"Love Man"

"Life is always a rich a steady time when you are waiting for something to happen, or to hatch."

-E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

I think this quote proves to be very true, although I think they should modify it to say, "During the second trimester, life is always a rich and steady time...". The first trimester, ehh. Rich, yes, steady, no. I was sick as a dog! I'm beginning to discover that there is truth to all the advice I got about how the symptoms that went away during your second trimester start to resurface during your third trimester, although they are different now. I think I would choose anything to throwing up 3 or 4 times a day though! Oh well, only two more weeks until my third trimester starts! Bring on the backaches!

This past week (Week 25), Colt and I bought a chest of drawers from Ikea for the nursery. We bought it on a Wednesday before church, and came home straight after to put it together. I was pretty impressed with how well it turned out, as neither one of us are born carpenters. Ha! During the final stages of putting the drawers in, I noticed some blood on my hand after wiping my nose. Turns out my nose was bleeding! I've heard this was a symptom of pregnancy, due to the increased amount of blood in your body, but I had never experienced this before. I didn't even get nose bleeds before I was pregnant. Of course, Colt and I got a good laugh out of my finishing the project with a bloody paper towel in my hand. Gross I know, but just reporting the facts. :) Anyway, it turned out great. I will post a picture for all of you non-Facebookers. The brownish paint is going to be the new color.

Thursday (the 15th) was the date of Colt's annual gig at his old high school. One of his former teachers who organizes the homecoming festivities calls him every year to ask him if he can get a band together and play for them. It always turns out to be a lot of fun! A bunch of the school clubs perform different skits, and the crowd judges the winners. Most of them are pretty lame, but every once in a while, you'll see a good one. I think its fun for Colt and the band, because the kids act like its a real rock show. As soon as they start to feel comfortable rockin' out in front of their teachers, they'll rush the stage and jump up and down to the music. This year it was Greg Ciampa on the drums, Warren Curry on bass, Danny Moody on guitar, and Colt on guitar and lead vocals. They sounded great! My friend Megan (Greg's wife), and I drove up to Ocala together, which made for a fun ride! For those of you that don't know she and Greg, they were married about a month before Colt and I, and have a sweet baby girl named Mia. Colt and I are in the process of arranging a marriage between Mia and Cash, as she is a very Godly, and stylish young lady. :) Its so nice to have friends with a baby that we can solicit for advice! While waiting for their show to start, Colt and I were sitting in the band room talking, and I felt my first kick to the ribs! It was actually more like he maneuvered a limb under my ribs because it was a constant pressure. It was painless, just uncomfortable and only lasted for a few minutes. It went away after I stood up. You'd think I would hate having that happen, but its kind of cool knowing how big the baby must be to be able to do that!

On Saturday afternoon we got to spend some time with the Venable side of my family. We all met at GiGi's Italian Restaurant in Pasadena, an old Venable haunt for years now. Our cousins, Eric and Mike were in town from Georgia, so we decided to get together and celebrate their arrival, as well as Uncle Clay's birthday! If you've never been to GiGi's, you must go. Order a pepperoni pizza and an antipasta salad. Tell them Aubree sent you. I'm just kidding, don't do that, they'll have no idea who you're talking about. HAHA! My mouth is watering just thinking about their pizza. We'll be back soon enough though as GiGi's is always my birthday restaurant of choice. GiGi's, Starbucks and a drive to look at Christmas lights is always my birthday wish!

