Will 2008 please go away?

This week has already turned out to be the crappiest week ever. First, Lou and I noticed that our doggies weren't really eating and then all of a sudden Izzy Belle started to vomit constantly. Then, my Mom calls and tells me that she just got home from the hospital because my Dad has been admitted again and has lost alot of blood. Both of course occur within just a few hours of each other and send me over the deep end. I was not great company yesterday. Lou and I decided to take Izzy to the emergency vet to get looked at and we're glad we did. She was so severely dehydrated that she was on the verge of having her vital systems shut down. We had to leave her there overnight, which just about killed both of us. We are so attached to our puppies and having to leave one behind left a tear in both of our eyes. After we left the emergency vet we headed over to see my Dad. He looked a lot better than I had imagined. He was getting some color back in his cheeks, which was a pleasant change because he's been the color of death for a month or so. He docs figured that his blood pressure meds had thinned his blood too much, and he was getting blood clots as well as severely bleeding from other areas. He was scheduled t have a procedure done today to help remove any car tissue and remaining clots from his bladder today, but the procedure got postponed until Wednesday. When Lou and I got home last night, we crashed. This day was horrible, but sticking with tradition...it would get worse.
We woke up today all excited to go get our little girl only to get to the emergency vet and find out that we have to take er immediately over to our regular vet to continue IV fluids and observation. The vets don't know, and still don't know, what is wrong with her. She still can't keep anything down, so that is 3 days of vomiting and no bowel movements. We've spend as much money on vet bills in the last two days as we paid for her, which is a truly scary amount. We now have to take her to an internist to find out what's wrong. As I sit here typing, she is laboring to breathe and has thrown up 4 times since being home. It's enough to make me break down in tears. So, that's the story with our little girl, but it gets even more stressing with my Dad. We went to see him this afternoon and he's lost his color, again. The Urologist informed us that his largest tumor has tripled in size in the last three months, which was a total shock since his form of cancer is supposed to grow half a centimeter a year and his grew 6 centimeters in 3 months. He may loose his kidney now, which is a scary thought since his other kidney has cancer in it too! While we were there clots formed and blocked the catheter which caused tremendous pressure to back up into his system. It's never a pleasant sight to see the strongest man in the world struggle to formulate words to express the pain he's in. Lou and I left before the worst of it. When people ask me how my Dad is doing I always say that my parents really don't discuss it with me because they don't want to worry me, which is a true statement. However, I can sense many things, and I've known for a long time just how sick my Dad is, and that it's not getting better. I really don't think there is much time left and it really angers me to think that this little boy growing inside my belly may not get the chance to go fishing with his Grandpa, or that I may not get another Christmas with him. **changing subject**
Speaking of the little guy in my belly...he'll be here soon. Last week at our appointment, my cervix was softening, his heartbeat was slowing, and he was definitely dropping. Today we had an appointment, between other hospital visits, and learned that I'm already 2cm dilated and 70% effaced. I've been having alot of pressure down there and I figured that I was dilating. I will say that I wish that I'd picked a doc with smaller hands because when Dr. Moore said that there would be a little bit of pressure as he checked me...he lied...there was ALOT OF PRESSURE! I will be screaming "DRUG ME NOW!" as soon as I arrive at the hospital when I go into labor. If it hurts just getting examined... AHHHHH! So, I'm thinking my totally stressed out body will go into labor this week sometime. We'll be finishing packing our bags tomorrow just in case... That's all I can report for now. I'm too stressed, sad, anxious and tired to think anymore.

Neglect!

Since I've joined Facebook, I've neglected the blog. I'm a bad, bad, bad blogger. It's not like I haven't had the time!... Anyhoo, much has happened since my layoff.

On the job front: I have been on four interviews now, which really haven't amounted to anything spectacular. Three were with temp agencies and the one this morning was with APQC for a full time marketing coordinator position. I really miss working, but I feel a pull to stay home until the baby is born. The temp agencies haven't had much luck placing me anywhere and I doubt that APQC will pan out because they want to fill the position in January and she didn't look to thrilled when I told her that was when I was due. I ended up getting a phone call yesterday and they want me to meet with someone else...so a second interview! Yeah! I guess she wasn't too deterred by the belly. The HR lady that I spoke with said that great things were said about me and they have been talking about how to best accommodate me, which sounds very promising. My second interview is next week, so I'll try to post about it.

On the house front: Since the just before the election the market has been S-L-O-W to say the least, but that was to be expected. In all the years I've been in real estate the market pretty much stops around election time. For some reason people hold their breath and think that a change in President will actually affect the market and it never does. A recession, however, has a slight affect... The construction on the new house is going slow, which is great! I met with the construction manager about a month ago and told him to go as slow as he possibly can, and to speed it up when I come running in the community waving my hands like a crazy lady. He was shocked to find out how much I knew about construction, which was funny for me. We walked around the frame of our house speaking construction speak. It was like the old days when I worked for Coventry Homes. This week has been busy with showings, so I'm hopeful that the market in Midtown is turning. We've had two showings this week and I'm looking forward to hearing feedback from our Realtor. So far the feedback from the other showings we have had have been that the house is too dark (? we only have windows on 2 sides of the house, so naturally it would be a bit darker than a house with windows on 4 sides) and that the cabinet space is limited (no crap...that isn't a 4000 square foot home in suburbia). I get a bit protective of our little house...

