Christmas Cantata

We finally had our Christmas Cantata at church last night. We were supposed to do it the Sunday night before, but the snow changed our plans. We had a pretty good crowd for a Wednesday night, plus some new faces. That's always nice to see when you're putting on something different from a normal church service. I had my choir members wear white and red, and they looked really nice up there. And I might as well mention that they did a wonderful job! They sounded awesome and filled the whole auditorium with their voices. We had several soloists for some songs, and they did a good job as well. My two hosts (aka narrators) did excellent. My sis-in-law was supposed to be one of them, but oral surgery kept her from it, so I made Josh do it on the last minute. He did good for having only gone over it a couple times, but we both wished Hannah would have been able to do it, since she'd been working on it for a couple months. We were going to have a small drama accompany the music, but when it came right down to it, they just weren't ready. I hadn't prepared them enough, and I didn't want to put on a bad quality performance, so I took it out. We were all bummed about it, but I think it was for the best. Since I gave music a try this year, maybe next year I'll stretch my wings in the drama department. It's been a while since college and all those speech classes, but they were so much fun! Of course being a mother might complicate some stuff, so we'll see when that time of year rolls around.





The church was so nice. Pastor presented me with this adorable tree (which was quite heavy) that had these two Disney ornaments hanging from it. They also gave me a card with a Golden Corral gift card in it to thank me for the work I did. I wasn't expecting it at all. In fact, I even saw the youth pastor off to the side holding this tree and I thought, Oh, that's nice, they have a tree with bows on it for the front of the church. Yeah, with this pregnancy brain it didn't register right away that they brought it out for me :) We all had a great night, but it was nice to go home and cuddle up with my hubby for a couple minutes before bed.

Craving!

This is a Dark Peppermint Pleasure Signature cake from Coldstone Creamery that we spontaneously picked up last night. It was supposed to have red velvet cake in it, but it had chocolate instead. Don't worry, it still tastes good. It also has peppermint ice cream in it, so it tastes like eating a candy cane. Very yummy! And you're probably thinking, Oh boy, here's the pregnant lady with her sweet cravings, but it was not me who wanted this, which leaves only one other culprit. Yup, it was Josh. He doesn't normally have a sweet tooth, but last night he saw the picture online and was like, Wow, that looks so good. So with very little persuasion from me, we went out and bought it. Hey, I am supposed to be submissive with this whole wife thing, so I went along with it all! Then we each sampled a piece while we watched The Polar Express. We thought we had bought a petite cake for two, but it actually has six slices, so I think we got the next size up. Oh well!

Our baby boy is doing just fine these days. He's been growing a lot lately, which means his mommy is growing too :). I've been on the hunt for another pair of slide-on shoes, but I've had no luck. I already own a brown pair, so I've been wanting a black pair, but the shoes I find are either too expensive, uncomfortable, or they don't have my size. Very frustrating. But that's fine, I'll find them when I find them. And if I don't, I think I'll survive. You know how some pregnant ladies' feet go up a size? Well, I haven't figured out if that's me or not, cause the stores don't have the two sizes I would want to try out. And I supposed it depends on the style of shoe too. I don't like shoe shopping, isn't that weird for a girl to be saying? I did buy a pair of knit/sweat pants today from Kohl's. I needed another pair to sleep in or lounge around the house in. And I had a coupon too, so that was nice :)

While our baby's been growing, he's been moving a lot too. I'd say he's a pretty active baby, though I have nothing to compare it to. But he has his days. Sometimes he'll kick a lot or move constantly it seems like, but other days I barely feel him at all. Sometimes it tickles when he moves, did I tell you guys that already? It's a really weird feeling.

Christmas is coming! Merry Christmas!!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, Snow!

Ok, I repeated the word snow not cause I'm dumb or cause we got huge amounts of it, but it's a song from "White Christmas." Each of the four people singing it say the word snow on a different note so they all harmonize, and then they say "snow" all together for the last one. One of the singers is the fabulous Bing Crosby. If you've never seen the movie, it's a good Christmas one, so go see it sometime!



Anyway, we got our first real snowfall overnight and this is what I woke up to yesterday :) It looked so pretty, and it wasn't an ice storm, so the roads weren't even that bad. We got probably two inches. Josh had a long time getting to work in the morning, but that's cause it was still coming down, which makes the roads slick.

In baby news, Josh felt the baby kick! Usually after dinner the baby is pretty active while we're watching TV or an episode of Smallville, and this time was no different. So, I had Josh put his hand on my belly in case the baby wanted to kick really hard. There were a couple movements and I asked if he felt that and he said no. But then there were two more forceful kicks, and he felt them at the tip of his fingers. He said it felt like a little punch, and he thought it was cool. He had the cutest smile on his face too. So, now that he's interacted with our kid, he's a little freer to poke at my belly. If he's not moving, he bugs him so he'll wake up and move around. What a pest! ;)

Ah yes, and then we got our rocking chair last night. Some assembly was required, so Josh put together the bottom of it while we watched Frosty the Snowman. It's so sturdy and comfortable... I love it! The back is high enough that I can rest my head on it. And it has this pretty design at the top too. It says it's a cherry wood, but it doesn't look very red. It's more a dark brown, but I guess it has some deep red hue in it. Anyway, I can't wait to rock my baby to sleep in it and read him stories. Actually, I was rocking in it last night before bed, and when I got in bed, the baby wasn't very active, which is when he usually is. So maybe I did rock him to sleep!







And there's the baby! Man, it looks like I have a basketball under my shirt!

Another Brownie Story

Do you remember when I told you about how my brownies got smushed on the way to a church fellowship? Well, I did it again! See, I made smore brownies and they looked awesome. They are really easy to make too. Just prepare the brownies as normal, then sprinkle on chocolate chips and mini marshmallows and put them back in the oven for a couple minutes. Then the mallows are soft and the chips are melty, the perfect time to press graham crackers on top of them. Then you let them cool completely and cut around the graham crackers. I love smores and I love brownies, so this combo is wonderful! Anyway, I arranged them nicely on this Christmas tray I have and covered them in plastic. When it came time to go out, I put them on the floor in the backseat and made sure that nothing heavy was on the seat that could fall on them. That's what happened last time with a bottle of 7UP. Well, lo and behold on our travels, Josh had to stop the car suddenly cause of a stupid driver in front of us. I didn't think about the brownies at all--I knew they were safe. We get to the house and I open the car door to get the brownies. The plastic wrap had totally come off and brownies were scattered all over the floor! I was so upset about it. I couldn't believe it happened again! Half the brownies managed to stay on the tray, so we were able to use those, but the rest had to be thrown away. I wanted to cry right then and there, but Josh distracted me from that cause we had a party to go to. I felt awful about serving only 10 brownies, so he suggested I cut them in half. He's so smart. I think I've finally learned my lesson. When I'm bringing food to a get-together, I will always keep it on my lap.

