I took this picture today so you could see how big he has gotten.

This is Thomas hanging up his first Christmas ornament.

Merry Christmas!

This is Thomas watching an OU game with MeMe over the webcam.

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I have been enjoying mine time with Thomas. I go back to work next Monday, so pray that I do alright. I'm sure it will be much harder on me than it will be on Thomas. :) We can't believe how big he has gotten. We take him to the doctor on Wednesday so we will get his latest weight. I had to take him to the doctor two weeks ago because he is allergic to protein in milk and soy formulas. He has to be on special formula, but anyway he was 9 and a half pounds and 21 inches long then. He has grown since then, so we are excited to find out how long he is.

Thomas is still doing great. He is getting chunky because he eats all the time and hasn't really gotten any longer. Rob is trying hard to get him to crawl during his tummy time. Yesterday he did move a few inches when Rob put his hand so Thomas could have something to push off of. We are enjoying him even when he keeps us up most of the night. :)

The delivery

I just realized that I hadn't posted on how the delivery went. So here goes. (I ended up writing more than I thought, so you can skim it if you don't want every little detail.) On Wednesday, October 29th I started to have counteractions that felt different and I little painful. I started feeling them before school started, and started timing them during my first class. They were about 20 to 30 minutes apart, but were not consistent. My second hour is a team planning time and Wednesdays are the days that the administration come in and talk to us. I was trying hard to pay attention, but I just didn't feel right. Before that period was over I decided I should go home. Whether I was in real labor I didn't know, but I knew something wasn't right. I called in a sub for the second half the day and then went back and taught my next two classes. I didn't tell the kids because I didn't want to freak them out if it wasn't real labor.
Wednesday's are Rob's days off, and he sometimes helps a friend work on houses. I gave him a call to see if he was helping Perry and let him know I was coming home. He was dropping stuff by Perry's but wasn't going to help him that day, but they were about to go out to lunch. So I met Rob, Perry and his wife Suzy at a Chinese restaurant on my way home from school. We kept timing the contractions, but it was staying about the same. Rob and I ran by Toys R Us to pick up a Christmas present I saw was on sale then headed home. We worked around the house getting some things done that we wanted to before the baby came. I then drove us to Goodwill to drop off some stuff we had sitting around. (yah, we know I probably shouldn't have been driving). We came home ate dinner then went to the park so I could walk around and see if that made the contractions speed up any. Rob played disc golf while I walked with him. By this point the contractions were about 10-7 minutes apart and little more intense. We still weren't sure if it was real labor, but we thought we should go to the hospital. The worse that could happen is that they send us home.
By this point it is about 7:30 pm. We load up our labor bag in case it is real and head to the hospital. They check me in and put the monitors on me to watch the babies heart beat and my contractions. The nurse said I was still 3 cm dilated, which is what I had been on Friday when I had went to the doctor. She said they would watch me for an hour and see if anything changed. Rob helped me breath through the contractions which were now seven minutes apart. At 9 the nurse came back and said that I was still 3 cm, and my contractions weren't regular, so most likely they would stop. But, they wanted to keep me over night to make sure. We called our families to let them know I was staying the night in the hospital, but that it wasn't real labor yet.
By midnight Rob was getting really tired, so he pull his "bed" over to mine and thought we could try and sleep every seven minutes between contractions. Then at 12:15 I had a really hard contraction and then they started coming every minute to two minutes. Rob called for the nurse, and she checked me again to find out that I was 5 cm and was in real labor. By this point I was already pretty tired and wasn't handling the pain very well. I didn't yell out, but I was getting nausea from the pain and almost passed out. I asked for the epidural. They had a hard time finding a vein for my IV, which was making me freak out even more. They finally put it in my wrist which is still a little tender. I got the epidural at 1:40 am and it was wonderful. Rob and I could finally relax a little. My parents got there around 3. The epidural had slowed down my contractions. My water broke sometime in there, but I can't remember what time. About 4:30 it was time to push. Dad went to the waiting room and Rob and Mom stayed in the room with me. Rob did a great job counting while I was pushing. I think the whole hospital could hear him. :) but it helped me push and by 5:06 we had a beautiful baby boy. Rob got to cut the chord.
It was such an amazing experience. Our life is forever changed. Rob and I were amazed that we could love this little guy so much from the first time we saw him. How can anyone go through this a doubt there is a creator God?