On the baby front: Baby Lawrence is doing fantastic! We had the baby shower in November which was a blast! It was so good to see everyone! As soon as Gretchen emails me the pictures I will post those because they are too cute. I'm thinking people were a bit shocked to see just how large I am!! There is a funny weight story... Two appointments ago with Dr. Moore, I was complimented on how well I'm coming along with my weight. According to their records I've only gained 25 pounds. Of course, you'll remember that I started with them in the middle of my pregnancy, and I had already gained 25 pounds before that. Lou and I started laughing! I am now 34 weeks along and have gained a whopping 60 pounds. Yep! I wear a size 8 maternity pant and a Large top, so needless to say that I have a fight to get back to 107 pounds and size 2 jeans and XS top. I've decided I start walking a little everyday when I can. Having so much weight on my tiny frame makes moving difficult and I swell to the size of a whale by the end of the day. I own two pairs of shoes that "fit". There are two other pairs that "sort of fit". Baby Lawrence is getting close to 5 pounds, if he isn't already over 5 pounds and he takes up all of my belly now. He is VERY, VERY, VERY active from about 8:30 at night to well after midnight, so I don't get much sleep. Since it looks like we may possibly still be in this house when he arrives, we started putting his room together. His crib and bedding are so precious and his closet is filled to the max. We've pretty much received everything off of our registry so we're almost set, so a BIG THANK YOU to all who have helped us get there. Every time we bring something home or put something together the puppies get very inquisitive. Izzy has claimed the jumperoo for herself and has decided that underneath the crib is a pretty cool hang out. I'm starting to get my hospital bag in order as well as the baby's bag, so if when the time comes we are prepared. We have decided to go ahead and let Baby Lawrence come on his own, but I'm still hoping that he wants to come this month. Although, I have a sneaky suspicion that he'll wait until mid January. Everyone is curious if we've decided on a name yet, an the answer is yes, but no. Lou has decided and I've decided, but we haven't picked the same name. Naturally. We've come to a bit of a stale mate on this one, which is what happens when you put two stubborn people together. I keep pressing him that we need to meet the baby and decide then, but oh no no no he's gone so far as to get an autograph for Lou 5 from Andre Johnson (Texans receiver). He plays dirrrrty. Lou says that this baby needs to have his name and the next baby can have my name, but I don't want my name for the next baby-I want it for this baby. We'll see who wins out in the end. I have a good idea that it won't be me. :) You may be wondering what the name selection is... Lou 5 is one of course, but my name is Christopher Grayson Lawrence, which has a beautiful, melodic sound to it. That's it for now. Mom and baby are growing well and we're looking forward to meeting our little guy in a few more weeks!

fun times in the city

Yesterday Lou and I decided to take the kids to Discovery Green for a little Sunday brunch in the city. Discovery Green is the latest and greatest in "green" parks and this one is situated in downtown Houston. We ate a hamburger by the lake and watched little kids sail remote controlled sail boats. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the park was buzzing with families. There was a feeling of hope in the air that rejuvenated my spirits. We popped a squat on the hill and grooved to the music and just took in the beautiful day. The kids were "oohed" and "aahed" over so they felt special. Then Lou and Ryan went to the Texans game to watch the supreme beat down we gave Cincinnati, while I went to my mom & dad's so they can spend time with the belly and the grand dogs. The airshow was happening this weekend and since they live just a few miles from Ellington we got to see the awesome Thunderbirds. The baby jumped when Angus barked, but when the ground rumbling, eardrum numbing Thunderbirds flew by he did nothing. We may have a future pilot on our hands. It was a great ending to a beautiful weekend! Today, I'm searching and appliying for jobs. Wish me luck!

Early Maternity Leave

I've been granted an early maternity leave! At least that is how I'm choosing to look at it. I was fired. Yep, the heartless, gutless, sorry S.O.B., C.O.O. of my company "just can't afford me anymore." It really boiled down to the fact that he and I never saw eye to eye and I think he's an idiot so therefore I had to go. He never asked if I would consider a cut in pay or to go back into outside sales, which is where I worked for a year before being asked to do the marketing. The ironic thing is that all week I was calling and scheduling interviews for more outside sale people, so he really could have cared less that he was putting a 7 month pregnant woman out in the world without a clue on how to earn a living to support this life that is about to come. I found out last night from my former manager who is also a great friend that I have been on the chopping block twice before, but the C.E.O said no way no how, and that by no means was I going anywhere. This time the C.E.O was out of pocket, so Pat decided to make the cut before anyone had a chance to save me. Since Texas is a right to work state there really isn't much I can do. I am going to file a complaint with the EEOC and file for unemployment while I try to get hired somewhere else. I joked with Lou that now I need to go vote Democrat so I can get some of that wealth spread around to me. He didn't see the humor. I knew the hammer was coming, but I was still a bit shaken that he actually did it. I was hoping that he would actually have a soul and a conscious, but sadly I was mistaken. I was more upset that at 7 months pregnant that I would be unemployed with doctors bills, hospital bills, mortgages, and a new home under construction on which the loan requires me to have a job, and a baby to be financially responsible for. I was a bit overwhelmed. Then I sat back and took in the fact that I have been blessed with everything in my life. I have a beautiful and wonderful husband that loves me and provides for me and is the biggest source of stability and comfort I could have ever asked for. I have the love and support of a great family and a great group of friends. I have a wide range of skills that will aide me to get a great job in the future. I have a healthy baby growing inside of me that will be the biggest joy Lou and I have ever known, and now I have the ability to sit at home and finish growing him without the stress and stupidity of life at DuPure.
My birthday was also this week. I turned a whopping 28. The day started with finding a crawfish at my desk (this of course is while I still had a job). The guys in the warehouse found him outside the building and thought he'd make a great addition to my office. So, Lou and I now have a pet crawfish named Sebastian (from the little mermaid). That evening we all went to dinner at Sambuca. By we all I mean Lou, Lou, Johnie, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Alex (Ryan's friend), and I. We had some of the best steak, shrimp, and creme brulee in Houston! Even my Dad had a great time. I'm glad there was one great day from last week.
On another note, I no longer have ankles. I don't even think I can qualify them as cankles. They are just huge, gelatinous stumps. Even my Mom looked at my feet and asked where my ankles went. Thanks, Mom. So, I need to get with Dr. Moore and find out if I'm on the verge of something bad. Keep you posted.

Stupid Rules

We've had a set back in our attempt to have an 08 baby. We never really anticipated having the baby that early, but when the idea was posed we got a little excited. This week labor and delivery called and said that they will not allow an "elective" c-section to occur before 38 weeks due to serious medical and legal ramifications. The absolute earliest we can schedule our c-section is 1/9/2009, which is still ok with me. So, now the new date of arrival is 1/9/09...unless he gets excited about meeting his mommy and daddy and comes early on his own. We've been having a lot of fun over the past few weeks. Lou and I went to the Texans game and we finally won one!! The cannon that explodes after every touchdown started the baby, which was funny. The baby has been VERY active and Lou and I take time every night to feel the miracle growing inside my belly. He's found his favorite hang out spot which is just under my ribs on my left side. He curls up and hangs out for hours. It gets a little hard to bend over or breathe, but he likes it there so I don't complain. What I do complain about is the weight. It is getting increasingly difficult to move or find a comfortable position sitting, standing, sleeping, etc. Plus, I'm getting the third trimester sleepies a full two weeks early. I've had to start taking in iron supplement because I'm Anemic, so I'm hoping that helps with some much needed energy. On the home front all is looking great. I haven't been out there since Tuesday, but I know we at least have a slab. Yep! They poured our slab on Monday or Tuesday, so now it's time to stress the post-tension foundation and start the framing! I'm going to try and find our camera so we can take pictures of the belly and the home site. We are so excited that the house is under way. Now we just need someone to love our old house. We had our first showing this week, but there wasn't any evidence that someone was in the house. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Baby 08

We got the green light from our tax guru to have the baby on December 30th, 2008! We've already called and got on the waiting list for an end of year c-section. Dr. Moore can only schedule c-sections within 60 days, so it can't be officially go on the books until 10/30. Ready or not here he comes...