In pregnancy news, the baby has been very active lately. Sometimes I feel movement several times in a row, and I wonder what he's doing in there. One time I had my hand on my belly and I think, though I'm not positive, that I felt it from the outside. Usually it's all internal feelings, but maybe he kicked extra hard or something. I hope it happens again so Josh can feel it. Oh, and it's really hard to cut my toenails. I'm also thinking of finding some backless sneakers, just so I don't have to bother bending down to tie my laces. I even put my foot up on a chair so I don't have to bend in half, but it's still difficult.

I am 23 weeks along, which means I'm at the beginning of my sixth month. One more month and I'll be in my third trimester--yikes! This is going by too fast. Oh, I alsmot forgot! Josh and I found the perfect rocking chair at a furniture store. We went there cause they had a commercial for rockers that cost $49, so we wanted to check them out. Well, with those, you get what you pay for. They were put together poorly and probably wouldn't last long. But we did look around some more and found another one on sale that we fell in love with. This thing was sturdy and the back is high enough that I can rest my head on it. Oh, and it was comfy too--curved in all the right places. So we bought it, and we get to pick it up Wednesday. I think I want to buy chair pads for added comfort, but we'll see. I am just so thankful that we found good quality at a good price. And it's exciting, cause it's another step in preparing for this baby.

Five Months!

I am 22 weeks along, which means I've almost completed five months of pregnancy! It's gone by fast when I look back on everything. I've been feeling better lately. This last week I was battling a cold: sore throat, cough, congestion. Now I just have the cough left over that wants to keep hanging on. So I sound worse than I actually am. You know how that is. I took some Tylenol products while I was sick, but they didn't seem to help much. I even took a NyQuil pill one night to help me sleep, and it did work. I slept through the night and didn't even get up to pee :) I also bought these sore throat drops to ease the pain, and the temporary relief was heavenly. There was one night last week where I woke up every half hour in a coughing fit. My throat hurt so bad and it was so dry that I had to get a drink. But then I felt like I couldn't keep it down cause I was coughing so bad. I slept on the couch so Josh could get some sleep. It was a rough night, but it was only that one time, so I am very grateful. I was still able to enjoy Thanxgiving with the family, which I talked about in a previous post.

The baby is doing well. I feel him move every so often, and I always like those times. I can't wait until Josh can feel him move too. My belly has been more itchy lately, so I know that means I'm stretching out--bring on the lotion! My belly button is shallower too I noticed one day. I found it kind of funny. I mean, I know it's supposed to happen, but it's humorous to read about some of this stuff in books and then a few weeks later watch your body experience it. I'm more off-balance these days, so I have to take it slow when I'm getting up from a crouched position and things like that. According to my readings, this kid weighs almost a pound by now. Oh, speaking of pounds, that's going well too. I've developed a pattern of gaining two pounds one week and then nothing the next week. Which is ok, as long as I'm consistent. This week I lost a pound, but that's probably cause I was sick.

In non-baby news, we are pretty much done our Christmas shopping. We are waiting for some things to arrive by mail, and then I can start wrapping gifts! I love doing that :) I started to freak out about what to get Josh, because I haven't thought about it at all, but he reminded me that we already gave each other gifts. We went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and we'll be going to a dinner theatre that's doing White Christmas next weekend. I told him I'd probably get a couple small things to put in his stocking, and he then asked me what I wanted in my stocking, and you know what I told him? Candy! Oh yeah, ya gotta have some candy in a stocking, right? Anybody who knows me knows that I love candy ;) FYI, chocolate and peanut butter is the best combination ever!

Alright, I'll leave you with my belly pictures for this month. Tootles!

Happy Thanxgiving!!

Boy, it went by so fast :) We got to hang out with all of Josh's family, including his sister who's on break from college and his other sister (and her husband) who recently moved a little far away. We had turkey, an awesome ham (good job, Beka!) and all sorts of yummy side dishes: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, broccoli casserole, dinner rolls, stuffing, cranberry sauce--it was a feast fit for a king :) I brought deviled eggs to the table and made banana pudding for dessert. Pumpkin pie was also a dessert--you gotta have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Then later on we all played Catch Phrase and had so much fun laughing together. I, unfortunately, was still fighting a cold this week, but I still had a good time. I just wasn't my usual energetic self. You should have heard me coughing--it was terrible! Josh and I had thought about sleeping over, but we decided to go home cause I was sick and pregnant, and there weren't tons of stores we wanted to get up early for the next day. We still went Black Friday shopping, make so mistake. We went to Lowe's when it opened at 6am for some maglight flashlights. We walked around Target and Kohls, and they were so busy with hurrying people and long lines. I'm glad we didn't need anything from there. We went to our Christian bookstore to pick up a CD, and we also hit KMart for some Christmas gifts for someone in the family. Oh yeah, we also had breakfast at Bob Evans, our favorite, and I got coffee and it was so warm and tasty... yum!

We also went to Carter's where we picked out an adorable outfit for our little guy. It's a 9-month size, so he can't wear it right away, but I thought it would look good if we decided to get some professional pics of him sometime. Isn't it cute? The little baseball cap is my favorite :)



Later that day we spent time with Josh's family some more and even helped with the Christmas decorations. We can't wait until we have a house and can decorate the outside with lights. Which brings us to today, Saturday. We did our Christmas decorating today and played music while we unloaded boxes and hung ornaments. I had so much fun pulling out my gingerbread man collection and finding places for them around the room. The one pictured here is a cookie jar. He's one of my favorites cause he just looks so fat and cheery. And this is our tree--tomorrow will be one month until Christmas!! It's coming fast!