This is a onies that Pam sent for him. I'm pretty sure that he forgot to wake up and go to his own party. I didn't hear any music at 2 am, but then again I'm so tired I could have slept through it. :)

Such a cuttie. He had folded his hands like he is praying a few times. He is trying in this picture.

Here Thomas safe in Daddy's arms.

You can tell here he is still jaundice. We think it is gone now since he doesn't have much of a yellow tone any more.

This is a picture of his first bath.

Thank you to all of you who have given Thomas a warm welcome with your well wishes and visits. It has been amazing to see how many people we have that are there for love and support us. God has truely blessed us with great friends and family.
Thomas is doing great. He is such a sweet baby. Though right now he doesn't do much else besides eat, sleep, and fill his diapers. He sleeps pretty well through the night with getting up to eat any where from every hour and a half to if I'm lucky every three hours.
Rob was home last week with us and went back to work yesterday. He did a lot of work from home last week, so he won't be too far behind when he went back. He is a great husband, father, and was a wonderful gopher for me. :) With Thomas coming early it gives me that much more time with him before I go back to work. It was a little crazy trying to get lesson plans ready for a week and a half when I had just gotten home from the hospital. Today was supposed to be my last day of work, but it didn't hurt my feelings to get the extra week and a half off. Hope you enjoy the pictures of him.

Welcome Thomas to this world!

Our perfect baby boy was born Thursday, October 30th at 5:06 in the morning. I'll post more details later, but I wanted to get up some pictures for you all you see. He was 6 lbs 1 oz and 19.5 inches at birth. He was 5 lbs 12 oz when we left the hospital, but he is a great little eater, so hopefully he will gain the weight back quickly. He is such a cutie! Thank you for all your prayers that brought him safe and healthy.

Ready or Not Here I Come

I went to the doctor on Friday and he did and internal exam. Wow that hurt. But he did say that I was 3 cm dilated and about 80% effaced. This means that I will most likely go into labor in the next few weeks. He also told us that he is going to be out of the country from the 9th of November to the 23rd. If I don't go into labor before he leaves we have to decide if I should be induced or just have another doctor that I don't know deliver the baby. We are holding out to see if I go on my own before we make that decision. We will need to decide by next Friday though if baby Thomas doesn't come in the next few days. I have a mix of emotions from being very excited to finally meet my little boy, to fear about the delivery and if he will be healthy. God is in control and I just need to keep trusting in Him and know that His will is best.

Really feeling it!

This week has been fun for my body. My ankles swelled on Wednesday night. They look a little better this morning, but it looks like they might stay at least a little swollen until after I have the baby. I have had to sleep in a near sitting position all week too. Now have have a total of 8 pillows in bed with us. I'm still feeling pretty good. Thomas has moved so that he doesn't hurt my ribs as much, so that made me very happy. i'm countying down until I get to meet him!

Child Care

So the tough child care choice has been made! A lady at our church said she would watch Thomas for us. She is a very sweet lady that will do a great job with him. Rob and I feel comfortable leaving him with her. She has two sons, but one is in school. So most of the time that Thomas will be there it will just be her two year old and Thomas. Thank you for your prayers as we tried to find the right place.

Fireproof

I forgot to mention that Rob and I went on a date Thursday night. We hadn't been on a "date" in awhile and thought we better get a few in before Thomas comes. I wanted to put a plug in for the movie we watched. It was called Fireproof. What a great movie. Every married couple should see this movie. It was made by the same people that made Facing the Giants if you have seen that. Any, I just wanted to put a plug in for it and encourage you to go see it.

The end is near

I am on fall break from school this weekend, so I don't have to go to work on Monday. Yeah! I will be using the time to work on my maternity leave lessons though. Friday I had a doctors appointment. Rob and I waited about two hours to see the doctor for 5 minutes, but that is the nature of the poor guys job. He had a delivery that morning, so he was going to be behind all day. We tried to be understanding knowing that soon we were going to be causing the same thing for other people. Everything was normal and in two weeks is my next appointment. He will check to see if I've started to dilate them. Won't that be fun? :)
Rob and I have started our Christmas shopping. We got quit a lot of it done yesterday. We are usually early shoppers, but this year we didn't think we would want to take Thomas out in the crowds to even try and get last minute gifts. Our goal is to be finished before his arrival.
I am starting to either get a cold, or the pregnancy is causing my body to act like it has a cold. Either way I don't think there is much I can do about it other than rest. Rob made me stay home from morning service today to get extra sleep. I keep telling myself only a few more weeks. I have a month left of teaching, and then I get to anxiously await Thomas at home.

