A quick one

Last night and today we got a whopping 4 inches of rain! Beth and I weren't able to do our typical Monday morning grocery shopping because of the rain, it wasn't just sprinkling but it was hard! I know we got 4 inches because I'm a nerd and have a water gauge thingy in our backyard. ;-)

Saturday we went into the city- I got my nightstand (wohoo!) and am now organized by my bedside. It's amazing how one little thing can make such a huge difference! We also met Ryan's brother Josh for lunch, and my former roommate to meet and catch up. We did a bit of shopping and then came home- both Beth and Ryan fell asleep on the way home. It was a long day!

Beth with Uncle Josh!

Playing a pink kid-sized piano at a toy store. She's had a lot of practice on her Fisher Price piano! She would not leave it, we had to drag her away to play with something else.

Beth and I had a really good day today. She's such a busy body now that I have to remember to make one-on-one time just for her, and I can tell that she appreciates it. We obviously already spend all of our day together, but spending time focused 100% on her is different than watching her play while I fold clothes or something. So we did some serious block-building and shape-sorting and had a lot of fun. :-)

And now, the text

I had a headache last night when I posted the pictures- looking back I think it was because of my stupid ponytail being too tight. Don't you hate that? LOL.

So a few things to discuss. First, Beth said "banana." All three syllables, correct pronunciation, just like you or I would say it! It was really impressive- Ryan and I were not expecting it and we both were shocked! Beth really likes to eat bananas (although not her favorite food anymore) and when I pulled one out of the pantry last night to eat it I said, "Beth, do you want a banana?" and she said "Banana!" It was so neat to hear her sweet little voice say something so perfectly! Some of her other words right now are "more" (mah!) and "night night" (nigh ni). She'll also say "hi da!" for "hi dog" (I guess "Finley" is too hard to say!) and mama, dada, bye bye.

And it's officially summer around here. I just got in from watering the plants and I have counted 20 fresh mosquito bites. I was out there for 10 minutes! And I'm wearing capri pants! They're all on my ankles and hands. I am going to have to start spraying myself with bug repellent even for the quick little trips, like taking Finley out. On a short trip like that I can manage 3-6 new bites. They really love this hunk of white meat! Another way to know it's really summer is that I took Beth and Finley for a walk today around 1:30 and it was definitely too hot. By 3/4 mile into the walk I was ready to sit down and pass out, but of course I had to turn around and walk back. So looks like we'll have to start walking in the early morning again- with lots of bug spray!

I have a tip for y'all- and you may already know about this but it was new to me as a new homeowner. Our electric company has "peak" and "off peak" hours, which means that during peak hours the price of electricity is easily quadrupled the price of off peak hours. Our hours change twice a year- there are summer hours and winter hours- so we just switched yesterday on May 1. This means I do all of my laundry and dishes and vacuuming before 1 pm now (or after 9pm, but who am I kidding). I'm not sure how many people can plan their chores around hours like that but I'd like to think I'm saving us some money by sticking to their schedule! It'll also be incentive to keep extra lights off during the day- although I'm pretty consistent about keeping our A/C at about 76. I can't handle it any higher than that! So if you can, check your electric company's plan and do your chores accordingly!

Pictures

My head is hurting so no witty blog today. Just pictures!

Beth getting chummy with Our Lady of Lourdes. She had her arm all the way around the statue but I didn't get the picture in time!

We washed our statue and dried her off, then planted the flower. I caught Beth giving her a big hug. Then she tried to bit her head. I adore the look on Beth's face!

She ventured under her crib this morning. She hasn't done this in months, since we lowered the mattress all the way- you can see it's a tight fit!

Monday in the play yard thing at the mall.

Ready to support her Daddy's team. Super cute, now the trick is to try to keep the shirt white!

I finally got a cute picture of her in this rocking chair. It was her Daddy's chair!

