The Johnson Family Blog

Where is Pointer?

2010-08-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

On Thursday evening while I was giving Faith a bath, I noticed she was pointing at the duck in her bath book. Now I am not sure that this was the first time she pointed, but it is the first time that it donged on me that she was. We talked about the duck and proceeded with her bath. Later before bed, we were reading Goodnight Moon and we we read "goodnight kittens" she pointed to the kittens and in a highpitched voice she said "ki-ki" and looked around the room. (Now, we don't have a cat, but she knows "kitty-kitty" from visiting Grammy's house). I pulled out a basic picture book and showed her another picture of a kitty.

Friday afternoon while swinging in the backyard, I had given Faith her sippy cup. When she was done with it, I'd place it in the hanging plant next to us. When she wanted another drink, she'd point for her cup (or my soda that was next to it...which I did not share.) Later that evening while reading Goodnight Moon again, I asked Faith, "Where are the kitties?" She was able to point them out on every page! I was quite impressed! She is such a smart girl!

Faith and I sleep most of the night together and Paige usually sleeps with us. However, this morning Paige was out in the hallway. I asked Faith, "Where is Paige?" Faith started panting (which is the sign language for dog) then she patted the bed and said "ca-ca" for "come-come". I love it! It is so much fun to see her grow and learn!

A Little of This and That

2010-08-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay...I think I started this on August 9th, it has only taken me a few of weeks to complete!

It's been such a busy month and my computer crashed, add the two together and it equals hard to blog! Anyway, here is this past month in a nutshell:

We went to Georgia to visit family (but most of you know that cause it's pretty much just you Georgia family that read this!) It was awesome to see family, I sure miss being around everyone.

We are all packed and ready to go. Thanks to my Spacebag, we were able to just do carry on!

Faith and Teddy watching the planes at Austin Airport.

Faith's first trip to the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, Ga. Home of Fried Green Tomatoes!

A short visit with Papa Fred.

Faith and Great-Grandmommie playing pee-pie on our girl trip to Washington, Ga

Faith begging for her first bite of ice cream which Aunt Kelly did not share.

Faith sitting on the kitchen floor of her great-great-great-great-great grandmother's house...for real!

4 Generations standing in what was possibly the bedroom of our distant grandmother's house. Cool!

Mary Sneed's House in Washington, Ga

Faith taking a milk break in the car with Mommy

Giving sweet Miss Missy some loving

The Girls

Faith loved banging on the windows looking for Jake

Faith just chilling at Grammy's house

Webcaming with Daddy

Just a swinging

Grammy and Grampa got Faith a matching rocker for the porch

Faith loved all the animals, she even liked Jake and his howling!

Brooke and Faith at the baby shower.

Meeting Uncle Steve for the first time, he even shared his sweet tea!

Time to head to the airport. Grampa Andy swung her to sleep on the back porch while we packed.

The plane ride home was much better than the plane ride out!

Last week I found out that Round Rock Library has story time for babies. I loaded up Faith one morning and headed out. It was held in a confrence room and all the babies and parents sat in a circle around a big parachute. The program was only about 45 minutes long. The first 15/20 minutes we listened to a few stories and sang a few songs. Most of the babies sat in their parents lap while a few others cruised around. The story teller brought out a couple of tubs of toys for the babies to play in for the last half. It was fun to see the kids all play. On my way out I noticed the sign that advertised story time...oops we came to the 12-18 month time. The 0-12 month one was the next day; so we came back the next day! The second day Faith seemed a little more comfortable, she was little more vocal and had no problem taking toys she wanted. Looks like I am going to have to teach her how to share!

Jumping right in at story time

Checking things out while Mommy sings to herself!

Is she sharing to about to take?

This past weekend Alan, Faith, Paige and I headed down to Zilker Park for a couple of hours. It was blazing hot outside so we didn't stay too long. Alan and I stopped by Torchy Tacos on the way down there so we could have lunch and eat while we watched all the swimmers at Barton Springs. Faith sure seemed to enjoy the people watching. Anyway, we then headed down to the springs for a closer look.Paige, who hates to get wet, went down with me to the water and just laid in it. She must have been super hot! After Paige got out of the water, I took Faith in to see the swans. She eyeballed them for a minute, but really enjoyed running her toes through the sand in the spring.

When we were at the Round Rock Library earlier this month, we noticed they were going to be hosting a puppet show by Mr. Puppet. I had seen him before at the hospital and thought he really knew how to put on a great puppet show. The show was geared toward 3 and up, but I took Faith anyway. She loved it!

New Discoveries at Our House

2010-07-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wanted a little of down time to eat lunch, so I figured I must introduce something new to Faith to keep her busy....something safe, but something she thinks she shouldn't have. I came to the conclusion that it was time to open the tupperware cabinet. SHE LOVED IT! I ended up not being able to eat my lunch, I was too busy taking pictures!

Faith has really come to love being outside. However, due to the heat, rain and mosquitos, we don't go out too often. Anyway, yesterday, Faith discovered the doggy door.

At first I got the video camera because she looked like she was having fun just trying to figure out the flap. Shortly after I grabbed it, she realized it opened to the outdoors! Her fussying isn't because her fingers are stuck, it is because the flap won't say open for her to crawl out of!

This video we took the next day while she played in the cabinet:

Bye Bye 'ol Girl

2010-07-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

This past week I sold my old convertible to Carmax. She no longer would pass inspection so we upgraded and added another family car to our fleet. Her inspection was LONG overdue and apparently some computer part in it was bad, it would cost about $1500 to repair it. Since it wasn't worth putting that much into we had it appraised at Carmax. They offered me $1700 for it, which was more than I was expecting. However, I think the Bluebook value was probably more, at least I didn't have to worry about selling it to someone else.

Over the years I've definately had a love / hate relationship with this car!

Love it:

It's a bright red convertible, what's not to love?
It's sassy!
I loved driving it with the top down and music blaring!
It was fun to flirt in (of course I only did this before I met Alan!)
Gas mileage wasn't too bad
It was somewhat of a unique car
Could haul long stuff with the top down
The dogs always loved it
It was just a fun car
It was paid for

Hate it:

The roof leaked, even though I paid for it to get fixed a couple of times
So of course the seats were always wet after a rain, or I was if I was driving it
With the heat, it was musty after a rain
It always broke down, left me stranded on I35 twice
Expensive tires
Got a speeding ticket in it
Keyless entry remote quit working
Trunk was little
Trunk no longer popped open and would slam shut
AC went out on it (but had it repaired)
Hard to fit more than 2 people in it.

So Alan had driven his Harley a couple of days before, so the convertible was out in the driveway. Needless to say it rained. The day I decided to turn it to Carmax was bittersweet. The interior was soaking wet from all the rain we had had. I had to sit on a towel to keep dry. As I pulled out of the neighborhood, top down and CD player turned up loud it began to short out! I think she was trying to get back at me for selling her. I semi-enjoyed my last spin in my car speeding down the interstate, wind blowing in my hair listening to the radio because my good music wouldn't play on the CD player!

We drove by Carmax the other day and spotted her sitting in the auction lot. I can't help but think of her each day it rains, getting wetter and wetter out there without the protection of her garage. I just hope she does good at auction and goes to someone that will treat her well.

RIP 'ol girl!

Note the new Mommy Car in the background.

