever I got, I went ahead and ordered something I knew John could enjoy the next day, a big ole steak. It tasted great, but I was right about bringing most of it home for John to finish. As we were leaving the restaurant that night, he turned to me and said, "Does this mean we get to eat meat again"? Poor thing, I've been denying him his favorite spot out of the food pyramid. So, he's happy to have things almost completely back to normal.

We've slightly started getting the baby's room ready. We know that before we can do anything, we have to do something with all the office furniture, which includes a huge desk and a massive bookcase. Thankfully, John's mom gave him a smaller desk that can fit in the corner of our guest room, and John put that together this past weekend. So, the computer is moved and set up in there. Now, we just have to get rid of some stuff so we can fit the bookcase in there too. I can't wait until the room is cleared out, and ready to be painted and have baby furniture moved in.

Oh, I forgot that I wanted to mention something to add to my "happy list." For those that don't know, I used to keep a written list of things that made me happy or smile just by reading it. I've since just written about it in blogs. So, here's my newest "happy list" entry. So, every few weekends I've been going into work, for a couple of reasons. First, I've got a huge backlog already, so I'm trying to work that down. Second, I'm building up comp time for maternity leave. I've gone in a few weekends, and every time I go, one of the girls from work, Audra, goes up there for a few hours. Well, every morning when she gets there, she's brought me a hot chocolate. I think that's just the sweetest, most thoughtful thing, so it's getting added to the happy list.

As always, I'm staying busy. John's sister, Elizabeth, has her bridal shower on Saturday and her bachelorette party Saturday night. So, I'll be back home on Sunday. Monday is a holiday, so I asked Mimi if she'd want to go to DSW with me that morning. She sounded so excited about it, and I'm definitely excited to be spending my gift cards from Christmas. I'm sure there's some stores over on that part of time that she'd like to go to, and I know that she and Paw-paw rarely get a chance to get over there.

Things to look forward to in the upcoming weeks: I'm hoping to start feeling some flutters and kicks sometime soon. I know it's still a little early, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I've got another Doppler appointment on the 29th. Then, a couple of weeks later, we'll go back to get our second ultrasound, and hopefully, find out the sex.

Only because you can actually see a difference!

When John got home last night, I made him take my monthly picture. I decided to go ahead and post all three of them so everyone can see the progression...mostly in hair growth, but there's a little baby bump now.

Here's the first picture, taken on November 5, 2008. I'm 5 weeks 3 days along.


Here's the picture taken on December 5, 2008 (you can see my Christmas mantle display behind me). I was 9 weeks 5 days. There might be a little more there, but I can't tell if it's just because of the angle I'm standing at.

Finally, here's me on January 5, 2009 at 14 weeks 1 day. I definitely think there's more of a bump there...and my hair's still getting longer. :-) I can't wait to see how I change in the next month. Maybe by then I'll actually look pregnant instead of a woman who had too much too eat.

Welcome to 2009!

Happy New Year everybody! Things have been moving and grooving in our household, and I just thought I’d post another blog to help everybody get up to date.

Sometimes, I just love where I work. Tuesday, the office closed at noon. So, that was two weeks in a row that we work a day and half work-weeks. What a sweet deal! I had to go grocery shopping before cooking New Years dinner, and I was already wiped out. So, it was so nice to be able to get off work early to get that done because I CRASHED when I got home. I just could not keep my eyes open. I thought I was supposed to be getting energy back at the end of the first trimester.

I had a doctor’s appointment New Years’ Eve morning. Of course, they weighed me at the start, and my weight was six pounds less than the last time, putting me at a pound less than before I was pregnant. I blame my boots though. I was wearing Doc Martin boots at my last appointment, and that tacked on four pounds more than the last time. So, when I was weighed this time, in tennis shoes, it was six pounds less. I guess that food aversion was taking a greater toll on me than I realized. I’m sure I’ll make up the weight soon enough though. It was just a quick appointment, but it was my first time doing the Doppler. For those who haven’t experienced it, it is so surreal. It took a little bit of time for the doctor to find the heartbeat, but just as soon as he found it, the little bugger swam away. I think this baby is going to be quite the little active tyke. First, at the ultrasound, we saw so much leg and arm movement. Then, at the appointment, the squirt was almost all the way up to my bellybutton. The doctor was a little shocked at that, saying that was unusual that the baby would be up that high. My next appointment is at the end of January. John won’t be going on this appointment either, but I asked my mom if she’d like to, and she jumped at the chance. It’ll just be another Doppler appointment, but I thought Mom would like the chance to get to hear the heartbeat. Then, two weeks later we’ll get an ultrasound to tell us the sex. John and I are both so excited about that one!

Our friends from Bryan, Texas, Jessie, Amy, and their son McKade arrived in town that evening (along with their two pups). We ordered pizza for dinner before going to a New Years’ party just up the road from my parents’ house. I was shocked that I was able to make it to midnight, but I figured if the 5 year-old could, so could I. Amy is about 2.5 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, and I am so jealous. She’s already feeling kicks and she’s definitely showing. Plus, she gets to find out the sex in less than a week…lucky!

I was happy to be hosting New Years dinner at my house. This is the first time we’ve ever hosted any holiday event at our residence, much less our own house. Mom made the ham, thank goodness. Amy and I made the black-eyed peas (for luck), cabbage (for money), and yummy Mexican cornbread (because it’s soooo good). Then, we had Mom’s Ooey Gooey Butter Cake for dessert. After lunch, the guys watched football, while the rest of us played a few games, one of my favorite holiday activities.

Friday, John had to work, and Amy had arranged for Jessie to watch McKade all day while we had a girls’ day. That was probably the best part of their visit. We started off shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, so I could spend some gift cards. Then, we headed down to the Boardwalk, where we had lunch at Saltgrass. I’m having less and less food aversions, so I actually got a salad with chicken on it…a big step for me. Afterwards, we headed to the theatre to watch Marley & Me. We had both recently finished the book, and we knew what we were in for with the movie. I don’t want to spoil the book/movie for anybody, but it’s definitely emotional. Great choice for two pregnant ladies. J

By the time the Casas family left, we were all wiped (including them). Poor Lexi, though. Usually, she has to have either John or I in her sites at all time. The past couple of days, though, Lexi could not get enough rest. Last night, John was in the office, and I was watching TV in the living room, when I realized I hadn’t seen Lexi for a while. When I finally found her, she was curled up on the bed. She picked her head up when I walked in though, so that’s why she’s looking at me for the picture.


Also, I’ve been photographing myself throughout the pregnancy, every month on the fifth. The first two pictures don’t really show anything, but I’m hoping something for tonight’s picture. I just have to wait for John to get home to take it. Maybe I’ll post it tomorrow, if there’s any change.