It's a...

BOY!! For those of you who didn’t get the email announcement, we are thrilled. He is healthy and has all his parts and everything is growing in proper proportion. He measured a little small for my original estimated due date, so the tech said it may be a little later then we thought, maybe 5 days. I say, he’s waiting until October I just know it! I’ve thought that the whole time though.

I’m a little sad to say goodbye to my fun game. No more speculating whether each little symptom means it’s a boy or a girl! Andy is relived it’s over, he hated that game! And there is no mistaking this boy. He was not shy about showing off his parts, and there is no mistaking those parts! They were out there! I have a pic of the sono pic for you to see.

In fact, I have a ton of pics today from pappy Goin’s birthday party and new belly pic and that’s it. Today will be a lot less reading!

We are moving in two days – that came fast huh? We fell in love with Sanger after Pappy’s party and found a complex there thanks to brother TC and were approved immediately. It will be a bit of a tight month here as we pay double rent, but thanks to my mother (thanks again momma!) we will be fine and so happy to be out of our little ghetto apartment. No more fires, bullets or car crashes. Hopefully!

Now for the pics!! Remember to click the pic to make it bigger.

Here's me as we arrive to the lake camping ground.

Here's everyone as we come through the bush. Hi everyone!

Judy posing, Janey's back and Lisa sitting down. Judy and Janey are the youngest of the Goin kids, Lisa married Dan Goin. He's here somewhere.

Andy with his Pappy, the reason for the party.

Couple of shots of Rowdy, Pappy's dog.

Janey working on the homemade ice cream. This family know how to party!

Pappy's cake. It sure was rough to get those candles lit in the breeze.

Some frisbee playing!

Little Josh fell asleep after a hard day swimming in the lake with his aunt.

Me and Lorna (soon to be Grandmother Lorna!) chatting before we go on a walk through the grounds. Little action shot for ya!

Close up on the ice cream. They made vanilla and banana which was just the vanilla with fresh bananas. YUM!

Some of Pappy's friends and other family joined the festivities.

Lorna and I are posing for this shot.

Here's a 22 week shot. Now that I have a new due date I may not be as far as I am saying, but I can't change it now. I may just get up to week 42 instead of just 40!

Here's a cute side shot with hand size ratio comparison.

Baby's profile. Little Andy looks like he has a big head! Yay, what a relief!

Here you can clearly see he is a boy. To the upper left is the side of his head I think. But mostly this is between his legs. One leg is bent across the top and other is going straight back so you can only see a circle of it. The thing in the middle, is not a leg! And don't tell Little Andy I showed you all these please! ;)

And of course our first baby, Tyler. He's right next to me right now as a matter of fact. Oh Tyler, you have no idea of what's to come!!

Coming in next week's edition... Pics of the new apartment!! We can't wait. We'll be out of the city. This town is only about 3 blocks big and so cute! We'll try and take pics of that too.

Apartment Drama

Now this has been an incredible week! My belly is not only getting bigger but FEELING bigger. Like now it gets in the way when I bend and things! Only halfway there, so much more growing to do!

But not only that, we’ve had some major apartment drama this week. It started Wednesday night when I couldn’t get to sleep. I’d been reading a book for a week or so and was right at the end so I had to stay up to finish it. It was almost 4 in the morning by the time I was done, and I was so tired I could barely lean over to turn off my lamp. That is of course until I laid down to sleep. Then my asthmatic type allergies kicked in. It starts like such a small feeling of tickling or wheezing that it almost tricks me in to thinking it’ll go away. But it doesn’t and this time it surely wouldn’t. I got up after progressing into a chocking cough for a second and Andy beseeched me to use my inhaler. Now usually after one inhaler puff, my chest opens and I can cough the bugger out. Not this time. It wouldn’t open. I just kept coughing. I stayed in the bathroom and tried to get it out but had to use the inhaler again. It is a two puff dose but I can usually get by with just one. I tried to go back to bed but just couldn’t get my nose to open and my wheezing to end. I got back up and decided to make some hot tea. Sometimes hot liquids clear me up. No such luck this time either. It helped while I drank it but as soon as it was gone, the cough returned. And now it felt more like an itch in my throat that wouldn’t stop and made it hard to breathe through my nose if I could clear a nostril and impossible to breathe through my mouth.

I used the inhaler again. I think I tried to lie in bed one more time before deciding this was just unfair to Andy. He’d had a hard enough time getting to sleep. His cat was trying to get his attention by talking to him and the cats outside were fighting and I was coughing. I thought it’d be best if I just stayed in the computer room.

Finally, I felt I was sleepy enough and could breathe through my nose enough, so I surrounded myself with pillows on our futon couch. I think I fell asleep for a half hour or so before I woke up sneezing. It’s a funny sensation to wake up to your body doing something. Got past the sneezing and I fell asleep one more time, this time for almost an hour. Then Andy woke up and realized I wasn’t in bed and got worried. He found me and woke me up asking me to return to the bed. He said he’d rather be woken by my coughs than have me sleep in the other room! What a sweetie!

So, almost 8 in the morning, I’d had an hour of sleep, was finally going to bed and feeling like maybe the sleep might continue. I hate sleeping all day long but I knew I’d need it after that night and settled in to get some deserved rest.

That is until 930 in the morning when the doorbell rang. Our doorbell rings in the evening a lot with vendors coming to the door to push their cakes or doughnuts or tamales, all homemade, but we’d never had a visitor this early. Any of our friends knew we’d be asleep even if we hadn’t been up most of the night. Andy got out of bed to look out the window and see if he could tell is it was worth getting dressed for.

Next thing I know he’s yelling, “Baby get up, get dressed, it’s the fire department, we need to get out side. Come on, baby get up.” I was trying to pull myself out of a deep sleep and comprehend what was going on. Had I left a burner on last night from my tea? Was our apartment on fire? Were they doing some early morning inspection?

I pulled on Andy’s robe, still had a Breathe Right strip across my nose and ran to the door where about 4-5 fully geared up firemen were pushing past me to get in and asking if we were alright. Andy led them up the stairs to look around. I still had no idea what was going on, and it was so bright outside to my sleepy eyes. As my focus cleared, I looked around; I could see a lot of fire trucks, maybe 3. There was a woman from the apartment office standing outside and all the neighbors home during that time of the day had come outside to see. And here I was a mess, less than two hours rest, Breathe Right strip, husband’s robe, squinting in the sun and quite confused.