Babysitters, Car Shopping and Crawling

2010-06-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Lots going on around here. I officially got a babysitter...one that I really don't know. I've gone back to work for a few hours and had been trying to leave Faith with friends of mine that are stay at home moms. Other than my friend Deanna, most of my friends have bailed on keeping Faith on a consistant basis. I don't blame them, most of them had little kids also so I could only imagine it would be hard to add another one. Anyway, Olivia is the daughter of a nurse friend of mine. She came over on Tuesday to discuss what I was looking for and to see if we were a match. She watched Faith on Wednesday for about 3 hours for me. I think it went good. Faith was still alive with no cuts or bruises! Faith really seems to like Olivia, so I hope this will at least get me through the summer. It's a little nerve racking not knowing her very well, but what else do you do when no family is around??

I've been car shopping and researching...what a lot of work! My 1996 Eclipse Syder has about kicked the bucket and won't pass inspection with out about $1500 worth of repairs. Since it is only worth about that much and we need a 2nd family car we've decided it's about time to get rid of it. *sniff, sniff* I've been looking at Highlanders and Honda CR-Vs. We are looking at used cars and it seems that everytime I find one I like at a good price, it's gone before we can get to the car lot. Then I am still torn between which one do I get? The Highlander that is comfy, without as many features or the CR-V that I can get for around the same price with features, but it's smaller and not as comfy? Hummm....

Don't laugh....This was taken about 10+ years ago!

Also, Faith is crawling. She is keeping me super busy. She is pulling up on everything and she crashes all the time. I try to keep a good eye on her when I let her have free reign of the house, but she crashes even when I put her in her crib or playpen. Darn hard toys and crib rails! She is also getting in her top two teeth. I think she is also hurting herself some when she starts to chew on her toys then hits it just right probably sending a sharp pain in her mouth. We are taking Advil on and off to help with the pain (and with her immunizations she got this week).....

That brings up another thing. I purchased a Buzzy online the other day to help with immunizations. It is suppose to help confuse the nerves so they don't feel the injection as much. I took it to work with me and tried it out on myself while I had a nurse poke me. I thought it worked so-so, but I took it with me and Faith for her immunizations this week to try. The nurse let me use it. Faith cried with the injection, but stopped as soon as she was done. I don't know if this is because it worked or because I picked her up immediately. However, the nurse said that most of the kids are still screaming a couple of minutes later. Perhaps it worked!http://www.needle-pain-management.com/

Father's Day

2010-06-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Alan had his first official Father's Day this past Sunday. I don't think it started off quite like he had hoped. He was probably thinking breakfast in bed and a nice relaxing morning. However, I was exhausted and put Faith back in her bed fussing around 6 am. Alan got up to tend to her and ended up with her until I got out of bed sometime after 8 am. I had to finsih getting Alan's gift wrapped and a video I had made him uploaded so I left Faith with him for a little while longer. I did snag her right before I gave him his gifts so she could sign her card with a handprint.

We then got dressed and headed out to Cracker Barrell for breakfast.

After breakfast we came back home and piddled around the house. However, Alan ended up ditching us for a little Father's Day break to hang out with a friend for an hour or so....what's up with that??

We skipped lunch and had an early dinner at the Olive Garden. We choose

to go there because we had a gift card. Of course we forgot to use it. We'll have to go back again! That was already our 2nd attempt to use it. No wonder stores like to offer gift cards!

Here is the slide show I put together for Alan if you missed it on Facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXi5H0fcKyw

This week...

2010-06-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

This week was a busy, exciting and sad week for us.

Monday, Alan came home from work to watch Faith for a couple of hours so I could run to work and see a few patients. I was only gone for about 3 hours and this is what I came home to:

Alan is so dramatic!

Tuesday was nice because I was able to go get my eyebrows waxed, this was way over due! I took Faith with me, she napped in the car and woke up shortly after we arrived for my appointment. She drank a bottle in her stroller and was so good. When Melanie finished my eyebrows, Faith was still being good, so I asked if she could fit in a 30 minute facial. Her client after me had just cancelled so I got one! Yeah! Faith eventually ended up laying on my belly watching. Althought it wasn't as relaxing as the old days, it was still nice to have done! Thanks Faith!

Wednesday I recieved an email from Chris, the lady I gave Abby back to. Abby was my old, blind and aling cocker spaniel I had when Faith was born. I adopted her years ago from a rescue and her foster mom told me that if I couldn't ever take care of her that she would take her back. Well 9 years later, Chris kept her word and took her back in her last days. Anyway, Chris emailed me to let me know that Abby had passed away. Chris had her for about 7 months and Abby had gotten a little better. However, she went down hill fast over the weekend and the vet told her it was time to let Abby go. The vet came to her house and Chris was able to hold her while she was let go. Abby was a special dog, she was good and taught me a lot.

Also on Wednesday, I noticed Faith was clapping her hands for fun. Now she's been able to bring her hands together and I think she had even been doing some clapping, but it had never made an impression on me that she was really doing any of it for fun. However, this week she seemed to do it with real purpose and she would even copy me.

Friday, Alan survived a lay off at his new job. One person was cut in his department. There orginially was suppose to be two, but some guy quit earlier in the week and Alan thinks this saved his job since he is the newby. Thank goodness he is still employeed!

Saturday Faith appeared to really start crawling. She has been rocking, scooting backwards, and inching forward on her belly now for a few weeks, but today she seemed to have put everything together and make about 4 crawls forward. Her first attempt, I didn't quite get on video...I was in the bathroom and she was trying to catch Pete (our stray dog). I took her into the living room and tried to catch it on video. I got a few seconds before the recorder died.

Now Faith didn't only learn how to crawl on Saturday, she also figured out how to give zerberts! She had given me a ton before I called for Alan to get the video camera. She was slowing down by the time Alan got involved.

And I was able to get my hair colored Saturday morning. I feel like a new woman! Anyway, I am sure I missed something, but this was last week's news in a nut shell!

Weekend Fun

2010-05-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is all the fun we had this past weekend. I drug Faith around on a blanket, she seemed to take it all in. Not a lot of giggles caught on tape, but I think she enjoyed it.

Saturday morning, we got up and headed out to feed the ducks. She enjoyed watching the ducks and I got a few giggles out of her when she was watching them walk, too bad I didn't catch them on video. We took Paige with us, needless to say we had to keep her away when feeding the ducks, but used her as a guard dog when the geese came around.

All in all, that's about it other than Alan and I celebrated our 3 yr wedding anniversary on Monday. Melissa babysat for us while we enjoyed too much food at Z Tejas. Thanks Melissa!

Pete's Adventure

2010-05-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I am going to use my blog as a confession today...I took Pete to the animal shelter yesterday. Incase you don't know who Pete is, he is a stray dog I picked up about 6 weeks ago. I was trying to do a good deed and find his owner. I posted flyers, a message on Craigs List and several lost dog sites, I even had him scanned for a microchip. I tried to place him with a rescue group, but they were full and I'd have invest in some vet bills and make a donation for them to even put him on their website. I'd probably also have to spend weekends at adoption days to get him adopted. My last resort was to take him to the shelter. I figured he could get adopted or a rescue group would pick him from there (since that is where they usually get their dogs).

Now before you leave me a scathing comment, let me finish! I did mark the "please call me before he is euthanized" box. I was shocked to get a call 24 hours later to let me know that is number was up! Apparently this timid, sweet little dog I had running around the house turned into a growling, lunging, snippy, "I'm going to eat you alive" dog and they deemed him unadoptable!!! Uggg! My plan backfired!