Glucose...Yum!

I took my glucose test today and it wasn't bad at all. I was given a fruit punch flavor and it was just like a Hawaiian Punch. I sucked that baby down in about 3 minutes. We discussed with Dr. Moore dates for the c-section. He only does surgery on Tuesdays and Fridays, so he looked at the calendar and said we can choose January 2nd, 6th, or 9th. Then he said that if we wanted to that we could even choose December 30th. That of course perked our ears, so I'll be contacting our tax guy to see if we can still get the tax credit for the entire year. We heard that sometimes the government will only prorate the year, which means having him on the 30th won't mean a thing. Now we know what our dates are, so we can plan accordingly. Exciting!!

Build baby build

Our house started last week! I drove out to our lot on Monday expecting nothing to be done, but to my surprise there was a foundation form and 9 loads of dirt. The construction manager has to set up a meeting with us now to go over all the in's and out's of our house, so I'm anticipating that meeting! Most of you probably don't know that I have EXTENSIVE construction knowledge from my years selling for Coventry Homes. It was part of our job description to have knowledge of the construction process, but I worked with only NASA engineers so I had to be well equipped to hold my own against those know-it-alls. Our construction manager won't be able to put anything past me. Our house will officially go up on MLS tomorrow for sale or lease. We've listed it at $259,990 so if you know anyone that wants to live downtown give me a shout! We're also listing it for lease at either $2200 or $2000 a month. Last weekend we totally gutted the house minus the absolute essentials. We left our bedroom furniture, a couch, our big tv, the coffee table, and our dining room table. That's it. We packed and loaded storage last weekend, which went very well. We had Lou, Johnie, Lou, Ryan, and useless me.
All is going well on the baby front. I go in for the glucose test on Thursday. There has been much action in the belly lately. Baby Lawrence is shaping up to be a mover and a shaker! My belly button is all but gone, and Lou just loves touching it and making fun of it. He's so supportive. **eyes rolling** The baby punched me the other day as I was feeling around to find him. I think he was face up when I found his head and as I pushed in he punched me. It startled me! I can't wait to meet this little guy! Jenna and Gretchen are preparing for the baby shower to come in November. We have finished registering at Babies R Us and JC Penny.
Ok, gotta go. Lou just put on the Presidential debate, so now I have to go get mad at stupidity in prime time. Check in soon!

IKE pictures

I know most of you have gone to Bolivar via the ferry, but there is a back way in. If you take I-10 East and head South on 124 you go through the Gilchrist, High Island, and Rollover Pass areas. At the end of the highway where you merge onto the road in Bolivar there were huge mounds of grass and dirt. The mounds had to be 16-20 feet high. They are gone. The beach is also gone as you can see from the water coming all the way up to the road.






On the drive down...







This is the Chevron that marked the entrance into Stingaree Marina.



The storage area across from the Chevron.

My parent's went down to Bolivar yesterday to assess the damage to their place caused by IKE. While there they took some pictures of what is left. To appreciate the damage I need to describe what was there before. My parent's had a pretty sweet setup with a camping trailer, which was next to the house with all the debis under it.

They had a HUGE awning/covering for a drive up garage that housed the truck and boat. There was a storage shed to the left of the trailer that housed all the lawn equipment and fishing stuff. Behind the shed there was a covered patio area with a bar-b-que pit, picnic table, and chairs, etc. They had it all decked out with festive lights. Behind the trailer was a fish cleaning station with a table and sink. Before the storm they were able to remove the boat and trailer, but the rest had to be left to the mercy of IKE.

This is the skeleton of the shed protecting someone else's 4-wheeler in the marsh.

Their neighbor's boat is on the bottom.

The rentals across the canal from my parent's. The boat in the slip is upside down.

Not quite a hollowed out volcano lair, but it will do

Here is the crib and dresser set that Lou and I have finally decided on! I think the book shelves will come in very handy with all the reading we plan to do, and it will double as a safety hazard/climbing post when he's a bit older. I think it will look really pretty with the Bali bedding too. We got word that our house may be started next week! Yeah! The painters are wrapping up their work today in our current house to bring it back to "normal" colors. Our house looks so different without the beautiful, vibrant colors. All fingers crossed that this bad boy sells and we are free and clear to prepare to move into our new house. Ryland said that if any house is started in September that it must close before the end of the year. Something tells me that since there are only two days left in September for next week that we realistically will not be closing this year. One can hope though!

Post IKE

Much has happened in the last week... I went to see Dr. Moore for another check up and got to see the awesome progress our little boy has made, got hit by a hurricane, evacuated after a hurricane, felt the baby go crazy, finally got electricity back, and now I'm waiting to get new tires since mine are flat. So, let's start from the beginning...

Last Thursday was my 2nd appointment with Dr. Moore. We were supposed to just look at my cervix, but seeing as how my pap smear with him came back positive I suppose he didn't need to look just at that. We did another full blown ultrasound and measured the progress of the baby's vital organs. I felt really bad because Lou wasn't able to go because work is crazy right now. All was looking great and normal until Dr. Moore measured the baby's femur bone and noticed a rather large growth spurt. Not that that is bad, but you may recall just two weeks ago that I reported that the baby (we are back to just calling him baby Lawrence since the name debacle is still underway) was 9 ounces and in the 52 percentile for baby's at his stage. Well, in two weeks our son DOUBLED in size. He is now a full pound and in the 77 percentile for baby's at his stage. Dr. Moore looked impressed and said that we were shaping up to have a pretty big baby. WHAT! I knew deep down that there was always that possibility since the men in my family are all over 6' and Lou has some tall men in his family too, but it was still a shock to hear that Lou and I are shaping up for a big baby. Funny. Dr. Moore confirmed that he is still a boy and no sex change operation happened in the last two weeks. Lou and I are very pleased that our boy is growing to be a big and healthy baby boy. That Thursday was also the day that most of Houston started to panic about IKE. I went to work for about half a day and then Lou and I went out in search of preparations to get ready to be hit head on by a hurricane on Friday.