I looked back in to our apartment and saw smoke filling the downstairs. The firemen were returning from their upstairs inspection and heading in to the kitchen. I followed them to be sure I had not made a huge mistake and caught our kitchen on fire. I hadn’t. Phwew. But there was smoke in there coming from somewhere. The firemen had a big gun looking machine and were checking heat or smoke or some kind of levels and opening the cabinets on our wall that butted up to our next door neighbor’s kitchen, a complete mirror image of ours. They were opening up windows and doors and brought a giant fan to the front door to blow the smoke through. The cats thankfully were smart enough to be freaked out and stayed up stairs. Raven tried to come see what was up once but rapidly realized that was a mistake and streaked back up to safety.

We finally found out that our neighbors had indeed caught fire to their kitchen. Fortunately none of them were hurt; they have a large family with a small baby and a pregnant woman. The smoke had made it over to our kitchen but the flames had been caught in time. Firemen took their axes into the apartment next door to bust through walls and make sure they got the flames fully extinguished. Glad that didn’t get through our wall either!

Once the smoke cleared – so to speak – and the firemen started to leave, we had to try and air out our smoky apartment. After a night of not breathing well, smoke inhalation was the last thing I needed! It smelled like it was coming out of the AC! And of course this was to be a record setting hot day. We ran the AC on fan and opened all the windows we could, turned all fans on high to air the place out. Fortunately our bedroom is well shaded by a tree and we could take a nap for a short while before the real heat of the day and the dramatic feelings from the morning really settled in.

Must have slept maybe 4 hours before I woke up so hot I couldn’t take it. I gave up on napping for the day and decided to have a day as tired of one as it may have been.

I am still a bit shaken by the whole experience. The fact that we have no control over what the people sharing a wall with us are doing is really becoming a scary thought to us. Suddenly we want to buy a house and not have to share any walls. Hopefully, someday soon.
We are extremely grateful to our wise decision to live so close to the fire department. Who knows how things would have gone had there not been a station right around the corner.

Ending to the story…
They got evicted. They had apparently jeopardized their appliances by covering something with foil. We both spoke very little of each other’s language so getting the story exactly straight was difficult. One lady asked us to read the notice she received from the office manager because it was in English. It was a Notice to Vacate. She said they couldn’t pay the $5000 the repairs would cost and she didn’t think they should have to, so they were asked to leave. I think they finished moving out yesterday.

We now have no neighbors on either side. Our other neighbors left a few weeks ago. They are still paying on their lease for two more months so no one will be moving in there. Now this other apartment will need a lot of repairs before anyone else can move in there. We will be without neighbors next to us for the last two months we live here! If we stay that long, that is. We are hoping to find a move in special with a first month free or discounted wherever we go, so we can pay July here and not actually have to stay through all of July. I have quite enjoyed our experiences living here but we are both quite ready for them to come to an end.

We want out of this city and somewhere closer to our families. There is no reason for us to stay in Addison or even north Dallas, and so we won’t. Now I need to call Medicaid next week and find out what will happen to our coverage if we move out of Dallas County. I’m a little nervous.

A fun point of this week has been Andy’s hair styles! He had decided instead of continuing to grow it he would go back to the old shaved head that he likes so much especially in summer. But of course as a boy it is much more fun to play with styles before hand. I tried to get him to pose for pictures but he doesn’t always cooperate. These are mostly in the bathroom right before he changed it again. There are some more fun pics to follow. *Remember you can click ont he pics to see the full size.*
Here's Andy's military man cut. We essentially just cut up the sides and tried to make it "high and tight." It was amatuerish at best but looks so cute. I've never seen his hair like this in the 7 years we've been together, and I've seen him through a lot of styles and colors! He considered keeping it this way for a while and actually seeing barber to get it professionalized. But of course he changed his mind!






Always Mr. Serious! He loves to make faces for cameras. Good thing too, his pics aren't as boring as mine!








Here's the style that followed. This one lasted a lot less time but he made it through a day or two. It's his mini-mohawk! The last time he shaved his head, he'd had longer hair and made a mohawk too. Maybe I'm just biased and think he's a cutie no matter what, but I think he looks good like this. He doesn't like going out in public with it much though!



Here I am in one of my warm up suits for non-preggos with a tank top my mom got me for preggos. I remember on that shopping trip, she took me to a secondhand store to pick some maternity clothes, and I had been so turned off by all the horizontal stripes. I guess my years of fashion training had programmed me. Well, she said some women like to accentuate their big pregnant bellies and now I agree! I love the way it looks all squeezed into my old cotton clothes and new tight maternity shirts!





Look how big the belly looks once I put on the matching jacket! It won't even come down all the way! Can you believe I'm only 21 weeks here?? I feel like I look 6 months! How big am I going to get? I already can't see my feet!







This is the one day Andy went out in public with his mini-mohawk. We went to a friends house to hang out and have BBQ. This is right before we left our place. This is also prefire!

Told you he likes to make faces!




21 weeks and counting. Last I checked a few days ago, I had 128 days to go, but I'm not quite keeping that much track. Once I get down to 60 days left I may start tracking it more like that.
Oh, we are just so excited to have a baby! We saw the Goin family yesterday for Pappy's birthday and Andy's cousin Christie has a 7 month old boy named Keith and just watching her play with him was making me itch for ours! Andy and I didn't hold him though we wanted to because he doesn't know us well, and it was hot and he'd been camping all weekend and just wanted to be with mommy. But he sure is cute!

And it wouldn't be our Goin blog if we didn't have some kitty pics right? So here's Tyler sleeping on the futon couch, my new favorite napping spot. He gets upset when I move him around and wont' stay long. He likes having the whole thing to himself, don't you know!




I think the flash woke him! Tyler says "Thanks for reading the blog and checking out the pics everybody! Feel free to comment or send emails to the author! Meow."






We took pics of Pappy's birthday party so the next update will include some more Goins besides just us! And we also see the OB on Tuesday to schedule our next sonogram. It may even be later this week! So perhaps the next update will also include the sex of this little baby I carry. Keep your positive thoughts and prayers coming that it is still healthy and progressing nicely. And maybe that it won't be shy and will let mommy and daddy see what it is!

School's Out!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there and women who have been motherly! I can’t wait for next year to be in the club with you!

Things have been great this week. I got A’s in both of my classes! Phwew. What a relief. I was worrying that I wouldn’t pull it out in the microbiology, but I did it! My friends in class mostly did well also.

