I've been tagged!

My friend Erika tagged me for these random questions--

Shelly posted these on My Space, and she is overdue for having her baby so let's all do the baby dance for her to get Gabe outta there!!

1. Are you taller than your best friend? There are very few people that I am taller than who are over the age of about 8.

2. Do you have a favorite type of pen? yep- they are made by Bic and are clicky-pens, but I can't remember what they are called...

3. Look at your planner for October 28, what are you doing? I don't have a planner except for my desk calendar at work, and because it is a weekend day, it is probably blank. I guess I'm doing nothing!!

4. What color are your toenails usually? some variety of pink- right now they are naked (NO!) because I can't really reach them to re-paint.

5. What was the last thing you highlighted? Some kind of important info on a note I sent home to a parent of a kid in my class. Not that they will read it anyway...

6. What color are the curtains in your bedroom? a very bright turquoise

7. What color are the seats in your car? gray/black

8. Have you ever had a black and white cat? yes, my P-cat (Porsche) RIP and currently Sophie

9. What is the last thing you put a stamp on? I sent a card in the mail

10. Do you know anyone who lives in Wyoming? Nope

11. Why did you withdraw cash from the ATM the last time? I NEVER get cash- I steal it from Randy =)

12. Who is the last baby that you held? a precious preemie that belonged to the mom of a kid in my class last year- she was SO tiny!

13. Can you spell well? yes

14. Do you like Cinnamon toothpaste? Can't say I've ever tried it

15. What kind of car were you driving 2 years ago? a green Nissan Xterra

16. Pick one: Miami Hurricanes or Florida Gators? I guess the Hurricanes

17. Last time you went to Six Flags? last year, to the one in Atlanta

18. Which show currently making new episodes should be cancelled? Survivor

19. Closest thing to you that is yellow? Some fleece material

20. Last person you gave a business card? I don't have business cards

21. Who is the last person you wrote a check to? Rex Hospital for birthing classes

22. Closest framed picture to you? one of Noah when he was little

23. Last time you had someone cook for you? Does restaurant staff count? If so, last night.

24. Have you ever applied for welfare? no

25. How many emails do you get in your inbox daily (excluding spam)? home- 10 or so, at work, 12-15

26. Last time you received flowers? for my anniversary from Randy

27. What is the weather like? coolish, clear

28. Do you play air guitar? Not really

29. Has anyone ever proposed to you? yes, 2 people

30. Do you take anything in your coffee? Splenda and creamer

31. Do you have any Willow Tree figurines? believe it or not, no

32. What is/was your high school's mascot? Hornet

33. Last person you spoke to from high school? Erika via email

34. How often do you use hand sanitizer? rarely

35. Would you like to learn to play the drums? nah, there's other things I'd rather learn first

36. What color are the blinds in your living room? white

37. Is you furniture cloth or leather? cloth- denim, actually

38. Last thing you read in the newspaper? some advice column from the Life section

39. What was the last pageant you attended? never been, never will

40. What is the last place you bought pizza from? I JUST placed an order from Papa John's

41. Have you ever worn a crown?sure, from the Burger King!!

42. What is the last thing you stapled? homework packets at work

43. Did you ever drink clear Pepsi? I LOVED Pepsi Clear!!

44. Are you ticklish? in some places

45. Last time you saw fireworks? 4th of July this year

46. Last time you had a Krispy Kreme doughnut? I don't remember

47. Who is the last person that left you a message & you actually returned? probably Sherry or Katie

48. Has your mailbox ever been full? my email box? at work, yes. My real mailbox, no.

49. Do you have a black dog? As a matter of fact I DO!

50. Can you give one reason why David Caruso is allowed to keep acting? I don't know who that is.

51. Are you an aunt or uncle? not yet

52. Who has the prettiest eyes that you know of? human- Randy, pet- Jonah

53. Last time you saw a semi truck? on Mythbusters today.

54. Do you think people lie on these surveys? probably not the people that I know

55. What is something you know you need to do, but you keep making excuses? decide on
nursery furniture and ORDER it, and get busy painting the bottom walls of the nursery, and make an official decision on our daughter's NAME

That was a fun bit of copying, pasting and reformatting.