Friday turned out to be pretty uneventful until early evening. We had brought everything in from outside and just prepared as best we could for the worst. It was about 8 'clock when we lost power. We just knew it would come back on because it hadn't even started raining yet, but alas the power was out for good. We decided to go ahead and go to bed. The wind and rain woke me up about midnight. I went to the window to look out and Lou asked what it looked like. I said that I could still see downtown so it wasn't too bad. I went back to bed and woke up again around 3:30 and it was definitely a different story. The sound of the nails creaking in the roof were enough to make my toes curl. I woke Lou up and said that I thought it was time to go down to a lower floor, and as the only hurricane veteran in the house, I was alone in my worried state. I was so nervous and anxious that the baby was doing flips in my belly, which of course added to my uneasy feeling. I looked out of the same window in our bedroom and could no longer see downtown. Scary. I went to the second floor and looked at the street and noticed that there wasn't any standing water in the street, which made me feel a little better. I sat up and listened to the news on the radio for about an hour until I had heard the latest IKE update that said that the worst was about to be over and downtown should start to see relief soon. Whew. Ok, I went back to bed. We all woke up around 7:30 and the scene outside of our house was unnerving. I walked out onto our balcony and saw flood water almost up to our front porch step. Lou looked at me in amazement and asked very calmly if we had flood insurance. NO, WE DON'T! So, while the wind and the rain were still raging, Lou and Ryan strode out in the water to clear the storm drains. That did the trick and the water quickly receded. The dogs had to tee tee, as you can imagine, so we took the out behind the houses were we were a little bit more shielded from the wind. We walked down to each corner and saw water as far as the eye could see. We saw a Scion under water. We saw the 4 story town homes on the street behind us with water on the 1st floor. We saw the crack houses to the side of us with water on the 1st floor. We saw Elgin completely under water, and we saw out beautiful park totally devastated. It was about 1 pm when the humidity started making it miserable, so we all packed up to go to a hotel for the night, but the hotel was also without power. We ended up in College Station in one of the last rooms in the city. We stayed there from Saturday until Monday because Lou was being summonsed back to work on Tuesday. Coming home was a huge relief, but the drive through town was an eye opener to all the devastation that has overcome Houston. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we opened all the windows in the house and prepared to be urban campers until power was restored. All of our neighbors had come together to grill the remaining bits of meat that hadn't spoiled, so we joined it as well. At night we all circled around a Coleman lantern and finally got to know one another. We have all lived there for 3+ years and never knew each others names, so it was a great bonding experience for us all. Tuesday was a riot because the trash had piled up and was really stank, and Mayor White had promised that trash services were resuming. Finally about 5 the trash guys showed up. You would have thought we'd won a collective multi million dollar jackpot the way we rejoiced. By Tuesday afternoon, Lou was getting a little tired of roughing it so he called Sam's to see if they had any generators. They did. So we rushed to Sam's to buy a generator to at least run the fridge and maybe the TV. They had generators all right...you had a choice of a $600 or a $1000 generator. WHATEVER! We debated back and forth about what to do and I said that they way our luck goes as soon as we get home after waiting in line for gas for this generator we'll have power. The better alternative, and the one we went with, was to buy a huge ice chest and gobs of ice. Of course the flip side of our reasoning not to get a generator was that if we didn't get the generator we'd probably not get power back until October, but we took a chance anyway.

Wednesday we got power back! One of our neighbors hunted down a Center Point guy and he said that because we had a down pole and transformer that we weren't on the bottom of the list but that we were pretty darn close. Well, he was wrong. I was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal when we heard a "crack". I looked over and the lamp as on and I looked up and the fan was on. I cocked my head like dogs do because it wasn't registering with me what had happened. What was this glow of yellowish light? Then WHAM! it hit me. POWER!!!!!!!!! I ran upstairs to wake Lou from his nap just hoopin' and a hollarin'. Yeah, for not buying a generator!!

Through all of this the baby was going nuts. There was one night that I called Lou over and had him put his hand on by belly to let him feel his son's antics. Lou was amazed! The baby was flipping and flopping all over the place. One morning I woke up to see this large bump on my belly and I realized it was the baby sticking his butt in the air. It's been wonderful to feel him finally moving on a regular basis. I suppose it was bound to happen since he's grown so much.

I'm glad we didn't buy a generator for the obvious reason, but now we need new tires for the Civic. Lou and Johnie walked outside this morning and saw a flat tire. URG!

I started another registry on JC Penny's for the baby's furniture. When Lou and I started looking at bedding we saw a crib in one of the ads that we really liked. It was a modern piece with a bookcase/changer on the end. I couldn't find that crib anywhere until this morning. It's at JC Penny's!! Yeah! So I deleted the crib and dressers and such from the Babies R Us site and registered for the crib and dresser on the JC Penny site. We're not certain we'll have a new house to bring the baby home to now. It's almost October and Ryland still hasn't started on our house. I know houses can be built in three months, but now with the aftermath of IKE to deal with, I know there will be material/labor shortages. Plus, we're putting our house on the market in a few more weeks. I just love the flux our life is in right now. It keeps things interesting to say the least. Well, I must be off. I have to make a few phone calls to find tires and reschedule with our painter.

More cool kicks

I don't know what it is with me and shoes, but apparently it doesn't stop with just me...I'm getting addicted to finding the coolest kids shoes out there. Here's a website with some more super neat socks and shoes.
http://www.trumpette.com
I love the Johnny Booties in Tan, the Jungle Critters set, the Andy Tracks in white with the black laces, the Baby Mocs in black, and of course the Baby Camo set. The sneakers on the Jazzy Toes website are still my favorite sneaker socks because they're little converse tennies. I've even found the cutest boots at Cavenders, since he'll be here in time for rodeo. I need help!!

Shopping Fiend

We finished registering for the baby this weekend, and we were totally unprepared for how much stuff there is to choose from. It really is mind boggling. We were there for 2.5 hours and still had gaps in the registry. Geesh! Lou and I did have fun though going through the store and visualizing actually using this stuff with our little boy. He got into it more than he'll admit. Then our sales counselor from Ryland called and told us about the huge sale at Carter's this weekend. Big mistake. Lou, Johnie, Ryan and I piled in the car and went baby clothes shopping. L5 is equipped with clothes for a while! Boy clothes are definitely not as cute as the girls, but we did get some really cute stuff. I know I should wait...but I did plan ahead and got some long sleeve stuff for 3-6 months since that will be the "cold" time here in Houston and cooler more summer like stuff for 6-9 months. It's hard to pass up 60% off. We even got him his first bathing suit! All in all, it was a great baby centric weekend. We got two things for us as well. We bought a Boppy for me to sleep with since it is getting increasingly difficult to sleep on my side, and a Prenatal Listener. The Listener isn't like the Doppler they use in the doctors office, instead you can actually listen to what your baby is doing. You can hear the heartbeat, hiccups, nutrient flowing through the umbilical cord. Really cool! It's best used during the 3rd trimester, but we went ahead and got it. We tried last night but all we could hear was my stomach. I tried again this morning while Lou was in the shower and BAM! I found him. He was hiding on my left side. I turned down the volume on the machine so I could yell to Lou without blowing out my eardrums. As Lou was scurrying to get out of the shower to come listen, L5 caught on to us and moved and went into silent mode. He's tricky and crafty...a bit too much like his parent's! We also contemplated not naming him Lou 5. We heard the name Sebastian and loved it. So far, we're having mixed reviews about this name too. At least we have 3 more months before we have to make a final decision. We finally took some belly pictures for your viewing amazement. Here I am at 20 weeks. Half way!!