Pete has to stay at the shelter until Wednesday evening so he can get neutered, I feel bad that he is so stressed out. However, he will have all his vet care taken care of for a low cost of $35.00 and he will now be considered an owner surrender if I try to take him to Humane Society (a no kill shelter). Anyway, we still don't want him as a long term pet. I guess it's back to trying to find him a home.

Any takers?

Lesson learned, no more catching strays!

Some Playtime

2010-05-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Faith is becoming more and more active. She isn't yet crawling...well at least not on the floor. She crawls all over me, throws herself around when I am holding her to get at things she shouldn't have. She completely wears me out. I feel like someone is following me around and smacking me with a bat...not hard...just enough to wear me out. Anyway, I introduced her to a few new play toys this past week, one being metal bowls. She loved them, probably simply because she thought they were something she wasn't suppose to have.

I wanted to be the first person who bought Faith her first baby doll, so I hunted high and low for the perfect baby before Faith was born. She's been sitting in the closet and for some reason, I decided to give Faith her baby last night. I missed the initial meeting, but quickly grabbed the camera a couple minutes later. I think she liked her!

Sorry the video is so long. I didn't edit because I figured Grammy would want to watch it all.

Messages from Grammy

2010-05-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Grammy recently upgraded her cell phone to a Droid and so did we. Well now that Grammy is getting all tech savoy on us she has decided to start sending Faith some videos of herself. Here are some videos of Faith watching her messages:

We missed recording Faith watching her message for the first time. Her initial reaction was so cute, she was squealing with delight. We replayed it and recorded it. She wasn't as impressed the second time around plus she was really tired and ready for bed.

This time I recorded her reaction the first time we watched it. She seems to be nodding her head saying, "yes, yes that's great!"

Thanks for all the videos. They are fun to receive!

First Time at the Pool

2010-05-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday Alan and I headed down to the neighborhood pool for the first time with Faith. It was a bit overcast and had rained the day before so the water was a bit chilly. However, after Faith's first initial shock of the cold water, she seemed to have enjoyed herself...at least in a quiet way.

I WAS getting Faith ready until Alan came and took over. I think he just wanted to be in the pictures!

He should have kept cleaning the bugs out of the pool because he ended up putting her bathing suit on backwards. He is ripping it off before I can get a picture! You can tell because of the guilty look on his face!

Now she's dressed and ready to go!

She really enjoyed her float!

This video is long...I figure only Grammy will watch it.

Now I'm off to find myself a one piece that comes up to my neck!

6 Month Portraits

2010-05-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

I took Faith to get her 6 month portraits done yesterday. I thought it was going to be a crazy morning trying to get everything ready to go, get in her nap, lunch and get myself ready...luckly I was wrong! Everything went very smoothly this morning. Faith went down for a nap very easily and slept for 45 minutes. I was able to finish getting everything ready and she woke up in time to eat a quick lunch. She squealed all the way to the photographer's house. I took a couple of snap shots and video while we were there...here is a sneak peak: Of course hers will look WAY better ...these were taken with a point and click!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my FIRST real mother's day (baby out of tummy). It was pretty good. I didn't get breakfast in bed, infact I was up before Alan. However Alan did get up and make coffee, french toast and coffee. We bummed around the house for the first half of the day. We got new phones on Saturday so we were trying to figure them out, Faith was pretty patient with us both. Alan and Faith got me a mother's day card...Faith signed hers with a ink hand print...and I also got a new charm from James Avery. It is a heart charm to wear as a necklace. It's really pretty, I can't wait to dress up and wear it.

Around noon I drug Alan and Faith up to the Domain (a fancy outdoor mall here in Ausin) to pick up a couple of new outfits for Faith. We have her 6m pictures scheduled for this week and we need something cute to wear. We had lunch at California Pizza and later had coffee and dessert at the Coffee Bean outside in the rain. It was a beautiful and relaxing afternoon.

I didn't get any pictures of yesterday, but here are a few of Faith and I at the Domain the day before. Faith was tired, but we stopped to listen to the music and the dancing water fountain. It's kind of like a little vacation spot. We should stroll it more often, especially on Saturday evenings.

6 Months...where has the time gone?

2010-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

I stopped to read some of Angela's blogs and then read some of my old ones. It made me sad to see how big my baby has gotten since the last time I documented anything on here. This made me think I should write more often about what is going on with us.

Well anyway, Faith is now 6 months old and she is just growing way too fast. She loves to be active and I am scared to think how crazy things are going to get around here as soon as she figures out this crawling business. We just started 3 meals a day, but we still are not sleeping through the night. I am terrible at keeping a middle of the night routine with her when she wakes up. One night I'll let her cry for about 10 minutes, some nights Alan rocks her back to sleep, some nights I feed her and put her back to bed, but most nights I bring her into bed with me and we both fall asleep with her nursing....I am such a bad mother. However, I am just trying to survive!

I started work a couple of months ago, only to turn around and drop my hours or perhaps just turn into a substitute. Alan got a new job and I just can't justify paying someone to watch my baby girl while I work...I don't make enough to give that time up. I am excited about Alan's new job and me being home with Faith again, however I am enjoying my time at my new job. It has a lot of potential.

Anyway, here are a few snapshots!

This picture cracks me up! I think Faith has had enough of lovey dovey kisses from Daddy!

Faith chilling out in her car seat during one of our summer cold fronts. Thanks Brooke for the jacket! Thanks Braden for the car seat!

We aren't really Longhorn fans...neither Alan nor I care much for sports. However Bevo made a stop my new place of employment for a fund raiser so we thought we'd take advantage of the photo op!

Where to Start?

2009-12-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since I've blogged. Faith has kept us very busy. Unfortunately she has turned out to be a very fussy baby. She doesn't handle dirty diapers at all, nor does she handle transitioning from one thing to another. Heaven forbid you sit down with her unless you plan on feeding her. She wants to be held constantly. As most of you know, we have found that the blow dryer gives us some relief. This is what I often come home to after leaving Alan in charge.

With that being said, she has been better the last couple of days. Friday I declared it "No Cry Friday" and she played pretty well I do have to say. I thought I'd play again with her yesterday and declared it "No Cry Saturday," again she held her own. However, she did not want to play "No Cry Sunday!" She started refusing that game at about 1:00am Sunday morning. We had a rough night with her waking up every 1.5 hours or so after that. Alan and I are exausted!

Anyway, here are a couple of cute clips from "No Cry Saturday." Sorry I haven't had time to edit them.

PS..it only took 2 days to get this posted!

Fussy Baby

2009-11-17T15:59:00.000-08:00

I've never been around a newborn, needless to say, as much as I've been around Faith. When Faith was first born, she came out of my tummy all calm, just looking at the world around her. She was quiet while they cleaned her up and pretty easy going in the hospital unless she had a dirty diaper. I was sure I had an easy going baby and boy was I thankful! Well, let me tell you...I was wrong! The last few weeks this baby girl has been the biggest fuss-bucket around! If she isn't eating or sleeping, she's crying! Alan and I can barely get anything done because we spend so much time trying to console her.

On Sunday, I needed to blow dry my hair and I was carrying Faith around. I use a sound machine with her, but it doesn't really seem to do much, but I thought I'd see if she liked the sound of the blowdryer while I used it on my damp hair. I placed her in her seat and turned it on and WA-LA, she was instantly quiet! I got my hair dried, curled and make-up put on! I felt human again!