It’s such a great and scary feeling to know we are over halfway there to baby time. On one hand, I can’t wait to have it in my arms and start learning all about it and teaching it the ways of the world. On the other hand, this is such the end of a way of life we’ve had for so long, it is really scary to think of all the changes coming down the line. It’s just so nice to be able to both be working from home, and really accomplishing things and making money. It’s almost surreal. But this way I know we can be together as a family and both be consistent contributors to the baby’s growth and development. This was very important to us when we decided we wanted to have kids. Andy could just as easily go back out to the workforce and get a very high paying tech job and we could have all brand new cars and a big house, but I don’t want any of that! I know it’s hard for most people we know to understand that way of thinking, but that’s just what is important to us. We love each other and our future family and want to enjoy the short time we have here in this plane with each other as much as possible! I feel so lucky!

I think my biggest fear for having this baby right now, is the sleep thing. I love to sleep, and I’ve been trying to do as much of it as I can while I still can. It’s already starting to get hard to stay comfortable, could be all the cats on us too! But I know the third trimester will be REALLY hard to get comfortable. Yet another reason I am fortunate enough to run my own schedule. I’ll be able to sleep whenever I can for as long or as short as the baby allows, then when I am up I can work on getting things ready and our sites! But after the baby comes, I know I still have my own schedule for working, I just also know I’ll have so much more work to do for the baby too! I want to cloth diaper, I think it’s worth the extra effort for the money and the trash we’ll save. But I am completely aware of the extra work involved. I also want to make my own baby food when it gets to that point. Another great money saver (and health option) that will take a little extra time. Plus we’ll be victims of this baby’s schedule for at least a few months, probably longer, and if what I am feeling is kicking and baby movements, it’s got a schedule that will be hard for me to keep!
Like this morning, I woke up and couldn’t’ breath so I had to get up and get my inhaler. Well, then after I use it I have to cough out all the junk (which leads me to another fear all together about waking the baby with my allergies!), but when I got back in bed, I sat up for a minute feeling some acrobatics taking place. Not sure if I woke the little one or if it would’ve woken anyway! Now again, I don’t feel completely confident that it’s baby not gas, but when I feel the pushing out of my belly with my hand from the outside, I know that can’t be gas! Plus I think I’ve figured out how to tell where in there the little one is hiding, it’s the harder area of my belly. Everywhere will feel pretty squishy except one spot which is rock hard. Pretty cool. I’ll ask the nurses about it when we see the doc in a few weeks. By then, maybe I’ll really be feeling it!

We’re very excited about the next doctor visit because we’ll be setting up our next U/S appointment then too! Once we know the sex, it’ll make the planning so much easier! I don’t know how people survived without finding out the sex for so long! My mom didn’t know what I was till I was born. I can’t even focus on names or think about registering. I have a friend who never found out hers and she loved it. Good for her I say! I want to know darnit! And the closer I get to maybe finding out, the more and more I want to know. Of course, I still play the, “that means it’s a boy – that means it’s a girl” game. Like yesterday, we used our last gift card to Olive Garden from my mom and I couldn’t get enough of the soury salad dressing, that’s means it’s a boy! Then last night I wanted dessert and syrup and sweets, well that means it’s a girl! I want both!

Getting ready to move. Still no place to go yet, but it’s a little early for that. I just want to take my time with the packing and sorting of our junk so I’m not trying to squeeze it all into a week or so. Last time we moved I got us completely packed in about a week or two while still taking three classes and being at the end of the semester. I took a leave of absence from my job to do it, but I sure wasn’t pregnant, so it wasn’t that bad! This time I need to leave as much time as I can. I’ve gotten two things crossed off on my list and another halfway done – making progress!

Here’s my latest belly shots. That’s all I’ve got for this week, sorry. I just didn’t catch any good pics of Andy this week. I never remembered to take the cam with us when I wanted to. I’ll try and be better next week!

This is the end of week 19. Looks bigger I think from the cam angle. But people are starting to notice!

Here's 20 weeks. Actually this is this morning! The different cam angles make it hard to tell if I'm bigger, but it's funny, for some reason I feel like I haven't gotten any bigger this week. Not for lack of trying! We don't have a scale so I don't weight myself, I'll just wait for the OB visit to see what I've gained.

And just two cuddly brothers on the couch! Raven is on the left spooning his little brother Thunder. At night Thunder usually sleeps at my feet while he waits for his daddy to wake up and pay attention to him, while Raven sleeps on my left by the edge of the bed waiting for me to get up and feed him, or he'll sleep on Andy's pillow as long as Andy allows. Don't ask where we sleep, we haven't found a spot yet!

Halfway There!

Well, I’m at 20 weeks today according to the last U/S measurement and that means halfway there for the average 40 week pregnancy! Such an exciting time! Real growth should be happening from here on out.

I think the baby is a nocturnal. Either that or my gas is worse at night! ;) The only time I really think I feel it moving a lot is if I happen to be up around the 2 or 3 o’clock hour AM! Sometimes I think I feel little swishes at other times of the day but not like the middle of the night. Must be like its daddy!

I swear I felt a full fledged kick last Wednesday. 2 actually! Like little pokes pushing my belly out for a second two times in a row. I just happen to have my hand on my belly because I thought I was feeling inner swishes and then there it was. I’m still not for sure that’s what it was, but I haven’t been able to feel anything from the outside except that. I can’t wait for Andy to feel it. I read some pregnancy forums with women due the same month as me and their husbands are just staring to feel some kicks and they all say it’s so great for them. Like they really get to feel involved finally.

School’s finally done too, so this is a big day for me. I’m not going to worry about grades for the week. They should be posted by Friday and maybe sooner so I’ll check once a night until then and that’s all. It’s already hard to resist the urge! I have so much to do in the next few months to get ready to move and then after the move to nest for the new family member. I think it may take me a couple of days to recover completely from school, but I’m not going to give myself too hard of a time about needing an afternoon nap still.

Here’s a little info about the baby from one of the websites I read about weekly progress. There’s not too much to tell from here on out I guess, it seems to be all done building and now just baking and growing!

Lanugo forms from sebum and skin cells to create vernix. This creamy white
substance is believed to help protect the baby inutero. It will cling to the
lanugo and in the creases. This is also something that can be seen sometimes
after the birth. Rumor has it that nursery nurses use it for hand lotion,
because of its smooth, protect quality.
You may be aware of sleep wake
cycles in your little one. The weight is now up to 10 ounces (283 grams) and the
baby measures about 25 cms total length, about 9.8 inches.

Also this is the beginning of the sixth lunar month – measured by the moon and not by the calendar. If you think about it, 40 weeks divided by four weeks in a month equals 10 months, not 9. The only reason it works out to 9 calendar months is our weird 30 day, 31 day months. So most tracking is done by a lunar calendar. It’s probably one of the most confusing things to figure out when pregnant for the first time! I still may not have it right.