Checkup

I had an OB checkup today and it was a quick one. Everything is well. I decided against the blood work to test for genetic disorders- he said really it's not a 100% thing anyways so it just gets a woman all worried about everything. I don't remember that even being an option at my previous OB with Beth... Man I really didn't like her! Another thing I really don't understand is (and it happened with Beth too) my weight is the same but my body has obviously changed (read: I'm bigger around the middle!). So how does that work? One would think the weight re-distributes, but I'm not smaller anywhere, that's for sure! Our next appointment is May 28- the big one! We'll have an ultrasound that day and we'll get to see baby parts, hopefully. :-)

Beth is cuter and cuter every day. It's fun to think that it's really getting better as she gets older. She's challenging me more, don't get me wrong. But it's to the point where I honestly miss her after she goes to bed. Not that I don't adore my alone time- again, don't get me wrong! But she's so adorable that sometimes I just want to hold her and look at her. She doesn't sit still in my lap for very long anymore, maybe that's why. Or maybe it's my pregnancy hormones making me all sentimental. Either way, she's cute! Even when she screams bloody murder because she doesn't get her way. Or when she tries to bite me or whatever else she can get her hands on when she's upset. Or when she runs away when I tell her "diaper change!" I don't know why toddlers hate diaper changes- you'd think it'd be a relief to get out of that nastiness!

May is going to be a very busy month for us! May is the month we celebrate and honor Mary, the mother of Jesus. I really am going to try to be faithful in praying the daily Angelus - it's such a beautiful prayer that will help keep me focused during the day. Tomorrow we'll be planting some pretty flowers in front of our statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in our garden- I hope I can be crafty enough to make a pretty wreath for her head. In a couple of weekends my brother will graduate from college (whoop!) and the following weekend we will travel to visit out-of-state family . In between those weekends I have the conclusion of many of my extra-curricular activities (lots of parties!), and then of course the big ultrasound! So we'll stay busy.

Somewhere in there I'd like to buy an end table for my bed to help me stay organized with all of my binders and books- the word of the month for me is discipline. I am focusing on incorporating discipline into all aspects of my life to balance things out and focus myself more on Christ. Beyond that I want to discipline myself to complete my chores before playing, read instead of watch tv, be more faithful in prayer, and make sure that I am completing my chores and my tasks with love in my heart, instead of bitterness or anger. I want to give my attention to whomever is present in my life- not to let myself be distracted but instead see Christ in them and love their soul. It will certainly take more than the month of May, but through prayer hopefully I can take a couple of big steps in the right direction!

In case you're keeping count...

Ryan and I have been together 6 years today. :-)

15 weeks!

I'm out of the first trimester! Wow! Our baby is over 3 inches long now. :-) Another way being pregnant for the second time is different than the first is that I can feel my uterus now (externally, of course!). Maybe the first time I didn't know what I was feeling, or maybe now my lack of functioning stomach muscles has allowed me to feel underneath. I can lay flat on my back and clearly feel how high my uterus comes up- right now it's right at my belly button. It's really neat to feel it- it's completely hard! I try to not poke around too much because I know he's trying to grow in there, lol. Actually pregnancy.com said he's already learned to suck his thumb!

I'm feeling very good. The headaches really didn't hit me like I had expected- in fact (knock on wood) the neck stiffness has gone away. My biggest complaint right now is that I'm just not hungry for anything. Nothing sounds good really- but I know I should be eating. It's really hard to plan a menu and grocery list when food is unappetizing! Also, my belly is itching. My skin is so dry, despite my twice-daily applications of cocoa butter. I mean it looks like I have a peeling sunburn in some areas, it's really really dry! I am otherwise in very normal condition. :-)

A nice modest shot. No bare belly today!

Ok, not pregnancy-related but I had to post this one. Finley has started to lay down while he eats- it totally cracks me up. Lazy dog!

Garden pictures and update

First, the trees. These are the trees we planted in January, we received free seedlings at a local community celebration and popped them in the ground. I didn't post a picture of the red buds or magnolias, but they're doing very well also!

Only one of the three pecan trees we planted has sprouted leaves- finally! The last of all of our trees we planted in January to spout.

