working girl

I have started taking some interpreting work at a local high school. I am working all this week (minus Thursday and Friday). I only work four hours a day, but I really enjoy getting out of the house and using my signing skills. Today I came home and I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. I don't have to leave the house until 8:30 so I do not know why I was so exhausted. I did not have to get up THAT early. I think I have become used to not having to get up and get ready for work. Of course, I am pregnant and I take naps daily anyway. I am really enjoying it though. I am going to keep doing it on my husbands off days for as long as I am able to.

I am still not showing very much. I saw a friend of mine down here that is three weeks ahead of me and she has a nice baby bump. I am still in my regular clothes. My jeans and shirts all still fit, but I have to unbutton the jeans if i sit for a long time cause they start to hurt my belly. Not that I am complaining, I do not want to be huge and uncomfortable until I have to be. :) I know I will get plenty of that in the coming months.

I have started wearing my maternity shorts at home. They are just so much more comfortable than my regular shorts. I am wearing my maternity clothes I have that are size small. They fit perfectly right now, they do not even look like maternity. Most of my clothes my friends in Dothan gave to me and I have gotten some really cute stuff. I am really enjoying wearing some of my maternity stuff.

Happy turkey week!

Destin, Florida-our favorite place

Jon and I spent one night down in Destin while we were down visiting family in Dothan. It was so nice. We always used to do to Destin when we lived in Dothan. Jon is from there and considers it "home". It is our favorite place, we have some really great memories there. Destin has the most beautiful beaches! It was cold outside, but we sat on the beach for a long time and just enjoyed the view. It was so nice. Where we live in Florida does not have beautiful beaches, we have to drive two hours to St pete/Clearwater to hit some pretty water and beach. The water on this side of Florida is brackish and the only beach they have is man made. I wish we were stationed near some emerald green waters.

Doctor, Doctor give me the news!

I went to my check up today. They took my blood and checked my sample and all is well in me! We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! It was so awesome. It was really strong. They said it was one hundred and fifty, which is apparently a good one. :) Jon thought it was really neat. Thanks to Nicole, I have one of those machines that lets you hear the heart beat at home, so we will be using that too. They certainly did not have those the first time around.

They set up the appointment for my next ultrasound!!!!!! I am so excited. We go on December 18 to have the ultrasound that will tell us the sex of the baby. Jon said today that if it is a boy he might cry. I want it to be a boy for my sweet hubby. Of course he will be fine with a girl too, he just says he will be outnumbered. lol.

Even better news, I only gained one pound! WOW! I ate alot this week while we were on vacation. I was pleasantly surprise to have not gained ten pounds. The lady who took my blood said I don't even look preggo. That will not last for long though. I have started wearing my size small maternity clothes. My jeans still fit, they are just tight in the midsection and after a while they start to hurt my tummy. The maternity shirts and pants I have that are smalls and fit perfect right now. I am not big enough to show, but I have a baby bump. (Note: I gained a total of three pounds, but I had lost two while I was sick, so for my pregnancy I have gained only one pound in four months!!!) I hope to keep my weight under control, I just don't wanna put on 80 pounds, that will be so much more I have to lose.

They also gave me a flu shot. I have never had one of those before, so i was skeptical. The doctor highly recommended it, so i decided to do it. I don't like shots. They also had some blood work done that tells if I the baby has a high risk for diseases like spinabifida and Downs Syndrome. It was optional, but we decided to do it. They said it does not determine whether your baby has one of these birth defects, only if you are a higher risk for them. He said some people choose to abort if they find out that they have a baby with downs. Of course, we would never abort, no matter what we found out. I was skeptical at first, I was unsure if i wanted to know. Knowing ahead of time would just make me worry, but Jon said there would be benefits to the test, so we decided to do it. Hopefully nothing will come of it. It is all in God's hands.

Harrison Cole Chenowith

Alysha and I got to hold Harrison this week while we were in Dothan. He is getting to be such a big boy. He has really filled out since the last time we saw him. They change so much in the first few months. He is so sweet! Made me want to hold my own. Nicole you have the sweetest little man! (i think Alysha is going to be a great older sister/helper!)

last weekend

Me and Hila at the Summit in Birmingham. I spent the weekend with Hila. It was great. I just got home today! It feels good to be home. I have another doctors appointment tomorrow. I hope to get to hear the heartbeat. More to come later........

not so FIRM anymore

Getting pregnant really has cramped my style. I loved to exercise before I got pregnant. I used to work out alot and hard. There is this one workout video I had been doing about twice a week. Its called THE FIRM:TOTAL BODY WORKOUT. I liked it because it really does work your total body. When I started doing it months ago, I was using the lowest poundage and not getting through the whole hour workout. By the time I got pregnant, I was using the highest weights and doing the complete one hour video in full force. I loved it because it would make me sore in new muscle groups that I did not hit in my regular workout routine. So, basically, I really enjoyed working out to this video.

I have not used this video since I became pregnant, mostly cause I was so sick for so long. This week I decided I would do half of the video as my workout for the day. Now, I know I get tired alot easier now and I do not have the stamina I used to, but I really thought I could still hang with The Firm. Well, I geared up and put on my workout shoes and started my video and I am feeling pretty good. About two minutes into the video, I am hassling like a puppy (cause that sounds better than a dog). Man, this is a rigorous workout and I am thinking I just wanna sit down. haha. I keep up the good fight, trying to keep up and I am even using the lowest weights I have along with it. She begins doing leg exercises, lunges and squats and I am pretty sure I am not going to make it. At this point, Alysha is laughing at me. I must have been a sight, breathing heavy and barely executing the exercises. I finally turn the video off and I tell Alysha I was only gonna do fifteen minutes anyway. She informs me it has not even been that long, but I beg to differ. My body feels like I have been running a two day marathon. It is still questionable how long I actually did last, but I stand firm by my estimation of fifteen minutes, give or take. :)

I remember when my mom was here and we would go walking around the circle at night. I would get winded fast and not be able to walk as briskly as I used to. In fact my mom said she did not even break a sweat, while I am over there trucking it just to keep up the pace. (sweating and breathing heavy). I have one thing to say to you mom.... hard aye?

happy pregnant halloween

Halloween was great fun. Alysha and I always go to this church near the house for their fall festival. It is a HUGE festival and we always have such a blast. So, this year we went again and walked around all night and played games. Our goal was to win the pregnant princess as much chocolate candy as possible. I would evaluate the candy bowls at all the games and we would hit the ones that had the good chocolate over and over. haha. I told Alysha she had to be aggressive and get the chocolate pieces, don't be scared to pick through and get the "good stuff". I took this seriously, Alysha thought I was crazy. What a great way to get a bunch of bite size chocolate to tame my cravings, for free! Needless to say we had a great time together. My hubby was supposed to be there, but he got recalled. :(

I woke up this morning and my feet are aching. I tried to put all my weight on my feet to walk and I was in terrible pain! Apparently all my chocolate gathering fun reeked havoc on my feet, which were swollen and aching. They hurt so bad. I have read in the pregnancy books that being on your feet is not good for you, but I did not notice anything last night. I had on my good tennis shoes. Who knew?