I told Alan of my new found cure for Faith's screaming, I think he thought..."whatever". Well on Monday I needed to run a couple of errands and left Alan with Faith. When I came home, I found Faith asleep in her swing with the blowdryer on full blast while Alan sat next to her eating a hamburger! Now we both run for the blowdryer when we can't console her. We have one upstairs and one downstairs! I wish I would have tried this a couple of weeks ago!

Faith's First Tub Bath

2009-11-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Alan and I gave Faith her first tub bath earlier this week. It only took me 24 hours to think she needed a bath and to actually get her in it! I'm going to work on cutting the time down between the thought and the actual doing....I hope! Anyway, here is a video of her experience:

And just incase you missed the pouty face

Thanks Jason and Allison for the tub, it worked great!!

Sing with me...

2009-11-14T15:40:00.001-08:00

To the tune of Chili's Babyback Rib song:

I want my booby back, booby back
I want my booby back, booby back
I want my booby back, booby back please!

Potty Humor

2009-11-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

Who knew that such a tiny baby girl could make so many dirty diapers!!

Faith does not tolerate wearing a dirty diaper. If she's screaming it's either because she is hungry or because she is dirty. She is becoming notorious for waiting until her diaper is off for her to have a bowel movement. I wish I had the video camera the other day when it all started! I came into the nursery where Alan was running around frantic trying to get new clothes out of the closet while Faith laid on the changing table pooing away! I stepped in and tried to help. I grabbed her legs and lifted her hiney up to remove all the soiled linens out from under her when Alan approached the table. Just then, she let it blow! There was poo all across the changing table, it hit the wipes bucket and everything else at the foot of the table, passed the table and landed behind the rocking chair! She just barely missed her Daddy and he's yelling at me to put her legs down! It was pretty hysterical! She has since done this many times. We may have to put up Plexiglass at the end of the changing table to have to keep from cleaning the carpet as much!

She also enjoys waiting until she has a clean diaper on to immediately use it, sometimes we can't even get her clothes changed before she's screaming for a new diaper! We can go through 3 diapers before getting off the changing table!

However, you know you're a mommy when you have to go out in public covered in your child's urine! Friday I had my 2 week post partum c-section visit at the doctor's office. Before I headed in leaving Faith and Alan in the car, I changed Faith's diaper. Now I pondered laying all the pads out incase she decided to go with her diaper off, but I thought I could swing it with no problem. Sure enough as soon as I took her diaper off, she peed in my lap! I had to walk through the clinic building and into my appointment with a wet crotch! Oh well...welcome to Mommyhood...right? Anyway, as much work as it is, I love her and wouldn't change it for the world!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

First off...I'm slowly working on my labor and delivery blog. Yes, still! It's a long story and this baby takes a lot of time!

Anyway....

Today is our first holiday with Faith. It's Halloween! We had decided to not pass out candy this year and since Faith is so little (2 weeks yesterday), we weren't going to dress her up or take her out. When friends would ask if I was going to dress her up, I would just tell them I was going to dress her like a baby. Well, this didn't sit well with my friend Melissa. Her and her husband, Brian, came over earlier this week to bring us dinner, rock the baby and present us with a Halloween costume for Faith. She said she just couldn't let me dress her up as a baby for Halloween.

So this evening, I finally got out of my PJ's, dressed Faith in her costume and headed out to Trick -or-Treat. We only hit up one house, we thought we'd start of easy since she is so young. We headed out to Melissa's house which is around the block to show off our cute baby girl!

Dreaming of Halloween candy!

Faith at Brian and Melissa's house...but we didn't even get any candy! What's up with that?!

6 Days...if she's on time!

2009-10-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

I had my 39 week doctor's appointment yesterday, everything looks good. 2cm dialated and 70% effaced...is it okay to share that kind of info on a blog? Anyway, the doctor said she didn't think I'd make it to my due date, but who knows for sure. I guess she could have been saying that to just make me happy. Well anyway with that news, mom has decided to leave 2 days earlier to try her best to be here. So many things I want to go right, but I know none of it's really up to me. Not only would I like for mom to be here, I have a friend that works in the nursery who is going to give me special treatment if she is on duty...if not, I guess I get the regular old patient treatment unless I pitch a fit...which I might. :-) Bags are about packed and ready to go!

Anyway, the house isn't perfect, but I think I'm content enough with it. We have the nursery done, here are our pictures:

Before

During

And after!

We sure are getting excited about Faith Anne's arrival. I think the biggest thing I'm anxious about is the after pain and if her name is fitting. We'll see if it sticks when she's born...not that we have a back up though!

Perhaps my next posting will be about her arrival! Thanks to everyone for the precious gifts they gave us to take care of our little girl!

About 3 more weeks...hopefully

2009-09-20T17:57:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy week for Alan and I. We've had doctor appointments, baby classes and errands to run before the big arrival.

I had my 36 week ultrasound, the doctor said everything looked beautiful! The baby is expected to be in the 7.5 lbs range and that she is currently in the 50th percentile. We got one profile picture from this ultrasound that Alan and I really can't make out other than she is being a drama queen with her hand over forehead as we've seen before in other ultrasounds.

Saturday we took a tour of the hospital and we were able to see the labor and delivery room and the postpartum room. The L&D room is new and was BEAUTIFUL, but after the baby is born, I will get wheeled to the older part of the hospital where you get to spend 2 days in a newly remodeled closet! Okay, it's not really a closet, but it sure is a tiny, tiny room compared to the L&D room. I guess it'll be alright, we aren't expecting many guests anyway.

After we toured the hospital, we went to part 1 of 2 birthing classes. It was great for Alan and I to attend. He was able to learn all kinds of ways to help during this last part of my pregnancy and through labor and delivery. He took it all very well and I'm looking forward to experiencing this journey with him.

I think we have finally settled on a name...we'll see if it sticks after she is born. Anyway, I believe we are going to name her Faith Anne Johnson. We are still discussing the "e" in Anne, but we will probably go with it.

Hope all is well with you all! -T

Getting Closer

2009-09-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but I'll write a quick one about what's going on.

I was able to do some maternity photographs when I was 33 weeks pregnant (I think). Here are a couple of them I swiped from her website. Alan and I will go in Friday to view the rest. I'm not sure if I'll be able to show anymore or not.

Some of my friends hosted a shower for me this past weekend. It was really nice and lots of fun. I'll post pictures once I get them. Having those two showers really helped stock us up on our necessities. Thanks everyone!

I go in for my 36 week ultrasound this afternoon to determine how big this baby girl is. I am hoping for a healthy petite little girl.

Alan and I have narrowed down our name choices. Perhaps we'll announce it soon.

Baby Shower

2009-08-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

Alan and I went to Ga to visit family from August 14-August 23rd. My cousin Jason was getting married, and my cousin Candy decided to host us a wonderful baby shower! It was just perfect! She made a beautiful cake, 3 tiers! It was bigger than my wedding cake. I wish I had picture of the spread she laid out, but my camera ended up not working, so most of my pictures are borrowed!

Baby Shower Cake, made with love by Candy

It was wonderful to see most of the women in my family. My cousins, Jennifer, Terresa and Lorrinda and my Aunt Donna from my dad's side of the family made it. I was also able to visit with my Grandmommie, Ashley, Angie, Candy, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Darlene and my mom. We also had several of my 2nd cousins come, all children of course, I love getting to know them. Jennifer and Terresa's girls, Nathalie and Alexis were a fantastic help with opening gifts.