A row of 7 Bald Cypress. We should probably decide soon which to keep and which to replant elsewhere.

Our garden is growing, some plants more so than others. Overall I'm very impressed with the progress though. The only seeds that didn't sprout were my mint seeds I planted in a pot- I'm not sure if the seed packet was all bad or if I screwed it up somehow. I need to get out there and try them again because mint is yummy! All of our plants have been getting a weekly spray of liquid seaweed to try to ward off some little leaf-jumper bugs- and it's also good foliar feed for the tomatoes. I need to figure out how to keep my cilantro in check- it's too tall and most likely about to flower.

And now, the garden:

Out of control cilantro. I don't know what to do about this- the books I've read don't really describe how to take care of it. I guess we should start eating the good leaves- I know the feathery ones up at the highest points aren't tasty.

Our first teeny tiny tomatoes!

Lemons. There are quite a few on the tree, the biggest ones are about the size of a walnut. Nothing to report about the orange and lime trees. The orange tree has some pest issues, something is eating the leaves. I plan to take some leaves to our local master gardener and see what she has to say about it! The limes are there-they're just too small to photograph right now.

A roma tomato bush. This roma, planted in a single pot because we had no more space in the garden plot, is waaaay bigger than the roma in the garden! Now I need to figure out why- they're getting the same sunlight and same water/fertilizers. The only difference is we planted this one in a mix of our local sand (uh, soil) mixed with a bit of potting soil.

Tiny basil plants!

Trip!

The reason I've been MIA this week is because Beth and I went for a visit to my parent's house. I tried to blog while I was there but let's just say their computer doesn't like me very much. So prepare yourself for one massive post!

The day before we left, we splurged and hit up the ice cream truck lady as she drove by our house. Ryan shared his ice cream with Beth, and she took tiny little licks. She liked it though!

First off, HUGE news, Beth has weaned! And she did it all by herself, really. As of last Sunday, she was nursing one time a day, and that was right before bedtime. Monday night when we arrived at my parent's house, as we were finishing our routine she didn't ask to nurse, so I didn't offer. I can't think of another time in her life that she hasn't asked (signed) to nurse before bed, so I was really caught off-guard. Same thing the next night- no asking! Wednesday night she signed "nurse" and I said, "No thank you baby, not now," and she rolled over and went to sleep. In the past when I've said "No nurse" she's protested in some way, so this was also pretty strange to me. She didn't ask Thursday night and tonight her daddy put her to sleep all by himself! No mommy needed! I guess this means we can take an overnight trip now without Miss Beth before #2 arrives...

I'm doing okay with her being done with me. Really what's bothering me the most is the fact that she's not going to be receiving any more good benefits of my breastmilk anymore. I know she wasn't nursing a lot, but I firmly believe it's kept her healthy and strong up to this point. I guess I'm a little sad about not nursing her anymore- it really was such a sweet time- and if I'd known Sunday night was our last night I would have treasured it a little more. But it was really starting to hurt!

And onto the pictures...

On our way there, about 2 hours into the trip we had to make a stop- she was definitely ready to get out of her seat! So in a tiny town, we found a McDonald's with an outdoor playground- it's the first time she's ever played on one of these structures. She had so much fun! I know this is a serious look on her face, but she really was really happy to be playing in there! I actually had to crawl in at one point and get her- I'm just glad it was 9:00 in the morning and no one else was around because I'm sure it wasn't a pretty sight. They do not make those tunnels big enough for pregnant women!

Relaxing with her two crazy uncles David and Alex, sharing the common favorite snack of Goldfish.

Cute picture with Aunt Jenny! She stayed home an extra day from college so she could play with her favorite God-daughter!

She was totally showing off for her great-grandma during dinner. She would put the spoon in her mouth, then take her hand away and shake her head back and forth. Everyone thought it was cute so of course she did it a million times!

Being sweet with Gimley the cat. He didn't like it so much(as you can tell), but Beth really enjoys petting and watching those cats! We're still working on Beth's "meow"- it sounds more like a squeal right now.

