baby sund

I hung a stocking for baby sund........ how sweet that is!!!!!!

(Funny, I just noticed the order the stockings are in. We see who is the head of the household!! LOL)

my angel

Here is the mud covered truck. Jon let Alysha drive his truck on these trails. She LOVED it! I have not even driven that truck yet. lol

my angel

Jon took alysha "mudding" on his truck back in the woods in Inverness the other day while I was working. They have really been enjoying their daddy/daughter time.

here comes the bump

I read on my pregnancy calendar last week that I would really start showing in the next two weeks. Well, up to this point, I have been still wearing my normal shirts with materinity shorts and capris. Last night Jon and I were going out to eat (alysha went somewhere with her sunday school class) and I put on my maternity capris and picked a few shirts that are a little bigger but still my normal clothes. Unfortunately, when I went to put them on, my belly stuck out. sniff sniff. I cannot believe how much my tummy changed in one week. Jon thinks it is "cute". I was not so thrilled at the time.

So, I come to the computer to check my email before we leave and I have a new email from baby.com. I open it and the first sentence says, "Think you're big now? You'll start growing even more rapidly in the weeks to come...." That is NOT what I wanted to read. How hilarious that they would even write that. Here I was, unhappy about how big I had already gotten this week, and then I read this stupid email. So you think your big now, you are about to get huge.......

19 weeks

I am truly amazed at how fast this is flying by. December 18 will be here before you know it!! I recently read a book my friend Nicole gave me by Jenny McCarthy called Belly laughs. It was so great! I would recommend it to anyone who was expecting. I laughed out loud when i got to the chapter where she gave birth! So, funny. She described things I am going through that I did not even know were pregnancy related. Being pregnant really does a number on us females, men should be extra nice to us. (but, of course, they are not). I am having the normal symptoms: weepiness (I cry twice a day, seriously), frequent pee breaks (I go to the little girls room EVERY 30 Minutes), swelling feet (I have some tennis shoes I cannot even wear anymore), headaches (I have never experienced headaches like this before), and hormonal rages (I definitely have some new psycho chick living hormones now, but more on that later). I have not had the unpleasant symptom of staying hot, I freeze all the time, so that is one symptom I do have to contend with - yet. All in all I have had a relatively uneventful pregnancy and for that I am proud. Oh, and don't forget the heartburn. I have already went through a whole bottle of tums. I have some serious heart burn, nightly. I read somewhere recently that banana's are a natural heartburn reliever, so I have started this week eating some banana when it gets really bad and it seems to help, for a while. I will try anything! :)

But enough about my trials and tribulations. Don't you just love this time of the year? I do. I am not big on any certain day, like thanksgiving day or Christmas day. I love the season between those two days. I love the feel in the air this time of year. The weather cools off and it is pleasantly cool outside. I love hearing all the Christmas songs on the radio (my favorite is Breathe of Heaven). I love Christmas lights, others and my own. The Christmas tree is so peaceful to have up in the house. Most days I really look forward to it getting dark so I can turn on the lights. There is something special about this time of year that has nothing to do with presents. It has nothing to do with the commercialized holiday that you see in stores. This is the time of year we celebrate our saviors birth and it is the most holiest time of the year. It is a time to thank God for all of our blessings, because we are all blessed. Merry Christmas everyone!

creating cookie masterpieces

Alysha wanted to make and decorate some cookies, so we did!! She had lots of fun.

This is our finished product, one batch anyway. They are in the ILOVEU handshape. The cookies are for my interpreting agencies Christmas party. We only ate the ones that did not turn out.

18 to life

I am now eighteen weeks. Alysha and I were just discussing just how FAST this whole thing is going by. I am heading fast towards month number 5. She said maybe it is because I am really not showing yet. When I do, maybe it will be different. Right now it is just a number. Of course, I can feel that baby do his exercises, normally about 30 minutes after I lay down for bed. Isn't that always how it is?

I do not think this is a prison sentence, as my title indicates, BUT... (there's always a but), I have been thinking. This countdown to may 2 is fun and all, but the baby being born is just the beginning, not the end. I do not cross the finish line come may 2 and I am done. On the contrary, my fun is only beginning. My life is about to change dramatically. It is so funny what people that you hardly know will tell you when they find out your are expecting. I was talking to a lady at church the other day. She has three kids, 13, 9 and 19 months. Now most people, when they find out the age difference between my babies, (yes, alysha is a baby), they have a comment. Usually something like I cannot believe you are having another one, better you than me.... blah blah. Basically, they think I am crazy. (Everyone is entitled to their opinion, although I seem to get theirs whether I ask for it or not.) Anyway, back to the church-lady. She proceeds to tell me that when she had her last one she was frustrated and depressed for a long time at the loss of her freedoms. She tells all about how hard it was, again, blah blah. By the way, this is the second time she has seen me and told me this story. Now, the first thing that pops into my head (both times) is "Did this not happen when you had your first two?"

I guess people are just being nice and trying to prepare me for what they think is to come. I hear all kinds of stuff, many times from strangers. One comment I get alot is how great a help it is going to be having an older child. I always laugh and say that I have a built-in babysitter. Alysha appreciates this. But, 90% of the time, it is some kind of negative comment about how hard life is gonna be. What can you do?

I am aware of what it means to have a baby. I know it has been a long time and this time I do not live anywhere near my mother. That will be the hardest, simply because I will not have any family to help me out. I remember when Alysha was small, even going to the store was a major ordeal. I do know that I will be severely limited and life will revolve around the baby. So, that being said, I am not naive enough to think everyday is going to be roses. Babies are alot of work, but this is what we wanted all along. I mean, we have been trying for a long time, we did this ON PURPOSE. I think it is a happy occasion, something to look forward to, not dread. I am aware life is going to change and it is a change I wanted. This is why we made the decision for me not to work, so I could be with this baby at least the first year. This has always been our dream to have a baby and for me to be able to stay home and take care of it. I was not able to do that with Alysha, I had to work.

I do have one good stranger story. I took alysha bowling with the homeschooling group the other day. This one mom, whom I have never met before, starts asking me questions about the baby and stuff and then she said the most uplifting thing. She was in the same situation as me, she has a daughter in college right now and she also has a ten year old. She said it is like having two only children. That is so cool! I love that. It is like having two only children. That is a really interesting way to look at it. There are definite benefits to having only one at a time. She even said her kids are really close, even though they are so far apart in age. That has been one of my biggest worries. (really my only worry).