Mom, Me, Jennifer, Terresa, Lorrinda and Aunt Donna

Alexis and Nathalie helping me manage the gifts

Aunt Darlene, Mom and Aunt Donna

I received tons of clothes and lots of other goodies. My mom brought about 8 bags of gifts! One being an endless bag of baby clothes and two others full of cloth diapers. Candy had the guests bring books for the baby instead of cards, this was a wonderful idea and it help start a small library for our daughter.

Cowgirl outfit from Aunt Darlene

Green Eggs and Ham, a gift from Jennifer

One of my favorite gifts was a homemade quilt my mom made for the baby. She started working on it right after we told her we were pregnant. She was so excited that she couldn't wait for us to find out if it was a boy or a girl. I think it turned out beautiful!

Showing off the Baby Quilt, made with love from Grammy

Candy had a few games for us to play. Baby Bingo where guests could mark off their card as I opened presents. The other game was Baby Family Feud. This was pretty funny since it was a family baby shower. I sat on the Howard/Baldwin side. As it turned out I sat on the right side, we smoked the McCrary side of the family!

Mom in the final stage of Family Feud

Aunt Donna getting ready to whoop up on the McCrary side

Grandmommie, Ashley, Aunt Kelly and Aunt Darlene

Humm, let me think.....

Now that I am writing this blog, I realized I didn't even get a picture of the McCrary side of the family that came nor did I get a picture with Candy! This is the only one I have!

Candy - Thanks for a wonderful baby shower! I truly appreciate all the hard work, love and labor you put into making this such a wonderful family celebration! It's a blessing to have you in my family!

28 Weeks and Counting

2009-07-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm in my 28th week of pregnancy, officially in my 3rd trimester. I am slowy converting from an innie to an outie! I need to get the tape ready to tame this sucker! I think it's about to get rough again. In my 26th week, I started taking naps again in the middle of the day. I'm not sure if this is part of the 3rd trimester ailments, but I also learned last week that I am anemic. The doctor started me on some iron supplements that have their own odd side effects.

Last week my back started aching terribly bad. Not my lower back like you'd expect, but my middle back. I find it very difficult to sit for more than a few minutes. This makes attending a 2 hour, boring pathophysiology class extremely difficult. I am now carrying a wedge and a back pillow to class to sit on, this only helps a little. Tylenol does nothing. My most comfortable position is lying down. The doctor gave me a list of physical therapists I could go to if I want. I need to check the insurance for coverage.

This evening another viscous cycle kicked in with a choking episode I had. I swallowed wrong which equaled coughing which equaled a weak bladder...back to coughing which also equaled reflux, the cycle just went on and on. Fun!

Alan and I are still trying to figure out names. I'm not sure if we will share before it's on the birth certificate or not. We are starting to narrow it down which is nice.

I am looking forward to my two baby showers. It will be so nice to friends and family! Well, I've been sitting here for too long, back is aching now, gotta go! Good night.

My New Form of Entertainment

2009-07-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Instead of doing productive things around the house or playing back to back games of Bejeweled I've found a new form of entertainment on the computer. It's a website you've all heard of, Craigs List. I started off searching on it for items for the baby that I might be able to get at a decent rate, I did this for a probably a couple of months. I was successful with a few items:

New Pink Bumbo Chair for half the retail price.

Changing table, which actually I shouldn't have bought because Alan has put more work into sanding and repainting it than should have (oh well).

A nice glider I am adding to the baby room. It's not the most beautiful thing, but it is a good piece of furniture that is oober comfortable. A nice quilt on it will make work well in the nursery. Only $100.

Sassy Mobile that has been discontinued. I used this mobile at work and loved the fact that it was developmentally stimulating for a baby. The mobile pauses to allow the baby to focus, the toys face down for them to focus on and the toys flip from simple images for young babies to more complex when they get older. Good price, since they sell used for more than the price I paid for it on ebay w/out having to pay shipping costs!

And 11 Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers.

Today I purchased pretty much a brand new Singer Sewing Machine for less than I could fine online.

Besides shopping for myself on Craigs List, I like to read the free and items wanted postings. I think it's funny the things people want. I saw a listing from someone who wanted as many empty lipstick tubes as possible. I saw another one yesterday from a family that wanted free household items, they just moved here from New York. Sounds understandable right? Then it goes on to say it was cheaper for us to just leave everything there and get new stuff here. I laughed, well yeah it is, you want it all for free! Anyway, I don't know there story, but thought it was a little funny. My favorite one was from today though, the posting headline read "Ex-Large Dog Kennel Cage Good enoug for your Mother In Law Free" if you click on it the ad also tells you it's big enough for your girly-friend! In the garden section I saw a large fern for sale for $60.00, she goes on to say that she just moved into a new house the previous owners left it behind. I just thought it was a little expensive for something she got for free and you'd really probably be doing her a favor by getting it out of her way. I've also seen trees for sale, but you had to come dig them up yourself aka please come do my yard labor for me; we both benefit!

I have noticed that most people are quite proud of their used items on Craigs List. Prices aren't garage sale prices. You have to be quick and keep a look out for a true good deal and you may have to do a little sweet talking to get them to drop the price a little lower for you, especially if you find something that didn't sale right away. All in all I guess it helps everyone all the way around.

Wide Awake

2009-07-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

It's 12:30 am, and I'm wide awake. I'm not sure why, I didn't get a nap in today so I should be pretty tired. I was trying to sleep but someone was doing somersaults in my belly, but I'm not naming any names!

Not too much is going on here. I'm taking a pathophysiology class this semester, so I try to make myself study for it, but just find myself cramming two days before the exam. However, it worked pretty well for me this week, but I need to get out of the habit of doing that. While I was studying, I caught Paige petting herself in the curtains. She does this quite often, you can find her doing it also in my closet under the hanging dresses and in the back yard under my ferns. She's quite funny, you'd think she is starved for attention. I promise she is not!

And for those of you that want to see my pregnant belly, here is a picture from this week.

26 weeks

And just for fun, here is Alan studying. He usually studies pretty hard, in fact I wish I had his motivation to commit to a project like he does. It was pretty unusual to find him trying to nap with his book instead of reading it!

Baby Kicks and Belly Jiggles, Pt 2

2009-06-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, after many attempts of trying to record this baby moving around in my tummy, I finally caught some movement on video.

You have to watch carefully. I think some it was lost from converting it from HD to Blogger. No belly jokes please!

And just for grins, here is Paige loving on the baby!

Baby Kicks and Belly Jiggles

2009-06-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling our baby girl kick for awhile now. It starts off early in pregnancy where you feel the flutters, then the softest kicks, then you can feel them on the outside with your hand. Well this week I noticed that she can now make my whole stomach move at times. I was laying on the couch with my hand and arm across my belly and she kicked or at least flung herself wide open. I felt her on both sides of my stomach at the same time. I started watching my stomach and could tell where she was moving due to the movement of my stomach. Now when I'm still, she'll start moving around. Of course I watch her for a couple of minutes then I'll call Alan. However, once he shows up, she usually quits. He did get to see her move a little last night. Pretty cool! I'm going to try to catch it on video...well see. I tried today, but of course she'd stop as soon as I hit record!

Out with the Old

2009-06-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

My favorite brother, Dusty, came over today to low ball me on my full size mattress that we no longer have room for due to the nursery. Dusty had been sleeping on an old couch as a bed, but he tossed it with his recent move and has been roughing it on the floor. Alan and I finally decided that there is just no where to keep this mattress at our house for the next several years, so we decided we'd give it Dusty. Mom offered to buy them from me for him, but since Mom bought them for me before I lived with Alan, I didn't think she needed to pay me to give them to Dusty.

