Random 10 Friday

Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. The Night That the Lights Went Out- The Ataris
2. Conversations- Finger 11
3. Dani California- Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. Letterbomb- Green Day
5. Castles Burning- Neil Young
6. Peaceful Easy Feeling- The Eagles
7. We Still Kill the Old Way- Lostprophets
8. January Friend- Goo Goo Dolls
9. Charlie- Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Hollow- Submersed

**Bonus** Paper Thin Hymn- Anberlin

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My sister is out of the hospital. The doctors still don't really know what was wrong, but at least she's feeling much better.

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Yesterday was another monthly doctor visit. She listened to the baby's heart and measured my stomach. So far I'm right on track. The next visit will be the fun fun glucose test. It will also be our last monthly visit before we start going every two weeks. Landon dislikes these doctor appointments because we never do anything, wait forever, and only see the doctor for about 5 minutes. Granted if we were having problems these visit would be more exciting, but I'm glad they're boring. The other night I had a dream that I lost the baby in a miscarriage, when I woke myself up the baby was kicking like crazy. It was very reassuring, he was telling me "Don't worry mom, I'm still here. Let me show you by kicking you in the ribs." The past couple weeks have been a pain for my ribs. No matter how I sit, or if I lay down, there's this pressure right on my ribs.

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Random picture: Cute outfit we found at Babies R Us.

Puppies

For those of you who may not know, we are the proud owners of two Huskies. We first bought our male 1/2 Siberian Husky, 1/2 Alaskan Malamute about a year and a half ago. We then bought a female pure bred Siberian Husky. Drakul "Drak" is a black and white male with blue eyes, and Sukari "Kari" is a tan and white female with blue eyes. Last November they had their first litter of puppies. We sold all of the puppies, except one, within a week of putting the add in the paper. The puppy we kept was, and is still supposed to go to my brother. She is a gray and white female with blue eyes named Xue (Chinese for snow).
Now we have another litter of puppies that were born last night. There are 3 black and white and 4 tan and white puppies. This time we'll be selling all of them. Huskies are such great dogs. The only bad thing about them is their shedding, or "blowing" of their undercoat twice a year. The following are two videos of the first litter and then pictures of the recent litter.

Week 26

Week 25 baby bump.


Month 6- Eggplant

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

How far along? 26 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 9 pounds.
Maternity clothes? I was planning on buying some this weekend, but I promise myself I'll do it this week.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: When I lay on my right side for a long time, my hip and then my entire leg hurt.
Best moment this week: Registering for baby shower gifts at Babies R Us and Target.
Movement: All the time.
Food cravings: None.
Gender: BOY!!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Being able to find a comfortable position to sit and relax.
What I am looking forward to: Painting and decorating the nursery. We bought paint today.
Weekly Wisdom: Registering is super fun!
Milestones: We registered for baby stuff and getting closer to 3rd trimester. AND... less than 100 days until the due date!!!!

Here's Landon putting our swing together. Super cute!:

Go with your gut and randomness.

So, here is the story of my two visits to potential daycares.
1. The first place is two blocks from our house and licensed, so I thought they would be a great place. When I walked in, the house was alright. Not messy or unsafe, but not nice either. It was an older house and didn't look very updated on anything. The lady was super nice though. I really liked her and she had adequate credentials. The main problem was that she wanted money for the entire time to hold the spot. That would be $400 a month for 6 months of the kid not even being there. That is not good. So, she was put off as a last resort kind of spot.

2. The second place was a little further away, but not bad. It's also right across from a small park. I walk in and the house is perfect. It looks a lot like our front rooms with antiques and very clean. Needless to say, the kids are housed in the basement not there. Anyway, this lady is older (almost 70), but super nice. I stayed there for almost an hour just talking to her and watching her interact with the kids. She had 3 two year olds who were required to ask nicely for snacks, etc. She also had two older kids that day who were required to occasionally help out with the little ones. I was amazed when the two year olds were told they had to put up their nap mats before they sat in their chairs for snack, and they actually did it. She's also constantly using GermX and making the kids use it too (I will so be doing this- grad school made me a germ a phobe). Right away I'm loving this lady. Then she says that she doesn't want any money to hold the spot!!! And she only charges $100 a month (vs. a week)!! Amazing! So, I let her know I was interested (even though the original plan was to talk to Landon first-I'm sure he won't mind) and we have the spot. I'll call her when the baby is born and then in January to set up an actual start date.

I am so amazed that we were lucky enough to find this daycare person. I know, that I'll still have to see how it goes when our kid is actually being cared for, but I'm excited. Also, she used to watch the kids of a co-worker, so that's a plus too. Anyway, I'm glad that after this little stressful time of trying to find someone, I'm pretty sure we hit gold. Yay!