Not Much

Today's an ugh day. I don't feel great, but I can't really pinpoint where the uckiness is coming from. Well, I'm more stuffy today than usual. See, I've been congested every day in my second trimester, so I attribute it to being pregnant. It's amazing how much stuff can come out of one nose (TMI!). But usually I blow in the morning and i'm good till the evening. But for today i've been sniffly and blowy throughout the morning and afternoon. I don't think it's a cold. And then, not to get too detailed, but food has not been digesting well today. It's not a great day, but I'm surviving :)

I'm so frustrated with sleeping lately. And I feel so bad for Josh, cause he feels every toss and turn, even more so now, cause I move a lot slower in bed. So if I want to roll over, it takes twenty seconds to get it done, instead of three. I can't seem to fall asleep easily. I'm wide awake for an hour, and then sometimes I get up to watch TV to help me get tired and so Josh can get some sleep. I eventually fall asleep, but since it takes a while, I end up sleeping in the next day, but sometimes I am still tired even though I've had enough hours of rest. Or, when Josh says goodbye in the AM, I'm suddenly wide awake and I can't go back to sleep. So I'm up at seven eating breakfast cause I'm so hungry, but then I fall asleep later on, or sometimes I don't. It's so annoying.

Oh, we signed up for baby classes at the hospital. There's one in January that only meets one night, and then the ones that are a couple weeks long are in February. Then there's one in March too, I think.

There was a baby dedication in church yesterday, and Josh and I were talking about our own kid for when the time comes. We've talked before, but still no definite conclusions. We're not sure we want to do one. I mean, the whole time we're pregnant we're praying for our son and dedicating him to God, so why the formal ceremony, you know? They can be long too, especially at our church. Now the one yesterday was very long, but that's cause both parents gave testimony about their baby's name and how they decided to have another child. It was wonderful how God worked in their lives for months over this, and it was encouraging to hear. Ours wouldn't be that long, but our pastor also does this mini-message for the parents too, and then he gives the baby their first New Testament Bible. Then the deacons and paretns/grandparents all pray for the baby to be saved at a young age. When our niece lived nearby, we liked hers. The pastor had the church do vows, like at a wedding. It was like "do you promise..." and they'd say, "I do" or something like that. I think they promised to do their best to influence the child the right way. The parents even said vows, so it was simple and to the point. In the church I grew up in, it was even more concise, which is what I'm used to. The parents bring the child to the front of the church, and the pastor holds the baby and says the whole name and when he was born, that kind of stuff. Then he prays for the kid, and that's that. So we're not sure if we even want to do one, but if we do, then what kind do we like best?

Well, this entry turned out longer that I had planned. I was just gonna write a couple things, but I got all wordy. Oh well :) Happy Thanxgiving!!

Oh wait, one more thing. We're having revival services at church yesterday and tonight, and Josh and I know the evangelist and his wife from college. Get this, Shannon is due with her first baby one week after me! It was so much fun to talk pregnancy and compare/contrast our symptoms. It's nice to be at the same stage in my pregnancy as someone else and have a chance to talk with her about it. Encouraging too. We'll have to keep in contact with them so we can swap baby pictures and stuff.

Ok, that's all. I'm done now :)

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Josh and I went to a concert of theirs last night. We've heard some of their music before, so we were really excited to get the tickets and hear some early Christmas music. Overall, I'd give it a B+, and here's the reason why. The beginning and the end were A+, but the middle stuff was plbt! The beginning was awesome. They played traditional Christmas songs but with their own flair. There was a storyline too, which I only partially followed. The narrator had a wonderful bass voice and it boomed through the arena. They used lasers and moving lights and even fire to enhance the program. The guys must get so worn out when they play, cause they were running across the stage and moving to their own beat. We heard familiar tunes like God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Joy to the World, Carol of the Bells, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

The stuff we didn't like was in the middle. They had these soloists, and I didn't like their voices. Besides, I couldn't understand what some of them sang, cause they were just screaming into the microphone. There were two soloists that I did like, and these men had really good voices. There were also these girls that sang too, and danced, so they reminded us of go-go dancers or something. The songs in the middle were still Christmas ones I think, but they weren't traditional. They were ones they made up, and it seemed like every other one was about someone in a bar on Christmas Eve. I guess it went along with the story they were telling. Oh, there was this one soloist who sang for like 10 minutes! Every time we thought he was done, he start up on another verse. We clapped when he finished, mainly because we were glad he was done :)

One of the guitar players introduced the band. He donned a Buckeye jersey too, so we all cheered of course :). There were 2 pianists, several guitarists (one had a double ax), a violinist (who had a glow-in-the-dark violin), and a drummer. He had a solo section and he was awesome! He played so fast and precise--I wish I had rhythm like that. Anyway, there aren't too many in this "orchestra," but they also used local musicians in the program, so there was a stringed section that added to the sound. I think their name is kind of deceiving, cause they aren't really an orchestra. They are a rock band with a piano and violin, plus the extras the locals they use when they travel.

The second part of the program wasn't Christmas songs. They did some modern ones that I didn't recognize, except for Rolling Down the River--I knew that one. They also did some classical pieces, like Canon in D and Flight of the Bumblebee. So overall, we liked it, except for those soloists in the middle. We definitely got our money's worth, cause it was three hours long! And we didn't pay an arm and a leg for tickets, so we were glad about that, seeing as we didn't like all of it.

It was quite loud, of course, and we were a couple rows from the back, but we had no problem seeing. I'm glad we were so far back, cause once they started, I thought, Hey, is this good for the baby? So I was a little worried about that at first, but Josh assured me that it wasn't bad. But he gave me his coat to put over my belly to muffle the noise anyway :) I did look up some stuff online today, and it said, don't make a habit of going to loud concerts when you're pregnant, and I don't plan to, so I feel a little better. The sounds I hear aren't as loud as the baby hears. And speaking of the baby, he decided to move a couple times! That's right, I felt him twice. The first time felt like a flutter, and I know I felt that a couple weeks ago when I was directing choir practice. At that time, I wasn't sure if that was the baby, but my suspicions are confirmed. The second time he moved it was more like a kick. I could almost imagine his little foot kicking me, probably in protest over the noise :)

Oh yeah, the other day, I bought a handful of outfits for my little guy, and I've been told by both grandmas that I'm not allowed to buy anymore clothes for him :). Don't worry, I've run out of coupons, so I won't be running out to the store anytime soon :)

Look What We Bought!

