The First 16 Weeks

I'll apologize now for the length of this entry... I have 16 weeks worth of information to catch up on. :)

Before we jump right in to Week 16, let's back up a little bit. I've been SOOO LUCKY in that I've had such an easy pregnancy so far. I had no nausea or sickness what so ever. WHEW! The worst part has been the exhaustion. There are some days that I get home from work, or after a long day of chores on the weekend, that I can barely function. To make the exhaustion worse, I have to get up and pee like a million times a night. (I guess this actually lends to me being tired in the mornings...)

After the infamous "pee on a stick" (like 3 times... I won't lie), we had to decide who to tell, and how to tell them. We decided to only tell the immediate family until we got the results of the first sonogram at 8 weeks. Our way wasn't overly creative, but it worked out for us. With each of our parents and Rusty's sister, we had them pose for a picture, and as we were preparing to snap away, we told them, so we could capture their first reaction on camera. It worked out, kind of. I think everyone was so shocked, and because of it, their reactions were extremely delayed in coming out. No doubt what we captured was great, though.

Our first sonogram was at 8 weeks. It was really neat to see, but weird at the same time. At this appointment we got to see our little bean for the first time, complete with heart beat. We were given a due date of May 30th based on the measurement of the little bean. Our doctor told us a few things to expect and so on.

At 12 weeks we went in for a genetic screening appointment. We got another sonogram. Going in to it, we were told the doctor would likely be able to make an accurate prediction of boy or girl. (This excited us, obviously.) The sonogram was so neat because we could actually see a baby... a head, a body, 2 arms and 2 legs. While we were in there, the baby was moving so much - it was so cool to see! One of the sonogram pictures actually captured the baby kicking it's legs up and it's arms extended. Because the baby was moving so much, the doctor couldn't get an accurate "read" of anything in the private regions... BOOO!

Immediately following the genetic screening, I had an appointment with my regular OB/GYN. (She's the best by the way... her name is Leslie...) She asked if the doctor was able to see anything, and we told her no. She told us we weren't scheduled for another sonogram until 20 weeks, but that if she wasn't busy when we came in at 16 weeks, she'd do a quick sonogram to see if we could tell anything. We're trying not to get our hopes up, but we really want to sneak a peek this week. :)

This brings us to current day. I've (approximately) entered my 16th week... that's 40% of my pregnancy. It's crazy to think I'm nearly half way through, but anyway... I get an email every week letting me know what's new, what's going on, what to expect, etc. This week, the email informed us that our little baby is about the size of an avocado. I was also informed that over the next few weeks the baby should nearly double in size, and that I could possibly start feeling the baby move...

We go to the doctor this coming Wednesday. As previously mentioned, if our doctor isn't busy, she might do a quick sonogram to find the sex of the baby. I don't want to wait 4 more weeks, but I guess we may have no choice. We're mostly ready to start doing some planning, finally. We are ready to start working on the nursery, but obviously need to know boy or girl...

We do have names picked out, for all those that are curious. If it's a girl, she'll be Caylee Marie. If it's a boy, he'll be Rylan Ray. As far as the first names, we've had them for longer than we've thought about having a baby.

When the time comes, hopefully naturally at the end of May :), we'll be delivering at Frisco Baylor. (Assuming everything goes according to plan, that is.) I've heard nothing but wonderful things about this hospital, and am so excited that we'll be delivering there.

We'll be sure to keep the updates coming, as we get new information. Also, below are a few pictures of my "progress" through these first 16 weeks. (One of the other OK things is I'm not gaining too much weight too quickly. I've only gained about 5 pounds, thus far. I'm pretty sure most of that is in my chest, but based on the pics, you can see some other growth, too.)

Here I am at 4 weeks:


Here I am at 8 weeks:


Here I am at 16 weeks:

The Holiday Season

I don't know what it is about the Holiday season, but I sometimes feel like a completely different person - almost like a child again, but with more compassion. :)

As we sit watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" I just think about why we're doing it. Because we want to? Maybe partly. Because we just have to? Absolutely. I can't imagine going a single Christmas season without seeing those staple shows/movies...

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
3. Frosty the Snowman
4. A Garfield Christmas
5. Home Alone 1
6. Home Alone 2
7. Elf
8. Christmas Vacation
9. White Christmas

I'm sure I left one or two off the list, but you get the idea. I will state, for the record, that I do NOT enjoy any of the old clay-mation shows like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It creeps me out. It's not natural.

Happy Holidays to all, and enjoy your holiday favorites!

TTFN

2 out of 4...

Roxie has successfully managed to injure herself. Not once, but twice. A leg each time, and a different leg at that.

For anyone that really knows me, you know that I'll laugh at most things before stopping to realize the severity of a situation. Not all of the time, but most of the time. I've been fortunate enough to never see truly terrible things, and have grown up with a goofy set of friends and family that allow laughter to come so easily. Not that any of this is an excuse, but still...

Last Sunday night, Rusty and I were on the way home from the grocery store and saw some storms to our east, so we hurried to get home and let Roxie out before they moved in. The lightening and thunder were pretty bad, but it never really rained here. Well, as Roxie and I were outside, and before she went potty, a bolt of lightening struck near by (I swear it was at the park/field area right behind our house). It scared me half to death, so you can only imagine how terrified poor little Roxie was. She took off running for the back door, only to run right smack into.