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Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da- The Police
2. Round Here- Counting Crows
3. I Think I'm Paranoid- Garbage
4. Unemployable- Pearl Jam
5. The Song Remains the Same- Led Zeppelin
6. Come Sail Away- Styx
7. Like I Love You- Justin Timberlake
8. Mr. Richard- Timbaland and Magoo
9. Find Another Girl- The Hives
10. I Disappear- Metallica

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Please pray for my sister. She's been in the hospital since yesterday. She's been feeling sick for a couple weeks now and went in with a fever and cough. At first they thought it was a sinus infection, but now the doctors aren't sure what it is. They've been testing for everything from Tuberculosis to lung cancer. She's been feeling better, but pray that they find something minor and she gets better soon. Love you sister!

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Ooops, had to edit this post since I forgot to include the random picture from my camera (can't have a post with no picture, that would be crazy...). Picture from the wedding I attended last weekend.

Will anyone watch my unborn baby?

Ugh, childcare searching sucks. I did find out that the place that was rude to me isn't taking any kids under a year old anymore. Something must have happened and that's why they were rude. Bad thing is that since they aren't taking anyone, every other place is full. I stopped by the Chamber of commerce and they didn't have a list of providers because they aren't chamber members. However, she did give me a website and phone number to call for lists. It's called ChildStart (http://www.childstart.org), and they had some places that I could call. Also, since my mother in law works for SRS, she asked coworkers if they had suggestions. So, I then at least had a short list of people to call. After calling around today I found two home based day cares that have openings. I'll stop by and check them out tomorrow. I don't really know what I'm looking for but I want to see that it's clean (well, as clean as a day care can be), that babies are sleeping in cribs on their back, that it's safe, and that the care giver is nice. I'm not even worried about cost anymore, it's been so hard to even find someone. Even if I find a place I like I know I'll always worry about what's going on there and if my baby is safe.

Yesterday I went for our previously scheduled gender check sonogram. We didn't cancel this appointment just because it was free and we would then get a second opinion and another sonogram. Anyway, it's still definitely a boy. My next actual doctor appointment is next Thursday. I can't believe summer is almost over. I don't want to go back to work. It'll be weird too, because the last trimester will be spent at work while I've been relaxing and enjoying the easy 2nd trimester on vacation. It's going to be stressful. I'll have to do a lot of scheduling of IEPs so that they won't be during my maternity leave. But, what if the baby comes way early- then I'll be even more stressed. There's just too many unknowns that you have to work, or try to work around.

Daycare

This weekend I took a quick trip to Topeka for a classmate's wedding. It was great having a mini SLP reunion. While there I also stopped by Babies R Us to get something blue for our little boy. I found an adorable onesie that Landon wants to bring the baby home from the hospital in. I also bought another onesie and a cute shirt for the baby's 6 month pictures (if he fits 6 mo. clothes at 6 mo.). I have scheduled the baby pictures with L. Hardin photography. Now I'm trying to find a day care. I called the only two childcare centers in town on the 9th, but no one called me back to say they had openings or not. So I called today. The place that's supposed to be better were rude and said they don't have an opening. The other place is supposed to call back tomorrow. We'll see. I realized that an infant takes the place of 3 other children, but I'm calling 6 months in advance, you don't have to be rude about not having a spot open. If the other daycare doesn't have a spot I don't know what I'll do. How do you find home based care? They're not listed in the phone book, and our doctor wasn't any help. Maybe I'll try the Chamber of Commerce or the health center. It takes me back to when I was trying to find a doctor...if a person with a good job, insurance, homeowner, married, and in their 20s can't find these services then how does anyone??? Irritating.

Week 25

Week 24 Baby Bump



Pregnancy Week 25-28:
13 inch boot? You know what they say… Your baby is about this long during these weeks.

How far along? 25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 9 pounds.
Maternity clothes? Ok, I know this is really bad, but I still haven't bought any maternity clothes. I only have one pair of jeans that fit.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Depends on the night.
Best moment this week: Finding out we're having a BOY!
Movement: All the time.
Food cravings: None.
Gender: BOY!!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Wearing normal clothes
What I am looking forward to: Buying boy things now that we know what we're having.
Weekly Wisdom: I don't know...
Milestones: Finding out we're having a boy!

IT'S A......BOY!!!

It's a BOY!! I'm so excited! I actually kind of thought we'd be having a girl. I wanted a boy, but I thought it was going to be a girl. It's was amusing at the 3D/4D ultrasound place. The doctor measures the heartbeat, which was about 158 and starts to say that girls usually have high heart rates, and then she's like, oh, it's a boy. I'm glad we did this extra ultrasound. They gave us a DVD of the session, a CD with 63 pictures on it, a printout of all the pictures, a baby magazine, newborn formula and nipples. The baby didn't really cooperate too well. He kept his hands infront of his face for the most part, but we still got some great pictures. So excited, welcome baby Remington Talon.