33 weeks

Here are some pictures that my dad took on Saturday. See how big I have gotten! I am not sure I can get much bigger.

Shower

My church shower was yesterday. The ladies put a lot of work into making it nice. We had a good time, and Thomas got a lot of nice stuff. He should be a well dressed little boy. My mom and sister-in-law made it down for the day. Then some family that couldn't make it sent presents. Now the nursery is full of things that I need to find places for. Now we are just waiting on Thomas to show up. Dasha is starting to figure out that something big is happening. She didn't leave my side when we were putting the crib together and she has been rubbing her head on my belly in the morning before I go to work. Hopefully she will quickly learn her new place when the baby comes. One of our friends gave her a new toy yesterday at the shower so she didn't feel let out. :) Can you tell that our dog is just a little spoiled?

The finished nursery

The crib and dresser that Rob's parent bought us came in this week. We worked last night to put the room together. I have been up since four this morning because I can't sleep, so I decided to take pictures of the room.

Knock Knock Who's there?

Last night I was laying in bed watching Thomas move. (what a strange thing to see) Rob lightly thumbed my belly and Thomas knocked back. It was too funny. Rob did it a handful more times and most of the time Thomas would knock back. We got a good laugh out of what he was trying to say. :)

I made it

Rob flies in tonight, so I have made it. I missed him a lot, but I got a lot of needed rest. I spent Saturday with my friend Bethany and talked to mom a lot on the phone, so I wasn't a complete hermit. I had a doctors appointment on Friday. The office was packed, so it was my fastest visit yet. It was the first time the doctor has just talked to be about things in the examining room. Usually he has us go and talk in his office, but he was too busy Friday I guess. Anyway, he said things were still going well. My blood pressure is fine and Thomas is still growing. Though now I don't think there is much room left for him to grow. It is becoming pretty painful for me when he moves around or I sit for too long.
I'm working on finding the right place to watch Thomas after I go back to work. Pray that we make the right decision. I'm torn between having him in a licensed daycare that has to follow certain rules or having him with a stay at home mom and I know would hold him when he cries and potentially give him more attention. It is a really tough choice to make.

All alone

Tonight will be my first night of four nights without Rob. Well, he has been gone before, but this time he is in the mountains in Colorado. That means he won't be able to talk to me. He is there for a youth pastor's retreat. I have wanted him to go on this retreat the past few years, but it didn't work out until this year. It should be a really good time for him and what he needs right now.
As life normally does, we had a few curve balls thrown at us last night. Rob's car decided that it wanted to start spraying oil whenever to was running. We didn't find this out until 5 last night when it was too late to get it fixed before he didn't at 4 this morning to go to the airport. So I got to get up early and take Rob to the airport. I didn't mind sending the extra time with him, but I'm extra exhausted right now. I was going to plan my lessons for maternity leave, though that can wait until tomorrow. Now I'll just get things ready for tomorrow and go to bed.
On an entirely different note. I had a girl in class ask me today to see my belly. I turned sideways so she could see how big it was. She said, "No, like lift up your shirt." I refused saying it was not appropriate to show the class my belly. Most of the class didn't see why, but I was just imagining all the parent phone classes I would get tomorrow asking why I showed my belly to the class.

Internet at home

After a long wait and three different companies, we finally have internet at home. Now I hope to be able to put pictures up more frequently. Tomorrow will be exactly two months from my due date. Things seem to be going by so quickly. Last night Rob and I helped with a camp out for the elementary kids at the church. Well, I only helped for a few hours and went home to get some sleep. Rob stayed up most of the night with the high school and middle school kids he had come and help. While I was serving food a lady asked me if I was the youth pastor's wife. I said yes. She then said, "So you have like five kids, right?" I started laughing and explained that we were on the way to number one and didn't plan on having five, but our friends that volunteer with youth have five kids. I told Rob that since we get mistaken for this couple (it has happened before) that we should just go ahead and have five kids. :)

The room is gettting full

Rob's parents made it up hear on Wednesday night. Rob took them around Terre Haute on Thursday while I was at work. When I got home we went out, and they ordered us the crib and dresser for the baby's room. They also got everything we needed for the bed and changing table. Dorman also wanted to make sure that the baby had a bath tub, so we now we won't have to have Dasha lick the baby clean. :) It was a fast visit, but it was nice to be able to see them and have them start to spoil Thomas before he even gets here.