The belly groweth

By request, the obligatory belly shots: 26 weeks

I swear the bottom one is NOT photoshopped- there are NO stretch marks yet!! You can see every vein there is, which is quite attractive. My bump is growing nicely. People tell me how cute it is. I've only gained 9 pounds, and my doc wants me to make sure I gain a pound a week from here on out, which puts me at a total gain of about 25 pounds. I've had people at work tell me they couldn't even tell that I'm pregnant, and I'm like, WHAT? I feel like I look pretty big, but maybe it depends on what I wear.

At my last appointment, my hemoglobin was pretty low, so I am supposed to be on a high-iron diet and taking supplements. I'm supposed to eat beef and chicken, and stuff like broccoli, baked potatoes, raisins, and several more things I can't remember. I have a list. I've been trying.

My newest complaint is quite possibly the worst so far- I get these horrible pains in my rib cage and back, on my right side. The doc said it was just organs and baby moving around in there, but by the end of the day, I am pretty painful. I feels like someone has stuck a knife in my back. I can get it to go away by laying down a certain way, but sitting up is the worst. It gets bad right after I eat, too.

I'm happy to report that I am sleeping better, though. She get so active right when I go to bed, and when I wake up in the night. I'm getting good about sleeping through it.

I'm also happy to report that I have several close friends who have recently found out they are pregnant too!! I can't say who yet, but it is so neat to have other people going through this at the same time as me. I've learned a lot, and am glad I can share my knowledge with my buddies now.

I talked to the AP at my school about my maternity leave, and I swear, as long as she comes close to on time, I could not have it any better. I plan to come back after December track out at the first of January and work about 3 weeks. I'll start my leave a week before she's due, and I'll have 6 weeks off, then I'll be on track out for 3 weeks, so I really get 9 weeks for the price of 6! I should have plenty of days to cover me while I'm out, and have some left over.

On a different note, we've finally gotten some rain around here! It's bizarre to see rain after so long without it- my kiddos were glued to the windows, like it was snow!

That's all for now- I'll try to update more often as I enter trimester 3!

Templeton returns from the fair

Oh, lord in heaven I did some damage at the fair this afternoon! I woke up with a tummyache, too, and was afraid the trip would have to be postponed. But I felt better later in the day, and managed to eat myself into oblivion at the fair.
I ate roasted corn, fried pickles, a curry chicken wrap, sweet potato ribbon fries (they were cold), and a bite of a fried oreo. I also had an orangeade. I would have liked to have had a fried Reese cup and/or friend PB&J, but I just couldn't do it! We did bring home some candy apples, and the one I had was good, but the candy part was really crunchy and hurt my teeth.
I am going to pay big time to the heartburn gods tonight. Oh well. They should start offering friend Mylanta or fried Tums at the fair. Yummmmm. Or they could top your funnel cake with Pepto. Ha!

Hard to believe

It is hard to believe that in 2 weeks I will be finished with 6 months of pregnancy! People have really started asking me how far along I am, and when I tell them, they all comment on how small I am. I guess that's good for now, because I'm sure I'll get tired of all the "whoa, you're HUGE" comments that I'm sure to get in a few months!
We went to Greensboro this weekend for a reunion picnic, which was cool. Almost everyone there had kids or one on the way. I guess I'm at that age. Then we carried on to Winston-Salem for a wedding, and it was very nice. I did find out that I can't take riding in the car that long. We were planning to go to Cullowhee to see Matt Williams at the end of the month, but we're not gonna go, because I know I will not be able to take the long car ride. I just can't get comfortable. We're also supposed to go to Busch Gardens for Howl-o-Scream weekend after next, and I'm not looking forward to that car ride. I might do better if I drive some of the way. It is going to be hard to be there and not be able to ride the good rides! I do plan on planting myself of the swings, however, as that's one of the few things I can ride. And I can do some of the Halloween attractions, at least.
This weekend is the State Fair. Woohoo! I plan to make Templeton look like an anorexic after I get done eating my way from one end to the other. It is actually supposed to be decent weather, which will be nice for a change. It was over 90 degrees today!!!
The youngun has been moving around all over the place recently. I can watch my belly and see her movements, which is very cool. I think I'm having Braxton-Hicks contractions every now and then, too. I go next week for my ultra-fun glucose screening- blech. I just hope I pass it!

