Belly Movements

I've been trying to video Layla moving like crazy in my belly. It's kinda hard to capture, but I got a pretty good video this evening. Watch the first 8 seconds.

29 weeks

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and everything looks good. The heartbeat was 148 bpm, my blood pressure was spot on, and my weight...well...funny story. Up until this appointment, I'd only gained 8 pounds. In one month alone, I gained 6 pounds, so the doctor asks me if I weighed on a different scale this time. I had, so he went and weighed himself to see if they were off...only by 0.2 of a pound. So I gained a little weight this past month. Oh well!

In a week, I go back for my 30 week visit and we'll have another sonogram. Then he said that I'll come back at 32 weeks and then weekly until the baby comes. I can't believe how fast it's gone by and how quickly the next 11 weeks will go. Soon we'll have a little girl...so exciting!

28 weeks

Third trimester! While I don't have anything to compare to, I still feel like my belly is relatively small. However, as Jason has graciously pointed out, my belly is finally sticking out further than my boobs...thanks babe! :) Not much going on this past week except for the senior class trip on Friday. Now that was a long day...got up at 4 am Friday and went to bed at 1 am Saturday. My students had a great time though so it was all worth it. Doctor's appointment on Monday. More updates next week!

27 weeks

So I'm finally looking and feeling pregnant, and it only took 27 weeks. :)

Random thoughts from the week...I feel like my belly button is disappearing. I know that's definitely normal, but it looks very odd and flat...Clipped my toenails this afternoon and had a really hard time keeping my leg up because my belly was in the way (super uncomfortable too!). I know, I know, it only gets worse...A sudden sharp pain in my upper abdomen area woke me up from sleeping last night. Didn't last long, but hurt really bad. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Layla's doing because it was too high up. Maybe muscles stretching? Definitely going to be asking the doctor about that at my next appointment.

26 weeks

Not much to report this week...I'm actually wearing a maternity top in this picture, so I feel like the belly is a bit accentuated. However, it is definitely growing. Layla's been moving and kicking a ton...watching my belly move as I type this. :)

25 weeks

Had a doctor's appointment on Monday for the glucose tolerance test and everything came back great. The only thing is that my hemoglobin is a little low, so they put me on an iron supplement. Started wearing maternity pants on Tuesday since my dress pants would only zip up half way. My jeans still zip but the belly band is starting to get really annoying because it wants to come up in the back. I was wearing it and not maternity pants in these pictures so that may make a difference on how pregnant I look.

Nursery

Here's a peek at what Jason and I have been up to the last couple days. I know we may be jumping the gun on getting the nursery set up, but I was just too excited not to! It's not finished yet, and the colors probably aren't totally accurate because of the flash on the camera, but it's close.

24 weeks

Here I am at 24 weeks! I'm going to try and take a new picture every Saturday, but do forgive me if I don't complete this goal.

I've been feeling Layla kick and move all over the place, but with Jason working 3rd shift the last two weeks, he hasn't been able to feel her yet (she moves A LOT when I'm laying down in bed). This morning, I woke up and just laid there. Sure enough she started moving and Jason finally got to feel her. His eyes got real big and was like, "Was that it?" Then he wondered if we'd be able to actually see her. After a little while longer, we saw my belly move up. Totally awesome feeling!

We've got all the fixin's for Layla's room, and we're going to start putting it all together soon. I'm hoping to paint tomorrow and Monday, so be on the lookout for nursery pictures. :)

23 weeks

I'm growing...and it's definitely a girl if you haven't already heard...Layla Mae. :)

20 weeks

23 weeks

The 2011 Blizzard

We survived the blizzard! We've been couped up for two days now, and tomorrow is another snow day. I'm ready to go back to work! I think we got between 14-16" of snow, but it's hard to really tell because the drifting was so bad. Here are a few pictures I took of Jason digging out. I felt bad that I couldn't help him, but I wouldn't have wanted to risk falling.

Here's what we were faced with when the garage door was opened. It was up to the middle of Jason's thighs...however high that is!

The rest of the driveway had about a foot of snow.

A few of our neighbors digging out.

It's a baby!

My first sonogram at 15 weeks 6 days. I wasn't as far along as they originally thought. The sono showed a due date of June 14, while my original date was June 8. My new average due date is June 11. Hopefully the baby comes on that date because it'll be really easy to remember as Mom pointed out. My birthday is June two two, and the baby's might be June one one. :)

You can clearly see the spine and the head in this picture and the next three.

Top of the head measuring 3.33 cm in diameter.

Heartbeat is at 152 bpm.

You kind of have to use your imagination here, but if you know what you're looking for you can see both feet as the baby's legs are crossed.