Tonight I was so in the mood to go shopping, and I begged Josh to take me to Target. Well, I didn't have to beg that much, cause he said ok right away. I think secrectly he wanted to shop for our baby just as much as I did. And I must tell you, it is so much fun shopping for someone else, especially a tiny someone else that's growing inside you. We were only there for half an hour, but if we stayed longer, I know we would have bought more. When I first got to the baby section, all I saw were girl clothes, and it's true, there are tons more girl clothes on display. But after browsing and hunting, the adorable boy clothes started jumping out at me. Just ask Josh, I was so giddy in there. He found a shirt that was cute, and I found the matching pants. Then I found the cutest pair of jeans and challenged him to find something to go with it. It didn't take him long of course, and within a matter of minutes, we had two outfits completed. It was so cool that we each found a piece for the outfits and put them together. And here are the results of our venture. Don't worry, I don't plan on taking pictures of everything we buy our little dude, but I do want to show you the first two that we got.

I'm Sleeping With Another Man

We're having a boy!! We just found out today, and we're both really excited. We'd been praying for a boy, so it was awesome when the ultrasound technician showed us the incriminating parts. My husband was able to come cause he had the day off work--we gave each other a high-five when we saw that it was a boy. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were able to come to the appointment as well. It was fun to have a couple people there so we could share the immediate excitement with them. The baby's 11 ounces, and his heart rate's right on track too. His spinal cord is completely closed, and he's got all 4 chambers of his heart. It's amazing what we could see on the screen! We saw the umbilical cord, his little feet, and even his bladder. I have a few pictures below of some neat shots, and I'll try to explain them so you know what you are looking at.


This is a side view of his leg. His foot is on the right side of the picture, and the two white lines across the middle of the picture are his leg bones. So you can see his calf and his thigh, and on the left is his pelvic region and cute little tushy!


This one has an arrow pointing to his hand on the right side of the photo. You can see part of his arm, his wrist, and four of his fingers are curled up. His thumb is sticking out, like he's trying to hitchhike or something.


This is the best full body view we got. His feet are touching each other on the left, and a little above that you can see his bent knee. You can even see the umbilical cord to the right of his knee, but it's kind of faint. His face is so clear on the right side of the photo. His round skull, his eye socket, a little nose, and it even looks like he's smiling. Well, his mouth is open anyway. Josh says he's got my chin already :)

We went to Babies R Us after the appointment, since it's right across the street from the doctor's office. We wanted to buy his first outfit from us, but we didn't find anything that stood out. We've got time to find something though. We did register for a couple more things, like some blue blankets, and my mom-in-law bought me my first baby book! It's really cute, and I can start filling out some things in it now, like when I felt him move, and I can put ultrasound pictures in it also. It was a long and tiring day. When we got home we cooked up a frozen pizza (I was too tired to cook anything) and we watched Ratatouille. It was a relaxing finish to an exciting day.

Singing

Lately I've been singing "Baby Beluga" to my baby. I first heard this song on my all-time favorite show Full House. They only sing part of it, as you can see in the clip, so I don't even know how the rest of the song goes. But then I found the complete song on good ol' YouTube! So, if you want to hear the entire thing, it's next. I think it's just under 3 minutes, and it shows you all the words too. Have fun!

Lunch Today and Dreams Last Night

For lunch, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and it hit the spot. It's such a timeless sandwich. I used to eat it all the time when I was a little kid, and I don't eat it very often anymore. But when I was thinking about what to make myself for lunch today, a good ol' PB & J sounded yummy. Oh, it was so good! Maybe I'll make another one if I get hungry later on. If I get hungry-- ha! That's a joke. More like when I get hungry.

Ok, I need to stop talking about food. Last night I didn't sleep very well. I woke up every two hours. I wasn't too surprised though. Josh is away on business, and I typically don't sleep as well when he is gone. I stay up later to get myself more tired for bedtime, and that works most of the time. But last night just didn't go well. The first time I woke up was from a dream. A bad dream. I woke up scared. Wanna hear about it? For those of you who don't know, I have weak teeth. I've got tons of fillings, one crown, and I recently broke a tooth that will need to be crowned after the baby's born. Well, I dreamed that all my teeth were dying and rotting away. Every time I bit down on something I would lose an entire filling and have this huge ugly hole in my mouth. Or, massive chunks of teeth would break off and I was in so much pain. This doctor was checking me out, and I had saved all the things that had broken off so he could find a way to reattach them. When I woke up I thought this all had really happened, so I reached for my mouth to assess the damage. My teeth did hurt, but that's probably cause I was tense while sleeping. But all my teeth were there. I felt them with my fingers and my tongue several times, just to make sure everything was ok. Then since I was up, I went to the bathroom. Two hours later I had to go to the bathroom again, and two hours after that I woke up as well, but I didn't go anywhere. I was too cozy to move.

Oh, I had another dream last night too, but this one was more pleasant. I dreamed we were having twins! There was this mini TV on my belly that showed the two faces very clearly in black and white. One kid looked just like Josh, and the other one looked just like me. Sorry, I don't know if they were boys or girls or one of each. All we saw were their faces :) I honestly don't think we are having twins. I would have a much bigger tummy by now if that was the case. But we do get to find out the sex of the baby very soon! I can't wait!! :)

Happy November!

November already? Where does the time go? It finally feels like fall outside. The air is cool and windy, and some trees are sporting lovely colors. Some skipped that part entirely, and that's probably from alot of rain we had one week. Last weekend Josh and I went to a nearby park and walked around and took pictures. Well, Josh took all the pictures. I just watched him take pictures. Before that we ate at Friendly's, and I almost ate my whole huge burger! I normally don't choose burgers at restaurants, but at this place you get a free sundae if you do, and I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to eat ice cream :) Guess what kind I got? My all-time childhood favorite: black raspberry. I don't know why it's my fav, maybe cause it's purple, and that's a neat color for ice cream. I totally eat other flavors as well, but this one tops them all.

Alright, here are some pictures we took at the park. Enjoy! By the way, this is also the park where we got engaged. I made Josh kiss me under the tree where he proposed, but don't worry, we didn't document that moment ;).