You see Dusty always seems tight on money, so we usually give him our old furniture if he needs it, hence the free mattress. However, today I did get quite the kick out him! He hung around for a couple of hours waiting on lunch. While we were chit-chatting, he told me needed to swing by another friends house and pick up his TRAMPOLINE! Yes TRAMPOLINE! Not the little exercise ones, I talking the large ones you put in the backyard! I'm thinking he must have bought this thing cheap off of Craigs List...right? Nope he says he bought it new at Academy! Where are the priorities boy! He proceeded to tell me that he is still pretty good at back flips and can even add a twist into them! Boy was I low balled! By the way, he's 26 yrs old!

Anyway, Dusty got off with my most favorite and comfortable mattress. I'm so going to miss it. However, from now on we are going to have to do some bartering! Not to mention next time we go out to eat, I'm going to stiff him with the bill! After all, he is the one with a full time job!

Alan and Dusty strapping my nice mattress to the hood of his car.

Dusty thinking....SUCKER!

Dusty driving off with a steal!

Love you Dusty and may you have a peaceful sleep!

Nursery - Slowly Coming Together

2009-06-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Alan has been working hard on getting the nursery together. He painted, added a chair rail and crown molding. Yesterday our crib arrived, we cleaned the carpet and decided to put together the crib. Here are some shots of today's work! Alan working and me supervising!

He made me help!

Me being goofy, but Alan thought I was trying to get a surprise picture of him. Doesn't he realize it's about me sometimes too?

Hard at work.

Paige supervising and getting suspicious of what's going on.

Just about done!

When Mom was in town, she bought material for me to make a quilt, curtains and a dust ruffle with. It only took me two weeks to complete. Here they are in all their glory!

Me and my work!

Alan and his hard work!

We still have more furniture to work on for the room and we are waiting on the crib mattress to arrive. Thanks Mom! This is so much fun!

Daddy Doodies

2009-05-30T15:36:00.001-07:00

Alan's been working hard these last few days on his daddy duties, so I snapped a few pictures of him in his new job.

Mom ordered us a Pack N' Play before she left and it finally arrived on Thursday. Alan whipped it out of the box to make sure all the pieces were there and that it wasn't damaged since it came with a large whole in the side of the box.

Here's Alan wishing it would just all snap together......and it won't!

Alan giving in and reading the directions!

He's finally figuring it out (I had to help a little, but I still need an orientation on it!)

Proud Dad and his masterpiece!

Thanks Mom!

His project for yesterday and today was to clean out one of the spare bedrooms and start on the nursery. We chose the room next to ours. Here it is before ALL the furniture was moved out.

One of the colors we chose was a yellowish cream, it's a little lighter than we expected, but it'llwork.

I was able to talk Alan into putting pink on the walls. We discussed colors for days; pink, cream or green. Since most of the house is already cream and green we thought we'd give pink a shot.

We also picked up a pretty little light fixture.

It works! And no one got hurt!

Alan's next project is to add a chair rail and some crown molding to the room. We are trying to figure out furniture color. If we go with white, then we'll repaint the closet doors and paint all the molding a bright white. If we go with cherry wood furniture, we'll just paint the new molding to match the old stuff. Now we have to find the funiture!

Thanks for all the hard work Honey!

Visit from Georgia

2009-05-24T12:11:00.001-07:00

Upon Mom's arrival, the first thing she did was rub my belly! I knew it would be.

It was only after the belly rub that she actually hugged me!

We had a great time shopping after the ultrasound on Monday. We shopped everyday! We picked up some baby clothes at a few different stores and started our registry at Babies R Us (and will get one going at Target too.) Mom ordered us a Pack N' Play and Andy ordered us a fancy baby swing.

Mom and I also hit up the fabric store and Mom purchased some fabric for the nursery. She helped me start making a quilt Thursday evening and I'm getting close to finishing it up.

Alan worked on the "Honey Do List" with Andy's supervision. They worked on the roof, plumbing, fixed the vent over the stove and officially determined that the broken microwave could not be saved. It was a great week for chores!

There was some time for fun though between all the hard work. Alan, Mom and I were addicted to playing Bejeweled on Facebook throughout the week. Of course Alan had to get on the computer and beat our scores. He always has to be number 1.

It was great having Mom and Andy come visit. I wish we lived near each other. This is such an exciting time in our life and I wish they were here to help with the process. I am so grateful for the love and support they show us. Thanks Mom and Andy for everything! We love you!

It's a .....

2009-05-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Alan, Mom, Andy and I all headed out Monday to one of the local colleges here in town to get an ultrasound from a friend of mine who teaches ultrasound. Right before we left, I got nervous about finding out the sex of the baby, it just seemed like it would make it so much more real. They all laughed at me and said they wanted to know so I could sit in the car while they found out! Well, I really did want to know so I willingly walked into the school. Before we started Alan, Mom and Andy thought that the baby would was going to be a boy. I had mentally prepared myself that it would be a boy, but had 2 vivid dreams that it was a girl, so I was leaning towards a girl, as was my ultrasound friend, Victoria. Well she started and the first picture we saw of the baby looked like it was waving to us, we could see all 5 fingers. Victoria quickly scanned and told us that it was a GIRL! My dreams were right! We continued to watch her for about 30 minutes. She looked perfect. We could see her hands, fingers, toes, heart...everything! We even got to watch her try to suck her thumb!

After the ultrasound, we came home and ate lunch. Mom was itching to go out shopping. We headed out to the mall and hit up every clearance rack at every department store at the mall. We bought a few outfits for our baby girl.

It was so fun shopping for girl clothes. I even found an "I Love Daddy" outfit to honor Alan!

Mom found herself a Grandma outfit also! It says, "I'll always be grandma's sweetie!"

Yesterday Alan, Mom and I headed to Babies R Us to start registering. OMG, what a chore! I need to do more research on baby gear. Any advice..anyone, anyone? Bottles, pacifiers, bibs, car seats, strollers, bath supplies, toys, the list goes on and on. We only it 1/3 of the store before we were all pooped. We'll have to head back later.

Candy, I saw your smarty pant comment on Angie's blog. Sorry it's taken 2 days to post. I've been exhausted then trying coordinate pictures and get mom off my computer when we are home has been a chore. Anyway, here you go! I'll post later on Mom's whole visit. Love you all and thanks for all the love and support you all have given me! Having my family involved has made this experience so much more fun, I just wish I was there with you all.

Spring '09 Semester Over!

2009-05-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

YEAH, today was my last physiology class! I pulled off an A by the skin of my teeth! This got me wondering what "by the skin of my teeth" means. After all, I did learn in Anatomy that our teeth don't have skin :-). So here is what I found by Googling it:

"The source of the phrase "by the skin of one's teeth" is indeed the Book of Job, although the precise phrase Job used was "My bone cleaveth to my skin, and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth" (not "by"). Just what the "skin" of one's teeth might be is a bit unclear, but it probably refers to the thin porcelain exterior of the tooth, not the gums. Job evidently kept his teeth, but just barely. It is also possible that he was saying that the margin of his escape was as narrow as the "skin" of a tooth is shallow -- the equivalent of a "hair's breadth." In any case, Job clearly meant that he'd had a very hard time of it, and the phrase has been used ever since to mean a very narrow or arduous escape."