This one is of the face. The two eyes are the dark spots on the left, and the mouth is open, another dark spot, on the right.

Another one of the face showing the skull on the left side of the head.

Here's one of the face and stomach. You can also clearly see the arms, especially the right one.

This one is the femur. It's the dark white piece that's being measured. If I'm reading correctly, it's about 1.86 cm long...so tiny!

Loving the bathroom!

Had to change the vanity light. The other one was too heavy and really pulled down. Found a different one that we actually like better. Still have to deal with the mirror. Not sure what we're going to do yet, but it'll need cut.

Can't believe the sink is installed. It wasn't supposed to be in until next Tuesday, but thankfully it came in on Friday and we had it delivered today. Luckily my dad was here to help Jason install it.

Yay...we have a toilet! Found this shower curtain today and fell in love.

George, our tile guy, has done an awesome job on the tiling in the shower. I think this is my favorite part of the whole room. Too bad we have to cover it up with a curtain. Maybe someday we'll put a glass door on it.

More bathroom progress

Well we're not as far along on the bathroom remodel as we'd hope, and we have Lowe's to thank for that. Our countertop came in damaged on August 11, and no one bothered to call us about it. Luckily we found out (2 weeks after the fact) because a new one still hadn't been ordered. We got the ball rolling on that, so our new sink should be in next week...hopefully not damaged. We've got the floor tiled, a new light fixture, and new plumbing for the sinks (thanks Tim!). Next on the list...shower tile and a toilet. Once the sink comes in, we should be about finished. Can't wait to have the bathroom back!

We must be crazy...

Yep, it's red alright. Keep in mind, this is after one coat (Menards lady told us we'd probably have to do 3) and it's wet. It'll dry darker.....I hope. First bold color choice I've made in our house...hope I don't regret it!

Texture is gone!

It took awhile...but the texture is finally gone! And it only took four coats of drywall mud! After I primed the walls, our guy still had to come back to fix several spots, but it was definitely worth the wait (he's a little slow...). The same guy that smoothed the walls also installed the tub, so we're two steps closer and only.....a lot more to go. Tonight I had Jason paint the ceiling since he doesn't even have to reach. Next step...wall paint. I'm pretty excited. It's gonna be a drastic change!

Done

Wish I could say done with the whole remodel...but at least the demo is done. Contractor is coming tomorrow, and I'm really excited. I can't wait to get the terrible texture of the walls. Vanity and countertop were picked up this evening, so we're glad to have that taken care of as well.

Thought this was pretty crazy...can't believe the toilet has lasted this long.

More bathroom demo

Talked to our contractor tonight, and he's coming on Thursday, so Jason and I had to get in gear this evening to get more of the demo done. Before Jason went to work this morning, he put our vanity and countertop on Craig's List. He listed it as free and by 10 AM, he'd received about 5 emails. Someone's coming tomorrow evening to take it off our hands. Glad to get rid of it and not have to worry about the garbage man taking it.

When we got the mirror and vanity out, we discovered that the awful texture wasn't behind either piece. So odd... We still can't figure out what would possess anyone to put that texture on the walls in the first place.

Our goal this evening was to get the tub out, so here's a before...

...and here's what's left after this evening. He got to a standstill because he bent the blade on his sawzall and didn't have a replacement. Hopefully tomorrow evening, he'll be able to get the rest of the tub out along with the toilet. It's coming along!

I've been waiting all summer for this...

We finally found someone that will smooth out the walls and install the tub in our new bathroom. Hopefully, he's able to come by the end of the week to start working. Here's a before...

We managed to get the carpet pulled up along with all the trim. Took a little longer than expected, but that should be expected with our projects. We're going to try and get the tub out tomorrow. Doubt it will get finished, but we'll see. I'll keep you posted...

Cairo...

Our first stop in Cario was to take a ride on a camel. It was pretty cool, but something I would probably never do again. Camels are yucky!

The camel owner made us kiss...it was pretty cute.

Here are the Pyramids of Giza. The one on the left is actually the bigger of the three, but the 2nd one was built about on a hill about 10 yards higher than the other, so it has the illusion of looking bigger.

This is the 2nd tallest pyramid. We liked it the best because it still had some of the outer layer on it at the top.

After going to the pyramids, we visited the Sphinx.

Then we went to Memphis where we saw this enormous statue of Ramses II. They found it buried in the sand and his legs had eroded.

Finally, we went to the Step Pyramid, which is the very first pyramid ever built.

On our second day in Cairo, we visited the Egyptian Museum. We couldn't even take our camera in, so I don't have any pictures to share.