It is a BOY!!

At the sonogram on Friday we got to see our little baby. Since I'm further along than when most people have their first sonogram it was harder to see the face because there wasn't as much room for him to move around. This also made it harder to find out if it was a boy or girl. He finally moved his legs apart so we could find out. The doctor said everything looked healthy and that he was a little bigger than a 29 weeks, but they are keeping my due date at November 21st. I shouldn't go much later than that though.
We didn't get very good pictures from the sonogram. There were some good ones, but somehow they didn't get put on the CD we have of it. Rob said it looks like a lava lamp more than a baby in half the pictures we have. They did do the 4-D sonogram it try and have us see the face. Again it was hard to do without much room for the baby to move, but it was kind of cool it see.
Here is a picture Dad took of me last Monday standing in our living room. I'm 28 weeks at the time of the picture.

Friday is the Day!

We are getting so excited that we get to see our baby on Friday. I feel him/her move all the time and now I get to see it! I should probably study ultrasound pictures so I'll know what I'm looking at.
You guys were too nice on the weight poll. The second category (I think it was 30-34), won. I voted for the 35-39 one. Though if I walk as much as we did yesterday at the Labor Day garage sales, then I don't think I have to worry. Good bargains are worth the effort.

Registry

Rob and I went last night to register for baby stuff. (it was are only free night for the next few weeks). We had a good time but it took longer than we thought. We knew what we wanted from Baby's R Us because we had been there and looked around a few times, so that went quickly. Then we went to the Walmart in town with better baby stuff, but someone had stolen their scanner, so we had to drive back across town and go to the other Walmart. We spent a little longer there trying to figure out what other kinds of things we would need for the baby's room like an cd/player alarm clock and hamper. Rob and I laughed because some of the stuff we scanned just because we were told we would need it, but aren't really sure what to even do with them. Maybe my baby will be born with instructions. :)

Nose Bleed

Wow, who knew a nose could bleed that much! Luckly, my last class had just left and I was getting things ready for the next days class...when blood started pouring out of my nose. At first I thought my nose was running, but then I started dripping blood. Not really a good thing in a public school building. After calling Rob to have him look up online what I was to do (the internet at shcool was going to slow) and hold my nose for ten minutes, it stopped. I guess it is a nice welcome to the third trimester. Hopefully it won't be a repeated thing. Now I need to go home and try to get the blood out of my shirt. :)

Mom to Be Shower

Amanda, my wonderful sister-in-law put on a mom to be shower. She put a lot of work into making it a nice evening for me. My mom and Aunt Karen came for it. We played some games, eat good food, and had a nice visit. They also pampered me with gifts for me. Thank you Amanda for making such a special time.
I made it through my first week of school. Rob and I are fighting some kind of cold or allergies. We are not sure what it really happening. I'm fine during the day, but have had trouble sleeping through the night because of it.
We also have exciting news (we think) :) We are most likely going to have a girl from Hungry come and live with us. She is a pastor's daughter that has graduated from High school and needs to improve her English to go into the college major she wants. She would live with us to help her with her English. The current plan is for her to go to a private school here in town for a little while. Then in January when I go back to work, she would watch the baby during the day. We would find things for her to do in the evening, so she isn't just stuck in our house all day. We are excited about the possibility. We will know soon when she will be coming.
The baby is moving around as I write this, so I must be trying to wave to all of you. :)

New Poll

Notice the new poll. Please vote, but don't think I'll be offended by your answer. :)

First day of school

Today was the first day of kids being at school. I'll have my hands full, but it should be fun. My feet didn't hurt too bad. I will have to make sure I drink enough water. I'm afraid I'll have to go to the bathroom in the middle of class, so I don't drink as much as I should.
My ultrasound is scheduled for September 5th, so hopefully the first Baby pictures will be able to be scanned and put on here.

