24 weeks and counting...

Greetings from snow covered Michigan...again. I'm getting kinda tired of the white stuff. Yes, I do still think its pretty when everything is clean and white. However, I am over driving in it and paying someone to shovel it. Normally Rick or I would do it our self, but there is this guy in our neighborhood that snowblows it before we get a chance. While it is a nice gesture he doesn't ask us before he does it and he expects to be paid. Needless to say this snow is getting expensive. I heard the other day that the average snowfall we have by this time of year is 55 inches and we have had 80+ inches to date. It has been a very very showy winter. I am going to need it to stop pretty soon because my winter coat is getting tighter and tighter and there is NO WAY I am going to buy a new coat to finish out the winter.

Yesterday I had a visit with my OB. It went very well. My blood pressure was up a little the first time they took it. However to doctor took it the second time with a bigger cuff and it was much better. She was impressed that I have only gained 10lbs during the pregnancy. She told me that before my next visit I have to get my glucose test done and get my blood drawn for my RhoGam injection. Oh how I love needles! She also told me that my next visit will be my last monthly visit and after that I will start going every 2 weeks. That kinda freaked me out a little. Time is flying by and now I have a little panic that I won't be ready. We still have a long way to go to get Aiden's room ready. I know it will get done, I just had a brief moment of panic. Otherwise things are going well and Aiden continues to be very active and have a great sounding heartbeat! His heart rate was 152. That is still such an amazing sound! I could listen to it all day!

22 weeks and counting...

So it has been a long time. I've been a busy girl with no time to blog. Since I was here last we had a fabulous vacation in Florida. My sister Tracey was married on the beach on Dec. 30 in one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever seen. It couldn't have been a more perfect day. Here is a few photos of our vacation and the beautiful day!

Tabby's First time at the ocean...she LOVED it!

Collecting Shells with Uncle Rob, Aunt Carmen and Daddy.

We got to go on a dolphin cruise. They performed nicely for us. Never seen them in the wild before. It was pretty amazing. Just like sea world only cooler.

Rick and Tabby's awesome sand castle.

One last picture on the beach.

The view from our porch. Boy am I going to miss it!

Tabby twirling on the beach before the wedding.

Tracey's vision. It was beautiful and exactly what she wanted.

Dad and Tracey walking down the aisle.

Tracy and David Farmer!

My family on the beach...Dad, Mom, Tabby, Rob, Carmen, Me and Rick (and the two babies inside)


One of our Famous pointing pictures. No, we are not pointing at anything in particular.

Now on to the other object of this blog. My pregnancy. We have made it to 22 weeks and with each passing day I get more and more excited. I can't wait to meet our baby. We found out two weeks ago that it is a He! His name is going to be Aiden James. I have finally allowed myself to buy some clothes. Clothes covered in trucks and ferocious animals. We have put the baby furniture on layaway and I can't wait to put it in his room. I can't wait to paint and do all of the other nesting things. We are extremely excited and I can't wait to meet him. I love him with my whole heart already and I love feeling every movement he makes inside me. Here is a picture of me at 20 weeks. I feel so huge already. I'm a little afraid of what I am going to look like at 30 weeks or 40 weeks for that matter. I guess it doesn't matter as long as he is healthy. From what they could see on the ultrasound he looks healthy and has all his parts in all the right places. I can hardly wait to hold him and count his fingers and toes for real.

I'm still here...

I know it has been a long time since I've written anything here. I don't have an awesome excuse other than I have been busy. I've been working as much overtime as I can tolerate so we have some extra cash when the little one arrives. Things in this neck of the woods have been pretty normal. It's been snowing here like crazy. I haven't seen this much snow before Christmas in a long time. It's nice, even if it is a little more challenging to drive in.

On the baby front, we went to the doctor today. We met Dr. Lomax for the first time. He's pretty interesting to say the least. Let's just say he walked into the room with a pink lab coat on. Hmmm...No he was alright. He answered our questions and was able to find the baby's heartbeat. The heart rate was 156. He also said I was measuring big for my dates. He asked me if I was sure about the dates and I assured him that I was relatively certain of the dates since we did artificial insemination. We scheduled our ultrasound for January 12. Hopefully (if the baby cooperates) we will know whether we are having a boy or a girl. My brother Rob and his wife Carmen weren't so lucky. They had the ultrasound last week and the baby was lying on its belly in Carmen's belly and they were unable to coax it into turning over so they still don't know what they are having. However the baby looked healthy and was moving all over the place. It was very fun the listen to my baby brother describe that experience!

We went to Tabby's Christmas program last week and I will post some pictures of that soon. It was a great program. Mackinaw Schools do a great job with the program. We have thoroughly enjoyed the two programs we have attended.

Well I must sign off for now as it is nearing my bed time, especially since I have to work tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to me...

Yesterday was my birthday and I love my birthday with my whole heart! It has nothing to do with ageing. It just makes me happy. I had to work yesterday, but I was with all of my work friends. Overall it was even a great day at work. I made cup cakes for everyone. They kind of gave me a hard time about bringing my own treats, but they all seemed to really enjoy them. I think I had just as much fun making them as they had eating them. Rick is going to take me out to dinner on Thursday and we are going to our favorite Chinese place in Mattawan called Chin Chin. It is so yummy and I am really looking forward to an evening with my hubby!