Anyway, I am SO glad the semester is over. That was a tough class and having pregnancy brain (which is real by the way for those friends that have never had it) didn't help the situation. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to not be able to recall the answer on a test, but it hit you 3 hours later at home! I know you don't have to have pregnancy brain for this to happen, but it happens more often when you do.

Well, I'd like to have a drink to wind down the semester, but that's not possible...rats! So I still feel a little stressed and revved up. Hopefully it will die down soon. In a few weeks, off to pathophysiology....fun!

I wanna be like you

2009-05-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

This blog is for my cousin Candy. As you know she is lending me her maternity clothes, which I am so excited about! However did you know the lending of clothes between us goes way back?

It starts here! Here is a picture of my mom, Aunt Kelly and Darlene. Darlene is pregnant with Candy and is sporting a yellow maternity top made by my mother when she was pregnant with me.

This fancy red dress was a gift from my grandmother, which later found it's way into Candy's closet. Candy don't you have a similiar portrait in the same dress?

So as you can see, it's only fitting to show you the next two pictures.

Candy and Grandmommie. Candy wearing her cute maternity top!

And me, wearing Candy's cute maternity top!

I've been reading Candy's blogs and I keep seeing these pictures of cakes she made. Being pregnant and all, everytime I saw them it made me crave cake. So after by doctor's appointment Wednesday, I swung by the grocery store to pick up my ingredients to try my had at baking a cake.
Pay no attention to the Duncan Hines box in the background!

Thanks Candy again for the clothes and the extra calories Alan and I now have on our hips!

The Lost Boy

2009-04-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Alan and I went to dinner at Pei Wei tonight. Afterwards we decided to waste some time by browsing Target in the shopping center. On the way out, I decided to drive behind the stores to get to the exit. As we passed the huge Toys R Us, Alan noticed a little boy alone standing at the very back corner of the store, almost behind it. Alan pointed him out to me and I immediately stopped the car and threw it in reverse. Sure enough there was a little 4yr old boy standing out there all alone, not a parent in site. I stopped and asked him if he was lost, he said he was. I got out of the car and introduced myself and walked him back inside Toys R Us. Alan switched into the driver's seat and met us inside. The child said his name was Xavier and he was 4yrs old. He told me he was shopping with his mother for his brother's birthday, his brother was two. I asked Xavier if he wanted the toys, thinking perhaps he left the store because he was jealous. He told me no, he didn't want the toys and he didn't like birthdays. So, perhaps he was! When we got into the store I expected to see a frighted mom at the toy counter looking for her son. He told me she had on a purple shirt and worked at Babies R Us. However, the only lady with a purple shirt on at the counter was a Hispanic woman, this child was white with blond hair. The clerk said no one had been looking for him. Just then a lady in a purple Babies R Us shirt turned the corner with a two year old yelling for Xavier. She saw him, called him over and proceeded to head out; I don't think she realized he was with me. I quickly stopped her and explained what had happened so she'd be able to talk to him. She thanked me then preceeded to have a calm talk with her son. Alan and I left. I am so thankful Alan saw him, no telling what could have happened. I guess when I go register at Babies R Us, I'll have to ask for Rebecca and get an update on Xavier.

What to Wear and My Wonderful Husband

2009-04-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

I'm getting into that phase now where I really don't know what to wear. I only have a couple of pairs of pants and a few shirts that were pre-pregnancy I can fit into. However, the jeans I had been wearing are starting to slide down off my belly and are sagging in the crotch! Most of the maternity shorts I have I can get by with if I wear a long t-shirt, but they are still a little too big to fit comfortably. My pre-pregnancy sundress, which is a baby doll dress, is getting tight under my boobs, but it really makes me look pregnant now. I wore it to class the other day and everyone could tell I was pregnant. Candy is sharing her maternity clothes with me, I am so excited! I can't wait until they arrive, I bet there is some cute stuff in there! For now, I have started digging in Alan's drawers for an occasional lounging around t-shit and PJ bottoms. Luckly he doesn't mind sharing.

I think Alan is doing a great job of sharing this pregnancy with me. He's great at taking care of me, gets me things when I don't want to get up and rubs my belly almost everyday with lotion. Alan even has sympathy pains/symptoms and cravings. Anyway, Alan feels my stomach quite often, he is anxious to start feeling the baby kick...as am I.

My friend, Victoria, is going to give me an ultrasound on May 18th to see if we can determine the gender. That will be week 18. Mom will arrive in town the day or so before, so she'll be excited to go with us. It'll be nice to have her here so we can start shopping for the baby!

The Joys of the Expectant Mother

2009-04-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

I am now entering 14 weeks of pregnancy and things are much better than the 1st trimester. I don't think I had a HARD 1st trimester, but it wasn't like nothing was going on either. I had terrible reflux, some morning sickness, smell and food aversions, cramps, fatigue and a cough I couldn't shake (not pregnancy related, but caused more up chucking than the morning sickness). I am now on more medications than I was before pregnancy. My cough has been attributed to a combination of reflux (which I may have even w/o being pregnant) and allergies. So I am now on Zan-tac twice a day, Zyrtec in the morning and Benadryl at night for allergies, plus my thyroid medication and pregnancy vitamin. I think I'm taking as many pills as Abby now! Anyway, other than definitely having pregnancy brain, I'm feeling good. No odd cravings. I do crave foods but nothing that has been long lasting. One week I wanted salads most of the time, then chicken salad sandwiches and potato salad, however I guess the one stable has been Taco Bell (save it Melissa!).

I am anxious to find out if it's a boy or a girl; I'm ready to start buying things. I don't want to splurge on getting all pink or all blue stuff; I'd like to stay somewhat gender neutral, but would like to sprinkle some pink or blue in the mix. We should be able to find out in about 6 more weeks.

Alan and I want to do the cloth diaper route. We aren't the best environmentalist, but I try to do my part. We recycle and take our own grocery bags to the store, drive a hybrid and we thought we'd try cloth diapers as well. It's also a lot friendlier on our pocketbook. After posting this on Facebook today, I can see there is some hesitancy out there from people. Now, don't hold me to this for the next couple of years, but we'd like to at least try. Our parents did it; they still make cloth diapers, so it must be somewhat doable!

School is keeping Alan busy and it should be keeping me busier. I think I've dropped my physiology grade down to a B; I like to blame this on my fatigue and pregnancy brain! Alan is doing great in his classes!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got asked by a stranger if I was pregnant this weekend. Alan and I went to a small chamber music concert hosted by a family in our neighborhood. Granted I was wearing a baby doll shirt (the one in the pictures below) and had asked the guy if the beverage in the pitcher was alcoholic, but later that night he asked if I was pregnant. It was kind of funny, Alan and I both giggled.

Well, that's about it for now. Sorry it's so long; guess I should blog more often. I'll try.

PS: Candy just told me they are going to throw me a baby shower in Ga in August, WHOOOOHOOO! Thanks guys!