Tomorrow is my first real day of work. It is a teacher work day and then Tuesday the students come. My room is pretty much ready to go, I just need to figure out what to do with the students once I get them. :)
It has become pretty uncomfortable to sit for very long. I get sharp pain behind the right side of my ribs. I hope this baby won't stay up this high the whole time. I bought support hose to wear while teaching to hopefully aid in keeping the varicose veins at bay. Today was a practice wearing of the support hose, and I am impressed. They are comfortable and seem like they'll do the job.
The doctor has me starting to count the kicks I feel. You are supposed to see how long it takes for the baby to move 10 times during its most active time. For Baby Ball the most active time is when I lay in bed at night. So far it has taken around 20 min, which is really good I guess. If it takes more than two hours I'm supposed to go to the hospital.
I guess haven't had a chance to post since my last doctor's visit. It went pretty normal. He said the red bumps popping up all over my belly are normal. I have to go get more blood work done soon. I'm waiting for September for our insurance to kick in. Hopefully it won't be such an adventure this time.
Good news about insurance though. With my new job I get much better insurance. It will take affect in October, so we'll have our alright maternity insurance for September, then switch to the better one in October. I wasn't sure if I could get insurance through the school since I was temp., but they said I could. :) YEAH!!
I'll have internet at school, so hopefully I can update a little more frequently in the coming weeks.

New job

I got a call today that I got the 8th grade science job I interviewed for. It is just a one year job (with a break in the middle:) ), but will hopefully be a leg in the door for a contract job. One of these days I'll get to keep a contract job. :)
I just got back from a middle school camp out. Different people were a little worried about it, but I did fine. I even went on a trail hiking. Besides having to walk a ways in the middle of the night to go pee, camping while nearly six months pregnant isn't much different than normal.

All is still going well. I had a yard sale this weekend which gave me something to do. I also had an interview for an 8th grade science job. I'll hear about if I got it or not the middle of this week. We will be on a camp out with the middle schoolers this week, so hopefully I hear before we leave for that. My sister-in-law came down Saturday to have the yard sale with me. She brought me a car seat, high chair, swing, and pack and play, so we are starting our collection of larger things for a little bitty baby. (Though neither Rob or I were little bitty babies so we'll see)
Rob and I had Mexican the other day for lunch. A few hours later my stomach gurgled. Normal, that is gurgled, but not normal where I felt it. Instead of gurgling a few inches below my belly button...it gurgled a few inches above my belly button. I knew my organs where squished up there, but it felt really weird to have stomach basically in my ribs.

Finally a picture!

Sorry for the delay. I have heard a few complaints and I'm sorry. I'll try to be better. Here is me at 23 weeks. The picture is taken in the baby's room, so you can see the color of the walls.
All is going well. The baby is moving a little more. He or she moves at church, when I'm going to bed, or when I'm just sitting still in the evenings. I think the loudness of the church services wakes him or her up, either that or the baby can feel the Spirit move from a really young age. :)

Doctor's visit

VBS went well this week (for the most part). Eight kids accepted Christ for the first time!!! It reminded me that I'm glad I don't have to stand on my feet all day everyday. The extra 14 pounds can really be felt when I have to stand for hours. This week also brought on the first veracious vein. I knew that these would be coming soon, so I wasn't surprised...just I little sad.
We went to the doctor Friday. The heart beat was still around 150-155. It was really loud this time. Everything checked out fine. I have to go back in fours weeks now instead of five. I'll try today to remember to take a picture of my huge belly. Since it is noticeable now, people at church that don't know I'm pregnant are looking at me funny. One of our volunteers with the youth group some how missed the announcement and just thought I was gaining some weight. He finally asked around to see if I was pregnant. I gave him a hard time about it. :)

Sorry about my spelling. Rob and I were looking at coaches not couches. :)
Things are going well. We have been busy getting the house ready. Mom and Dad were a big help this week.
The baby keep getting bigger. It is making it harder to sleep at night. I have to keep getting up to go pee and I can only lay on my side. I never really slept on my belly, but I slept on my back a lot, but I can't do that. Then I have had some leg cramps in the middle of the night. I just keep remind myself that this is good because it means things are going like they should. Rob was amazed yesterday how big my belly had gotten. Still no stretch marks yet. I had a dream that they popped up everywhere!!
My headaches have eased up. I only have about one a week. If I catch it in time and lay down it helps it to not be so bad.
I'm leading the Bible story this week for VBS. Wow, why did I ever think I could teach elementary? :) I guess that is why God has always blessed me with middle school jobs.

Half Way!