Things are well with us at the home front. Just going to be working and getting ready to move and trying to find a place we can afford. The next U/S is at the end of this month and hopefully we’ll get lucky and little one will show us the goods. If not, I still have the free 3D U/S that should show us. Then, time to start thinking of names!

Crazy LONG Week

PHWEW! What a week! I have so much to tell you I don’t even know where to begin.

First off, saw the internal med doc and he was awesome! What a great experience! And after the almost 2 hour wait for the OB two days prior where we had to wait outside the office because there were so many patients, it was a very nice surprise. Unfortunately, although he agreed it is probably allergies creating my breathing problems, he said it is not a good time to start allergy treatment. I had a feeling he’d say that. He said there are many great steroidal nasal sprays out there that would probably work really well for me, AFTER the baby is born. So until then he says as long as I have been using the Albuterol for so long and it’s been working, keep using it. So now that I have and can get a prescription for it from a regular doctor, I am more likely to use it when I need it immediately instead of waiting until the last possible second of chocking because I don’t want to run out, and I have been doing much better overall. Still on a daily usage that gets worse when it rains, which has been constantly lately. On the dry days though it seems to clear up a bit and I know there are plenty of those in the future, so I have that to look forward to!

It’s time to get a swim suit I think! I tried some maternity ones on and as usual I am too skinny! Big belly and chest, but that’s all I got. So I am going to go to Wal-Mart from a suggestion and get a cheap regular suit that’s just a little bigger than usual. If my growth patterns don’t change much and I get a good size, it could last all summer! I am ready for some swimming. Plus at the end of my nutrition class this week we have studied pregnancy nutrition and fitness and swimming and walking were the best forms of exercise for the preggos.

Speaking of classes, I am done with nutrition, took my last test this afternoon online, and the teacher already emailed me to congratulate me about my A! As much as I bitched all semester, it really was an interesting class. I will be keeping the text book for reference. It has some awesome info for early childhood!

Microbiology is almost done. Final is next Monday and that won’t be too hard. All the questions come directly from past tests, which we have access to. So about half the class got together and split up all the tests, copied them down and emailed them out to everyone participating. Now we just need to study/memorize those and we should all do fine. In the past week for this class, I have finished my Unknown Paper, where I was given a microorganism towards the beginning of the semester and I had to run a variety of tests to figure out what is was, (paper was 27 pages long!), presented to class with my lab group a model of a microorganism we had made and all about it, and took three tests, two lecture class tests and one lab test. What a week, I told you! My grades so far are awesome! I can’t believe it, I thought I was losing my mind, but something is still working, some kind of common sense. I got a 95.5 out of 100 on the paper, a 28 out of 30 on the lab test, and a 48 out of 50 on one lecture test. The other one I know I didn’t do well on, we had one day to study and it was super hard! But I’ve done well on all my other tests and she drops one, so that’s going to be the one! I don’t know when we get the grades for it though; we just took it this morning. We haven’t gotten our presentation grade yet, but she promised sometime tomorrow. I’m sure it’s good because I had an awesome group and we worked really hard to make sure we met all requirements. I could still pull off an A!

I can’t wait until Monday after 9am when it is all over though!

Plus my two lab mates this semester both got accepted to the nursing program for next fall! Very exciting! I couldn’t apply for obvious reasons; I won’t have time in September to start a full time nursing program! But I am so excited for them and they’ll be able to tell me all about it. Plus they get to do it together!

Andy and I have decided we need to focus on our own websites more than we have been. It’s hard to rely on outside clients and we have less control over that. He’s still trying to pick up a new client for some extra money, but it’s not the main focus. We are revamping some of the old sites that need attention and have great potential. They have fallen by the wayside with all the work he has done on other people’s sites. I am very excited about the future of our network of sites!

I started a new blog site too with videos only. Please check it out:
http://babyclips.blogspot.com

We have our next sonogram the second to the last week in May. Maybe then we’ll find out the sex. I have been trying so hard to get Andy used to the idea it might be a girl. You know how men are, they always think they want a son. But I show him examples all the time about how sweet and good little girls are and how immature and rowdy boys are. And how girls are so in love with their daddys! I may have done too good a job because now I think he wants a girl! I want both. I just want a child! I can’t wait. I know Andy does too. Whatever it is, it will be greatly loved and well taught and played with!

We also have an appointment for a 3D ultrasound and thanks to my mom and her friend Donna (one of her other “daughters”) from her small group at church, we are getting it for FREE! The place provides a service like the one we went to for our proof of pregnancy way back in the beginning, they try to prevent abortions. But they also have nurses or techs that are training to do the 3D procedure and need to get in practice time. I’ll be a practice time! I need to look up some more info on how it’s done. I had a nightmare that it was an invasive technique where they had to go inside. Nothing bad happened in my dream, but it scared me a lot. Also in the same dream, I dreamed it was a boy. He was lying back in there with his legs spread wide open showing his goods to all! Just like a boy! If it hides its goods during the U/S, we’ll see for sure on the 3D.
Now for the fun picture part!
I fell asleep on the futon a couple of weeks ago and my little girlie Sami slept with me, on and under my feet! I can't show you all the pics because I was in my panties on top of the covers, but she ended up under my feet! She's such a sweetie, what a moma's girl!




This is on our way for a walk last week. I need to keep in shape! I'm wearing one of Andy's T-shirts so it's harder to see the baby belly, but I had to show it off for the camera.









Here's week 17. I'm in week 19 now. Means next week is the half way point! I can't believe it, already! At first it seemed like it'd never come, but here we are, almost halfway to a baby!






Believe it or not this is the week after the last one. It almost looks smaller! Could be that I ate a little less gassy foods or something. Plus the cam angle is really different. Usually Andy is sitting down and I stand right in front of him, but here we are about to walk out the door. We fell asleep so early one night that he was up before 4 in the morning. And what is good about that? The donut shop on the corner opens at 5! And their donuts are the best! They take cash only and if you catch them first thing in the morning, the donuts are crisp and warm and delicious.
This is from yesterday. We are about to walk out the door. Just a few errands, groceries from Wal-mart and what not. You can't read the shirt but my mother-in-law gave it to me (future me-ma) and it says, "Coming This Fall." I think I really look pregnant here! Which I love!








And this is my favorite. Aren't we cute? You can see the storm coming in behind us, too and the tree looks so bright and green.

