why I love dogs

This is Sherman, letting us know how he really feels about his bath he just got!

Weekly Update: 39 Weeks

WEEK: 39

MONTH: 9

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Precious baby in my belly your mommy and daddy are waiting to greet you into this world! So come on out!!! You continues to build a layer of fat to help control your body temperature after birth, but it's likely you already measure about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds. Also the outer layers of your baby soft skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath. I can't wait to meet you baby!

SYMPTOMS: All baby movements hurt!! And I now wake up for about 2-3 hours at night EVERY night! I am pretty much uncomfortable about 90% of day and having a hard time keeping up with everyone!

CURRENT MOOD: Excited but impatient not as nervous as I thought I would be.

CURRENT CRAVING: Rainbow Sherbet! Don't laugh I have 1-2 bowls everyday!

DOCTOR UPDATE: No change! Still no Braxton hicks or contractions. Doctor said it could happen whenever, but now he mentioned they won't let the pregnancy go on for longer than 41 weeks...sheesh


BELLY PHOTO:

Weekly Update: 38 Weeks!

Only 2 more posts left of my weekly updates! Wooooo!

WEEK: 38

MONTH: 9

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS:

Baby girl you have really plumped up. You weigh about 6.8 pounds and over 19 1/2 inches long. You now have a firm grasp, which I will soon be able to test when you hold your hand for the first time! Your precious organs have matured and are now ready for life outside the womb!!! Wippie!!!

Wondering what color your eyes will be? Momma may not be able to tell right away. But if your are born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If your born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time your 9 months old. That's because a baby irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after your born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

SYMPTOMS: Aside from being ridiculously uncomfortable. I have a head cold. Go figure! So on top of not breathing well from the baby crushing my lungs, I literally can't breath because of the cold! UGH!

CURRENT MOOD: Anxious! I lack patience and this having to wait is worse than waiting for Christmas morning and my wedding day (at least I can say which day of the week those event falls on! )

CURRENT CRAVING: Anything to drink!!!! So thirsty! And I want rainbow sherbet so bad but of course I can't find it anywhere! It is driving me nuts!

DOCTOR UPDATE: No change! Still no braxton hicks or contractions. Doctor said it could happen whenever.


BELLY PHOTO:

* As you can see there is like literally no more room for her! Come out baby!

Weekly Update: 37 Weeks

Ladies and Gentleman we now have a full term baby!!!
Now its just a matter of waiting!!!

WEEK: 37

MONTH: 9

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Precious baby girl you are now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If mommy was to go into labor now, your little lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside my womb.

Baby girl you now weigh about 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But I won't be surprised if your hair isn't the same color as mine, you are a melting pot of ethnicities little one. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz. Either way my precious child I cannot wait to meet you. It is killing me that I have to wait any longer!!! By the way in case you didn't already know. Mommy loves you!!!

SYMPTOMS: I am getting sick, or should I say fighting getting sick. I have an off and off stuffy noise and nasal congestion and a sore throat. Nothing to say I am "sick" but feels like I am on the edge of it!

CURRENT MOOD: Excited!!!

CURRENT CRAVING: Nothing still... eating is almost a chore at this point.

DOCTOR UPDATE: I am just about 1 centimeter dilated! Woot! She is head down. Her heart beat is in the strong 140's and she is moving more than ever! My blood pressure is an amazing 120/70. Which makes me proud because a lot of non pregnant people don't have blood pressure that good! I have gained a even 35 lbs! Which was my target weight gain. I am sure I will go over a few pounds but I am happy with this weight. Whoever said that babies movements slow down near the end of the pregnancy clearly didn't have you inside them!!! You are one active baby! I have a feeling your going to be an active child!!!!

BELLY PHOTO:

Attention!!! Look how cool, you can clearly see the outline of my uterus (fondus) in these photos! So crazy!

Weekly Update: 36 Weeks!

WEEK: 36

MONTH: 9!!!! And the count down begins!

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Baby you are still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. You now weigh almost 6 pounds!!! Yay and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. You are shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered your little body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protecting your skin during your nine-month amniotic bath in my belly! Baby girl you will swallow both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of you first bowel movement. Don't worry we will make daddy clean it up! At the end of this week, lil baby you will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks) Most likely you are in a head-down position. But if your are not the doctor may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying he'll try to coax your body into a head-down position by manipulating you from the outside of my belly.

SYMPTOMS: I feel terrible. I am tired, I feel like I have the flu without being sick. All I want to do is lay in bed all day. So for the most part I do.

CURRENT MOOD: Anxious and excited!!!!

CURRENT CRAVING: none this week... nothing sounds good.