Relief

We heard from the underwriters late last week that our loan was approved, so we are on our way to having a new house! Yeah!! That's a big relief! Now we are on a mission to get Ryan a job so he can stay in our house and all will be good in the world! I took some time over the weekend to register for a few things on the Babies R Us website. I price compared our crib and bedding and Babies R Us rocks! Their pricing even beat Walmart! I only did the no-brainer things like the bedding, crib, and play stuff. The other things like car seats and strollers are completely foreign to me, so I'll have to go try those out in the store. Of course I plan to breast feed, but the best laid plans... So, as a precaution I've been reading about all the toxins in plastic baby bottles. I know about all the crap we put in plastic bottles from working in water, but I didn't realize we did it to the baby bottles as well. I'm so confused about whether to go glass or plastic. It hit me yesterday just how much I don't know about having kids. I think I may look into a "how not to kill your child in the first few years" course. Do you think they offer those?

Cool Kicks

Aren't these the cutest!!!

Show and Tell

L5's stats. Weighing in at a whopping 9 oz, L5 is in the 52 percentile right now. That means that by this time of the pregnancy half the babies are bigger and half are smaller. The 2nd Hadlock measurement is of his head and the 3rd is of his tummy.


Showing the heartbeat. (141 BPM)


Curled up and ready for night-night.


Blood flow through the umbilical cord.


L5's best imitation of a Roswell alien.

Lou and I have been working on a way to condense the ultrasound video, but it's waaayyy to big. Instead, I took some stills from the video. While doing all this I actually felt L5 moving around. I guess he likes it when we watch his first motion picture. He was doing cartwheels!

Stylin'

Now that we are on our way to be proud parents of a dashing little gentleman to-be, we have to start planning his fashionable entrance into the world. Here is a pic of the bedding we've picked out and of a crib that I like. You would think finding a crib would be easy, but it really isn't. Things run through my mind like he's only going to be in it for two years then does he really need a toddler bed or just move him up to a twin bed? Is this going to be the furniture he grows up with and moves out of the house with? If I get a nice crib will he just teeth and mouth it to smithereens? AHHHH. I'm too neurotic for my own good. Anyhoo, I'm going to work on condensing the video tonight and try to post it.

Oh, Boy!

Today we met our new doctor, Dr. Moore, and he introduced us to our new son! L5 is on the way! Lou is so ecstatic to have a son and also that we have a great new doc. Dr. Moore is awesome. He took the time to go over everything with us. He explained everything we looked at on the ultrasound and he even recorded the ultrasound to a DVD. We are certain we made the right decision to switch to Dr. Moore. We looked at my cervical length and he explained what we were looking at on the monitor and explained what the measurements meant. Right now everything looks good to go. L5 is in the 52 percentile, so he's growing like he should. It is such a relief to know. Now the real planning can begin! I'm going to try and post the video so everyone can see our little boy.

Sad. Just sad.

I'm wearing Lou's jeans today because I can't fit into anything, and I wish I could say I look as good in them as he does...but I can't.

Finished picking pretties

I thought I would share some of the selections we picked for our new home. The top cabinet and granite selections are for our kitchen. The bottom lighter cabinet and counter top are for our bathroom.

Catching Up

Yesterday's appointment went better than we had anticipated, but we still left totally unimpressed with our doctor. We decided to take Johnie's recommendation for her old doctor, who is also the doctor for Natalie and Linda here at work. We will go see Dr. Moore on the 25th. I'm really excited because we'll get to see the baby again and hopefully see what it's hiding under the umbilical cord! This silly kid really wants to keep it under wraps! We told the doctor the wanted to know the sex, so she went on a grail quest to find it out. The only thing she found was the umbilical cord hiding the goods. You should have seen Lou and I. We were so excited to possibly find out the sex then in one fell swoop...bummed. I'm still surprised at myself for crying. I didn't think I would be that emotional looking at my baby on the screen, but I was! I am sorry to have to tell you that Dr. Moore's office is in the Woodlands and that I will be delivering in the Woodlands, so some of you will have a journey to see the little one. The response of possibly naming a daughter Jaymes was not positive, so we have come up with a few other names.

Elle Jaye Lawrence
Layla Jessie Lawrence
Honor something Lawrence (not really "something"...we need a middle name)

We also decided to build a house! Once we decided to stay at our house and not go through with the purchase of the Carmel house it was like a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders. We had resolved to stay here for a few more years. Then I received an email from Ryland Homes announcing their extended sale. The deal was pretty good, so Lou and I decided to go out to the community that we loved and look around. When it was all said and done we had signed a contract to build an awesome one and a half story in a gated former golf course community. Not former like the course was there then they took it out, but the community is built on top of the old Treeline golf course. Our incentive monies totalled well over $50,000! It was a deal we couldn't refuse. Since we're building we have time to put our house on the market for lease. The resale market sucks downtown, but the lease market is BOOMING!!! Our home should be done in December, weather permitting, which is just in time to welcome baby Lawrence into a brand new home. We've been looking at Ryland Homes for a while because they really offer the best all-around construction available. Our home will be very energy efficient as well as healthy. We went to the design center last week to pick out the pretties, and pretties we did pick out. When you have over $50,000 to play with you can make one heck of a pretty home. For those so inclined you can check out http://www.ryland.com/find-your-new-home/11-houston/1819-treeline-executive-collection/17297-inglewood.html. I don't know if this will take you directly to our plan, but we're building the Inglewood. We added the bonus room with bath 3 and tech center, study option, and the three sided fireplace. They only build the G elevation which is all stone, stucco, and brick. Beautiful! We chose a lot on a quiet cul-de-sac street. We are so excited. The only thing standing between us and this house are the awful underwriters. We are currently in the loan underwriting process, so I'm hoping that we fall into the strict loan requirements facing buyers today. **fingers crossed** We're having a garage sale at my mom and dad's next weekend in preparation of the new casa. We need to sell some of our old stuff so we can get some new stuff! Makes perfect sense. I'm selling a bunch of my old clothes that I can't fit into anymore, so if anyone wants some size 0/2 clothes come by next Saturday and get HOOKED up!
Well, I have to get back to work now. I've played on the puter long enough. Be sure and comment on which girls name you like best!

and the baby is a....! still undecided

Here are a few pictures to cheer up your day. I know they cheered up Lou and I. I shed a few tears while looking at our little bundle of joy on the screen this morning. I have lots to tell, but I also have to work today...bummer. I'm posting just a few pics and will check in later.