Being so cute at dinner. She was dancing, shaking her head back and forth, and doing anything she could for a laugh! And yes, she's wearing Mardi Gras beads, she didn't want to take them off.

Uncle Matthew with Beth. He loves her so much! (She loves him too, she was just preoccupied with cat-watching.)

On our way back home today, we stopped to visit Uncle Michael, who is about to graduate from college in two weeks! We had a nice lunch then we let Beth run around a bit on campus. I love watching Beth play with him!

Running around on campus!

Me and my girl on campus.

Exhausted baby! What every mom loves to see when getting in the car for a long ride. :-) This was only 3o seconds before I realized my A/C wasn't working anymore! We had a warm ride back with the windows down, but she still managed to sleep the whole hour-long ride home!

We didn't do much while we were there- just mostly hung out around the house. Really there's not much more I wanted to do, it's nice just to be somewhere and let everyone else entertain Beth! She slept and napped well, and had so much fun playing and watching David and Alex. She really loves watching older kids move around, and of course my brothers had no problem entertaining her after they got home from school! We got to see everyone in my family this week, which is really something special considering we're scattered among 4 towns. I can tell Beth had a great time but she was also THRILLED to see her daddy when we got home! I haven't seen her that excited in a long time! He walked in from work and she just started giggling and waving her arms like crazy in her high chair. Then while he was giving her a bath, I honestly haven't heard her laugh that hard in a long time. I don't know what they were doing but I know she loves her daddy! Vacations are always nice, but it's also good to come home- especially when you're husband is waiting for you!

Also, while we were in Austin, I got my hair done:

Blond highlights (lighter than before), 2 inches off the bottom, layers all the way around and a teeny tiny bit of bangs. I really like it! This picture was taken right after I got back- after she styled it- so it's nice and flat. It won't ever look like this again, lol, because I don't have 30 minutes to spend hot-ironing my hair every morning! And honestly it's a little flat for me, I like it with a little more volume and some curls at the end. So, I'll post another picture later after I style it- I'm sure it will be a bit different!

More teeth!

Beth has two new molars! They've finally broken through- it seemed like those took forever! They're two bottom ones, opposite the two top molars she has so hopefully she'll be able to chew a little better once they're all the way out.

Here is our silly girl. I've let her climb several things now, just once, to get it out of her system and let her decide it's not really all that exciting afterall. I find this approach to be more effective than repeating "No thank you, not for climbing" a million times. This approach has worked with the kitchen chair and the trunk in our room. The coffee table, however, is apparently incredibly exciting to climb. This is why in a lot of the pictures I post, the coffee table is flipped over. She and Finley like to play on it when it's upside down! We've debated removing it from the house all together and may have to eventually, but right now she only seems to want to climb it when she's bored. It's sort of my cue to start a new activity!



This is her new special, big girl "milk only" cup. It has frogs on it. I wish I had a photo of this, but when we got home from buying it, I made a big deal of how neat and exciting the cup was. I put some milk in it and gave it to her, and she took a big swig (swallowing most of it), looked at the cup like it was from another planet, walked over to the dog crate and put it inside, then closed the dog crate and waved bye bye! It was too funny, I just about died laughing! So maybe the special milk cup won't work for us, but we'll keep trying it out. She did drink a little bit (maybe an ounce?) of chocolate milk the night we got the cup. We'll just keep trying!


Today I went to a consignment sale at a local church and I bought 5 dresses (3 for now, 2 for the fall), a pair of play slippers (never worn!) and two plastic picture books for $9.50! I am soooo going to go to these sales more often! I've been looking for this plastic picture book for about a month now, and hadn't found them. At the sale today there were two for .50 each, so I bought both! Beth is really into looking at photos now, and so I plan to take a photo of her with each extended family members and put it in the books for her to look at before (or maybe during?) we say our prayers at night. We pray for each family member by name so it might be helpful for her to see one by one who she's praying for!