Along the walkway is a lovely scene with rocks and little waterfalls. The sound of the water made me have to... (you know what) :)


This was a little makeshift bridge. It didn't go over any water or ditch, it was just some planks of wood set together, but it made for a nice picture.


It wasn't sunny that day, which made it chillier than normal, but some of the trees were so colorful.


We found this leaf and just had to capture it. We tried to put some droplets on a brighter leaf, but it all pooled together. I think God is better at making things beautiful :)


I made Josh take this one. I thought it looked cool to see the bright colors through these dark branches.


Here's a bee we found. This thing was so sedentary you almost thought it was dead! I don't think it ever moved while we were near it.


And here's a future mommy and her baby! Well, I guess I'm not a "future" mommy. I'm already a mommy, I just don't get to fully act like one until April. Or March, if the baby's early :) Anyway, check out that belly! Impressive, huh? Hey, I'm in my fifth month, so I'm glad I can finally show off my little pumpkin without trying too hard.

Ok, that's all folks. Happy Autumn!

Crying and Hunger and Aches, Oh My!

The top picture is from three months, and the one below it is my new four-month belly picture! It looks rounder, more like there's a baby in there as opposed to just ugly fat. Size-wise, they look the same in these pictures, but I really do stick out more these days, to the point where people can actually tell I'm pregnant, even when I'm wearing looser clothing. And since people now notice, I have experienced what my sister has warned me about. There's something about a pregnant belly that makes people want to touch it! Maybe there's a magnet in there somewhere, I don't know. The other day we were at a church fellowship that a family in our church hosted, and they had some people there that weren't from the church, so I didn't know them. When they were told I was pregnant, suddenly their face lights up and I hear "Ohhh! that's great!" As they say this, their hand reaches out and gets closer and closer until contact is made. In my head I'm thinking, Um, I don't even know you, lady! I really don't mind if people I know touch my belly--it's the strangers that touch that's kinda weird. See, with people I know, like family and friends from church and stuff, I know that they are excited right along with us, and I guess there's just something incredible about being so close to a miracle. So yes, personal space is a nice thing, but bring on the belly rubs! (within reason, of course) :)

My second trimester is easier than the first in comparison to having the I feel yucky days. Ah, but don't be easily fooled, because new things have cropped up, which of course just add to my all-round experience as a first-time pregnant lady. Where shall I begin? Let's talk about food. I like food, and I seem to be hungrier for it these days. Say I have lunch, like any other normal person. But for me, and hour or two later, I'm hungry again, just as if I'd not eaten at all. And on Sunday nights before I was pregnant, I had no problem waiting to eat supper after church. But now, I am hungry half-way through the night and I feel like I'm gonna die if I don't eat! Ok, it's not that extreme, but it's there just the same. I need to start packing granola bars in my purse or something, because I can get grumpy if I haven't eaten. Oh, and with the hunger comes impatience. Sunday morning after service I needed to practice a song with my pianist. She told me she needed to get a drink and would be right back, so I went to the front of the church to wait for her. Well, twenty seconds into waiting I was so ready to just leave and go home to eat. I didn't want to practice, I didn't want to wait any longer--all I wanted was food. And it's not like I was mad at her for keeping me waiting. Food was just more important to me at the time :).

Talking about food leads into my next subject--I don't cry over spilled milk, but this weekend I did cry over squashed brownies. Josh and I were on our way to the church fellowship I spoke of earlier. We brought a bottle of 7-Up that I put on the back seat, and I also made a lovely tray of brownies with Reese's PB cups interspersed on the plate. These I put on the floor of the car. So, this is basically all my fault, but that's besides the point. Josh had to stop fast on the road, which sent the soda pop right onto the floor and flattening my brownies. Josh retrieved them and handed them to me and I just stared at the mess. Two levels of brownies had been crushed into one, and at that moment, it was the most devastating thing in the world. I broke into many tears.

Josh, they are ruined! They were so perfect and they looked so pretty and now they look retarded!

And my wonderful husband just took my hand and said It's ok, you don't need to cry over it, it's ok.

He just kept holding my hand and rubbing my fingers until I calmed down enough to realize how stupid I am for crying over brownies. Then I just laughed at myself, cause somebody had to do it :)

And for my final new experience, I ache like and old woman sometimes. My back gets sore, my neck gets tight, my hip feels funky. I'm falling apart and I'm only 24! The aches aren't always there, but they do like to come and go as they please. Sometimes I'm slow to get up after sitting for a while, or I get stiff if I've been standing too long. And lately I just can't seem to get comfortable in bed when I'm trying to sleep. It's been frustrating, but I know it's a sign of things to come. When I look more like a whale than a human, I'll wish these little inconveniences were back. I can only imagine how I'll feel carrying around a 9-month belly :).

Appointment Today

Well, our little Buckeye is doing well. His/her heartbeat is 156, and my blood pressure was normal. As for my weight, well, I won't dish out actual numbers to you, but I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost a couple pounds in the first trimester, so I'm doing good for now. Hopefully I can stay on track and not suddenly inflate like a balloon :).

My belly is starting to stick out more. The other day I had on some Nike shorts that have an elastic waist, and after a couple hours around my middle it was uncomfortable, so I maneuvered them a little lower to get relief. It was funny to me to see my belly sticking out over the shorts. I look like I'm fatter, but it's good stuff, baby fat :).

Let's see, what else? Morning sickness is pretty much non-existent, not that I had much of it to begin with. I've had heartburn lately, which isn't fun, but it could be worse, so I'll take it happily. I've also been congested a lot, and I don't think it's allergies, cause it hasn't lined up with the weather we've been having. My doctor told me I could use saline nose drops for some relief. I have Tylenol allergy medicine, but I don't want to use that all the time, so I may have to go get me some nose drops soon.

Next month's appointment I'll have another ultrasound, and it's on Veteran's Day. This works out well, because Josh already has that day off. If the baby cooperates and doesn't have his legs crossed or anything, we should be able to tell the sex of the baby! We're both dying to know, and so are others. Maybe I'll post the ultrasound picture and have you guess what it is?

That's all the news from baby land!