On the baby front, we went to the OB on Monday for our first appointment with the doctor. It was nice to meet her and I think we are really going to like her. She answered all of our questions and didn't think any of them were silly. She told us that she was going to try to hear the baby's heart beat, but that it is kind of early and she wasn't sure if we would be able to hear anything. The minute she put the doppler to my belly we heard the heart beat loud and clear. It was amazing, so amazing that I cried. As a nurse I have heard that sound a hundred times on echos and dopplers, but it is so much more unbelievable when it is your own. I could have listened to that for hours. The heart rate was 160 beats per minute. Modern medicine is amazing and I can't wait for the next doctors visit to I can hear that sound again!

She cried...

Ok so there is way more to the story. My mom and I picked her up from school and before we even left the school driveway Tabby yet again asked if I had a baby in my tummy. And again I didn't tell her the whole truth. I wanted Rick to be there. It was something we needed to do as a family. So once we got her back down here Rick and I took her aside and showed her the ultrasound picture of our little (very little) one. She was immediately excited. Then Rob and Carmen showed her their picture. She held both pictures and cried. I think she was just extremely overwhelmed. After we had dinner we took her home and stayed up until after 11:00 pm answering questions. Some crazy and some very important ones. Tabby is very excited about being and big sister! On Sabbath when we were in church she drew a picture for her new baby brother or sister. Then on Sunday before she had to leave to go back home, she wrote a note to her new sibling on her white board in her room. It was very sweet. There was only one time where she got a little sad and told me she was afraid we wouldn't love her as much now. I think she is going to need a lot of reassurance over the next few months! Below is her note...one of the sweetest things I have ever seen!

The note says (with some spelling corrections):

Hi baby sister or brother. It is your big sister. I am going to teach you when you are out of mama's tummy and you will like me so much that you will hug me so much.

Love Tabby From Tabby

The big day...

Today is it! I'm nervous and excited. Rick and I are going to tell Tabby about her baby brother/sister. I hope she is excited. I hope she will look forward to being a big sister. I hope her mother doesn't sabotage her. I hope we can help her through this transition. I can't wait to tell her, but I hope that it is the exciting moment I've hoped for. I hope God will grant us the wisdom to give her the right answers to her questions. Please pray for us today and for Tabby!

On a side note, today marks 9 weeks! Only 217 more days to go. WOO HOO!!!

Attempt #2...

I have tried this post once before and it all got erased somehow, so here goes my second try. Hopefully this will go better for me or I may just lose my patience and forget it for today!

Let me just start with yesterdays election. Yes, I did vote and I am extremely proud that I am able to participate in the process. I think that today is a new day for our country in light of yesterdays results. It will be interesting to watch and see what happens in the next four years. I hope that Obama is able to follow thorough on the promises he made. This country is in dire need of change and hopefully he is the man for the job. Now that is all I have to say about politics!

On to something more fun...my pregnancy! Friday will be the 9 week mark. We are getting closer and closer to the end of my first trimester. I think I am ready for that milestone! Pregnancy has brought some things I expected and some things I didn't. I was ready for the nausea, thankfully no vomiting yet! I thought I was ready to be tired. However I had no idea the degree to which I would be tired. It is a tired like I have never felt before and sometimes sleeping doesn't make it any better. I have also been surprised by how sore my joints and back are. I knew that came later on once the baby gets bigger, but was surprised to see it this early. I guess everything is getting stretched and ready. While some of these symptoms are unnerving, for the most part this is an amazing experience that I think God every day I am able to enjoy!

Now for a little update on the last month. A couple of weeks ago Rob (my brother) and I drove to Georgia to see my sister. The drive was long but tolerable. Most of the drive (especially the mountains) was beautiful with all the trees in full fall color. Once we got there we had a great time hanging out with Tracey and David. I haven't seen Tracey since her surgery and it was good to see her in person and know that she really is doing well! We had a great time playing cards, playing in the woods, and sitting by the fire in Tracey's back yard. It was very relaxing and enjoyable! Here are a few pics of our adventures.

Rob drove the whole way, even though I offered to help!

Where we spent a lot of time playing games! On this night we made the boys cry!

Evidence of our overwhelming victory!

Boys and their toys!

Tracey the fire master!

Apples we baked in the fire...YUMMY!

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil!

Last Wednesday Rick and I were able to drive up to Mackinaw for the day to see Tabby in her school Halloween program. It was worth every mile and every penny. The program was put on by the first and second graders and they all did a great job. They sang songs, recited poems and each class put on a short play. Each one of them were knew their lines and only a couple had stage fright. Tabby was a ghost and was part of a little skit about scary ghosts. Tabby loved having us there and we really loved being there.

Tabby in her Ghost skit.

The First and Second Graders of Mackinaw Public Schools! (Tabby is in the second row, second from the left).