I'm half way through the pregnancy. At times I think, "How can I get any bigger?" and other times I think I don't even look pregnant. Rob and I where looking for coaches and the sales lady called me a feather weight. Rob and I just looked at each other and thought, "Feather weight, I'm almost five months along and feel huge." We did find a coach though. It won't be in until the end of August when we get it, so if you come visit before then just be warned that we'll have to visit around the dining room table.
The house is coming together. The baby's room has all the baby stuff I have gotten so for. It was fun to put away all the little baby clothes and toys.

I have started to notice more changes with my body. My belly button is bigger around and more shallow. I can touch the inside for the first time ever. It is a weird feeling. My belly keeps getting bigger. I'm almost half way through. Next Friday is the half way point.
The baby's room is painted (well most of the house is now thanks to Mom, Perry, Suzy, and Rob). It is a pretty blue color. I'll add clouds and kites soon. While we were getting the paint another customer saw the paint sitting on the counter. When the lady asked if it was his, he said, "No that is an ugly color. It looks like North Carolina blue." We were offended he didn't like the color, but I guess for anything else other than a baby's room it would be kind of ugly. But it is cute for our baby. :)

From the polls we are having a girl with blonde/black hair and brown eyes. I'm out of ideas for the poll for now. Let me know if you have any. When it gets closer we'll have one up about the when the baby will be born.

New House

Hey All. I know some of you have sent e-mails on how things are going, but this is the first time I've had internet in a week. First of all, the doctor's appointment went well. Rob and I got to hear the heart beat. This time it was between 150 and 155. We talked to him about waiting until September to do the ultra sound since we will have insurance then, and he was fine with that. We are now undecided if we are going to find out the sex of the baby. We had wanted to, but the longer we go without knowing, I just think it would be neat to wait. We'll see. I still have a few months to change my mind. I have felt the baby move a handful of times. It freaked me out the first time, but I enjoy the feeling now, knowing that that is my child moving around in there.
In other news. We closed on our house Wednesday, moved everything we had pack and our bed to the house, and Rob primed what will be our bedroom. Half the house in paneling. Yesterday, with help from some wonderful people (Jeanie, Deb, and Charlie) all the paneling is primed. Just in time for Rob to leave for middle school camp at 2 today. I'll be working a few days around the house and packing some more from our old place, then headed up to stay with Mom. She'll com back down and help paint Saturday. We are having a "painting party" as Rob puts it, to try and get the whole house painted and ready for us to really move into. I'll post pictures of the house when we get finished.

I'm back to the land of the living. We had a great week at camp and I crazy week ahead. I go to the doctor tomorrow (so I'll post how that goes), then Wednesday we close on our house and get the keys!!!! YAH!! My headaches have continued, so I'll be asking the doctor about that. Other that I'm doing great. The baby was exposed to load music this week. I laugh and told Rob it was head banging in there. :) I have felt a few flutters, but not much. If the baby is like I was, I'm sure I'll feel more soon.

16 weeks

Sorry for not posting for a week. This summer will have me limited on internet access until we move and get internet at home. I may only be able to post once a week.
The baby and I are doing fine. My headaches are still going strong for a few hours a day. On Friday I had a bad one that lasted most of the day.
Moodiness has also kicked in. Rob liked it when I took it out on the lady at Kroger, but when he became the target it wasn't as much fun. I didn't know what to do because I knew I should be mad, but I couldn't help it. Rob is a good sport though. He just calmly waited for me to stop being mad since he knew he didn't do anything that deserved my wrath. :)
We were supposed to take a picture Friday of my ever growing belly, but we have had a crazy last couple of days. We leave for camp tomorrow, so it will be a little while before I post again.

This picture was taken one night when my stomach was pretty big. But, if you flip back to the first picture it is crazy to think that I have changed that much. I think I look about the same now as I did in this picture, but next week will be 16 weeks, which means time for another picture. We'll see then how big I have gotten. People are starting to notice my belly now, which is fun.
On another note, the pregnant Melissa is a lot more forceful than the non-pregnant Melissa. For example: We went to Kroger (the same one that refused to give us milk for the price that was on the sticker a few weeks ago) yesterday to pick up some baking items needed to make cookies for today. Anyway, we knew it was a Saturday and would be a little busy, but this Kroger made me mad. They had one lane open plus the self check-out. We were third in line, so it wasn't a big deal until someone tried paying with food stamps and we had to wait for someone to come mess with those. Again, normal stuff, but we were standing in line for about three minutes, without moving. Now there are three more people behind us and the self-check out is backed up. I left Rob in line and found the manager to ask why on a Saturday there was only one line open. She wasn't very friendly, but I told her as she was walking away that it was bad business. By the time I got back our line was moving, and before we left she had called up another cashier and some baggers. Okay, so that took a lot more room to tell than I thought it would, but Rob and I got a kick out of me doing something pretty out of character.