Puerto Rico

Josh had a business trip to Puerto Rico this past week, and he very graciously (and wisely) bought me a ticket so I could join in on the fun. And that's all we had to pay for, besides the souvenir magnet I found on the last day. The company paid for the hotel room and the food, so it was a pretty cheap vacation. But, you get what you pay for ;). Don't get me wrong, we had a good time, but it wasn't a real vacation, you know? I mean, Josh worked during the day, so when they finished up, most tours would be done for the day, and then it would start to get dark, so seeing the sights was minimal. We did get to enjoy some things about the island, but if it was a real vacation, meaning we had whole days to do stuff, it would have been a lot more fun. We also think we got a bum deal on something, but I'll explain that later. Let's begin with the beginning of our journey.

The first part is embarrassing, but Josh gave me permission to tell the world. We missed our flights! We set the alarm, I promise! And it was on, I promise! It was scheduled to go off at 4:50 am, only it was set for 4:50 pm (oops!). Needless to say, we woke up at 8:30 wondering why it was light out. Yeah, we freaked out. I kept my cool though ;). No, not really. I was just more reserved in my concern. Josh was louder, but he got it all out, and then he got online and on the phone, and we were able to get flights for the afternoon. Instead of arriving in Puerto Rico by lunchtime, we landed at 10:30 pm. But hey, we got there, we were all in one piece, so it's cool. It's kinda funny thinking back on it, but I don't know if Josh thinks it's quite funny yet. I'll have to ask him.

Oh, on the plane ride there, we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not into the Harry Potter movies or books, so I probably didn't catch everything, but I guess it was good. It was something to do. And on the plane ride back, they showed Evan Almighty, and that was pretty funny. Steve Carroll is quite hilarious, though I don't get the humor of The Office. Maybe I would if I worked in an office.

Ok, funny story while we were in the airport. In Atlanta, they have these subway systems that take you to the different concourses so you don't have to walk, and we were packed in there like a bunch of sardines, literally. Anyway, a recorded voice tells you to hold on cause the train is going to move. There was no pole around me or anything to lean on, so I grabbed the leather strap that was hanging from the ceiling. Well, a couple ladies next to me did not hold on, and when the train lurched forward, one lady stumbled and fell on the other one. Then she fell on me and I swayed back. There was nowhere to move my feet, so all I could do was hope my arm was strong enough to hold us all. We looked hilarious, cause they couldn't get their balance, so for a couple seconds I'm bearing the weight of two ladies and holding on with one arm. Josh came to the rescue and helped them up. I'm just glad I was holding on, cause who knows how far human dominoes would have gone?

Puerto Rico is a beautiful island, and it's also an American commonwealth, so we technically never left US soil, but it sure felt like it. All the signs were in Spanish, but some had English on them, only it was below the Spanish words. I've never felt like a minority before, and it can be a little overwhelming. But the guy Josh was going down there to see is a native, so having him around helped a lot. And we finally got the hang of some stuff, like asking for an English-speaking waiter, and we even picked up a little Spanish. "Salida" is a popular word on the highway... it means "exit." :)

They have a lot of the same restaurants that we have. We ate at Taco Bell, Macaroni Grill, Chilis, and Juan (the local) took us to a more local restaurant so we could try new foods. That day I was picky with my food, so I ordered rice and french fries. But I did learn something about their cuisine. They eat a lot of fish and pork, and they can prepare a plantain a dozen different ways. A plantain is like a banana, only sweeter. It can be fried, dried, fresh, mashed, made into a soup, and the list goes on.

Our hotel was inland, but they had a nice pool that I sat out by one day. I took a couple books with me to keep me busy, and the room had HBO and TBS stations, so I could watch familiar shows or movies. I watched a chick flick, In Her Shoes, and I saw part of one of the newer Star Wars movies. One day I was particularly tired, so I napped for that afternoon.

The guys (Josh, Juan, and Michael, who is Josh's traveling buddy) took an afternoon off, and we drove to one of the highest points on the island. We took these narrow and very bumpy back roads, but we got to see a lot of countryside and how the people lived. Once we started going up the mountain, I thought I was going to be sick. It felt like we were going in circles, and the turns were very sharp, so I was glad when we reached our destination. There was a lookout tower, which you'll see pictured below. The mountain does go higher, but it's like a couple hour hike to the top. Not a good idea for a pregnant woman :).












Pretty, huh? There was a waterfall on the way down the mountain, so we stopped to take some pictures there. Oh yeah, Josh likes to take pictures of flowers, in case you are wondering :).











Word of advice, don't ever leave planning to two guys. This was what a lot of conversations sounded like:

Where do you want to eat?

I don't know, where do you want to eat?

Doesn't matter to me, what are you in the mood for?

I don't know, we could just drive around and find something.

And then it would happen all over again when we were deciding what to do. It's a good thing I was there. Not that I was much help. I had a tour book, but a lot of the cool things were an hour or two away, or already closed, and supposedly the town we were in (Caguas) had a whole list of things to see, but we never were able to locate them. San Juan had forts and ports and the old part of the city, but that was by the airport, and by the time we ate dinner, it just didn't make sense to trek up there. We ended up just doing a lot of driving around and taking in the scenery.

On the last day, we headed to San Juan so we'd be near the airport, and also cause we wanted to see the beach. Well, it was beautiful. And get this, here's the bum deal part. In the pics below you will see a lovely hotel right by the water. This was our original reservation! Juan had us change to a hotel nearer to him (inland) so he wouldn't have to drive as far. So yeah, all these beach pictures you see, that could've been me sitting out there every day. I think it would have felt more like a real vacation if we stayed here.

Ok, Here It Is

The official three month belly picture! I had Josh take it this weekend, and I had him do it up close, cause I didn't want the rest of my body showing. Anyway, I think this picture makes me look bigger than I actually am, but whatever, I'll be getting bigger, so it doesn't really matter. And I don't normally wear clothes this tight, so my belly still stays pretty hidden to people at church and stuff. It depends what I'm wearing sometimes too. Sometimes my pants kind of hold it in, and my shirts are usually loose, so I'm not bursting at the seams yet :). I'll try to post a belly picture each month so you can watch me grow! Well, technically you're watching my baby grow, but you get the idea. The baby's three inches long right now and about the size of a peach. Pretty cool, huh? Oh, and get this, I haven't gained any weight yet! I lost about three pounds in the first trimester, and I've just been hovering around those numbers for many weeks. I guess it's better than gaining too much too fast, right?