CURRENT WORRY: How much longer do I have?! Is it bad that a part of me wants her here at 37 weeks and another part of me doesn't want her to come till Jan 5th so that I know she has completely cooked and ready? I know that 100% my comfort and wants are second to what is best for her so despite that we all want her here early and want to see her precious face now, I will keep praying for a Jan 5th baby and that she stays nice and snug in my belly till then! But ultimately she will come when she is ready!!! So we wait :)

Belly Photo:

My first...

This is my first, first snow season ever! As in I have never been around when the snow falls for the first time in a winter season! So its official ya'll (gag) I am living in a winter wonderland. The only thing that would make this perfect would be to have Mr. G by my side. But I guess I can't have everything I want...or can I?

So, I am at my parents house for the weekend (a condition of Mr. G being away) and now I am not even sure I will be headed back to the stixs anytime soon if this white stuff doesn't stop falling and clear up from the road! You see I have NO experience driving in the snow or in any icy weather and the fact that I am going to be 9 months pregnant on Wednesday it does not seem like this is the appropriate time to start learning. So! I am here for a bit! I may have my dad take me to Target (darn) to buy somethings to hold me over considering I only packed for 2 nights lol. But we will take it a day at a time!

Here is a video and some photos of this winder wonderland!


The house...



(Call me crazy, but I had to have a snow belly! Payton's first!)



The dogs first snow... as you can see neither one is phased by the snow and Sherman just tries to eat it the whole time.

Weird things in my belly

This is just weird to me...you can clearly see that the baby has the hiccups (big jerking movements) but the little pulses in between I don't get it! It is like a little too fast for my heart beat, not kicks, or the hiccups, but like a pulse...anyways enjoy the weirdness.

Weekly Update: 35

WEEK: 35!!!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Lilttle baby you don't have much room to maneuver now that you over 18 inches long and tip the scales at 5 1/4 pounds. Because it's so snug in mommy's womb, you are not likely to be doing somersaults anymore (but you do from time to time still), but the number of times you kicks have remained about the same. Your little itty bitty kidneys are now fully developed, and your liver can process some waste products. Most of your basic physical development is now complete — now little girl you will spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

SYMPTOMS: I actually felt pretty good this week. I have started to let my self sleep until I wake on my own and that seems to work wonders on my mood :)

CURRENT MOOD: Excited!!!!

CURRENT CRAVING: APPLE CIDER! YUMMY!!! I can't get enough of it still!

CURRENT WORRY: How much bigger will I get! My belly grew an 1 inch and half in 1 month!!! I usually only grow about an inch! And my belly button is smoothing out! I definitely did not think it would! And baby girl is FINALLY head down! Yay!




BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Pumpkin Cake

So as part of my thanksgiving contribution I made a pumpkin cake!

It is nothing fancy or difficult to make. But I figure I have not done a food post about something I have made in a while (and lets me honest cooking has not been my thing lately)

Anyways here we go:

The ingredients!

Pumpkin Cake Recipe

*This makes either two 9 inch square pans OR a 13 x 9 (+) a 5 x 9 pans. The one at the shower was a 13 x 9 and I got to keep the 5 x 9 cake at home :) Putting the batter in one 13 x 9 would be too much.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 TBL baking soda

1 TBL baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Sift all dry ingredients together in one bowl

In a separate bowl combine:

6 eggs

1 1/2 cup vegi oil

3 cups pumpkin puree (you can use the whole can. It's the bigger size can)

Add wet ingrediens to dry in a mixer

Spread into greased pans

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45min

Frosting:

1 - 8oz bar of cream cheese

1 cube margarine

1 lb powedered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in mixer

*Note: Make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting. I usually bake the cakes the night before and make the frosting the next morning.

The final product!

I am thankful for...

Thanksgiving is tomorrow which means a day filled with meaningful time with friends, family and loved ones oh and food coma!!

I am so blessed to have so many things to be thankful for!!! This holiday is great reminder that when things seem bad they could always always be worse!

Here is my list of things I am thankful for:

10. "I'm grateful for the earth... I'm grateful for the stars and the sky..." no no I kid, I am grateful my life and health!

9. My car it seems silly, but honestly I am so thankful that I am able to have one and not walk everywhere. If anyone comes to visit me out here you will understand 100% what I mean.

8. My doggies. They are my constant companions and source of continued entertainment while I live in no mans land!

7. Technology. I know lame, but the internet, phones, movies etc. are amazing without it I couldn't post these blogs and keep friends and family who live far away updated on whats going on over here! Plus internet shopping is a life saver!

6. For football. Again a tad cheesy but honestly Mr. G would be miserable without it! He lives for coaching football and he just LOVES finding that special kid who was over looked to bring onto the field. Plus he pays the bills doing what he loves! He makes me proud.

5. Love. I love love.

4. My sister. She is my best friend. And she is awesome I could go on and on but I will let be known she rocks! She is going to be the best auntie ever!