We are so excited to be starting this family of our own. We know there will be many changes to come. And they just keep coming! But we're really up for the challenge. I know I for one can't wait to have a baby and he can't wait to have a playmate! And we still can't get enough of each other. The love and respect is strong and will be a great example for any number of children.... maybe 6?

Update and Bonus Photos!

Last week I was so looking forward to my visit with the internist about my breathing and allergies. We had to drive halfway across north Dallas to get there and find out after much turmoil and stress that my doctor's office never sent the referral and they couldn't see me. After a continued struggle with the state help Medicaid, that we are blessed and grateful to have despite these inconveniences, I have learned that it won't be that complicated to see someone. I don't even need a referral.
Here, let me try and explain...
When you get Medicaid you don't just get "Medicaid" you have to select a Medicaid 'PLAN.' Now I was given a few booklets about these plans with lists of doctors to choose a Primary Care Physician (PCP) and little other information about the plans. I believe there were three. So when I called to select a PCP at the start of all this I wanted to use an OB since that was what I thought I'd be seeing the most of, but first I had to select a plan. I was rapidly explained the differences between these 'plans' and selected one called Parkland Health First because it seemed like it had the closest doctors, and I couldn't tell much difference. Now I know what I selected was an HMO, which is I suppose why all the jumping through hoops to see another type of doc outside my PCP. What happened last Thursday, as far as I understand, was that the doc that I made my appointment with was a PCP not a 'specialist' and therefore wouldn’t have even been able to see me with a referral, though they’d told me on the phone when I made the original appointment they could. See the PCPs can be Family Practice, Pediatrician, Internist or some other types. But NOT an OB. As a woman, I get to select an OB AND a PCP. But more on that in a sec. The doc from last Thursday couldn't see me because they weren't my PCP and Medicaid told me if I needed to see a specialist from a referral from my PCP that those were located in the BACK of my booklet. OF COURSE they are! I found the list of Internal Medicine Specialists and was quite displeased to see that it was no more than a list of names. Names with no numbers or addresses! Using my Google skills, I found some addresses and narrowed down the list of docs actually taking new patients to a handful that were not on the other side of downtown Dallas. I had to then call the Medicaid people, who btw were so busy they had to keep taking my number to call me back, so I could get these doctors phone numbers and then call the doc’s office for an appointment.
Still with me?
Then I call my OB, my PCP’s, office to give the lady that had been trying to help me, the doc’s name and phone number. She would then call Medicaid to request a referral for me. Then Medicaid approves it, and then my PCP’s office faxes it the doc, and then I get to go see my internist. No problem. I started at the top of the list of phone numbers. Fortunately, I thought, most of the doctors, minus 2, were all located at the same hospital. I thought that would make it real easy! The first office I called said that doc couldn’t see me because he was a gastro intestinal specialist and I’d need to see a pulmonary specialist. Well, I of course had none of this information so I’m calling blind on all of these. She was nice enough to patch me through to the main office so I could inquire about the other docs on my list or whether any of theirs met these requirements. The lovely young lady I spoke with kindly informed me with great assurance, because they had just had a meeting about it that morning, that I could not see ANY of the docs in their facility unless I was referred to them by my PCP and my she (this very modern woman kept referring to my doc as a ‘she’ which I thought was funny) was located in the hospital with which this facility is affiliated. Which of course HE isn’t. And in addition to that, their doc could only see me one time. So there goes most of my list of possibilities. Time to call on the last two, I suppose, and hope for the best! The second to the last phone call I made was met with that lovely recording that let me know I had reached number that was no longer in service. For shits and giggles I tried a different area code since we are drowning in them here in north Dallas, but got the same reply. So on to my last choice of doc that was within reasonable driving distance. Not only was the place I called not a doctor’s office or a hospital but an association of doctors of some kind, BUT the doctor I was calling about was no longer associated with them. Would you agree that Medicaid may need to update their info?
Are you still hanging on? Hold on tight!
I called back Medicaid and talked to yet another different but very friendly and helpful person. She was nice enough to explain to me after I broke down for her the situation I was in and the calls and trouble I was going through, that I didn’t need to be doing any of this really. All I had to do was go back to the front of the book and pick an Internal Medicine PCP, make an appointment with them, call Medicaid back and change that person to be my PCP. What about my OB I wondered. That’s when she told me that because I am a woman, I get both a PCP and an OB. My OB does not need to be my PCP. You see, as a woman, I am blessed to have many other complications to deal with than just one simple doctor can provide. Medicaid supplies an OB for one annual woman exam and all pregnancy and birthing related issues. When I started this gig I didn’t expect to be seeing anyone else, so I wanted my PCP to be my OB. But now that I know the situation, that seems to be a bad way to go. My new options are, find a new PCP that is an internist and tell my OB I don’t need the referral. Or I could even go through my over-priced own insurance that will double btw once we have the baby, and hope they cover a visit even though I am pregnant. I think I’ll try the twisty Curly-Q route that is Medicaid first. I tried calling the lady that’s been helping me in my OB’s office to let her know the situation first and where it stands but she left me on hold so long I had to hang up and go to class. I will start again tomorrow and let you know next week what happens.

Phwew, did you get all that?

Also, next week is out next OB appointment. I don’t know whether this one will have another U/S or not. I think I am only allowed 2 during the whole pregnancy on my HMO plan, and we’ve already had one, so I want to be sure the next one is during a time that we can for sure see the sex. That is of course if the little bugger cooperates and shows us its privates! I’ll only be at the beginning of my 18th week and if doc says it may not be clear till after 20 weeks, I’d rather wait. I have read on some of my pregnancy forums that girls are finding out as early as 17 weeks, but most of these ladies can also afford to get the super expensive private 3D U/S’s done. We can’t do that, and I don’t want to risk missing our only chance on our last sonogram! I do plan to drink some sugary juice and eat a few chocolates before the appointment just in case we can do it. I want to make sure the little one is awake and jumping, not sleeping and shy. Let’s see those privates baby! My big fear now is that it won’t show us what its packing, and we won’t be able to find out at all. But that would be a blessing in a way. The pressure would be off to find out the sex since we’d no there was no way, and it would sure make the phone calls much more fun after the big birthday! Either way, I’ll be happy; I am getting a little tired of playing the “that means it’s a boy – that means it’s a girl” game. Although I’ve done enough reading about wives tales at this point, I could almost write a book. In case you’re wondering where we stand, it’s about half and half! I even took a quiz online of old wives tales and got 52% girl and 48% boy. But some of the questions I am still a little early on to tell the answers to. Maybe I should take it again before the next appointment. I’ll let you know next week how all that goes.