Lately, we have been pretty lazy about playing music for the baby, so we decided to remedy this problem on Saturday night. I think we were up until about 4am playing with him! From what I can gather, he seems to be most active right around 3am on most nights. We started out with some of his favorite songs, "Love Man" by Otis Redding, "Return to Sender" by Elvis Presley, and "Bring It On Home to Me" by Sam Cooke. He loves "Love Man" so much, Colt has started refering to him as Cash "Love Man" Clark. As previously stated, he seems to really dig "60s Soul" music. "He's got the feelin', baby baby he's got the feelin'!" Haha! He seemed to really get into The Rolling Stones this time, and was movin' and shakin' to, "Start Me Up" and "Time Is On My Side". Hands down, his favorite song of this little experiment was "Shake a Tail Feather" covered by Ray Charles. He was all over the place during that one! At one point, he seemed to be kicking on beat. After a while, I started getting sleepy, so I told Colt to pick one more song, and then we'd go to sleep. He chose a song called, "Alright For Now" by Tom Petty. Its such a sweet song that could be about a baby, or a spouse. I love it. Colt had his arm on my belly, and the baby was very still during the whole song, but at the end, he kicked Colt's arm really hard. It was a nice way to end the day.

Week 25 was lovely. Its hard to believe that we only have 14 more weeks from today (26 week mark) until we reach the 40 week mark. Its cool to see my little pregnancy ticker in double digits! Keep those prayers going up! Thanks for reading!

24 Week Ultrasound

Colt and I went to our 24 week ultrasound (almost 25 weeks) at my Mom's office today and met with Jennifer, our ultrasound tech! We hadn't seen the baby in about a month, and couldn't believe how big he's gotten! She checked all of his major parts, including his stomach, bladder, kidneys, heart, brain, pancreas etc. He's running like a well oiled machine. Next she checked his heartbeat, and she said its still good and strong. She made sure that my placenta, uterus, and cervix were looking good as well. I'm so thankful that she's so thorough.

Now, on to the fun stuff. I'm happy to report he's still a boy. Ha! Our baby is not shy, and seems to enjoy showing his boy parts off. She measured his femur, which is how they determine how big he is measuring. From his femur measurements, he's at about 25 weeks, 5 days. I was 24 weeks 5 days at this appointment, so he's measuring exactly a week ahead of schedule. She measured his head which was about the same as the femur in weeks, but his belly was measuring at 26 weeks and a few days. :) He's a chunk. I love that about him. We got a few good views of his face in the office, but sadly, the pictures didn't turn out super clear. We got a really great picture of his nose and mouth, and she ruled out a cleft palate. I asked her if she could see any hair yet, still thinking it was a little bit to early. NOPE! She showed us his scalp, and said, "You see the fuzzy area...that's hair!" I'll post a picture of what she was showing us below. Its a picture of his head from the back, and his ear is on the left. Anyway, that was cool to see. Just as we were wrapping it up, we got another good view of his nose and mouth, and he started to eat! It was so neat to see his little mouth drinking the amniotic fluid. We've seen him move around before, but never something as "human" as eating. She said his little bladder was getting full and he'd probably be needing to go to the bathroom in a few minutes. That would have been cool to see! Haha!

So as of now, little baby Clark is measuring about a week ahead of schedule, and about a week and a half, ahead of schedule in his belly. He's weighing in at 1 pound 15 ounces, so almost 2 pounds! Jennifer (the ultrasound tech) said a lot of boys can go two to three weeks early, especially if they're big. I can't wait to see when he decides to make his entrance. Thanks for reading!

Picture of the back of his head (ear on the left). The fuzzy area around his scalp is hair!

Picture of his cheek, mouth and nose. His arm is covering the rest of his face on the right side of the picture (his left arm).

Profile shot

24 Week Doctors Appointment

TWO POSTS IN TWO DAYS! I probably should've just waited to write one really long post today, but oh well! As the title suggests, today I had my 24 week doctors appointment. It was pretty standard I suppose. All of the appointments start with a urine sample, weight check, and blood pressure check. After that I go and sit in the waiting room again, and wait for a room to open up. Today I got to bypass the wait, and Colt and I were called right back. My blood pressure was slightly elevated, as it has been creeping up the charts since I've been pregnant. I think I have relatively normal (maybe on the low side of normal) blood pressure when I'm not pregnant. My doctor says I'm still within the normal range at 136/84, but I think they start to worry when it reaches 140/90. Supposedly the diastolic (bottom) number is the most important. I started out with the diastolic somewhere in the 70s. Anyway, my doctor isn't worried, so I'm not worried.