Back to the grindstone

I have had to work the past 4 days. What was I thinking??? I agreed to fill in for a couple people, which is good because they will work for me later on, but it was not fun being at work when I really didn't have to be. Ungh. And I had to go on a field trip that required hiking in the woods- one of the chaperones was also pregnant (though a lot further along than me) so we suffered through it together. I have been SOOO tired. I've been able to sleep a bit better, though, which helps.
We started painting the nursery last weekend- we got the no VOC paint so I could help. The nursery has a chair rail, and above the rail we're painting a buttery yellow. Below we will put up wainscoting eventually- we'll have to get Randy's dad to help us with that.
We also went to try to decide on some furniture. I've found a cabinet/dresser that we can use for a changing table online, and a crib- but we can't find a floor model of the crib anywhere! I need to see it in person before we decide- especially because of my height. I want to keep the nursery sort of minimalist, even though the room is huge.
Not much else is going on. I go back to work for real on Monday. Still no name picked out yet. I feel her move all the time when I'm relatively still, and she loves to do headstands on my bladder- I need a name so I know what to call her when I fuss at her to stop poking my internal organs! =)

I am a lazy bum

Yeah. I am. I've been tracked-out for the past week and 2 days, and have enjoyed every bit of it. Today I haven't even gotten out of my jammies. I have a headache, because I forgot to drink my little Pepsi at lunch, so now I'm getting the caffeine, but it hasn't helped yet.

A few things:
*My neck muscles are so tight! I'm having this weird yawning/neck pain thing. I'll get this cramp in my neck and it causes a yawn which sets off a whole string of yawns. I can tell it is muscle related. Randy has been good about rubbing my neck (with some IcyHot sometimes) and I am using a different pillow which helps some. I need a professional massage.
*I HATE sleeping on my side. I usually wake up on my back, and as long as I'm not uncomfortable, I go right back to sleep that way, even though I'm not supposed to. At this point I can still sort sleep on my stomach if I hike my leg up to my chest. But my arms end up asleep under my pillow then, because my pillow is so fat to help support my big noggin when I sleep on my side like I'm supposed to.
*I am already feeling like I have a hard time moving around- especially getting up off the bed, rolling over in bed and getting up off the couch. (yeah, I know, if I got my fat butt OFF the couch and stayed up I wouldn't have to worry about that...) I don't feel too off balance yet. I know not working isn't helping either, because I move around so much at work. I am working this Friday, then next Mon-Wed, to fill in for a couple people. That should help with the mobility.
*Randy and I took an impromptu trip at the end of last week. We went to GSO to see Kelly and Jon on Thursday, and to pick up a rocking chair. It was so good to see Kelly (and Jon). I miss them. I wish they would move up this way- we seem to have a lot in common these days as couples, which makes spending time with them very relaxing. Then we were going to go to the zoo in Asheboro, but it was supposed to rain, so we ended up in Charlotte. We stayed at a really nice downtown hotel and did a lot of walking around (I was wiped out!). Downtown is really nice. We also went to Concord Mills Mall- that place is HUGE!
*We think we have registered for most of the stuff we need. We did Target and BabiesRUs. Now we have to find furniture. I really want to do black furniture, because it will go so well with the bee theme. My problem is my height. I haven't found any cribs that I am comfortable reaching into. I don't want one with sides that drop (they seem flimsy) and I don't want to use a stepstool (that seems unsafe with a baby in my arms). So basically, I want too much. I also don't want to spend a fortune. I just want a sleigh crib (though I'll settle for a non-sleigh) that converts into a big-kid bed, and a dresser/changing table. That's it. I'd like an upholstered glider, but I can do without if need be.
*I need to register for childbirth classes. I really don't want to . Either does Randy. I am convinced I'll have to have a c-section anyway, so why bother? I guess it is a good idea to do it, I just need my heart to be into it more.
*Still no decision on a name. We had a hard time picking out baby stuff- how are we supposed to pick a NAME that this child will use for the rest of her life?????? I think neither of us wants to commit to any of the names we have on our list. We don't want to make the wrong decision.
*I still haven't gained much weight. I'm up about 3 pounds from where I was before I got pregnant. I seem to be doing ok and I'm eating ok. I probably shouldn't worry- I'll end up ballooning in the next few months and will regret ever wishing I had gained weight!!! =)

Ok, that's about enough for now. I suppose I ought to go get dressed, huh?