Andy is my rock as usual. When I had the breakdown after the doctor’s appointment fiasco last week, I had been so excited to finally see someone about my allergies! He was the greatest comfort. Even just now tonight. Believe it or not, this is my second writing of this entry. I made the mistake of not writing in Word first and thinking I could just write it directly into the blog entry system. When I went to spell check, I lost everything expect the first two paragraphs. As you can see this is quite a bit of typing. And I had the pics all in and everything ready to go too! Well, Andy kept me from throwing the keyboard out the window and held me and even went and got me some apple juice from downstairs to calm me down! Then he talked me into retyping it all, and I’m glad he did!
We’re really just trying to focus on relaxing right now. There is a lot to get done and I know it will all get done, but once September hits, there will be little relaxing time left for quite a few years to come. We want to make the most of it and each other while we can!

School is finally almost over! It’s been a rough semester as the baby has slowly but surely stolen my brain. I have such a hard time thinking of words when I am talking and my memory is shot! Makes learning microbiology a bit tough for sure! I did take a test in nutrition this week and got the highest score I’ve gotten all semester. They’re all open book open notes, but they’re really long and still difficult tests. I’m hoping that this good grade will give me enough points for the semester to be exempt from the last test. I’m not sure yet, but even if it’s not, I’ve done well enough all semester that the pressure is off to do too well on the last test. Which will be good since I have about 4 tests in micro to take in these last 3 weeks of class. And that I can’t afford to take it easy with any of them. We had a test this week too, and I am pretty sure I passed, which is all most of us in the class can hope for. I could still finish with an A but I’ll be satisfied with a B because there is some extra credit and a couple more big projects to turn in. Keep your fingers crossed that I make it through this. It’ll mean once I start back in another district in a year, I won’t have to retake this class! I swear, if I was tested over the first 17 weeks of pregnancy and foods for pregnancy and stuff like that, I’d totally ace it since that seems to be what I am spending the majority of my time studying!
Here we have the biggest and the smallest of the bunch posing together. Big Tyler and Thunder, who got named for his booming voice. He thinks he can talk like we do, and he yells at Andy sometimes when they talk. It's so cute! He's such his daddy's boy that we have to feed him next to Andy's computer chair or he won't eat. Lately he's been snuggling up to me more than ever in the last 7 years I've known him, I wonder if that means it's a girl...? Tyler wouldn't look at the camera for this one, he was showing off his profile.
Here's the daddy-to-be cuddling with his Thunder in Thunder's favorite cuddle spot. I often find him sprwled out under daddy's hand with one paw stretched out. He tries to sleep with him at night like this but it's harder because me and Tyler are there too so he waits at my feet where there's more room and waits for Andy to wake up. I always say no kids will be sleeping in our bed because there's no room left, Tyler likes to sleep right netween us!




16 week belly. This is last weeks. I don't feel like I am getting much bigger. I am ready for it! I am ready for strangers to touch my belly and to feel this little one do some kicking! I think I felt it move the other night but I'm not sure. I haven't felt the same thing since. It was a different kind of movement than gassy-ness, and believe me, I know what that feels like for sure!






The three little piggies in a row! Beggars waiting right outside the door while we eat hoping to be invited in for some treats. The funny thing is, they don't eat people food, they just want to have their faces in whatever we're eating! From left to right we have the baby, my girlie Sammi, Big Tyler, and Raven, the loudest of the bunch. Raven almost never shuts up. He'll talk just when he's getting up to go downstairs. And forget about it if he can see the bottom of his food bowl, no one's ears get a break!



That's all I got for now. Hope you made it this far! Please feel free to comment, but remember our families read this so be good. ;)

Finally Picture Time!

Well, here's the few pics we had on the cam from last week. Unfortunately, there aren't any of Andy this time! I'll be sure to catch him this week! ;)
This is one of my favorite Tyler poses. I took this one night when I couldn't sleep and I had gotten back up to hang out online and try to get sleepy. I turned around and there he is all posed like a sweetie with a belly up just begging for a rub. And for a picture! He's such a sweet kitty.







This is me in my new outfit Andy got me to make me feel better. I plan on wearing it to school tomorrow!Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten how to smile in pictures, so I just end up making these goofy faces. And I know our place looks a little messy in the background, but we've redocorated since then and it seems to have helped. It just always seems to be so hard to find places for stuff! I'm sure having kids will only make that better and easier right?










Here's me and a few of the babies on our futon couch. As you can see I am not only surrounded by cats but also pillows. It is becoming a necessity to have a ton of pillows surrounding my body to hold me in a comfortable position. With the bigger belly and stuffy nose and inability to lie on my back, it's tough to get a position on one's own!
I do love having a home where there's always a kitty ready for some petting and loving!






And here's my latest belly pic! I think I am really starting to look pregnant! This is towards the beginning of week 15, and I am already bigger now than I was then! We'll take another pic this week. We may try to take more than one a week as we get farther along and I grow faster. I am keeping a folder of pics of my belly all facing the same direction so when it's all over and we have our little one, we can look back at all the pics in a row and see the changes!




Well, that's all the pics I got for now folks. I am seeing an internist this week at my OB's request to check out my allergies and breathing problems. I don't know that there's much they can do for me now, since I can't take most meds, but I am excited to talk to someone about it finally.
We go back to the OB on the 25th, so hopefully then we'll find out when the sex will be determinable. I am not feeling any movement yet, but I hear that the first takes longer to feel. I can't wait though, that will be quite amazing!

Finally saw the doctor last week!

And we liked him a lot! He’s not the perfect doctor, but is there one? A little preachy maybe but we don’t mind. Dr Anthony agrees with us on our views of c-sections, and he says he’d rather wait, knowing because of years of experience that labor can take quite a long time. This was a great relief to hear. I have been stressing a little about a doctor who doesn’t feel like waiting and after 12 hours of labor says you aren’t progressing fast enough, time for surgery. Dr. Anthony says he believes in vaginal birth no matter how long it takes unless mother requests or the baby is in trouble. I agree, I told him, I’d totally be into a c-section if the baby’s life was at risk!

We also decided to NOT go for the testing for spina bifida/down’s. There’s no way we could abort this little life after all this time just because of one test that is not always right. Plus the positive result means you need an amniocentesis follow up and those are very risky to the baby, not something I am interested in. Also, it’s a small percentage of cases that actually find any genetic defects. Andy and I think if we have a child with a special situation like that, then we were meant to and we’ll do our best to care for it and keep it happy. We love this baby already.

