Have I mentioned......................

The not so joyful and unglamorous parts of pregnancy??????
I hate stretchmarks.....
and acne....

Passed the test....

I had the gestational diabetes test yesterday. They wanted the blood sugar to be under 145 and mine was 82. My iron was 12.2 and normal ranges are between 11 and 12. So, I'm not anemic or diabetic--which I am thankful for!

Summer so far.....83 days to go!

We have had a busy summer so far and it is almost halfway over! We had a great trip to Michigan and for those of you that couldn't make it we really missed you. I woke up with the sun every morning (even though I didn't get up) and we watched beautiful sunsets every night. The nature there is so beautiful and peaceful, but there is lots to do if you want. We had a good time just spending time together and relaxing. Thank you Megan, Jess, Amelia, Aunt Susan, Sierra & the girls for a wonderful shower!!! I felt so blessed and loved.

Blake has been working a lot in the rehab and also at the ball games. Baseball season is almost over though and it will be nice to have him home more---although he really likes his extra job and they have fun. In fact, Blake said he wished he could do it year round since it's so much fun.

We had our first childbirth class this week. It is a private class with 3 other couples. Our doula is attending too so she can get to know us more. Our first class was a blast and we spent the class being introduced to Lamaze and the other couples. We watched a graphic, but sweet video. Janessa (our doula) turned to me and said, are you crying yet? I said no, I'm flinching!!! Looks painful!! The instructor assured us that our inner wisdom would take over and we would find what worked for us during the labor process. We did this amazing relaxation exercise. My mind completely emptied, and I put all the worries I had on balloons and let them float away into the sky. We have 5 more weeks of classes and they are 2.5 hours long. We have a break and snack midway through along with learning stations. There is a lot of reading!!

We started the bedroom remodel. I can't wait to see the final results. It will be really pretty and it will be wonderful to get rid of the carpet. This weekend we are working on texturing the walls and fixing the ceiling. Once Blake sands and stains the floors I will be going to visit my grandmother for a week.

I met with the insurance adjuster yesterday so I hope to put the car fire behind me. Don't go to The Grease Pig in Fayetteville for oil changes!!!!!! I will probably be paranoid everytime I get an oil change now....I think I'll just stick with Uncle Daivd and drive an hour to get it done. Peace of mind is priceless!

I started a list of things I want to do before the baby is born...I don't know if we will be able to get them all done, but I can try!

• Paint entry way table
• Clean & organize kitchen cabinets
  
• Clean & organize laundry room
• Clean ceiling fans, catch up on dusting
• Wash windows, inside and outside
• Paint upstairs
• Remodel bedroom

Hmmm...we'll see what gets done! ha!

Branflake has been moving so much this week. Blake felt him move for the first time and now we can see my stomach bouncing up and down when he gets going!

Two weeks of off the wall stress=we need another vacation!

Ok, well I still haven't been able to make a long post or post pictures. My car caught on fire on Monday and I have been trying to deal with that the entire week. I have a meeting with the oil change company's insurance that was responsible for the fire on Monday the 20th. Hopefully we can get this matter resolved and put behind us. After that, I will be able to post. I'm not exactly sure where the past two weeks have gone. I have spent that time either in shock or depressed and when either of those two emotions happen my mind and body tend to shut down. Between taking care of the plumbing problem we had (the pipes under the sink almost exploded while the entire house was backed up) the IRS wanting more money (which we have had to write a letter explaining my former employment status and filling out a new form that shows we owe an additional $800--which we are disputing), my mom going to jail, and the car catching on fire it has been a very stressful two weeks!!! It sounds kind of funny when you put it all together.
The baby is doing well and we start our childbirth classes on the 21st. I hope next week is a more low key and less stress so that I can blog!!!

We're back!

Back from vacation..we had a very relaxing time and lots of fun. I will post pictures soon. Now, we need another vacation after the week we have had.
This week has been crazy for me. When it rains, it pours! I will post more later but just wanted to stop in and say hi!! I'm a little drained of physical, mental and emotional energy.

We have a name, but.....

We're keeping it a surprise!!!! At least, that is the plan! Here are a couple clues:

1) you've already heard me mention the first name if you've asked me
2) there will probably never be another combination of this name ever created because the middle name is unique

I had my big ultrasound on Monday, June 15th, the day after our 6 year wedding anniversary. It was a nice anniversary present to see the baby in 4D and also know that as far as they can tell he is a very healthy baby! He weighs 1 pound 2 oz.
I'm very thankful that I've had a healthy pregnancy so far. I've gained 7 pounds and have no problems of any kind. The first 18 weeks were killer with morning sickness and I have a really painful sciatic nerve that is pinched. I used to have a bladder of steel and now it is as flexible as a slinky. haha! IF that makes any sense. I don't sleep well and I can't exercise like I used to, so I complain a lot about the above symptoms. However, I do realize how thankful and blessed I am to not have to worry about anything critical right now.
I finally have felt Branflake move the past two weeks. He is always moving. I think he sleeps from 6am-10am (I'm not really sure on the exact time and I'm sure it's more than that) but he flips and kicks non-stop.
We have signed up for childbirth classes and I'm still reading several books on childbirth.
We also got registered at Babies R Us and Target. It was so much fun!! Blake had fun using the scanner and I had fun telling him what to scan :) I did hours of research on Consumer Reports and Baby Bargains to get the gear that has the best safety ratings and also the best value. I had 3 pages of notes on registering so that we knew exactly what we wanted when we went in. We agreed that it made the process much easier and would have been overwhelming with all the stuff in Babies R Us!!
It may be awhile until I post next. We will be going on vacation and then our next doctor's appointment is July 7th.

I love everything about the summer except the heat!

We have had lots of visitors in the past few weeks. There's been a couple cookouts and lots of laughs.
Dad & Lanier were here for a couple weekends and we had a fun and fast time visiting with them and hanging out. They got to play the Wii at Wii-hab, see the OB unit and got the grand tour of SS. :)
Uncle John came down from Alaska for a couple weeks. We didn't get to hang out with him as much as we wanted (especially Blake since he had to work a lot) but were glad to see him when we did. Hopefully next summer we'll be visiting him!!
I'm thinking about changing the format of the blog. Instead of just a baby blog I'll be writing to include more of our daily lives.