Random 10 Friday

Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. That's My Number- Sublime
2. Carnivale- (hed) PE
3. Bamboo & Cross (Interlude)- Outkast
4. I Like Big Butts- Sir Mix A Lot
5. Long Train Runnin'- The Doobie Brothers
6. Sweet Children- Green Day
7. Feed the Tree- Belly
8. Left Behind- Slipknot
9. Afternoons and Coffeespoons- Crash Test Dummies
10. To Hell We Ride- Lost Prophets

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Today is the day we find out what we're having and I'll post as soon as I can with the results. Our appointment isn't until 3:00, so it'll be awhile.

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Random Photo: Landon shooting targets on the Flooded Mine ride at Silver Dollar City

Exciting

Tomorrow is the day we find out if we're having a boy or girl! I'm so excited! We'll get to see the baby with 3D/4D ultrasound and they give you a DVD recording of the whole thing. I already told Landon that as soon as we find out what we're having, I want to go to Babies R Us or something and buy something for a boy or girl. I don't know what yet, just something because we can. I'll make sure to post here tomorrow what the results are, until then....

Family Vacation

My family took at vacation trip to Branson, MO this weekend. What a crazy trip.

Friday: Landon worked until noon when we planned to go to Wichita to help my brother and his fiance look at rings. They were late (they recently returned from a trip to China, where she is from) and we didn't end up getting to Wichita until 3 or so. We looked at rings and I think they have a better idea of what they want now. They didn't buy anything. The rest of my family showed up and we slowly started pulling them away from ring shopping so we could head to Branson. Due to multiple stops and not leaving early, we arrived at the hotel at 2 am. Grr, this was just the start to the waiting around for my brother and his fiance and not getting to do anything as planned. I am an obsessive planner and my brother doesn't know anything in advance. Irritating!

Saturday: We wanted to get up and get to Silver Dollar City by the time they opened at 9am, but my parents didn't set their alarm correctly and we had to wait forever (Landon got up at 6) to finally get to Silver Dollar City around 11. I knew Silver Dollar City was going to be crazy because I couldn't ride any fun rides and Landon doesn't like rides. We walked around and waited and waited some more for my siblings to ride rides, etc. Finally, Landon and I broke from the group and walked around by ourselves. This was so much better- we could do what we wanted when we wanted. However, it didn't last long before we had to meet the group again. The weather didn't help things either...being Missouri it was hot and extremely humid. I was miserable and irritated. Then, we were done with Silver Dollar City and went to a shopping center (pretty much a mall, but outside) called the Landing and ate at a Fish House. That was fun, but we didn't get to eat until 10pm, due to....that's right, more waiting!

Sunday: We went to church and then back to the shopping center since all the stores were closed the night before. We left there around 1, which again was not the plan because Landon, me, and my brother wanted to leave by then to head back home. Everyone else was staying for the week, but Landon and my brother had to work Monday, and I was going back with Landon, of course. After the shopping center we took a quick trip to Ozark, MO to eat at Lambert's resturant where they throw rolls at you. Fun place, but Landon didn't get to enjoy it because we were rushing to leave- Lambert's always has a line and we had to wait 1 hour and 30 minutes to get a table. Landon also really wanted to go to Bass Pro shop in Springfield, but we just didn't have time. We left around 4 and drove home. We dropped off my brother and got home around 10:30pm.

It was quite the family vacation. There was 9 of us (mom and dad, Landon and I, my 3 brothers, my middle brother's fiance, and my sister) Even with all the waiting and getting irritated constantly, I still overall had a good time spending it with my family no matter how much I might complain about it. It was nice to have a vacation with them before having kids running around and everything. I think it would be really fun to have a vacation sometime with just Landon, me, and my parents. My family has always gone on big vacations, where Landon's family never went any where. It was a great part of my childhood and I want my kids to enjoy the same. Now, enjoy some pictures:


Landon waiting.

Our train being "robbed" at Silver Dollar City

The Marvel Cave

My sister and dad playing checkers.

My brother and his fiance in "jail."

Landon and two of my brothers.

Mom, Dad, and my older brother eating.

Week 24

Week 23 baby bump

Week 24- last week of Month 5

Your baby is filling out this week. Part of your weight gain goes straight to helping him gain weight, too. Since he's still on the scrawny side, his skin wrinkles on his body, but he looks like a miniature version of what you'll see on delivery day. His face has formed, ears are in place, and eyes are complete (although his lids are still closed). He has eyelashes, fingernails, and may be growing hair, too. Rapid eye movements (REM) are beginning, too.

This week your baby weighs around one and one-half pounds and measures almost eight and one-half inches (crown to rump).