Of course my heart was sad for her being so scared, but I managed to get out a good chuckle before finally reaching her to calm her down. I picked her up to let her know it would be ok, as Rusty was coming outside to look for the cause of the commotion. I set her back down, and we noticed she was limping pretty badly and wouldn't put any weight on her back leg. Fortunately, it was nothing more than maybe a little puppy bruise (or maybe just a good jarring of her leg as she hit the door) but thankfully within 24 hours she started to use her leg fully again.

Four days later, Roxie was chasing after Satie (this is quite normal for them now, in case you are wondering) around the kitchen and entry hallway. (Our house is set up nicely for the animals/Rusty to chase each other in circles up the entry hallway, to the kitchen, back to the entry hallway, etc.) I was only halfway paying attention when I heard something strange, and then saw only Satie come trotting around the corner into the kitchen with Roxie nowhere in sight. I went around to find Roxie and sure enough she was just sitting there. Immediately I knew something wasn't right, because this is not in her nature. This time, I don't know what she did, but she did something to her front left leg. She didn't recover from this one quite as quickly, but she's working it out quite nicely and is resuming her normal regimen of Rusty/Satie chasing.

Hopefully we won't make it to 3 or 4 out of 4... I'd be happy with just the 2. Only time will tell.

The pup is doing wonderfully, though, other than that. She is in full puppy mode, which gets tiresome, but its also fun. We've learned the secret to really wearing her out is to take her over to my parents and let her and Belle play together for the day. She slept for almost a day and a half afterwards!!! It was great! :)

TTFN!

Roxie's Tail

Things I've learned from owning a dog:
1. Everything is edible
2. Sleep is a luxury
3. I'm not ready for children.

Roxie is the first puppy (or dog for that matter) that Rusty or I have ever owned. (Rusty claims his mom's old dog, Sugar, doesn't count because he said that dog hated everyone except his mom...) Needless to say, the last two weeks have definitely been an adventure for us.

We got her the Thursday before July 4th, so we had all day Friday through Sunday with her. She got to make her first visit to One Oak on that Saturday, as that is where we spent our 4th of July with a few friends. Our first weekend was surreal, in that we were both just having so much fun. The middle of the night poo breaks weren't that bad (we got to take naps during the day) and the daytime was fun because we got to play all of the time.

Then came Monday... that was when I realized (although deep down I always knew) that I require 8-9 hours of sleep a night. It's not an option. Period. As Rusty and I were trying to adjust to owning one dog, my dad calls and arranges picking up another pup from the same litter so he can surprise my mom with a puppy for their anniversary. Rusty and I picked her up and kept her for the longest 3 days of my life. The breeder we got them from said, "Having 2 puppies is no different than having 1." He seems like a nice guy. I trusted him, until we got home that is.

Everything that we worked with Roxie on for the 4 days prior to "the other one" joining us was undone by the unexpected arrival. (Not to mention, the cats were TICKED.) They were both always in a "pedal to the metal" mode when they were awake, which was very exhausting. The first night of having Belle I only got 3 hours of sleep. Please refer to the prior paragraph to understand why this was a problem. All in all, having both pups was an adventure, although I was happy when my parents came to pick her up. My mom was super surprised and loves her little Belle.

The afternoon after Belle left, Rusty, Roxie and I slept and laid around all afternoon. Of the three of us, I'm not sure who was the most tired. The next morning we started working with Roxie again to rid her of the bad habits her sister made her pick up. She does really good about not pooping in her kennel, which is a huge plus to me. I can deal with the pee. The poop, not so much. I've actually thrown up a little bit in my mouth from having to pick some up once. Not a fan... So not ready for kids.

Roxie is growing alarmingly fast, but she's so adorable. She's pretty good with the cats, although they aren't fond of her. She likes to chase them, but won't actually bug them. She knows where "home" is. On her walks, once around the block is enough for her. As soon as we get to the corner across the street, she plants her little bottom down and pulls her leash the direction of home. I try everytime but there is no fighting this. It's really annoying, but actually really cute.

The good news is that nothing valuable has been destroyed yet. She's found some "weak corners" of the carpet and has managed to pull those up. Everything else is going really well with her though. She knows how to sit, and she knows her name (when she wants to that is). Rusty and I adore her, and can't wait for you all to meet her and to share more "tails" with you.

Here are some pictures of her...

TTFN!

Ever herd of spel chek?

I will be the first to tell you I'm not the world's best when it comes to spelling, punctuation and even grammar. I do use my resources when it matters, though. That's more than I can say for some...

There is a CVS near our house (I know, it's a shocker...) and it has one of those LED advertisement signs where they promote their current specials. It has turned into a ritual that whenever I'm sitting at the light at that intersection, I always watch the ads as they come and go. (I sit at that light at least 5 times a week, so I have a fairly large sample...)

I can count at least 3 times from memory over the past 6-8 weeks that a word has been misspelled on the board. Seriously? We have several options to choose from here, so let's start using our resources. First, there is always spell check. I would find it hard to believe that there isn't a computer with some sort of word processing program that could run a spell check for you. Second, there are more than just two people that work there. Have a co-worker run through it. Third, find a dictionary. Yes, it seems old fashion, but hey - I bet you sell them...

The most recent word I found incorrectly spelled was "gratuation." I would think this one would be a no brainer because I can only imagine how many promotion and special items are all throughout the store, considering it's June and everyone is "gratuating" right now... **Sigh**

Oh well. I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go round. I'll keep you posted as I find more. :) It's like a scavenger hunt now for me.

TTFN!