"This is my body"

Click here for a beautiful and thoughtful blog about the Eucharist and nursing moms. This is from an online friend who is a fabulous writer!

Slowly weaning...

I've been debating weaning in my head for a few weeks now; people kept telling me it would naturally work out. Being pregnant for most women means decreased supply, pain while nursing, and change in the flavor- all of these things can lead to weaning. For me, I'm not sure what it means yet. We were nursing only 3 times a day- first thing after waking up, sometime during the day, and right before bed. Now, it's only right before bed. I'm having a harder time getting her down for a nap during the day since nursing was her cue to fall asleep- I think I'm going to have to figure out a nap routine since our bedtime routine has worked so well. Tonight she nursed for maybe 45 seconds on each side- I don't know if that means my supply has crashed, if she didn't like the taste, or if the molar she's cutting was bothering her. I'm a little sad about the whole thing- but as Ryan pointed out, it's the only thing I've done multiple times a day- every day- since she was born! I will miss nursing her, I have loved our nursing relationship. It has been such a perfect experience for me! But another part of me is ready to move on. It's really hard to describe, very bittersweet.

Since she's nursing less I'm really trying to get her to drink cow's milk. She's not taking it very well, so I'm a little frustrated. I feel like she's missing out on everything my milk offered to her. She drinks a lot of water, but doesn't like juice or milk. I was never a good pumper so pumping my milk and mixing it with cow's milk isn't an option for me. Other ideas? I've tried spiking it with chocolate and strawberry also. She still won't have it!

We've had a slow and relaxing week. Although since I lost our March Madness bet, I've been in charge of the dishes all week- I'm surprised at how clean the kitchen is actually staying! I feel like a good housewife, lol.

I'm also really starting to feel like a preggo now. I probably write that in every other post, huh? My belly is firm and itching, my belly button is looking distorted, and I'm starting to have that feeling that I'm never alone. Which, yeah, I have Beth with me most of the time. But on the rare occasion I am out of the house by myself, I just have that feeling that I'm not really alone, does that make sense? It's a good feeling for me! It's exciting to not be forgetting constantly that I'm growing a baby.

Cute pics

I decided to start practicing my swaddling skills on Eric (still rough as you can see), and Beth thought it was funny. In fact, she wanted to be swaddled too, but the blanket was too small and she didn't like being all tucked in! But it made for some good laughs. I keep hearing how wonderful swaddling is and I really think I should give it a better shot with this baby!

Getting in (or out?) of her chair. This chair was Ryan's chair and now it's been passed on to Beth! She's gotten very good at getting in, even if she has to stand up before she sits down and rocks. She really likes it, I've got to take a video!

Wrestling on the floor with Daddy! Someone had raspberries blown on her tummy!

Another video!

Video

And now, what you've all been waiting for... A video.

Ryan had class tonight so I've been very busy uploading videos and blogging tonight. This is my last post today though, I promise!

Time for a new do

Help me figure out how to style my hair please.

Please take into consideration-
1. Short hair (above the shoulders) does not look good on me and no I will not consider it!
2. I have baby bangs. And it's just going to happen all over again so there's no hoping they'll just "grow out". Because my hair's going to fall out again in 9 months anyways.
3. My hair is naturally wavy, with a few curls. It's not consistent so it's not pretty. Of course I'd prefer to wear it natural but I haven't done that in years. Right now I typically use a flat iron everyday, although I know this isn't the healthiest practice for my hair. It's either that or look like a monster.

Bangs I never cut. It's like this all around my head! No one told me my hair would fall out after having a baby! The rest of my hair is in a ponytail, my usual style for the day.

Thinking of chopping a few inches, adding layers all the way around, maybe some chunky layers in the front?

Like this?

Or this? I like the idea of a long bang in the front.

