Thursday's Baby Update

I haven't been feeling too hot so I didn't post on Thursday after my appointment. Evan is currently 2 lbs 1 oz and in the 64% precentile for growth at 25 weeks and 4 days. I have to watch that. I am up to 11 lbs total, which shocked me because I put on the last 4-5 lbs in one week. I guess the weight gain is starting now! My blood pressure was also running a little high on the systolic side. The doctor wasn't concerned but I was. It did come back down before I left. I started doing some walking in the evening Thursday to help keep my blood pressure in a good place. We'll be 26 weeks tomorrow! Time is flying by.

Never Take a Self-Portrait

Well here you go! This is what I look like today, at 25 weeks and 2 days. I don't have makeup on but I did try and brush my hair and wear something decent as I tried to take a picture of my baby belly. I was determined not to take the picture with me holding the camera in my face where all you would see was my stomach. I had to find tall pieces of furniture but I got one decent picture. The pictures always make you look fatter too! Maybe I've eaten a lot this week? I will get another weight check on Thursday when I go for my ultrasound. Don't be too critical, it's all I could manage to do. :)

Another Great Baby Find

I have been obsessed with finding an exersaucer lately. I know Evan won't even use it until at least 3-4 months after he's born but I wanted to get one so bad. I wanted a used one even more since they are so expensive new. Last night I was on Craig's List and found one. It is in excellent condition and I only paid $25. I went to pick it up in Marietta today. It took me about 45 minutes back and forth from work but it was well worth it. I've already cleaned it up some, just to put it in storage. I'm very excited!

Nice Surprises!

I went to the OB/GYN this morning and everything went well. I've only gained about 3 or 4 more pounds so I'm up 7 total. I think it is actually only 6 pounds because I didn't take my boots off this morning when I weighed. I'll check again next week with I go to the perinatologist. Evan's heartbeat sounded good on the doppler too. The doctor moved my appointments from 4 weeks from today until 3, so that I will see a doctor every 2 weeks until I hit the magical 32 weeks, when I get to go twice a week until Evan arrives.

When I arrived home today, I received the wonderful Rachael Ray oval saute pan that you see pictured above. Mike went to Linens and Things and bought it for me because I mentioned that I wanted that pan in particular and because they didn't have the entire 10 piece set. The 10 piece set doesn't include an oval saute pan (just a round one), so this was a nice treat. I was completely surprised, and especially impressed that he used a coupon! At least I have taught him one of my crazy coupon habits.

Katy, Mike's sister, arrives tomorrow. We are going to the Baby Faire at the Galleria on Saturday. I'm excited about going and that she is coming to visit us for a few days. I'll try to take a picture of her and me, and not just one of my new saute pan.

Rachael Ray

I am totally obsessed with Rachael Ray, but I can't stand to watch her on TV. I'm weird, I know! I have Tivo'ed her daytime show and the first one was so annoying that I only made it through half. I am going to try and watch some more when I get bored. I can watch her 30 Minute Meals and Tasty Travels shows but after 30 minutes, I want to beat myself silly because I find her so irritating. With all this said, I have every one of her cookbooks, one of her Furi knives, a subscription to her magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and now I want the new set of the Rachael Ray hard anodized cookware with the funky orange handles. I am trying to figure out the best way to save money on it though. I think I can use a Linens and Things coupon on it! I also think I might get the set for Christmas.

Keep in mind, Mike does MOST ALL of the cooking. I think my obsession with the 30 minute meals cookbooks is because I have little or no talent in cooking. I can bake you a wonderfuly tasty cake but that's about the extent of it. My brother, Jerry, tells me that I have bland taste though, because I'm diabetic, so that must be why I can't cook. I don't have the taste for seasonings and sauces.

Evan is helping me find my sweet tooth these last few days though, so maybe after pregnancy, I might get a little kitchen talent since I have expanded my diet with sugary things. I can't get enough chocolate! I have an appointment with the regular OB/GYN tomorrow. I can't wait to see how much weight I've gained. I don't think it's that much and my blood sugar is in control (even with the chocolate) so everything should be fine.

6 Months!

Today, we are at 6 months of a pretty good pregnancy. I have no previous experience but I've been very lucky to not have had many of the horrible side effects I have heard and read about. I didn't have morning sickness at all and didn't have to rush to the bathroom every 5 minutes, until recently. Evan moves a lot now and I'm finally showing. It's kind of thrilling. Mike was able to feel Evan kick just the other day, which elicited a smile! I go to the regular OB doctor on Thursday to hear the heartbeat and measurements and next Thursday is another ultrasound.