Let's see, any other baby news? Sometimes my belly feels heavy, so I can only imagine what it'll be like in five or six months. And the other night I had trouble sleeping, so I rolled over onto my tummy to get me relaxed, but it was a bad idea. It hurt! It felt like there was this huge uncomfortable lump in the bed. So no more tummy sleeping for me for a while. Bummer :(

And the Beat is On!

I had a check-up today with my doctor, and the coolest thing happened. I heard my baby's heartbeat! I'm 12 weeks along, and my sister was just telling me that they may not be able to hear the heart because it's a little on the early side for that. So when they told me they were going to check for it, I didn't think they'd find it. The nurse told me it was a little early, but they like to check anyway. And sure enough, we heard it! It was this faint "thump thump" sound. And by faint I don't mean weak. It's just cause the baby's still so small. It was so awesome to hear :)

I called Josh to tell him about it, and I got all emotional on him. I wasn't that way in the office, but once I started telling him, I got choked up and started to cry. I didn't get that way over my first ultrasound last month, so it was probably the combo of missing Josh and pregnancy hormones.

Overall I'm feeling pretty good. I actually feel less pregnant lately in some respects. I don't feel the need to munch on crackers between meals as much as before, and I don't feel as tired. My doctor told me that now I'm getting into my second trimester, and this is the feel good part of being pregnant. Yay!

I've had to wear more maternity clothes lately. Not so much tops, but definitely pants and skirts. I'll have Josh take a belly picture this weekend, so ya'll can see my pooch!

Two more months until we find out if it's a boy or a girl!! Predictions, anyone?

Baby Dreams

Ok, so I'm in my 12th week, which means I'm about 3 months along. I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday we were finding out we were pregnant, and now in 6 months we have to be ready for an addition to our family. Yikes! There's so much to do between now and then. But hey, we've got 6 months, so as long as we don't procrastinate, we should be fine ;).

I do plan on posting some belly pictures soon. Don't worry, it won't be my naked belly. But I figured that three months was a good time to start, seeing as now I have a little something to show. It's funny, cause yesterday I felt like I was sticking out so much, but today my belly seems flatter to me. Whatever. I know Fishy's growing, no matter how it feels to me. The other day I hugged Josh, and he told me that my belly reached him before the rest of me did! And that phenomenon will only become more prominent as the days go by.

Ok, so the reason for my title. I've been having some strange baby dreams. I do remember one nightmare I had earlier on, but I don't exactly want to describe it and relive it in my mind, nor do I want to scare you all with my imagination, so we'll just leave that one alone. But the first baby dream that I had was that I was wearing a diaper. Not sure what brand though, didn't pay attention to that detail. The next one I had, I really wish I could remember what happened, but all I know is that I woke up ticked off at Josh. Apparently he didn't do something I wanted him to in the dream, so when the alarm went off for church the next day, the first thing I thought was, Man, he's so annoying! But, realizing I was in real life and he hadn't done anything wrong, I shook it off and told him about it later. At that time I remembered the dream, but neither of us can recall what it was about.

Then I had another dream where I was ticked off at Josh (poor guy!). We were coming back from a trip, and he sat down while I had to stand and wait for the luggage to come around. Boy, I woke up annoyed about that too! But it's totally the opposite of what happened in real life. When we got back from Disney, I sat down while he waited for the luggage!

Well, upon re-reading my last two dreams, I see that they have no "baby" stuff in them, but I still label them baby dreams, cause I've never had dreams where I've gotten annoyed at Josh before, so I blame it on the pregnancy hormones. He really has been wonderful so far, I promise :).

So the dream I had last night was kinda scary at the time, but thinking back on it, I shouldn't have been scared at all. I dreamed that a baby-sized intruder came into my old room in my parent's house and was stealing all the baby socks I had for my baby. Ruthless, huh? And baby-sized too! I shoulda been able to clobber him!

Any psychologists out there care to analyze my brain?

Day 4: MGM (More Great Moments)

Ok, so we're finally at the last day of vacation. This day was spent back at MGM, cause there were quite a few things there that we wanted to do. We didn't get up as early this day. We were both tired and a little sore, so we took our time in the morning. Josh did both of the thrill rides, Aerosmith's roller coaster and the Tower of Terror, and I looked around in the shops. After a while, the stores start to have all the same things, but there is a lot of variety. Photo albums, Disney scrapbooks and supplies, snow globes, pins, kitchen items, aentenna balls, hats, plush toys, t-shirts, picture frames, and the list goes on. I'll have to show you guys the souvenir I got later.




The next event we attended was a 30-minute stage performance of Beauty and the Beast. Ok, so I've seen this movie a zillion times and I've seen it on Broadway, but I still had to watch it again. And besides, I was curious to see how they'd abbreviate it and still get the whole story in. They did a great job, by the way. But I think the most entertaining part was what happened before the show began. This guy set up some microphones and spoke into each one of them to do a sound check. When he was done the audience clapped, like he was so great for saying "check." He liked the attention, so he came back to the mic and started doing this beat. Then two other crew members came out and started singing, and before long, we were listening to this great quartet! They did so good-- I think I liked it so much because it looked unplanned, so you weren't expecting them to be any good, but they were. So here's a video of them. And keep in mind, they had no music playing in the background. It's all their voices doing the sounds.

So yeah, they were awesome. And then of course I had to take some pictures of the actual show. They didn't do every song, just the major ones. And they had a narrator telling the story, so that helped when they were skipping parts to keep it moving.












Ok, this was probably one of Josh's favorite things to see. I liked it a lot too. Apparently they started this stunt show at the Disney World in Paris, and it was so popular that they have it in the US now, which I'm glad about, cause it was awesome. Boy, where do it begin? It was so loud! They put motorcyle engines in the cars, and it was probably echoing off the stands we sat in. They also made a lot of smoke with their sharp turns and such. They demonstrated different car chases, and some of them (or all) have been in movies. So the red car is the hero, and the four black vans are the bad guys. They showed us some of the tricks they do. For instance, the red car starts driving backwards and goes behind a building. He comes out still driving backwards, but he's going so fast and he's driving so accurately. The trick is that another red car replaced him, and inside this car the driver is facing the direction he's driving in. We just can't see, cause the windows are blacked out. So from the outside, it looks like he's maneuvering backwards, but in reality, he's got total control of the car. Josh took some good pictures of this thing. This first one shows the vans chasing the red car and all the smoke they gave off. The second one looks like the red car is just taking off from the ramp, but actually he's just landing. That's the backwards car I was telling you about. Pretty cool, huh?