What a mess!

Yesterday was our 2nd doctors appointment and it was interesting to say the least. First of all, since it was raining everyone and their brother was at my doctors office trying to park and get out of the rain. The normal 8 minute drive to the doctor turned into 45 minutes because of traffic, rain, and construction. When we finally made it to the parking garage we found that EVERY spot was taken but they kept letting cars into the garage anyway. It's a pretty scary thought to drive through a hospital parking garage and find NO vacancies. People go in, but they never come out!!! Lou finally had to drop me off at the front door while he went to scavenge for a parking spot. Once in the doctors office, we found that our doctor had forgotten meeting us. Lovely! She appeared to have no idea what to do with us. She asked us redundant questions and never even looked us in the eye. She told Lou a strange story about not really caring enough to learn the father's names. They were about to send us down to retake all the blood work again until we caught what they were trying to do and stopped them. She then hurried us along to the ultrasound machine that wasn't even ready for us and just stuck it in to look at my cervix. She could have cared less about looking at the baby. This picture was the only one she took and it is HORRIBLE! My cervix, on the bright side, looks ok for now. Lou and I were amazed, beyond amazed, at how horrible we were treated. They finally found my blood work results and all is god there. I'm immune to chickenpox, which I kind of figured out on my own since I didn't turn into a giant heaping pile of puss a month ago. Thank you Sherlock! **I'm reading back over my work and I'm amazed at just how bitter I'm sounding. I wasn't this way yesterday** Lou and I did have a laugh though because when the doctor was sticking me with the picture probe in my hoo-ha, the baby was getting pissed and swatting at it like a fly. We have another appointment of the 14th, and if we are still treated like crap we'll be searching for a new baby doc. We've attached the baby picture and I have detailed what is what on the picture for your viewing confusion.

Decision 08

Not that the race for the White House isn't front page news, but we have even bigger decisions to make this year! For starters, we have to get names picked out! We really only need to choose a girl's name, but if you ask Lou he'll say that since he's convinced we're having a boy why bother picking out a girl's name. With all bias aside, we actually did decide on a girl's name over the weekend. James Rena Lawrence. Yes, that is James. I had never considered James for a girl, but my hair stylist, Ción, mentioned that one of his clients was naming her little girl James after a European Super Model, and who doesn't want a Super Model in the family?! It made more sense when you consider that Lou's middle name is James and mine is Rena, well a slightly strange way of spelling Renee, bygones. At least I think it's pretty! I also came across an awesome baby bedding website where I found the perfect bedding!!!!! I found two that I totally adore. The first is a black, white, and camel bedding with all sorts of patterns and looks very European. As a matter of fact, it has a travel theme to it. This will be my absolute first pick if we have a girl. I also found a unisex set. This may come as a shock to some of you that I picked a set with frogs on it! At least they're cute frogs. This one also has a sorts of patterns and textures.

Since Ryan will be moving in in another few weeks we've also tackled the task of trying to sell some of our stuff to make room. We're trying to sell our workout equipment, our big corner desk, my old bedroom suite from my apartment, and we may even sell or donate our couches. I found another couch that I just adore and would prefer it over what we have. We spent the weekend painting, which is always a drag!!! Ryan was in and helped by taping while Lou plastered. I tried to Kilz a wall , but the fumes made me so light headed that I stayed to the couch after that. I think we decided to hire someone to finish the hallway since it is too much a pain in the butt to do ourselves.

We decided after much discussion to not go through with the purchase of the Carmel house. It was a beautiful house in a great location, but the more we thought about it the better our location is for us. We really have 4-5 years before we seriously need to make a move, so time is on our side.

We're getting exited about our appointment next week. I can't wait to see our little critter again! It feels like ages since we last saw it!!!

Been Awhile

It's been a few weeks since my last post and so much has happened. Where to begin? Oh, yes...how about this for starters...I'M SICK! It started last week with allergies and escalated to a full blown upper respiratory infection. I'm sitting here bed ridden and hopped up on a Z-Pack. I still feel like warmed over curdled milk in a jug that's been run over by a Semi carrying a load of downer cows to the slaughter house. Yuck, that's pretty graphic, but totally accurate. I went to the doctor yesterday when it became apparent that this wasn't going to clear up on it's own thanks to the great preggie immune system that I've got going on. Doesn't that seem backwards to you? I think that when you get pregnant your body should put up a defense system that even a Klingon warship couldn't get past. Speaking of downer immune systems, I guess there is nothing to worry about on the Chicken Pox front. I donated all that blood to science and I haven't heard a drop of info since. Well, I say I haven't heard anything but I have. The results from my first Pap Smear came back bad. Seems as if my Cervical Dysplasia has flared up again. When we go in for my next appointment my doctor will have to perform a colposcopy. I'm pretty confident that she won't take any biopsy's considering that we're already concerned that my cervix isn't thick enough as it is. She has to look at the depth of my cervix next time and it may have to be sewn shut. That sure does sound like a whole lotta fun!

As if all my medical woes weren't keeping us busy enough we're now contemplating a move. It seems that we contemplate a move every three to six months, but now that our family is about to double in size (baby and Ryan) we are seriously thinking of a three bedroom. We have had several people express a serious interest in renting our house. There is a rush of people moving inner loop because they're tired of paying the stupid price of gas to drive to work. We're still not really ready to make our way up tot he north side, so we did a little looking around down here for either a little house or another town home that is freestanding with a little yard. We found a small community in the quiet area of Rice Military, which is a block off of Memorial. The house sits behind the baseball field for St. Thomas High School. Can anyone say hells yeah! How many will be lining up outside our house to go watch Craig Biggio coach his St. Thomas baseball team! The house is really pretty. It's just over 2000 square feet with three bedrooms and a study area. The builder is Carmel Homes (www.carmelbuilderstx.com; look at Dickson Place at Jackson Hill), which is a division of MHI. Most of you remember that I worked for MHI for a few years, so we're hoping to get a good deal. All of the units are freestanding, which means they aren't attached to the houses next door, and they have little yards. By little I mean little, but manageable with two tiny dogs. We are just in the beginning stages, so we'll keep you posted on the house progress. We still have to finish painting our house along with a few odds and ends before we really delve into buying another house.
Oh yeah I almost forgot! Yesterday at the doctors office I got to hear the baby's heart beat!!! I sounds like a tiny train chuggin' along. It took nurse Nan a little while to find it and the whole time I was holding my breath in fear that she wouldn't find it, but she did! Lou was so upset that he missed it!! It was definitely the best part of the day, well that and the second I picked up my Z Pack!