I don’t know when we’ll find out the sex. He didn’t say and I didn’t ask specifically. Part of me still doesn’t want to know! I really don’t care either way. I just want a sweet baby!

We did have an ultrasound and it was great to see the baby! S/he’s not as much of a wiggler as last time but still pushing around in there. It’s a bummer I can’t feel it yet, but I hear first time mothers have to wait longer to feel movement usually. It got all measured up and is normal. According to the length measurement I am at exactly 15 weeks and 2 days today. But who’s counting right! Only 25 more weeks to go and we have a new family member, look out kitties!

Dr. Anthony also asked me to see an internist for my breathing/allergy/nasal congestion. He doesn't believe I have asthma - neither do I, adn said he'd give me a referal. I am having a bit of a hard time finding someone right now, so I may have to call his office for a recommendation.

In a couple of months we’ll start looking in to some classes for birthing, and I want to do a breast feeding class. I’ve talked to some girlfriends and they say things about when they were breast feeding and I say, really? You have to do that? I know it’s instinctual but I may need some guidance. And it may be early for me to have fears, but I am reading a book about pregnancy ( a few actually!) and I just got through the birthing part. Sounds pretty scary, painful and little gross. Andy keeps telling me to keep my eye on the prize! He’s going to be a great coach!

We’ll be having the little person at Presbyterian of Dallas. I will have a list of phone calls for Andy to make as soon as we get there so if anyone is interested in coming for part of labor or after the birth let me know. Email me or comment should work. If you’re out of state and want a call, we’ll wait until after the baby is out, since I doubt you could make it for any of the labor! ;)

I do have pictures I want to post but due to some computer complications (it’s going to be a big pain to get pics off the cam now since Andy rearranged his PC), we’re going to wait until we have a few more pics taken to get them off. So be expecting a big picture update to come soon!

Here’s a little info about the stage the baby is at right now from two of my sites:

"Your baby may have developed the habit of sucking his or her thumb! The skin is very thin and you can see the blood vessels clearly underneath."

"Fine hair is starting to cover baby this week. It's called lanugo. Bones are getting harder and retaining calcium. (Be sure to get your daily allowance of calcium in!!) Baby can suck his thumb now, and many moms to be, have seen them doing this on ultrasounds. Baby's skin is still very thin, and the blood vessels can be seen through it. By the end of this week, your baby is about 4 inches long and weighs 1.75 ounces."

As for me, I am feeling great. Still a little tired, but I think that is more from the hour lost last weekend, and I’ll settle in to spring soon enough. Andy is doing awesome as well. He’s very supportive. Soon he will start singing to my belly!

Just a few pictures

I have a couple of more on the camera I want to post too but since they are still on the camera, it'll wait tilll next time! :D



This is our first child together Sami. We have 4 cats, but she's the only one we got after we moved in together. Before that I had one and he had two. We have all become quite the big happy family, and they are all very much our first children. I can't wait to see how they react to a new member!






Here's our big buddy Tyler again. He's our favorite to take pics of because he poses and being so fat he often ends up in funny positions naturally, too. It's hard to tell with the light but he has his front paws crossed, a usual for him. He is sitting right by an open window enjoying the breeze. They aren't allowed outside so he soaks it up when he can.
One day a week or so ago, the front door flew open while we were upstairs and Tyler got out! Scared the jeepers out of us for sure. We looked all over the complex for him before Andy found him around the corner from us down a hall at someone elses door trying to get in! Now, every now and again, he'll cry at the front door like he wants out. No way! I don't get why he'd want to after that traumatic experience, though it may have been more traumatic for us than him!


Here's where one will find Tyler almost every morning. Sleeping with his daddy! He often gets in bed with both of us and lays right in the middle for some rubbing and cuddles. When I woke Andy up for this, he had been curled around Tyler with his arm over him, which is the norm. I'll try to catch a shot of that while they're still sleeping next time!

Doctor's Visit Bust!

I realize that it has been a little too long since I last updated and I am sorry. Unfortunately the big reason is there isn’t much to report on the last doctor visit. I didn’t get to see the doc! I didn’t have my Medicaid card and papers yet, which I told them when they made my appointment, and apparently it’s against the law to begin treatment without my stuff. I have since received the papers and have an appointment to at least meet with the doc on Wednesday this week. The lady I talked with says they need to do an ultrasound really soon since I am out of the first trimester, but I don't knwo if that'll be happening Wednesday. I did get a lot of my preliminary paperwork, medical history and question after question out of the way first so it was not a total wipe. The lady I met with was very nice and seemed to think very highly of the doctor she works for. It was also nice to go to a real doctor’s office instead of a clinic which seems to be where we always end up! Thelma was her name and she said that Dr Anthony is in his 50’s and comes from a school that believes in hard work. He works all the time. I said I was surprised to hear he’d be here on a Saturday, and she said he’s always working, and when he’s not working, he reads. If you talk to a doctor in his thirties, he’d want to know when his vacation and days off are! At least according to this lady, and I believe her, the whole working on a Saturday thing and all. I am over the anxiety about meeting him for now. I’m sure it’ll pick back up by Tuesday. I’ve just been feeling a lot better about the whole deal. From what I saw he is a good person. He treats Medicaid patients and not all docs will do that. The hospital he's in has the best neo natal care in Dallas. It’s not too far from where we live. Though by the time the baby comes who knows where we’ll be living! That’s my new stress! I am trying to get through all of our belongings and thin things out. Slowly. The problem is it seems in the process we just keep getting more and more stuff! I’m sure it’ll all be done by the time we move, or we’ll never have room for a baby!