A brag :-)

I want to brag about my wonderful husband for a minute. :-) He's a hard-workin' man! He gives his all to his job during the day and he's finally getting some serious recognition there. I know it's pleasing to be praised by your superiors so I know he's enjoying this time! But when he comes home for lunch (just about every day!) he always gives me time to myself to do what I need. And when he comes home for the day he steals Beth away and gives me more time to myself, even if just for a few precious minutes it makes a huge difference to me! He lets me sleep in on the weekends, volunteers to change the dirty diapers, helps me clean our house, mows our grass- and all without a word of complaint. He constantly makes me laugh yet challenges me to be a better person. But more than anything, he encourages me spiritually and prays for me numerous times a day. I know what his number 1 goal in life is and to have someone who shares my priorities makes me feel incredibly blessed! I really am not sure what I did in my life to deserve someone as wonderful as him! I feel honored to be his wife!

The weather

The weather has been so weird here lately. The sky looks like it's about to open and rain for days and days, but at the most it just spits a little and says, "Ha! You couldn't go on your walk today because you thought I would rain down on you, but I refuse to water your grass!" But tonight as I was leaving church it was really odd- it was raining, technically I suppose you'd call it that, but it didn't feel like rain. It felt like it was just so.darn.humid that the water droplets were just floating in the air, waiting for you to walk or drive through them.

Meanwhile, despite our incredibly humid summers, I am looking forward to this summer for a lot of reasons. Ryan and I decided that we'd get pool tags since Beth is at the perfect age to start enjoying it. I'm so excited! I plan to spend one to two hours at the pool every afternoon (after 3:00 of course, Mom) and let Beth wear herself out. Plus this means I (hopefully!) won't be the whitest person at the beach this summer. ;-)

Beth is at the best age right now for doing beginning toddler-y things. She likes going to the park and climbing the stairs, walking across the bridge and going down the slide- but I have to be right there with her because she still doesn't have the balance and coordination for that yet. She likes her sandbox still but only in small increments of time. And she's starting to get into fantasy play, which is incredibly neat to see that part of her blooming. She understands that things have uses- the phone goes to her ear, the sunglasses go on her head, the collar goes on Finley... A few days ago she grabbed a diaper wipe and started to wipe herself! With these changes though have come other changes... Like her starting to hit or bite me when she doesn't get her way, screaming because of displeasure (although I guess she's always done that but now it's a little different!) and throwing things when I ask her for them. If she's holding something she knows she shouldn't have and I say, "Beth, please give that to mommy" and start to walk to her, she'll throw it with the all the force she has in the other direction. And let me tell you the girl has quite an arm already! It's definitely a new phase and I don't know how to handle it yet! Gentle disciple book suggestions, anyone?

Today was her 15-month checkup. She got her second-ever vaccination and a prescription for some ear-numbing drops for our airplane trip next month. She's 22 lbs 15 oz (50-75%), 31 1/2 inches (75-90%) and her head is in the 90th percentile! (Fat heads tend to run in my family, hehehe.) He said she looks perfect! Although I have to really try harder to make her drink milk. She has not expressed any interest in plain, chocolate or strawberry milk, but the pediatrician said she should be drinking 16 oz (!!!) a day. Apparently all the yogurt and cheese she eats isn't high enough in vitamin D, and she's only nursing about twice daily now so I'm not a reliable source either. I'm just going to keep offering it to her and hope she takes it sometime soon!

I promise I have been trying to get good pictures of her. But, as I mentioned earlier, she understands that items have functions now so whenever I pull out the camera she wants to look at the screen instead of pose! Needless to say I'm having a hard time getting anything other than the back of her head. I will keep trying and get some good ones to add hopefully tomorrow.

Weekend

We didn't make it to lunch on Friday, instead we went today! Beth and I headed into "the big city" and saw my old co-workers, met Nicole for lunch, and did a little shopping. I had a really nice day, Beth really did so well at lunch (considering she sat in her high chair for about an hour!) and slept all the way home! I actually had to go by the orthodontist also because my wire came loose- ouch!