12 weeks picture

Oh and as far as the polls go...so far our child will be a girl with half blonde/half black hair. :)

Eventually I'll remember to post a picture, but I finally have a "baby bump" as one of my students called it. It still changes size drastically (we think from gas...which I've had a lot of) :) The second trimester has brought along headaches and lots of zits. Yesterday, I only had a headache for about and hour, so that was good since for around a week I have had at least a small constant headache. Those of you that remember when my face broke out really bad when I was on the patch birth control...well that is what I look like again.
Other than those two things all is going well. With this being my last few days of work, I'm excited to be able to sleep in soon.

Job opening

There is a posting for a job I really want at a middle school close to our house. It sounds like a perfect fit for me, so be praying that God will open the right doors for me to get this job. If I could get a job before the summer starts, it would ease my anxiety about the fall. I sent a letter to the principal to let him know I wanted the job, so after Wednesday when the posting closes for contract teachers to transfer to it (which is not me), pray I get a call for an interview.
Thanks.

Baby Items

Rob and I went a few nights ago to look at baby stuff. We found the crib and stroller that we like the most. The Baby's R Us in town is pretty small, so we'll have to go to Indy to find the crib. We also looked around and picked out a diaper bag and some other things. It was fun to go and look at all the stuff. I looked today to see if I could find kite fabric to make curtains, but the place I looked didn't have any. I picked a hard theme to find curtains. :)

This is a non-baby update, but our landlord has finally fixed our roof. For those of you who don't know it has leaked pretty much every time it rains since we moved in. So, after informing him that rent would be held until it was fixed...it gets fixed with a five year guarantee. I don't care about five years, I just don't want it to leak the last month we are there.
I keep forgetting to get the picture of my belly on a jump drive, so I can put it online. It hasn't changed a ton, but I'm ready for it too so I can wear all the cute maternity clothes. :)

My parents came down yesterday and we had a nice visit. They gave me some more ideas for poll questions, so here is the newest one. Now, most of you know that this is a big deal to me. I have always said that I would dye their hair if my child had red hair...not to sway your vote. :) I think I've matured a little since then...hopefully. So, take a guess and we'll see in a few months.
Oh, I did decide to go with the kite theme for the nursery. The walls will be painted sky blue with clouds, and I'll hang some kites from the ceiling. The rest of the room will be done in primary color like what are on kites.

How stupid can I get?

I heard that the baby takes your brain away, but wow! For a nartually ditsy person I guess it can get pretty bad. Last night I stopped by Wal-mart before going out to the church for Bible study. When I came out, I could not find the car for anything. I looked and looked but I was sure that my car had been stolen. It wasn't where I thought I parked it or in the few rows around it. I called Rob in a panick that my car was stolen. He assured me tht it couldn't be stolen if I had the kays, but I didn't believe him. He was on his way to help me, when I found the car. It was park three rows over from the farthest I thought I parked. I felt STUPID! Rob was almost there. He is so patient with me. :)

So I can be forgetful sometimes, but I think that baby took over my brain. Last week I kept forgetting either my purse or lunch and having to go back and get it. This morning I remembered both, but locked myself out of the house. Luckily rob was home and let me back in. :) Then I drive down the road and realize I had forgot to do my hair. Ooops.
Thanks to all those that wished me a happy mother's day or mother-to-be day. It was a little weird for me because I don't feel much like a mom yet. Without having diapers to change or waking up in the middle of the night I just not think of myself as a mother though I guess I technically am one.
Thanks to other people getting me clothes and especially my sister-in-law Amanda, I'm pretty set on maternity clothes, so that was a relief. Especially after finding out how much we'll have to pay for one doctor's appointment and blood work. I thought they should pay me to take my blood after all the problems I had from it. :) I don't think the hospital agrees.