I asked her several questions about the swine flu vaccination, which has been a subject of controversy lately. There are so many differing opinions on whether the vaccine is completely safe, if it causes long term effects, etc. My doctor says I should definitely get it when it comes out. I'm still collecting information, and I'm going to consult a few other physicians before I make any decisions. I have previously been staunchly opposed to getting the shot, but now I've got some thinking to do. There was a news release the other day about doctors who were frustrated with the huge following of people that are not getting the vaccine, and telling their friends that its not safe. They say that it isn't much different than the regular flu shot, and it has been studied, and perfected, and is now ready for use. We'll see. I'll let you know what I decide.

We talked a little bit about the Glucose Tolerance test that I'll get at my 28 week appointment. This will tell me how quickly glucose is cleared from my blood. This should also tell me whether or not I have gestational diabetes. I hear the best part is drinking the super sugary drink before hand. YUM! I keep joking with Colt that I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I have gestational diabetes, because our baby is ginormous! :)

After the questions, she felt for my uterus, which is supposed to be about 1.5 to 2 inches above my bellybutton. It was higher than that, but the doctor said that's normal as well. In fact, the baby has measured "farther along" at almost every appointment, and at almost every ultrasound. Maybe I'll deliver earlier? She hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor and said all is well with his little heartbeat! Its steadily been around 135 throughout the entire pregnancy!

All in all, it was a good appointment. I always look forward to my doctors appointments, although I leave almost every time thinking how uneventful it was. I guess its better to be uneventful than "eventful". Thanks for reading!!!


P.S. Did anyone see The Office wedding tonight? LOVED IT!

Week 22-23: Vero Vacation etc.

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I've become delinquent in my blog writing responsibilities. We've had a busy two weeks! Colt has been playing a lot lately and I've been running errands, or tagging along. I am 24 weeks today which means I'm officially 6 months pregnant! Time is just flying by.

Last week were were thankful to take a little mini-vacation. My parents own a time share in Vero Beach, FL. Its on the east coast of Florida, a little bit south of parallel to Tampa. We left last Sunday afternoon after church to head out there. The car ride is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, which was fine with us, because we had time to listen to music and comedy routines on Colt's IPOD, and talk. We always say that you could put the two of us in an empty room with plain white walls, and we would still entertain each other for hours. We got there around 6:30 in the evening, and had time to drop our stuff off, check out the condo, and go grab some dinner. After dinner it was about 8:30-9:00, and we were surprised that there were almost no cars on the street. This became a recurring joke throughout the remainder of the trip. When we got back to the condo that night we were so tired! Colt fell asleep around 11pm, but I can never go to sleep that early. As I laid in bed, watching TV, the baby started to become VERY active. He was kicking so hard almost the entire night long. Usually I'll feel a kick here and a kick there, but he kicked so many times consecutively, and never seemed to tire! I was up until 3am with him having a little dance party inside my belly. The next day we started a routine that continued throughout the rest of the trip. Everyday we'd wake up around 11 or 12, put on our bathing suits and sunscreen, grab our beach blanket and head down to the beach for about an hour (or however long Colt could sit still). We enjoyed the "big" waves over there because its the Atlantic Ocean, and not the Gulf. My concerned mom would remind us everyday that there were Great White sharks and we should stay out of the water, or at least near the shoreline. She's so cute! One year, my dad actually almost caught a smaller shark near the shoreline with his bare hands during one of their vacations to Vero, so they must be out there somewhere. Colt and I had a great time going in the water though. The waves are definitely bigger over there. On one occasion, Colt and I were out past the point where the waves break hard, and we could just jump over an oncoming wave, instead of getting caught up in the surf. I was teasing him saying that I was going to body surf into shore (obviously a bad idea since I'm pregnant). As I jumped to escape the oncoming tsunami, I got caught up in it somehow, and my head went under. I was drug into shore underwater! I've learned from growing up near the beach, that if you get caught up in a wave, the best thing to do is not fight it. Just let it carry you in, and when you feel the water pressure letting up, just stand. The time I was underwater is obviously a blur, but I do remember putting my hands down, and opening my eyes to make sure I was far enough away from the sand that I didn't bump my belly. When I stood up, I had so much water up my nose, and my hair was everywhere. I was a little bit disoriented, but I started to look around for Colt. I spotted him where we had been standing, and he was laughing hysterically! "You look like Big Ern!" HAHA! I was laughing so hard. Of course later he asked if I was ok, but I think the initial laugh was exactly what I needed. In case you were wondering, this is a picture of Big Ern...