Saturday was my grandmother's 80th birthday so we all attended a surprise birthday party for her at a restaurant. 27 people! She was shocked we were all there and overall we had a very nice day- I think she really liked it. :-)

Finally took a belly shot- 12 weeks pregnant!!! I need to work on my posture. Sorry I don't have any pictures to post of Beth! She has her 15-month doctor appointment on Wednesday so I'll have a good update then!

Garden pics

I went out today and took some pictures so you can admire the beauty that is my garden. :-)

Cantaloupe seedlings!

Our garden and the most beautiful back of the head in the whole world! All but one of the cages are tomatoes- the last cage is a green bell pepper (Big Bertha!) The little cantaloupes are in the corner near Beth's shoulder. It will be a huge plant but hopefully I can get it to spill over the edge of the bed. We'll see how that goes.

Pretty girl behind our Meyer Lemon tree. It's tiny, as you can see, but there are already little lemons forming on it!

An orange tree, though I'm not sure what kind. Our neighbors gave it to us when they moved and we planted it a few months ago. I'm glad it survived the planting- I wasn't too sure until recently when it started growing. Now there are a million white flowers on it, you can't see them too well though.

Mexican limes. There are also a million little white flowers on this one. This corner of the yard (they're planted in an L shape) smells really good!

Tiny, tiny basil seedlings. I have mint in the pot next to it but the mint hasn't sprouted yet. I hope it does so I can figure out a way to make virgin mojitos! The mojito was my new favorite adult beverage right before I became pregnant...

Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention this yesterday! I bought my first maternity shirt of this pregnancy, lol. I plan on wearing it tomorrow. Do I need to? Probably not. But it's super cute! I am so happy Ann Taylor Loft has a maternity section now! I guess I need to start taking belly photos now that I have a bit of a belly. This baby has already been so cheated!

Tomorrow Beth and I are heading into the big city to take out my good friend and former roommate to lunch for her birthday. I'm really excited to see her! It's weird that we've moved only about 40 minutes away from "the city" but we hardly ever go there- we have everything we need right here! I do miss living there sometimes though- close to everywhere and in the middle of everything!

Doctor Vist

Today I had my second OB visit. It was a quick one- just a urine test and we listened to the heartbeat. Nice and strong- 170 bpm. He had a hard time finding it at first and right as I was starting to get nervous he found it! My weight was the same, which is really hard to believe considering how tight my pants are! I'm glad I had the appointment today because Monday night I had my first migraine of this pregnancy. If you'll remember with Beth, I had awful headaches in my second trimester. I'm doing all I can to try to keep them away- I've been drinking TONS of water and stretching my stiff neck (one symptom) and taking Tylenol at the first sign on one coming on. Monday night was just awful, I really can't remember the last time I was in that much pain. I definitely think this is the worst part of pregnancy for me! Anyways, my OB prescribed Fioricet, which is a combination of acetaminophen, caffeine, and butalbital (a muscle relaxant for headaches). It's a class "C" drug meaning I really shouldn't take it unless I absolutely have to, but it's nice to know it's here in case I need it. He was more comfortable prescribing that instead of Vicodin, which is what I took with Beth.

Today Beth and I also took Finley to the vet for the first time! Well, the first time he's gone with us. They loved him (of course) and couldn't believe how mellow he was! He's 61.5 pounds (I didn't know how much he weighed until today!) and she was really impressed with his muscle tone in his legs, lol. Really surprising considering how much of his day he spends sleeping. ;-) He got some C.E.T. dental chews for the minor plaque buildup on his teeth (thanks Julie! He loves them!) and some heart worm preventative. And he got his nails clipped! I used to clip Vegas' nails, but she didn't have black nails like Finley does, and the clipping black nails makes me nervous. Maybe one day I'll get the guts to try again, since he really just lays there while you do whatever you want to him!

And lastly, we have tiny little plants in our garden. :-) That's right! The cantaloupe, basil, and some spinach have already begun to sprout! I was really surprised when I went out there to water everything tonight, but it's really these plants and not weeds. I'm so excited!

I don't have any new pictures so this one from a few weeks ago will have to do!