Birthday Surprises...

Brian and I decided to decorate Joey's room for his birthday (March 11th). We blew up 50 balloons (by mouth-almost passed out) the night before and stashed them in our closet. After Joey took off for work in the morning, we took each balloon out (3 at a time because full balloons are hard to carry around) and put them in Joey's room. Then, we used some toilet paper to wrap his bed and furniture (I say we, but that was all Brian). To top things off we went across the street to my office, blew up 20 large balloons with helium and let those go in his room as well. When he got home he called Brian to ask if we killed a clown in his room. Fun times.





Brian and I weren't there because we were at the Toyota dealership buying our new Rav4...pretty sweet. Apparently our credit's not as bad as we had assumed. We decided that we had to get another car before baby girl makes her appearance. You know, the whole child safety thing. Anyway, we're pretty excited. Not only is it a brand new car, but Brian actually has car insurance!!! Really hit the big-time here.
To prove how mature he is, we drove down to San Antonio to take care of a minor in possession of alcohol charge he had from 1996 (he's 35). The judge was nice and didn't make him pay a fine and we got to try out our new car on a road trip...good times all around. Oh?! And did I mention, the color of the car...Mica. It was meant to be.

16 Weeks...

and it's a girl! At least we think it is. Dr. Cowan and his nurse looked and said they didn't see any boy parts but cautioned us not to paint the room pink until our 20 week sonogram when the sonographer has a chance to look. Most likely though, it's a Madelyn as opposed to a Maddox.

Silly Dog...

Thought I would share Lefty's morning. There's a lot I could learn from that dog. Apparently, Lefty crawled into the duvet cover that was laying on the floor, waiting to be washed. He usually sleeps under the covers but this time crawled inside. Brian and I started calling his name and...well, he put up a good fight trying to get out. But here's where I could learn from him...
...he woke up in one of the worst ways imaginable (to me anyway). He woke up confused and lost, but (if you'll watch the end of the video again) it played no part on his attitude for the day. He was just as happy this morning as he is any other when he simply crawls out from under the covers. Maybe I need to start my day a little differently and give thanks that I'm awake (no matter what condition I'm in) instead of being upset that I have to get up, or annoyed that Brian has the most annoying alarm in the world. :o)
Really though, how great would it be if everyone had the patience and attitude of a well-loved dog? Stanley too. His brother practically jumps on his head, knocks him over, pushes him out of the way and it doesn't even phase him. They're such good boys...I don't know what I'd do without them. I love those dogs.

A Busy Saturday...

Ah...what a fun day we had. Brian and I got up this morning, went to breakfast and then decided that a trip to South Congress was in order. After all, it is Saturday and that's when all the fun vendors come out. So we stopped by the ATM, pulsed some cash and off we went. After about an hour of shopping (in which we bought the boys ties, and Brian got a new belt and a really awesome belt buckle), we went into a little art shop that I like to visit...and...Pregnancy Brain strikes again!!!
While in the store I realized, hey, where's my debit card...oh right...it's in the ATM still (I hope). It seems that in all the confusion of using an ATM machine (being facetious) I walked away without my card. Ugh. So as a solution, Brian and I spent the next hour driving between Frost and Chase Banks, canceling cards, pulling money, and depositing into another account. Ah...all's well that end's well right?
Once our finances were back in order we decided that it was a good day to take the boys for some ball throwing. We picked up the dogs (and Joey too) and made our way behind a nearby high school (which forbids dogs on the grounds) to throw the tennis ball a few times. It sure did tire them out. Stanley couldn't even stand up to drink towards the end (but that means he had fun, right?). As if that wasn't enough, we took them into Petsmart (their favorite store) where Stanley was more than happy to model a tutu for me (sometimes I wonder about that boy).
To top it all off, we met up with Brian's mom and we all had an awesome dinner at Trudy's, full of laughing and good-natured ribbing. I really love the weekly family dinners we have.

15 Weeks...

Things are getting better day by day...pregnancy brain is fun. I can barely remember to brush my teeth in the morning...much less be counted on to remember where I put important documents at work. I've exclaimed more than once, "Why am I in charge of important papers?!" which is luckily met with laughs and stories from my boss of how stupid/forgetful she got while pregnant.
I think the best is that as my energy levels have come back and my misery has faded, my sense of humor has returned. I missed that the most. I love to laugh and didn't realize how much I had missed it until the last few days when I've done nothing but. I haven't really done much crying...a little, but I've been so happy lately. Baby is getting bigger...at least I am. :o)









From the Weekly update I get:
Baby's head is now resting on his well-formed neck instead of directly on his shoulders like Igor. He's beginning to grow eyebrows and eyelashes this week. (All the better to give you that "Mom, you're crazy" look when he's a teenager.) The hair on the head also begins to grow and, with some creative styling, you'll be able to turn those locks into a Maddox Jolie-Pitt faux-hawk some day.

Although baby's eyes are sealed shut, he's now able to sense light. His eyes and ears finally look like real baby features now. As your baby practices sucking and swallowing actions, he may actually hiccup. You'll know he's had one too many shots of amniotic fluid by the steady thump-thump you feel.

Over the next month, baby will grow faster than ever, so make sure you load up on enough nutritious food and fluids to support his growth. Your baby now measures nearly 4 inches, about the size of a Kit Kat "finger" (regular-size, not the Big one you get at the movies), and weighs almost 2 ounces.

Pregnancy Brain...

...Its a real issue and boy do I have it. I can't remember ANYTHING. I've misplaced my phone (once in a puddle of water in the parking lot) every night for the last week. Each night before bed Brian and Joey have to help me find what I did with it. Then yesterday I had to go to court to file some evictions. I got to the courthouse around 4:00 and while I was waiting to file my paperwork the urge to pee arose, like it does every 15 minutes (apparently, Baby thinks my bladder is a pillow). So anyway, I go into the bathroom, drop my pants and looking down I realize that I've had my underwear on inside-out ALL DAY and never noticed. I must have peed 30 times before that, and nothing. Also, it wasn't like it was just regular underwear, these had ornamental buttons on the front that had been pressing into my stomach all day.







Ok, so aside from losing things and not being able to dress myself...things are going pretty great. I'm definitely not as tired or moody as I have been (and Brian really appreciates that) and I'm not as sick or bloated either (and I like that). I can actually go to bed after 8:00 and still function the next day...I didn't think I'd ever see those times again. NOW it's getting to the fun times...lots of laughs, mostly at myself...but you know what they say, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

14 Weeks...

and expanding nicely! I mean really??? This is ridiculous! I'm not eating any more than usual so where is all this "extra" coming from? Baby doesn't even weigh half a pound. Blegh!
Oh well, at least I have some good news to report. Turns out I'm not the only one getting sick and bloated every night...it's the dairy and a friend of mine who is a couple months farther along said she's going through the same thing. She told me to take Caltrate, which I have yet to try (for now I'm just staying away from milk and such).
Also...Baby has fingerprints! According to one of the pregnancy weekly newsletters, the prints are formed as baby waves its hand through the amniotic fluid causing ridges and valleys to form on the skin. This apparently is why no two people (even identical twins) have the same fingerprints. I thought that was pretty awesome.
Also, baby is about 3 1/2 inches long now. When I started getting the updates, baby was only as big as the period at the end of a sentence...My how [he's] grown!...unfortunately so have I :o)