Finally the pics!!

Here they are! This is the best quality I could get with my scanner- maybe I should have paid the $40 at the Dr.'s to get them on disk!

This is the best, of course! I love to look at this one! The whole time she had her hand over her face- the tech was fast and got this shot when she finally moved. This is her profile, as if she is looking left- you can see her little nose and lips!!! Squeeeeee! You can also see her arm where she had it up then moved it across her neck.

This is the indecent shot of her girl parts. It's as if she were standing up and then bent over to touch her toes and the pic was snapped. One leg (her left) extends down, and she has the other one bent. I don't know what the white blob in the middle is.

Footprint!!!

That's an arm- looks a bit disembodied... Looks like her fingers are curled into a fist.

And the creepy spine shot:

Randy and I went to start a registry yesterday. I wanted to get some decisions made so maybe I can start painting the nursery while I'm tracked out the next few weeks. (I know I'm not supposed to paint, but Sherwin Williams sells a kind of paint that lacks the chemical that I'm supposed to avoid, so I can use it if the room is well ventilated.) We decided on the Honey Bee set, and bought a pillow from it to match paint with. I think we're going to go with yellow as the wall color. Randy had fun with the scanner gun- we only got about a third of the stuff done- it took forever to make decisions, and we got tired. We got a lot of big ticket stuff done- stroller and car seat (which I LOVE!). We have a lot more to do, but we'll get it done eventually!

Pepto Bismol!

"The sanctuary looked like it had been hosed down in Pepto-Bismol!"

So did my desk at work on Thursday! LOL. I was inundated with pink stuff from my coworkers. They are so incredibly generous, and I am very lucky to have them as friends. This little girl is going to be sooooooo spoiled by them, it won't even be funny!
I still haven't gotten a good pic of the ultrasound photos. I need to get the scanner out and scan them in- maybe later this weekend. The 4D pic is so neat!
Randy and I have been going through internet name sites (something I thought I'd never do!) and making a spreadsheet (Randy's idea, of course) of names that are possibilities. So far on the list are: Meygan (not sure how we like it spelled best), Savannah, Gracie, Gracelyn, and Arianna. We haven't even started on middle names... We still have the end of the alphabet to browse through. I really want to get a name chosen so I can start calling her by it and make sure it's what we want. It seems like SUCH an important decision- so many factors to consider.
I've done a little shopping for her- I am excited about registering for stuff, too! This kid is going to have so many clothes. Probably more than Randy and I combined!!!!

It's a GIRL!

We found out today, without a doubt, that the baby is a girl! Everything looked good at the ultrasound (I will try to post pics later). We are excited, but we need help! We didn't have a girl name picked out, and there aren't any we can come up with so far. So send us your name suggestions, please!!! I gotta go to bed, but I'll write more tomorrow.

Counting down...

So, on Wednesday, we go for THE ultrasound. The one at which the sex of the kiddo shall (hopefully) be revealed. I can't wait! I am so excited. I will be sure to post as soon as I get home. I hope everything else goes well, too, of course.

Things are going ok recently. I've had some emotional trauma that doesn't really have anything to do with the pregnancy, but I've tried to keep my emotions under control so as not to get worked up. I'm starting to show a lot more these days, but I still haven't gained any weight. I probably shouldn't complain.

I am still ready for fall. I track out at the end of this week, and am really looking forward to a 3 week break. I know I'll be ready to go back at the end of 3 weeks, but it will be nice to relax for a while. Maybe get some baby shopping done.

Here's a recent belly shot- it is so hard to get a decent pic of me!!! Especially planned ones. :P