How far along? 24 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 7 pounds.
Maternity clothes? Really need to buy some. I'll try to do that this weekend.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Going well.
Best moment this week: Taking a family trip to Branson, MO
Movement: Lots of kicking.
Food cravings: None.
Gender: We'll find out this Friday!!!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Being able to ride roller coasters.
What I am looking forward to: The 3D/4D ultrasound this Friday and finding out the gender that day.
Weekly Wisdom: Cherish your family and spend lots of time with them even if they drive you crazy.
Milestones: Getting closer to the third trimester.

Random 10 Friday

This weekend I'll be on a short vacation to Branson, MO. I'll make sure to post some pictures later. Also, today Landon and I are going to help my brother and his fiance pick out their rings. Should be a fun weekend.

Random 10 Friday tunes:

1. We Taking Over- Sizzla Ini Kamoze
2. Borders- 311
3. The Fallen Interlude- Blink-182
4. Set It Off- POD
5. Until The End of Time- Justin Timberlake
6. How's It Going to Be- Third Eye Blind
7. Face Pollution- Soundgarden
8. Smokin' in the Boys Room- Motley Crue
9. Mama We're All Crazee Now- Quiet Riot
10. The Dope Show- Marilyn Manson

Random Photo from computer: Landon giving Yilin, our future sister-in-law, her first ever ride on a motorcycle.

Summer Reading

Since this is my first summer off in a long time, I've been catching up on all the books I've wanted to read for a while. In the first picture, most of those books that I've finished have been worth the read. Two other books not pictured that I read this summer and loved are Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Husseini. I've read a few books recently about Afganistan, Pakistan, and India and I absolutely love them. I didn't know much about those countries' histories, but I'm learning. The second picture contains the baby books I recently purchased. So far, Baby Bargins is great (I haven't read the others yet).
So, when I haven't been blogging or stalking on Facebook I've been reading.

Weekend roundup

Landon and I spent our 4th of July weekend at his mom's house working on her bathroom remodel. It's finally getting done enough that we won't have to spend any more weekends there. I don't mind being there, it's just incredibly boring when I have nothing to do. The Sterling 4th of July was the usual... walking around the lake and seeing too many people you know and hoping they don't come up and talk to you. Ah, life in a small town. I don't like going back there when there are people who know me. I was anti-social in high school, why would I start talking to people 7 years later? The fireworks, which are usually so much better than all the surround towns, seemed very short. I did get some great pictures though. I scheduled our 3D/4D ultrasound today for next Friday the 17th. So, that means we'll get to know the sex a couple days earlier.

Week 23

Week 22 picture

All About Baby

Twenty-three weeks marks an important point for your unborn baby. Your baby-to-be is far enough along in his development that he could have a chance at survival outside the womb.

According to the March of Dimes, of all babies born at 23 weeks, 25 to 35 percent survive. This number goes up considerably when you add just a couple weeks: babies born between 50 to 70 percent of all babies born at 24 to 25 weeks survive. And 90 percent of all babies born at 26 to 27 weeks survive.

Although all of your baby-to-be's internal systems are in place, he needs more time for those intricate systems to mature.
How Big Is Baby? (Week 23 fruit is the same as last week.)

Your little one now about eight inches long (crown to rump) and weighs in at around one pound.



How far along? 23 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 6 pounds.
Maternity clothes? I'll probably have to buy some jeans this week.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: I get cramps in my hips when I lay on my right side sometimes.
Best moment this week: Just feeling more movement all the time.
Movement: Lots of kicking everyday around 10:30am
Food cravings: None.
Gender: Still waiting for July 22nd
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Not having this huge belly.
What I am looking forward to: Knowing if we're having a boy or girl and the 3D/4D ultrasound.
Weekly Wisdom: I can't think of anything right now.
Milestones: Baby's first 4th of July firework show. Surprisingly, there were that many kicks.

Random 10 Friday

Yesterday, Landon and I went to another boring doctor appointment. The doctor found the heartbeat right away this time. Everything is looking fine and I'm measuring right where I should be. I've only gained 6 pounds since I first started going to the doctor, but she seemed to think that was okay. The baby has been kicking a lot lately. I can only imagine how it's going to kick during the fireworks tomorrow. Also at the doctors office, we asked for information about doing a 3D/4D ultrasound. They don't have it at our hospital, but we can go to Wichita and have it done for $140, so I'm going to set up an appointment Monday. Should be fun.

Random 10 Friday Tunes:

1. Loverman- Metallica
2. Flagpole Sitta- Harvey Danger
3. Cold (But I'm Still Here)- Evans Blue
4. Mess- Ben Folds Five
5. Enter Sandman- Metallica
6. The Guns of Brixton- The Clash
7. Make Me Better- Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo
8. February Stars- Foo Fighters
9. Secret Smile- Semisonic
10. Poison Well- Insolence

Random picture from computer/camera: Drak in the snow this winter.