Here's the one stunt driver on the left who drove the forward car. The car on the right is the backward one, and the driver's still in there, I believe.



And of course they had to connect this to Disney somehow, so they brought out Herbie! They played his theme song and showed some of his best moments from his movies on the screen, and then they had him drive away and we hear him "crash." And he comes out split down the middle, but still able to drive, of course. Classic Herbie--what a show off ;).



These next two shots just show the kind of stunts they pulled off. The first one has the red car jumping from one truck to the next (very cool), and the second one has the vans driving on two wheels. They did it for quite a while too--it was very impressive.





This last picture is really cool. They implemented a motorcycle chase, and if you can see there's a motorcycle on its side about to slide through this wall of fire. Right behind it is his rider, wearing a white helmet. He too slides through the fire and catches on fire. At first I thought, whoa, is that supposed to happen? But they had guys right there with fire extinguishers. It was so much fun to watch.



We were really looking forward to taking the MGM Studios Backlot Tour that would take us by tram to see how they make movie magic, but we only got one picture on the tour, and it was this.



Why just one picture, you may ask? Well, see the clouds in the picture, all dark and ominous? Well, it started to rain, so a 35-minute tour was shortened to a 5-minute tour. It was such a bummer too, cause I'm sure we would've seen some cool things. It was only sprinkling, so we walked casually to our next destination. Suddenly, the rain fell harder (as Florida rain is famous for) and we found shelter at a nearby table and chairs under an overhang. This kid walks by and looks at all of us hiding from the rain and says, "It's no big deal, it's just a little rain." Then it falls even harder and this kid got drenched! He deserved it :). So it wasn't just rain. There was thunder and lightning, but we had chairs, so we comfortably waited out the storm. The temperature dropped a lot, so it felt really nice. The sun came back out after 20 minutes or so, and we made our way to the next tour on our list. We wanted to go back and try the backlot tour again, but we ran out of time. This one was called The Magic of Disney Animation, and we watched a short presentation of a guy on stage interact with Mushu (from Mulan) on a screen. It was cute, and then we were dismissed to look at some storyboards that showed the progression of drawing some of the characters, like the Beast and Woody. We tried to get in another line, where we would be taught how to draw a Disney character, but we waited too long, and there wasn't enough room for us :(. Oh well, I'm not an artist anyway. We also took a tour of Walt Disney's life, from childhood to his future visions, and there was a video with real footage of him too. It was cool. Josh went through it quicker than me, but that's because I kept stopping to read all the signs.


Our final event at Disney was Fantasmic! a "nighttime spectacular with lasers, lights, dancing fountains, and special effects." We started waiting early for it, so we were some of the first ones they let in. As the time drew closer, they would unrope a section, and we would walk to the next roped off section. We did this a couple times until we finally reached the ampitheatre. We found seats front and center, so I was excited. I knew we'd have a good view of everything. While we were waiting, we saw dark clouds looming closer and coming fast. They kept announcing that due to weather the show might be delayed or cancelled, so we all kept waiting. It finally did pour, and Josh and I were glad we remembered to pack the ponchos. I tried to arrange my poncho so me and my seat would stay dry, but my shorts still managed to soak up a bunch of rainwater. It was kinda fun being with all the other poncho-wearers and waiting through the rain. It sure helped the time go by fast. The workers who were selling those light-up toys packed up their stations, but then others came around selling ponchos to those who didn't have them. Some people had umbrellas, but those weren't allowed, cause it could cause injury in the large crowd. Eventually the rain stopped. We meant to get a picture of us in our orange ponchos, but we forgot. We looked cute though, I promise ;). Here's a picture of the stage, before it got dark.



And here's Mickey Mouse! He started the show (naturally) and he brought up the colored fountains and lights shot out from his fingers. There was awesome music going on too, so it added to the exciting atmosphere.





Remember the picture of the rocks I showed you? Well, they did a scene from Pocahontas on them. First canoes with Indians floated by us on the water, and then Radcliffe and his men were singing and digging, and John Smith was there, and of course Pocahontas made an appearance. That part was cool, but I wasn't quite sure how it fit with the rest of the story. Yes, there was a plot to this whole show. It was really cool. They sprayed a huge wall of water and displayed images on it from Fantasia, the cartoon with Mickey and the sorcerer's hat. So the whole idea is that Mickey has this dream, but then the villains from all the other stories decide to get into his dream and destroy him once and for all. They showed images of Ursula, Jafar, Scar, and others. Then they dropped the wall of water and the evil queen from Snow White was on stage, where she turned into the ugly witch!



The special effects were so neat, and I liked how they used that plus the stage for the performance. Oh, these next pictures are cool. This first shot is the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. It was huge, and in the picture you can only see its bright eyes in the darkness. They put flames on the water, and you can see the mist in the air--it was so awesome!



Here's Mickey about to fight the dragon. He's kind of distorted from the heat of the flames. I thought it was a cool effect.



And here he has pulled the Sword from the Stone to kill the dragon. See the fireworks coming from the sword? It was so awesome! I got really into it :)



Once he killed the dragon, they put up the wall of water and showed all the villains dying by electrocution. For most of the images, they just added lightning to it, but for Ursula, they didn't have to. Cause if you remember in The Little Mermaid, when she died she already had lightning on her. Anyway, we all cheered of course, and then a steamboat came out with all the characters aboard, and guess who was driving? Steamboat Willie!!





It was a fun-filled vacation, and we both had an awesome time. I think if we'd have brought kids, I still would've had more fun than them! Josh and I have already talked about going down there again when we have a family. I want to make sure we go when all our kids are old enough to remember it. So it may be a while until I get to go back, but I'm not complaining! I'm so happy that I got to go in the first place. And thus ends the Disney saga. I hope you've had fun reading and looking at the pictures :)