We spent the rest of the week going to the beach, shopping, and going to see a couple movies. The theatre there had a weekday rate of $4.75 per person! Colt had to play on Thursday, so we headed home on Wednesday night. It was a lovely little break from our normal routine!

On to the pregnancy happenings! These past two weeks have rendered many new "surprises". Last week Colt noticed that I'm starting to get the "linea nigra" or the pigmented line that runs vertically down the abdomen. Right now its very light, but its definitely there. Its funny how some things that aren't necessarily flattering about pregnancy, can be exciting once they start to surface. I can remember seeing some of my family members with this "pregnancy line", and thinking, "They're far along into their pregnancy now!" I'm also getting a little bit of the pregnancy mask. I've noticed a few dark spots under my eyes that weren't there before. My mom said she had a little bit of the pregnancy mask with me, but it faded soon after she had me. It doesn't really bother me, it just looks like a weird tan.

Another not so fun side effect of pregnancy is charley horses. One of my favorite things to do in the morning when I wake up is stretch out my legs and flex my calf muscles to stretch them out before I get out of bed. One day last week when I woke up, I started to stretch, and got a horrible charley horse in my right foot and calf. I had to JUMP out of bed and walk on it, and it went away. Every morning since then, when I do my "morning stretch" I have to be very careful how far I stretch the muscles because I can feel a charley horse threatening! Now that I've learned how to avoid them, they aren't a problem. The baby sleeping on my sciatic nerve on the other hand is completely unavoidable, and not fun. I had a numb leg for several hours the other night.

My dreams have always been fairly vivid, when I can remember them. Since I have been pregnant, it seems that I have very vivid dreams every night, and I can almost always remember them! I have had several dreams about the baby, and even when I don't dream about the baby, I am always pregnant in my dreams. I've had dreams where the baby can talk, dreams where the baby has had a lot of brown hair, dreams where he's had very little blond hair, and a dream where he was born on January 20th, a week before my due date. I can't wait to put all of these dreams to rest, and get to see what he looks like, and his personality for myself!

Lately, Colt and I have been taking long walks everyday. Its so weird gaining weight when you're pregnant. Its a complete 180 from what you've been accustomed to your whole life. When you're not pregnant and you gain a few pounds, you workout and eat better and lose the weight. When you're pregnant, you aren't supposed to lose the weight! Walking at least helps me feel like I'm doing something productive to manage my weight gain. If I can't be thin, at least I can be toned! Haha! I'm still right on target with how much I'm supposed to have gained by now, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Most of the time, six months pregnant feels great! I can still do everything I could do before (although shaving my legs is slowly becoming more of a task). The only time six months pregnant doesn't feel great is after dinner! I go to a website called babycenter.com frequently to read the message boards and talk with other soon-to-be mothers who are in the same week that I am. I mentioned this problem of feeling extremely bloated, and mostly just FULL after dinner, to see if anyone else was feeling the same way. I was amazed by the response! There were so many women who are feeling just like me! Some of them asked their doctors what they can do to combat that feeling of "extreme fullness", and the advice was just to eat several small meals throughout the day. Supposedly we can't eat like we used to be able to because there isn't so much room for our stomachs to expand anymore. Its horrible because I get a backache, its uncomfortable to move around a lot, and its almost harder to breathe! Thankfully, its only after eating dinner, and not all the time. I'm going to start eating a small dinner around dinner time, and another small dinner later in the night so I can be full, but not FULL!