I was thinking my super tired time was over, then I fell asleep at our friend’s house this afternoon! We did eat some junk-food which I think is what really made me sleepy, it was just funny. I have been finding myself waking up after no more than 8 hours even ready to go and not needing a nap unless I take my calcium in the afternoon. Last night I couldn’t even get to sleep until 2am! I am grateful and have decided to roll with it. While I’m up I may as well catch up on some of the tasks I’ve been putting off right! Working from home affords me not having to worry about schedules. Except for school and I can get through a day of school since I am home by 230, and if I am wiped, I can always nap! I am the luckiest woman alive! And I have been feeling really good; I only get sick when I eat something that upsets my stomach.
I have been having fun playing old wives’ tales about figuring out the sex of the baby. Andy doesn’t think it’s as fun! There’s even websites out there you can put in dates and it’ll tell you or a chart you can check. I get both boy and girl equally. At first I was really hoping for a boy because I thought it’d be easier on Andy and I am not very girly. But since I have been thinking it is a girl more and more I have been getting excited about having a girl! I won’t be disappointed either way, but don’t think we’re stopping here! I want at least one of each, if that means we have to 5 to get there, so be it! (Don’t tell Andy I said that!)
Here's my belly from the other morning, toward the end of week 13. It doesn't look like it's getting much bigger, yet I cannot seem to fit any of my old pants! All the maternity pants Andy's mom got me are still too big, so Andy took me to Target the other night and got me a cute warmup suit. It's warm enough to wear these last few cold days, comfortable enough to stretch over my bloat after eating, cute enough, and it may end up being my going home from the hospital outfit if I dont' completely pack on the pounds, which still remains to be seen. I am sure I will start showing more in the next two weeks. I hear about 15 weeks for a first pregnancy is usually the real blow up phase, though everyone is different. We'll just have to wait and see, but we'll keep snapping shots!

Beginning of the Last Week of the First Trimester!

Here’s how the baby is this week according to one website I read weekly:

“Your Baby
The fetus’s urinary tract is on line, and the fingernails are growing. A big portion of the amniotic fluid from this point on will be baby urine. Your fetus is looking like a baby and has advanced to the stage that its brain can transmit messages. Vocal chords are complete, and the child can and does sometimes cry (silently). The brain is fully formed, and the child can feel pain. The fetus may even suck his thumb. The eyelids now cover the eyes, and will remain shut until the seventh month to protect the delicate optical nerve fibers.”

I read about 3 week by week pregnancy calendars every week to see how baby is doing and if I should expect anything strange. So far, my symptoms have been mild and minimum. With the exception of the snotty nose, which I think is more due to lack of medication than anything else, though I know fluid volume increases has made it worse. I do pee a lot too, but to be fair I drink a ton of water. It is more often then normal, but that should come to an end after this week as the uterus moves up. At least until baby gets big enough to kick my bladder or sit on it! I am still tired too, but I started exercising and that seems to have worn me out!

We’re pretty healthy I think, me and little one. No issues I can detect anyway. I see the doc I selected on Saturday, so I’ll know for sure then. I got approved for the Medicaid but I don’t think I’m supposed to get my card until April. I don’t want to wait though! I am anxious to meet the doc since I had nothing to go on when I chose him except his name and address! I hope he’s cool and is interested in my way of doing things. My biggest fear is that he’s some old doc who knows what’s best because he’s done this a billion times and isn’t interested in what I have to say. Suppose that’s worse case scenario.It’ll be exciting to be out of the first trimester. This is the last week! After this I should start really getting big and then the pics will really flow!

Doing Great!

I am feeling great lately! Of course this makes me nervous, aren’t I supposed to be sick? Seriously, I think my only problems as of late are worry. I know though that the worry has not yet begun. As soon as we have this delicate little life in our hands to nurture and teach, the real worry begins! It will be a fun journey.
Last week we went to a clinic. The Medicaid had yet to come through but I wanted to see someone to be sure all was going well. They were great and said they’d send us a bill but hold on to it and give it to Medicaid once it comes through. I didn’t like a few things about the place. 1. Andy couldn’t come with me to the room for my appointment. Now to be fair I got all the girly stuff done (pap and so on), so I understand them not wanting him there for that, but I also got to hear the heartbeat on a Doppler, which he missed. It sounded great. So fast! But really strong and healthy! 2. It’s a clinic not a set doctor. I saw a practitioner, which was fine, but I’d probably never see the same one again if I went back there. I really want a doc I can see repeatedly.
While I was waiting one of the many, many times we sat there and waited for the next step, I received a very promising phone call. It was from a lady about something called the Star Program. She told me they assisted Medicaid members in choosing a physician. In fact, if I didn’t choose one they would have to choose for me. There were also two different plans I could choose from. This was great because the clinic, besides its things I mentioned, was also far away. The lady told me to keep and eye out in the mail for my information. It came the next day! I looked through it and found a list of Ob/Gyns but they were all so far. I really didn’t know what to do. She called back on Tuesday but I missed it. When I came home from work on Thursday, there was a note for me on the door saying I better call them by the next day or I’d be out of luck. I called right away and the operator explained more to me. I had more choices than I had been looking at, I just didn’t understand it all. I told the guy, I needed a little more time and I’d call back So I looked some more and called a couple of docs to see if I could use them as primary care physicians, which is what I needed to select, even though they were Obs. I found one that sounded fine and booked me for an appointment right away even though I said I was waiting for the confirmation on my Medicaid. I thought they seemed nice.
I called back and made my choice. The lady I spoke with was great! I asked her if she could tell if I got the Medicaid or not and she said yes! So I am pretty sure it’s coming. I’ll believe it for sure when I see it, but this was still awesome news. Apparently, I get a paper every month that I take with me to my appointment and a Medicaid card that also goes to appointments. Unfortunately I won’t start getting these things until April. But I have an appointment to see the new guy next Saturday. I am going to call then back and see if it’s ok if I come without the stuff or if I’d need to pay out of pocket. I am anxious to get started with him and meet him and all. His name is Doctor Anthony. He’s been a doctor about as long as I have been alive. I am also anxious to discuss things with him, just some of my concerns and ideas about the actual birth. He’s located at Presbyterian of Dallas hospital, so that’s probably where I’ll be having the little miracle.





Here is our precious Tyler resting comfortably and happily on our futon bed by our computers. How could anyone disturb such a sweetie?








Because it's funny! Here he is a fraction of a second after Andy clapped loudly by his head. He is so confused. What was that noise and what's that bright light? Why is everyone laughing at him? Don't you just want to rub this big guy!?!




Overall, it’s been a great week! Spring Break is next week so no school, though I have tests when I get back so I’ll be studying, but I don’t have to get up before dawn to do it!
Andy and I are having a great time together. I am getting the house cleaned and will soon start widling down our belongings. I know that babies don’t come alone, they come with a ton of stuff. I am a minimalist and don’t like having too much stuff, so this will be a challenge for me. I figured the best thing to do will be to clean out the stuff we have now and stream line. Plus, it makes moving easier. Now the question is where to? We have limited options as we have no proof of income yet, so we’ll see. As long as it’s closer to the grandparents!
I am getting a bit more of the pudge around the middle! I needed to though since I was a little underweight and want to go into the second trimester at a healthy weight, which is in one more week! Especially since that’s the time I really will gain! I have gained five pounds and they all seem to be in my belly. Building a little layer of fat to protect my person I suppose!