Meeting Dr. Hutton

We had our 1st appointment with Dr. Hutton today. We went through all the normal bits of paperwork, but didn't look at the baby. We won't get to see our little critter again until July 16th. I did get the pleasure of having all of my blood drawn today. Fun! 6 ginormous viles filled. I had no idea I had that much blood to give. Since I've had several Leeps done in the past I was worried about cervical incontinence. The doc said she'd look at the depth of my cervix next time and if it was to thin for her liking she'd go ahead and sew it up. Yikes. So far pregnancy has been like a nauseating pin cushion. I can't wait for the glucose test! All kidding aside, I think I'm going to like our new doc. She's pretty to the point (actually saying I'm not showing just fat-well a bit nicer than that but along the same lines) and thorough. I've gained another 5 pounds. I made Lou look away from the scale as he said "I'm not going to say anything..." I'm up to about 120 pounds now, which is still a good healthy weight. We should hear back on all the blood work in about a week or so. The doc wasn't overly concerned about the Pox, but I had the blood drawn for the tests anyway-just to err on the side of caution. I had a pretty radical case of the Pox when I was a kid, so my chances are pretty slim of catching them again. I still remember thinking my black and white tv was showing in color. How's that for tripping! Any who, I best be off to work. I've goofed off enough for one day.

The luck of the chicken

Have you ever wondered what the Chicken did to get the Pox? What strange series of events occurred to call them the Chicken Pox? Why not the Hippo Pox? What exactly is a Pox anyway? When I had the Chicken Pox many moons ago I specifically remember them as puss filled, oozing bumps of ferocious itchiness. Where is this leading you may be asking yourself... Well, a lady here in the office just discovered she has the Chicken Pox for the 2nd time. Yes, you heard me and apparently it IS possible. This normally would alarm me, but I have worked closely with this lady for the last two days. She has touched everything in my office. Our office manager came in my office this morning frantically saying "stay away from her she has the Pox!" Too little too late. I called my doctor's nurse and she was more than surprised. She said that they'll have to run a series of test tomorrow to determine if I've caught the Pox again. If so, there is nothing we can do. I get to continue my ravenous itching for another few weeks (remembering that I'm still peeling from the preggie burn of '08). She did say that if I didn't already have an appointment tomorrow that she would have made an emergency appointment for me which really did nothing to calm my nerves. So, now that I have this idea in my head I'm naturally starting to itch all over. AHHH! Can I get a friggin break!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Our second doctor's appointment is this week and we're getting excited to see our little one again! This time I promise not to screw up the picture! I think I've jinxed myself on morning sickness. I really only felt crappy for about a week and a half, but since I'm a total wuss it felt like a heck of a lot longer. I was bragging to the other preggo at work that my sickness left, but whoa buddy...it came back. I have felt totally nausious all weekend and all of today. Eating really does nothing for it now. Not only that but the sleepiness has made me totally useless at work. Between the pregnancy brain that is making me ADD and stupid to boot and the sleepiness it is a wonder that I get anything accomplished. Lou had his first unofficial Father's Day yesterday! I forgot to wish him an unofficial Father's Day until he brought it to my attention that I hadn't wished him an unofficial Father's Day. I laughed.

Thought this was funny!

Pretty much everyone knows how I feel about the Astros now, but I read this in the Houston Chronicle today about the Yankees coming to town and thought it was the funniest thing. I hope you enjoy as much as I did...

June 12, 2008
The Yankees are coming. We're finally going to matter.
Sit up straight. Brush your teeth. Yes, by all means use the store-bought toothpaste. You can go back to bakin' soda next week. Don't forget to wash your socks. Our little goober-talking, bubba-voting village will be playing host to the second-biggest thing in professional sports, and you need to look your best. The New York Yankees aren't as big a deal as the Dallas Cowboys, but they're close.
Ever heard of them? Sure you have, Virgil. Remember the time cousin Dwayne had that layover on his way to the Nam and told you he'd seen The House That Ruth Built? Turns out, Dwayne really was in Newark and what he thought was Yankee Stadium was where a Waffle House had been torn down. Dwayne was excited anyway. Dang, I miss old Dwayne. I wish he hadn't tried to climb Uncle Leonard's fence with his 20 gauge. Anyway.
This is the biggest thing to hit our town since, well, since Bob Costas changed planes here. Remember how mad he got when Continental didn't have a separate first-class seat for his ego? Drayton is so excited about the Yankees that he jacked up ticket prices. Don't be surprise if there's a mysterious surcharge on beer and nachos. If you ask Drayton about it, he'll say something about how dadgum big guvment made him do it.
Drayton is going to be raking in some serious jack this weekend. He may even turn the AC back on. Smart move. Trust me that you don't want to be near the NY press corps when they're sweaty and irritable. My little radio station is so excited we're going to be cranking away at full capacity, 82 watts.
After the Yankees come in this weekend and the Red Sox at the end of the month, it'll be time to begin putting a wrap on this baseball season. Once the Red Sox leave, the Astros might be buried so deep in the standings they can't see Footer's red hair, and with the Texans preparing to start camp, well, see you in Kissimmee.
This ain't a bad way to go out. Big newspapers will be here. Important people, too. For instance, John Sterling. Now that man has a high opinion of himself, and rightfully so. ESPN might even put The Big Puma's handsome mug on TV if he gets close enough to Jeter. I've got a co-worker that's going to be like Bill Clinton working a rope line.
I'm only mentioning this because you know what those people think of us. They look at you and think of Hee Haw reruns. They look at me and think shrewd, articulate and ready for network TV. But this isn't about me.
I've been to the mountain. I had a child born in New York. I was once on an elevator with Kevin Costner. In other words, I'm not impressed by New York. But you should be. This is your chance to show America you don't eat peas with a knife.

Surprise!