I have some important dates coming up! I have my 24 week doctor appointment tomorrow, and another ultrasound on the 12th! I don't know whether they are going to do my glucose tolerance test at the 24 week appointment or my 28 week appointment, but that's coming up soon also. I'm also trying to coordinate some time with my sister so she can take my pregnancy pictures. I might end up setting the camera timer and taking a few myself, but we'll see. I've got some really cool, artsy ideas for them, so stay tuned!!! Thanks for reading!

Week 21 Happenings

Where did the last two weeks go?!? Its hard to imagine that I'm more than half way done with this pregnancy at this point. It seems like yesterday I was so excited about hitting the 20 week mark. The weeks are really starting to fly by. I'm told this stops at about 30 weeks, and the last 10 are a killer. Something to look forward to. :) Colt and I were in the car yesterday and a thought occurred to me. I have 18 weeks left until I hit the 40 week mark! When I think about it in terms of weeks, it doesn't seem like a lot, but when I remember that I have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years still to get through, it starts to feel far away again. Anyway, we're getting excited!

Recently, the baby has decided that he's ready to let everyone in on our little secret. For the longest time, he would kick and kick at me, but as soon as someone would try to feel it, he would stay very still and hide. Colt had felt some small movements, and my mom felt a little nudge about a week or two ago, but definitely not on a consistent basis. This week, he has been practicing his Billy Blanks video, Tae Bo: In Utero. On Sunday night we met my grandparents at Village Inn for some dessert, and to celebrate my Grandpa Sal's birthday. As we were leaving, Grandma Dee asked if she could feel my belly and he decided she was "kick worthy"! Later that night, we went to my parents house to hang out for a little while before going home, and my dad, sister and mom got to feel him! Check, check, check. Now we need to get Brian Jr., Sharon and Buddy in on this action. Also, he seems to be nocturnal! This is great news, as Colt and I have been called vampires by more than one family member in reference to our sleep schedules. Typically we go to sleep between 3am and 5am, and wake up around 11am or 12pm. The baby seems to like our rock star lifestyle. He kicks hardest between the hours of 10pm and 5am. Its pretty cool, because you can see my belly move when he kicks now. Colt says it looks like a muscle spasm.

We got our first educational baby gift last Sunday night! Grandpa Sal & Grandma Dee bought the baby the, "Your Baby Can Read" program. If you've never seen the commercials for this product, I suggest you look it up on YouTube. Its AMAZING! When you open the box, you see a series of books, flashcards, and videos. Basically the idea is, you work with your baby each day using the books, flashcards and videos, teaching them different words. Even if they aren't old enough to speak, many times they come to an understanding of a word, even if they can't use it yet. On some of the YouTube videos, parents were working with their babies (some of whom looked like they were just starting to sit up on their own), and they would show them the word "nose", and the baby would point to their nose. So cool! I can't wait to start using it. He'll be the smartest whipper snapper in his class. :)

Did I mention in my last post that I had finished registering? I can't remember. Well, I did. I'm still debating whether or not to add a few items to the list though. I feel like I should mention something about the elusive Target Baby Registry bag. Its not a myth! I don't think I mentioned this, but I registered for my Target registry online. I knew that with our wedding registry, we got a bag of goodies with coupons, registering tips, and a checklist of the things we needed. I also knew they offered the same kind of thing for a baby registry, and more than anything else, I really wanted the list of what to register for. When I went to the counter to pick up the freebie bag at my local Target they explained that they were out of them. She said they go pretty fast after they arrive in store. A few days later I went to another Target in my area, and they said the same thing. They got about 200 bags in stock, and they were gone within a few hours! On my third try at yet another Target, they told me the same thing! I was getting curious. What could be in this bag? I was picturing a treasure trove of baby related splendors. Well I finally got one, after having to call another Target in my area, and have them put one on hold. Ridiculous! The worst part was, there wasn't even anything really outstanding inside! There were a few diaper samples, but I already knew what brand I wanted to go with. One cool thing was a gift card for $20 off Shutterfly birth announcements. I guess it was worth it for that.