3. My family. Both sides. They. Are. Awesome. Even at times when I seem annoyed or ungrateful, I am so thankful for them.

2. This precious miracle I am carrying. I am so in love with her and I haven't even met her yet.

1. Most importantly my husband... I am beyond thankful for him so I decided to write a little ditty about it...this is, therefore,

Ode To My Husband

Thank you for being you

For getting up early to go to work to support us

For wanting a partner, not a pseudo mother figure as a wife

For spending hours listening to me ramble about nothing important when you get home

For having such a vivid way of telling stories and keeping me updated on the "drama"

For loving me, even when I'm being selfish and tired

For thinking things through first and being a voice of reason when I get irrational and just being the rock in my life.

For doing all the man jobs.... like killing the bugs, chasing after the dogs, lifting heavy things etc.

We will have been together for 5 years and married 11 months next week, I am so blessed to have you

I am grateful for you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Weekly Update: 34 Weeks

WEEK: 34!!! 6 more to go!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Precious baby girl you weigh about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and you are almost 18 inches long. You little itty bitty fat layers — which will help you regulate your body temperature once you are born — are filling you out yay, making you rounder. You beautiful skin is also smoother than ever. Your central nervous system is maturing and your lungs are continuing to mature as well. Mommy's not too nervous about preterm labor, but rest assure little one that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. You might need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, you will do as well as full-term babies, but again mommy's not nervous about that at all! You come when your ready little one :)

SYMPTOMS: Just general uncomfortableness... rolling over in bed sucks, getting out of bed sucks, sitting to standing up sucks, sitting down sucks lol you getting my flow here?

CURRENT MOOD: Excited but stressed

CURRENT CRAVING: APPLE CIDER! YUMMY!!! I can't get enough of it right now!

CURRENT WORRY: Will this little one get head down before the big day! As of last night she was head up!

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

This little camera I have does not do the trees and their amazing color justice! But lets just say whatever color you see....lets say multiply it by 10 in its vibrancy and beautiful-ness (yes I really did use that word! What you gonna do about it?!)

*Sigh* I really wish you can see how the real color of these leaves...oh well use your imagination.

I am a California girl at heart and don't get me wrong when I say I MISS "home". But I feel like I have honestly missed and been deprived from this thing called "seasons". Sure California, gets warm, cool, a tad cold, and hot. But there is nothing like completely clear cut season changes like they do here! WOW! It is breath taking and I will for sure be sad when the winter cold hits and all the trees become bare and are no longer, orange, red, yellow, and whatever luscious colors are on these trees at the moment. But for some visual stimuli this is is just what I see from my condo...some of the colors along the high way are more intense than these colors!

Weekly Update: 33 Weeks!

WEEK: 33!!! 7 more to go!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: This week baby you weight a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark whoo hoo! Your rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and your skeleton is hardening. The bones in your precious skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for you to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that a lot of babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) It is ok baby, I think you will be the cutest conehead ever!These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

SYMPTOMS: Besides the usual pubic bone pain and lower back pain. I now have KILLER heart burn! It is different than pre-pregnancy heart burn though. Also I now have cankles (they are so cute... not!) Also, have some crazy crazy dreams that don't makes sense!

CURRENT MOOD: EXCITED!

CURRENT CRAVING: Bean and Cheese burritos and Hot Chocolate!

CURRENT WORRY: As of now I am working on the final touches and making sure I have EVERYTHING I need before Mr. G leaves town.


BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Weekly Update: 32 Weeks

I know I know I am late on this, please forgive me :)

WEEK: 32!!! 8 weeks to go!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: By now, baby girl you weight around 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and you are about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in mommy's belly! Mommy is gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to you baby girl. In fact, you will gain a third to half of your birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. You now have toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz) this makes mommy giddy! I can't wait! Your skin is becoming soft and smooth as you plump up in preparation for birth.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain and lower back pain so now exercising is out, sad.

CURRENT MOOD: The anticipation is killing me! So excited!

CURRENT CRAVING: Bean and Cheese burritos

CURRENT WORRY: Hoping Mr. G isn't out of town when Baby G is born!

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Randomness of life...

So, I couldn't think of just one thing to write about today so I decide to write about a bunch of random stuff... starting with..

Here is the football game at Liberty University... the school was sooo nice and beautiful and this school has fans who are crazy! It was 35 degrees and these kids had their shirts off and body paint! Anyways, here is the start of the game where LU returned the ball for a touch down. It hurt inside to start the game like this...anyways lucky me got on video... enjoy the heart break! (btw we lost)



A controlled fire I saw which was super cool! Check out the fireman laying on the ground watching the house burn! Crazy!




Here is me and my BFF at my baby shower...we are a month apart! How fun is that? Too bad I live across country :(


Baby P is running out of room in my belly!!! I am really counting down for those of you who don't know that!!!

We love dogs!