It was every bit the surprise we thought it would be telling Lou's parents last weekend! We waiting until we got to PF Changs. We sat down in the bar area to wait for our table and that is when Lou and I took out their presents. Once the wave hit them it was like Christmas and birthdays all in one. We had a great weekend. St Simons Island is so pretty. We went to the beach at low tide and it is amazing how far back the water goes. We walked up and down the beach just enjoying the scenery and each other. Picture perfect day! All was great until my pregnancy brain kicked in the next day at the beach. I thought it would be a good idea to NOT wear sunscreen since I was going to be sitting under an umbrella at the beach. We had another great day at the beach enjoying the sun, sand, and waves. When we got back to the house I realized that my shoulders were a bit pink. After my nap and realized that a whole lot more of me was WAAAAAYYY more than pink. The whole front side of my body was an alarming shade of ultra violet red. Ouch! I have been in so much pain all week. The trip back home was excruciating. It was hard to breathe. Of course we had a lovey weather related layover in Tampa for 3.5 hours, which further added to my craziness. Needless to say I think I'll be partaking in a bath/vat of spf 55 before doing anything anywhere at anytime! It was still a trip worth making because telling your family in person that a new baby is on the way is the most priceless feeling in the world.

1st Doctor's Appointment

Our first doctor's appointment was today and what a day it was. According to the ultrasound we are exactly 6.47 weeks along. My uterus is 9 cm, which is slightly larger than the normal 6-7 cm range. That could be why I'm already showing. We got to see the little heart beat and that in and of itself was the most amazing thing I think I've ever seen. We were in the left handed room, so I couldn't see the monitor from the bed. I was able to watch Lou's face as the doctor found our little bean, which was priceless. He was grinning from ear to ear. Seeing that made everything seem a lot more real. Our due date is January 22, 2009. I have to go back in 2 weeks to meet my new doctor. The doctor I've been going to for several years decided to stop delivering babies a few years ago, so they brought in another doctor to continue the delivery portion of the practice. We'll get another ultrasound done then, which is good since I accidentally destroyed the first one. I KNOW! BAD BAD BAD BAD MOMMY!! I wanted to protect our babies very 1st picture so I went and had it laminated. Well, the heat and glue from the laminate machine totally destroyed the picture. I was so distraught yesterday. I'm still carrying it around in my purse though to show anyone who wants to see it! PROUD MOMMY! I've already gained 5 pounds and Lou thinks its funny since our little one is smaller than a bean, but dagnabit I'm going to feed em'.
We dropped the furry kids off at my parent's tonight so they can babysit while we go to Georgia for the weekend. Only a day and a half until we can unleash the coolest secret ever!

Mama's belly at 6 weeks

I'm gonna be a Nana?

After a week of nausea and wanting so badly to talk to my Mom about it, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I had to tell my parents. As luck would have it my Nannaw was going to be in town as well. Lou laughed. I know he understands. He's almost slipped a few times talking to his Mom and Dad. So, we are going to visit them this weekend and tell them the good news. Neither one of us could ever imagine breaking the greatest news in the world over the phone. We got to my Mom and Dad's and our good friends Curtis and Viva were there as well. We got everyone in the house and passed out early Father's Day presents and late Mother's Day presents. As my Dad was reading his Great Dane mug and looking at the baby bibs that were rolled up inside it was obvious that he wasn't getting the meaning of the bibs. While my Mom was looking funny at her Nana charm bracelet and not getting it either. Curtis and Viva were a different story both looking at us an looking at my parents in awe that they weren't getting it. Finally, someone figured it out and then it was all hugs and laughter. Calls were then made to my Aunt Jan and Uncle Tom who whooped and hollered in excitement. My Aunt Barbara was also totally excited. Christmas is going to be a blast this year! Lou has been joking with me that since my tummy is already getting pretty big that there are probably twins in there. I'm sure there's not, but the funny thing is that when we got home yesterday afternoon I checked my email only to find that Joel and Joanna (Lou's cousin and wife in Tennessee) are having twins! I started laughing. I'm so happy for them!!! According to Joanna's blog she is due the week before I am. I'm thinking that Big Lou and Johnie will be as thrilled to learn about their new leap to grandparent status when we tell them this weekend. We are so excited and can't wait to let everyone know that the first actual Lawrence grandchild is on the way!

A week later...

It has been a week and I think I took close to 15 tests, but the only one that mattered was today's. It's still positive. I called and made my first doctor's appointment today. They want to wait to see me around 7-8 weeks along, so that means waiting a few more weeks. Lou and I decided to wait and tell our parent's on Father's Day, which is almost a month away. I don't know if I can hold out that long, but I'm going to try for the sake of surprising them. We are going to go to Georgia to tell Big Lou and Johnie, but we have to find airfare first. We have ordered little baby bibs to give to our Dad's that say "Grandpa's Future Fishing Buddy" (for my Dad) and "Grandpa's Golfing Buddy" (for Lou's Dad), and for our Mom's we bought them James Avery Charm bracelets with their first "Nana" charm on it. We also bought books from Barnes and Noble for the grandparents to fill out for the baby detailing life milestones, etc. When I read the book in the store I started crying. Hormones do sneak up on you. I know they will all be as surprised as we were!

Mama's belly at 4 weeks

WHAT! A Positive result.

Well...Suzanne said to wait a few days and take another test, so naturally I waited a day. When I got home this afternoon I had to pee so I thought it would be a great time to take another test. So I did. This one was positive! Seriously! I sat there on the toilet just looking at the little pee stick in awe. I called Suzanne and she started to laugh. She had a feeling I was pregnant. We haven't even been in the study long enough to do anything. Suzanne said to wait another week and take another test. The study considers me pregnant after 2 positive tests a week apart. She said I can take as many as I want in the meantime, which is exactly is what I'll do! Lou was sort of shocked. We sat there on the couch looking at each other and laughing. We're going to be cautious until we see that second positive test in a week. Suzanne did say that women get pregnant all the time but the embryo doesn't stick, so not to get our hopes up.

First Pregnancy test...

Today was the predetermined day for me to take my first pregnancy test. Negative. Not pregnant. After I took the test I had to call Suzanne to give her an update. I told her that I didn't feel like I was going to start my cycle. Suzanne said that maybe it was too soon to get a positive test so wait a few days and take another test.

Welcome to the Life Study!

We have been invited to participate in a Life Study through Texas A&M. It is a study to evaluate the environmental effects of a couples ability to conceive a child. On their first trip out the nurse, Suzanne, took samples of this and samples of that all to determine if we have high levels of heavy metals in our bodies. She supplied us with a fertility monitor, enough pregnancy tests to start our own clinic, and our Life Study journals. Now we're off to try and conceive...