Colt and I went to the beach yesterday (21 weeks, 6 days). Its kind of fun to watch people wondering if you're pregnant or just fat. I've gotten in the habit of touching my belly whenever I get one of these funny looks, as a kind of friendly clue.

Other than that, I have been busy with editing wedding pictures from the Dickey/Murphy wedding, as well as editing family pictures from my Ohio trip. I've been a busy girl. Colt and I are going to Vero Beach starting Sunday after church, and we'll be gone through Thursday afternoon. We are really looking forward to the vacation. My parents have a time share there, and they always have a great time when they go. When we get back, we're going to get serious about working on the nursery. I have some potential paint colors picked out, but we have to finalize a selection, as well as prime the bedroom! Ugh! I hate painting. On the bright side, I'm not supposed to paint since I'm pregnant! I'll probably make dinner (order pizza) for the painters. :)

My next ultrasound is on October 12th, so watch for more pictures! Thanks for reading!!!

OH-IO

Week 19 started off with a fun new activity for the baby. On Thursday (September 3rd) we put headphones on my belly, and Colt controlled a mini-concert on his IPOD. Colt played some Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and James Brown, and he was moving around a little bit, but no karate kicks. Then Colt put on some Elvis...he went CRAZY! He was kicking so hard, first low on my right side, then really close to my belly button on my left side! We've determined that his favorite song is, "Return to Sender" by Elvis Presley. Not my personal favorite, but to each his own. He also really likes Johnny Cash, (his namesake), and of course, his dear ol' dad, Colt Clark.

We also continued the registration process in week 19. This became way more fun after the "research" was done. I think I've gone with Graco for every "big" purchase. We registered for a Graco pack-n-play, travel system, changing table, and convertible car seat. They seem to have consistently good ratings online, as well as good reviews through word of mouth. Sweet Colt has gone with me for every registering trip! The last time we were at Target, I was looking at pacifiers, and he tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a plastic duck head wearing a fireman's outfit. It fits over the bathtub faucet so that the baby won't hit his head on the metal when taking a bath. Colt loved it, and it was the only thing HE wanted to register for, which of course, I thought was the sweetest thing ever. So rest assured, our baby's head will be well protected during bath time! Another exciting piece of registration news this week was a surprise delivery to our front door. I was reviewing my registry online last week, at which point I had only registered for the travel system, and discovered to my amazement that it had already been purchased. This was shocking because the shower invitations haven't even been sent out yet! I started secretly investigating all of my grandmothers because it was a pretty expensive gift. At about noon our doorbell rang, and there was a large Graco box sitting on my doorstep. IT WAS THE TRAVEL SYSTEM! The return address...my cousin Jason! We were floored! First of all, it was a very expensive gift, especially for a guy that wouldn't have been invited to the "all female invitee" baby shower to buy! Not to mention the fact that he had been gone for several days on his way to Iraq again. When I got ahold of him, he was in Kuwait, waiting to go to Iraq. It was so sweet of him to buy that gift for us. I will always think of him as I stroll around town with the baby. :) Of course, I wanted to open the box and assemble my new gift (or the baby's new gift...whatever) immediately. Colt wanted me to wait until his band practice was over. As he was leaving to go swim laps at his parents' house, I asked him if I could open the box. I don't think he had very much faith in me to be able to assemble it all by myself, but sure enough, it was assembled by the time he got home. He was pleasantly surprised. A few days later, my Aunt Penny was in town, and wanted to buy us our second registry gift, so she didn't have to ship it down for the shower. THE PACK-N-PLAY! Its the same collection as the travel system, Graco's "Hamilton". Once again, I assembled that when Colt was working out. Both Colt and I agreed, its so surreal seeing these things in his room, knowing that, Lord willing, he'll be physically laying in them one day. Anyway, at this point, we have all of the "big" things registered for, mostly at Babies-R-Us (some stuff at Target), and will continue to add a few more things to the lists.