2nd Doctor's Visit

I went to the doctor this afternoon. Last time we waited for two hours, so when I got right in this time, it through Rob and I's plans for him coming out the window. Everything is going well and normal. The heart beat was 170, which the doctor said was normal. I looked it up online and there is an old wives tell that says it is a girl with that fast of a heart beat. (this is not founded, but thought it was interesting). I also found out that I do not have HIV or other STDs. Since that was a huge concern, I was pretty relieved. :)

Tuesday I go to the doctor for my second check-up. Hopefully we will get to hear the heart beat. I know there is a baby in there, but I'm excited about being able to hear it. I'll be almost 12 weeks when I go to the doctor, so I'm almost finished with my first trimester. It has went by so quickly already. Rob's Mom sent me a package with some maternity outfits for me and some outfits for the baby. I hung up the baby outfits so that we can see them every time we walk into the bedroom. It reminds me that this little life is really coming soon.
In other news we lock in the loan for our house tomorrow. We will end up closing on the house in mid-June, which is earlier than expected, so we are very excited about that.
I'll post Tuesday after the doctor's appointment how it went.

The girls have it.

I changed the poll, so I thought I would post the results of the gender one. There were 5 votes for girl and 2 for boy. I don't have a feeling one way or the other...we'll find out soon enough. For now check out my new poll. You can post any other suggestions you have as well.

Hi all. I am feeling pretty good. The last few days I have felt a little sick, but not too bad. On Wednesday I took my vitamin in the morning because I had forgot the night before. I had to pull over a few block from home and well the vitamin didn't stay down. Luckily I was close enough to home to go back and brush my teeth.
I read on this pregnancy e-mail that I get, that I should start to have a belly...which I have. But it said it was from distended bowels and not the baby. I'm not sure what distended bowls are, but it gave me a good laugh that I kept looking at my belly thinking it was my baby when it was really my bowels. :)
We are doing the 30 Hour Famine with the youth this weekend, but I get to sneak away and eat.
Well that is all that is going on here.

Here is the most recent picture. I'm a little over 8 weeks along. I have on a different tank top, but you can see that my belly has gotten bigger. My pants are fitting tighter, though I haven't gained any weight yet. My body is just changing shape. Strange, but cool. :)

Here is a picture of me the day I took the pregnancy test. I was about four weeks along. It is my goal to take a picture every 4 weeks, so I can see how much my body is changing as the baby grows.

Busy week

We had a normally busy week, but it feels like more when I'm so tired. Rob does a great job trying to get me more rest. Rob's birthday was Friday, and his mom sent him a package. It had his birthday gift in it and some stuff for the baby. We now have the outfit his came home from the hospital in, and some of his other things from when he was a baby. Then Aunt Kandy (which is a dog) sent the baby some gifts. She "wrote" a cute letter explaining which of the gifts. Like diapers for when we forget to let them outside, Q-tips to get rid of ear mites, and lots of other stuff. The letter is being kept for the baby book.
Then Saturday we got to see mom and dad at a youth volunteer training thing in Indy. It was nice to see them. When we got back from that my Aunt Karen and Uncle Mark came to take us out to dinner. They were up about 40 minutes from us on a bike trip and thought that since they were so close they would come take us out to dinner. We had a nice visit with them.
We found out this week that we are closing on the house at the end of June. So we now for sure we won't have to raise our kid behind a barber shop.

Giving Blood

So, Friday I went to go get my blood tested. Once I found the right place to get it tested and waited for my turn I was pretty nervous. I had never given blood before. The lady who was doing it was really nice, but had a hard time with me. I guess my veins are really small and hard to work with. She got about 2/3 of the blood she needed from my right arm then it stopped giving blood. She then tried another vein on that arm, but it didn't give any blood. Finally she went to my left arm, but the vein was too small to find. By this point I was feeling really dizzy. I told her this, but I guess I blacked out for a second. They had to lay me down on a couch and fill out a report. I was embarrassed that I couldn't handle it. They didn't get all the blood they needed, but said it would be fine and sent me home. I think they were scared to try again.
So, I feel great but I hope they don't have me go give blood too many times. :)

First doctor's visit

We had our first doctor's visit yesterday. After the two hour wait, the appointment didn't take too long. As of now the due date is November 21st. We didn't find much else out. Rob got to go with me, so he got to meet the doctor. We both liked the doctor a lot, and feel like our baby will be in good hands. I'll post a pre-pregnant belly picture soon.

We're Having a Baby

We found out yesterday that we are to be parents. We are very excited and will update this site this imformation on how everything is going. I still have to go to the docter...actually I have to find one first. :)