Shopping for Baby

2009-04-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

As soon as my mother found I she was going to be a grandmother, she was hitting the stores with in a couple of hours. She bought girl, boy and gender neutral clothes already. The next day she sent me links for crib bedding, cribs, strollers; you name it, she sent it. Then on Friday, she's calling me from Sears asking if she should buy some sleepers for the baby....they are on clearence! Well, I started feeling like I was neglecting my motherly duties because I have bought nothing for the baby (besides Taco Bell and oatmeal cream pies). Alan and I wanted to wait until the first trimester was over to tell people, so I didn't want to jinx it by buying things. So today, I thought I'd head out to Sears and shop the clearence rack like Mom did to see if they had anything. I was completely overwhelmed on where to even start. So many cute girl and boy clothes...very little gender neutral clothes. Since I'm on a budget, I couldn't buy girl or boy clothes just yet and only found one little green sleeper with a monkey on it for the baby. So I made my first baby purchase. I then went maternity shopping for myself and got a couple of cheap items from Ross. I talked to my mom on the phone for the whole 2 hours I was out. I wish she was hear to help me shop, plus it would be a joy to have her along for the journey. Guess we'll have to meet up after I find out the gender and really stimulate the economy.

Alan and Tracy's Journey

2009-04-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

So most everyone has already seen this, thanks to my grandmother forwarding it to the whole family, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/353589/Tracy-Alan.wmv

Geezz, if you really need one Candy!

2009-03-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well my life is pretty boring, that's why I don't write much! Anyway, I'll fill you in on what's been going on!

So last week was spring break for me, it was nice to put physiology off for a week...bad thing is, is that I can't get back into studying for it. I should be studying for a test as I type, but just keep putting it off. Anyhow, last week I pretty much just vegged around. Went to the doctor for a cough I've had since January. I saw my PCP in Feb, and she blew it off. I called her nurse several weeks ago and she suggested sudafed and a vaporizer, since that didn't work, I went back in to the doctor, but had to see a different one. He couldn't find anything wrong, but put me on antibiotics to see if that helps. I finished my dose yesterday so we'll see if eventually fades out. Last week I also went to Temple and visited the old hospital I use to work at and visited with my old boss, that was a great place to work. I miss it. Thursday my friend Melissa and I went to South Congress and had lunch and window shopped at all the weird Austin stores. That's about it for spring break.

This week, I've been living on benadryl trying to dry up my throat. Physiology has been loads of fun on this drug. When the teacher calls on me (which he ALWAYS is calling on someone for something) I've just stared at him. I was so tired from the medicine on Tuesday that Alan drove me to class and hung out until I was done to drive me back home. What a great husband. Later this week he even made blocks to put under the bed to see if that would help get rid of my cough.

Thursday I went to my friend, Therese's birthday party. It was a wine and cheese party... lots of cheese and wine. It was nice to get out and socialize with some people. Although I only knew 2 people there, if I ever get asked over again, I'll know more ...right?

This weekend Alan and I are dogsitting, so we have 4 dogs in the house. My two girls, a german shepard mix and a mini pincher. It's loads of fun.

Anyway, Mrs. Candy, that's what's been going on in my life the last few weeks. I need to get a new point and click camera and a video camera so I'll have something more interesting to share. Have a good one!

Town Lake

2009-03-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

Alan and headed out this morning for a walk around Town Lake. We decided to take Paige with us. It was a busy out there today and the weather was beautiful. We walked for about 1.5 hours and enjoyed watching all the people and their dogs. It sure was nice to get out of the house and have some cheap entertainment. We should do it more often.

The Mcflurry and other news

2009-03-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Last night I needed a snack and headed out to the McD's across the street for a Mcflurry. I was a little disappointed in the fact that the server didn't bother to mix my Mcflurry, just handed me a cup of ice cream with Oreo sprinkled on top. So anyway, I got home and stirred my own Mcflurry the best I could. And as all of you do, you wonder why McDonald's gives you this odd shaped spoon to eat it with. So out of curiosity I Googled the Mcflurry spoon. It appears that the spoon is designed to be used as a mixer with the blending machine at McDonald's. The clip on the top snaps into the machine and the square shaped handle is for support to mix your dessert. They do this so the crew has less to clean and the utensil has two functions, a beater and a spoon. Unfortunately, my spoon was only used for a spoon last night. Anyway, I found this quite interesting.

Well, I need to go pick up my little cocker, Paige, from the vet. She had her teethed cleaned today. She is such a baby at the vet, she wants to be held and clings on me like a kid. It'll be nice to have her home with some fresh doggy breath.

Abby is hanging in there. Still coughing (as am I) and still picky about her food.

I have another Physiology exam tomorrow, way too much information to digest. After the test, we have to pith a frog again and play with his beating heart. Poor froggy, I hate this part of the class. Alan studied hard for his first algebra exam last week, he did great on it! He made 100. Way to go Alan!

All is Fine

2009-02-24T15:17:00.000-08:00

Well, nothing to exciting to post here, all is fine with Alan and I. School is going good for the both of us. Alan is studying algebra and taking a writing class. I got an A on my first physiology test and am gearing up to study for my next one next week. What fun! Last Thursday after class, I went to happy hour with a couple of girls from class and the teacher! He was quite a hoot! He graduated high school from Warner Robins High School, I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, I probably know more about him than I should know, but at least I can blackmail an A out of him if need be! :-)

Yesterday Alan and one of his buddies officially started their own web design studio, Fifo Studios. So if you need a website, let me know. I can't say we'll give you a deal though because we need the money!

Anyway, Abby still has the coughs. She is now on Zyrtec, but the vet said it would take about two to three weeks before we would see a difference. Alan laughs because he can't decide who sounds more like an old lady, me or Abby. I too have the coughs! TTFN!

Valentines Day Weekend

2009-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

So Friday night, I headed out with a group of girls to watch "He's Just Not That Into You." My friend, Melissa dropped me off at home and headed inside with me to borrow something and to my surprise (and hers) there were candles lit in a clean house. Melissa gives me a funny look then blurts out to Alan, "Are you dressed?" I'm not sure what she was hoping for, but luckly he was dressed. Anyway, after Melissa left, I noticed Alan had also picked up a dozen red roses for Valentines Day. It was a nice surprise. Saturday was a nice relaxing day. Alan made coffee and presented me with a granola bar on china and a chocolate covered strawberry (I wasn't in the mood for a fancy breakfast, although he offered). He even watched the "Secret Life of Bees" with me while a fire burned in the fire place. The day was pretty relaxing, we ended it with a nice steak dinner we worked on together. It was a great weekend.

A couple of other tid bits, Abby still has the coughs after 6 days of antibiotics. I hope it clears up soon. I also found my favorite earrings that I've been missing for over a week, now if I could just find my wedding video!

My Million Dollar Dog

2009-02-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

So several years ago my beloved childhood cocker spaniel, Sally, died and I was anxious to get a new dog. About a month later Alan finally agreed to getting a new dog. I adopted Abby from the Cocker Spaniel Rescue Group. She was said to be about 6 years old and she was fairly blind when we adopted her. However, when I took her to the vet, they said she was more like 8-10 years old. Well, that was in 2002, so no telling how old our dog really is, but she's old anyway.

Abby over they years has cost us loads of money in vet bills due to her cataracts and glacoma. Over the past several months she's been sick as well. She's had diarrhea that was hard to treat, urinary tract infections, and her yearly check up two weeks ago. Well, now she's developed kennel cough, and she doesn't even get kenneled. The vet seemed to think she got it when she got groomed last, about 6 weeks ago. However, it takes about 10-14 days to develop...so that would tell me that perhaps she got it last time we went to the vet! Abby has turned into a picky eater over the last couple of months with her old age. She wants new dog food, then soft dog food, then no dog food, then she wants it hand fed to her. Now the vet tells me that with her antibiotics she'll want to eat even less and probably vomit from it as well. Yeah, what an exciting few days to look forward to. My poor old puppy, it's tough getting old.