This week (week 20), marked our first doctor's office ultrasound. My mom has been at all of our ultrasounds because they are done in her office, by her friend Jennifer, so we invited Sharon (Colt's mom) to come to this one, since it was in Tampa, and closer to her area. We were both really happy she could come! The ultrasound tech, Kitty, really took a lot of time with us. She measured all of his parts, and checked all of his organs to make sure everything was working correctly. She sure knew how to make a new mother feel good. She referred to his brain as "perfect", his kidneys were "looking wonderful", and his four-chambered heart was "perfect" as well. :) We told her that we found out at 14 weeks that it was a boy, and it was confirmed at 18 weeks, but we wanted to make sure she concurred. As soon as we got a good shot between his legs, she said, "Oh yes, most definitely (she giggled) . I'm certain that's a little boy." Then she began to measure his legs, arms, head, belly etc. Apparently little man has got a bit of a gut. He was measuring at about 20 weeks, 5 days (I was 20 weeks, 1 day at the time) everywhere, but in the belly he was measuring at 21 weeks, 5 days. I asked her if that meant he was going to be a big baby, as we had heard that before from our regular ultrasound tech. She said usually she doesn't comment on a baby's potential size at 20 weeks, but in this case, "If he is measuring a week and a half ahead of schedule at 20 weeks, he is going to be a pretty big baby most likely." This is good news to me, as I LOVE a chubby baby! Ask me how I feel about this after actually having to "birth" him. We'll see! :) Another interesting note was that he loves to move his fingers and toes around. He seemed to be stretching them, or wiggling them throughout the whole ultrasound. The tech said she normally doesn't get that clear of a picture of fingers and toes because they're so thin and small, but she said she could see his very clearly, and that he was really doing well with moving them around. She said that this is a good sign because its an indication of good fetal tone (still don't really know what that means, but it sounds positive). She asked if we wanted to do a little bit of the 3D ultrasound FOR FREE! I think name dropping that my cousin Lauren was a labor and delivery nurse at UCH (where all of the doctors in my office work) was a good idea! :) We tried to get a good picture of his face, but he insisted on resting his arms on his head, like a celebrity hiding from the paparazzi. We got a few sneak previews of his face, but nothing super clear. Also, the 3D images are time lapsed, so his head looks a little bit distorted. It would be like if someone took a picture of you walking, and the picture took a while to capture, and you continued walking, there would be a streak across the photo from where you had started walking and where you ended up. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, that's why his head seems deformed in some of the pictures, but she assured me that he's "beautiful" (yes, she actually said that...so sweet...I love Kitty!). I also got a flu shot at this doctor's appointment...just in case. So that's the report...I have a healthy, fat little baby growing inside my belly, who is kicking harder and harder each day.

We went to Ohio this weekend for a family reunion of sorts. It was so nice to see the family. We had a great time enjoying fall weather (mid 70s during the day, 50s at night). We got to spend some time at my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Katie's home in Delaware, OH and they have the coolest house. Its a century home, that boasts a garden with raspberries, cherry tomatoes, etc., a fire pit, and a beautiful view of a river. Katie made our dessert that night with the raspberries from her garden. I wish I had the patience for a garden. I wish I knew how to cook cool stuff. Haha! I also got to meet my new cousin Reese, Uncle Todd and Aunt Jillian's new baby. Its funny for me to write Uncle and Aunt before all of their names because I don't call them Uncle or Aunt. This is mainly because Scott & Crystal, my dad's younger brother and his wife are still in their early 3os, Kevin and Katie, my dad's second younger brother is 30ish (Katie is 28 I think), and Todd and Jillian, my dad's youngest brother and his wife, are 27ish (Colt's age). Haha! I always felt like we grew up together, even though they are several years older than I, and they lived in Ohio. Anyway, I was really excited to meet baby Reese. She is only 6 months older than our baby, so it will be fun to watch them together as they get older. My other little cousins, Jackson, "little" Jillian, and Joshie (Scott and Crystal's kids) are always fun to be around too. It was a whirlwind trip, leaving for Ohio on Friday, and coming back Sunday morning, but it was a fun weekend getaway. Coincidentally, one of the OB's in my doctor's office, Dr. Jennifer Sanchez, was sitting right in front of me on the flight on the way back to Tampa from Ohio! Small world.