Honestly, this was us and our good friends and their dogs on our tennis court!

Don't mind my obnoxious laugh...




This is a video of our full house for the weekend! It was fun and the dogs were all very well behaved...well ...one small exception for Sherman's small accident!

WEEK: 31!!! 9 weeks to go!

MONTH: 7

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: This week, baby girl you measure over 16 inches long!!! And now you weight about 3.3 pounds and you are heading into a growth spurt... oh boy! You can turn your head from side to side, and your little arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath your precious skin. Little girl you are moving a lot, too, fortunately i have been sleeping through your kicks so you are not keeping me up as much as the pain I feel.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain and lower back pain so now exercising is out, sad.

CURRENT MOOD: Tired...just like the first trimester all over again, motivation is gone!

CURRENT CRAVING: Hot Chocolate!

CURRENT WORRY: No worries this week, hopefully we will make our next baby class we only have a few left!


BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Weekly Update: 30 Weeks

WEEK: 30.. and the count down begins! 10 weeks to go!

MONTH: 7

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Baby girl your a whopping 15.7 inches long now your getting so big, and you weigh almost 3 pounds!!! Growing big and strong like a good girl! A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds your precious body, but that volume will decrease as you gets bigger and takes up more room in mommy's uterus. Your eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after you are born, you will keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When you do open your little eyes baby girl you will respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means you can only make out objects a few inches from your face, which is ok lil one mommy will be up in your face a lot giving you lots and lots of kisses.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain... its getting worse and WORSE and even WORSE especially after the car accident :(

CURRENT MOOD: Stressed, I am not a stressful person in general, but so many different things going on in life right now has me in shambles... just need to relax and let Mr. G take care of things so our precious baby doesn't come out a stressed baby!

CURRENT CRAVING: Hot Chocolate and grilled cheese!

CURRENT WORRY: Birth. Need I say more? About the birth you ask? Just in general it makes me nervous, I just don't want it to hurt!

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

I am back from cali!

OK, so as you all know I went to California for a baby shower and I am definitely going to do a post on that soon. But for those of you who don't know I was in a car accident on Friday!

Eeek I know!

EVERYTHING IS OK! We are so blessed that nothing worse happened.

Recap: A little old lady ran a red light and I mean a RED LIGHT! And we hit her. The car next to us almost hit her first, we didn't see her car because the truck next to us blocked the view. The car is most likely totaled. We got super lucky that the air bags didn't deploy like they were supposed to. We were both really shaken up and was taken to the hospital to make sure that the baby wasn't stressed or I was going to go into early labor. All in all as accidents are concerned we got the best case possible (if there is one)

I am extremely sore from the impact and it has aggravated a few of my pregnancy pains, but I gladly take on these pains as long as my lil girl is safe and sound in my belly for another 10 weeks (give or take).

Here is some visual stimuli for those who like it:



( The pink thing is to see if I am having contractions, the blue is to hear the babies heart beat. I loved hearing her heart beat for 4 hrs! It was the only fun part about the hospital!)

Weekly Update: 29 Weeks!

WEEK: 29

MONTH: 7

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Baby girl you now weigh about 2 1/2 pounds and area a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Your tiny muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and your head is growing bigger to make room for soon to be so smart developing brain. To meet your increasing nutritional demands, Mommy will need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because your little bones are soaking up lots of calcium, mommy needs to make sure she drinks lots of milk (or cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited into your body baby, your skeleton is hardening more and more each day.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain... its getting worse and WORSE!

CURRENT MOOD: Irritable... Dunno what to say...it happens. I gained 8 lbs during my trip to California...ooops. That is what I get for eating whatever I want and sitting on my butt all day! Back to healthy eating and my exercising! I am proud to say that my blood pressure has the nurses impressed :) They say so every visit.

CURRENT CRAVING: Hot Chocolate!

CURRENT WORRY: Getting more uncomfortable than I already am. I know it will happen but I can't help but worry about it. As long as the baby is good and healthy I can work through it!

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Weekly Update: 28 Weeks

WEEK: 28

MONTH: 7

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: By this week, baby girl you weigh about two and a quarter pounds and measure up to 14.8 inches from the top of your head to your little heels. You can blink your precious eyes, which now sport lashes. With your eyesight developing, you may be able to see the light that filters in through my womb. Little one your also developing billions of neurons in your brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain... its getting worse.

CURRENT MOOD: Irritable... Dunno what to say...it happens.

CURRENT CRAVING: Hot Chocolate!

CURRENT WORRY: Just how I will adjust to learning how to handle my new baby, her crying, my lack of sleep, losing baby weight, and handling the opinions and suggestions of everyone, and how to respectfully stand my ground when it comes to my baby without hurting others feelings.... not too much right?

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Sorry about the butt shot! It is what it is :)