Our next project is to re-paint Mike's old toy box. We are thinking about painting it into a firestation or a firetruck. It is rectangular and both long sides open on the top (hard to describe). Mike's dad made him the toy box when he was younger. Our progress might be slow so it will be a while for the pictures.

No More Vacations!

Vacation time is over. I am quickly approaching my 24th week so I guess I'll stay put near home for a while. There will be plenty of things to do around here, luckily. This weekend we are going on our maternity tour at Northside and then we have a wedding to attend in Monticello for our friends Shaye and Raymond. Next weekend is the Baby Faire at The Galleria and next weekend, the weddings start back up at church. Since I can't give my Lead Wedding Coordinator job away at church (I already tried to quit once), I am still the go to person to schedule altar servers and people on the guild to help. I enjoy it for the most part, until the weddings stack up!

Our trip to Minneapolis was alright. When we got there, it was chilly and rainy. I think we brought the weather back with us too! We are the worst at taking pictures so I have none. We will be better with pictures when Evan arrives. I hope everyone else's weekend went well.

One Last Long Trip

We leave again in the morning for Minneapolis, MN. I am going to work Sunday through Tuesday and Mike is going because I got an airfare deal and I will feel better with him there. I'm afraid I might get stuck with messing with heavy things since our work exhibit is huge and heavy. I should be more trusting of the other people going with me, but I'm not. I guess I've been the only one working at these insurance shows before! This will probably be our last big trip before Evan arrives. I'm not looking forward to airport security hassels with my insulin but it's probably not as bad as I imagine it to be. I hope the silent people that read this blog, and Andrea and Katie who actually comment, have a good weekend!

Our Typical Dinner

Baxter and Romeo waiting for their share

This is the picture we get to look at every night that Mike's home from work and we eat at the dinner table. Both Baxter and Romeo sit patiently and wait to see if we are going to share with them. Tonight was no exception with our feast of Publix chicken. Mike did share some with them since we are leaving again on Saturday for Minneapolis. I am attending a work conference and Mike gets another small vacation for 4 days.

Our Vacation

Sunset in Tampa 9/5/06 (from a moving car)

We started our vacation on Sunday and drove to Valdosta to see Katy and Derrick. We went to lunch at Mellow Mushroom and visited. After lunch, we drove the additional 4 hours south to Venice, Florida. We stayed in Venice with our friends Erin and Brent (from Dallas, TX), Erin's parents and their 3 month old baby, Alannah. We had a good time visiting. We couldn't go to the beach because of red tide but Erin's parent's house has a screened in pool so we were able to get some swimming in there.

We left Venice on Tuesday evening, after some shopping at the nearby outlet mall. We were going to stop and stay with Katy and Derrick but Mike got a phone call on the way home to take a flight (his second job is being a paramedic on medical flights). We decided to take a detour into Tampa and visit Landry's, a resturant that we went to almost 2 years ago before we went on our honeymoon cruise. It was a very nice dinner during sunset on our 2 year anniversary. Afterwards, we drove home and arrived here just after 3:00 AM.

Today, our neighbor brought us over a ton of boy clothes and I did some Goodwill shopping while in Florida so I don't need any more baby clothes!

I hope everyone else had a good Labor Day Holiday Weekend!

Packing Procrastination

I am the biggest procrastinator when it comes to packing to leave on a trip. I have done everything else today so that I didn't have to pack. Now, at 11:23 PM, I finally have to get some packing done or else I'll be up all night. That won't work either since I'm not a morning person, and I have to drive in the morning. Today I went to Macy's, again, home a few hours, church, then back to Ross and finally home to wash clothes and eventually, pack. I hope everyone has a good Labor Day holiday. I'll post something on Wednesday when we return home.

Labor Day Weekend!

I can't believe vacation is almost here! It took forever for this week to end. I had issues with a coworker all week and it was torture to get to this day. That's how it goes working with women, someone's always moody and I know I'm guilty many times too. We don't get to leave until Sunday morning when Mike gets off of work but it will be worth it. We will make a stop in Valdosta to see Katy and Derrick then head to Venice, FL. Tuesday evening, on our 2nd anniversary, we will drive back to Valdosta and crash there, if we get the okay with Katy and Derrick! I figure Mike won't be as tired of me going to the restroom every 30 minutes if we only do 4 hours of driving Tuesday and then 4 hours home on Wednesday.

My sister-in-law Heather wrote me to let me know that her and Elena are doing good. Elena was born 8/30/06 at 6:23 AM (Texas time) and weighed 7 lbs 5 oz, 20.5 inches long.

I'm sure I'll find something to blog about in my boredom tomorrow as I was clothes and clean the house. By the way, Macy's is having a good children's sale. Broke me, of course, couldn't resist just a little something on the Macy's card.