I better go now, I think this post is insanely long. I am now at 20 weeks, 5 days, so week 21 is creeping up on me. I love how fast time is flying! I have started to get a little bit of a backache this week, and I've been feeling unusually bloated, so its back to the gym I go! I got my first two pairs of maternity jeans at Old Navy about two weeks ago (week 17 or 18), and they are not only stylish, but comfortable, not to mention 50% off for some reason. You can't beat two pairs of maternity jeans for $12.50 each! As I type, the baby is kicking me pretty hard...it must be time for lunch. Thanks for reading!

Registration Frustration

Well lets see...nothing really "new" to report. We didn't have any ultrasounds or doctor appointments this week, so no new baby news to report. I think he's just having fun, squished up inside me. I think I've felt him kick a few times this week, but I'm looking forward to him getting bigger, and feeling him more often. Stupid "anterior placenta"! As I'm writing this, I'm daydreaming of a large frozen lemonade...wish I had one...YUM!!! Ok, back to the point.

My Grandma Jan is in town this week staying at my parents house, dog sitting while Mama and Daddy roam the western half of this great country. I would say she was babysitting too, but when the "children" are almost 18 and 21, its not really baby, or child sitting at that point. We always enjoy when she comes to town though! She's also a great resource of knowledge for me, as she has had 4 boys! I would love to have a girl someday, but I also think its great to see a child, with a sibling(s) of the same gender. I really can't see myself having any preference whatsoever, for the gender of the next child, which is a good thing because I'd be thrilled to have a girl (something new and different) or a boy (same sex sibling). Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself though...I should take this one child at a time. :) Sometimes I feel bad for my brother, as the only male child in my family, but when I think about how much Emilee and I adore him, maybe its not such a bad position to be in. Grandma Jan brought a big bag of baby boy clothes down with her from a really cute children's consignment shop in Ohio. I got some really cute khaki dress pants, blue jeans, an adidas outfit, and a bunch of cute onesies, and pajamas! I just love baby clothes!

Another new venture this week has been the beginning of the registration process...both FUN and STRESSFUL! Fun, for the obvious reasons, but stressful because of all the research that goes into choosing the right model of stroller, highchair, pack-n-play, carseat etc. etc. etc. I'm also trying to take into consideration price range. I don't want to register for something that's cheap and junky, but I also don't want to register for something that costs a million dollars. I'm trying to keep it very middle of the road price wise, with good online ratings. I never thought that I would be the kind of person that worried about ratings, and safety stuff, but I guess its a different ball game when its your own kid. I have to say though, I still think there are some people that go WAY overboard when it comes to safety. I've read and heard so many things about "what not to do", and what can be harmful to the baby that it can make your head spin! Sorry, but I don't plan on bubble wrapping my kid to get him safely to the grocery store. This opinion is subject to change after I hold him for the first time. :) Anyway, as of now, I have successfully registered for a pack-n-play, and a travel system. Colt and I went to Babies-R-Us the other day to make sure they looked the same in the store as they did online, and they did. It was really cool watching him push the travel system around the store. We talked about it later, and he said the same thing about me. Its so weird to think that there will be a child, a live, human child that looks like us, living in our house and riding in that stroller in 4 months. I guess watching him push the stroller brought it into reality. He will be such a great father.

Well that's it for now. I started my 19th week today. I go to the doctor's office next week for a full anatomy ultrasound, as well as my "half-way" appointment. Prayers are always welcome! :) Thanks for reading!