Past Due

Well, I'm only over due by one day. But still, it feels like FOREVER! The anticipation is really getting to me! I don't know what this is going to feel like, and I'm not sure of when it is real labor and when its not. All my reading and studying are doing me no good. I'm still nervous and just plain ready to have this baby.
Anyways, I just wanted to write a short update to you all today and let you know the Crib Lizard has not shown yet. I have a doc's appointment tomorrow and I will ask her to check my cervix and see about maybe inducing this little on on Friday or Saturday. I'll let you know how that goes either tomorrow afternoon or on Thursday. Who knows. Maybe the Crib Lizard will show up between now and then. You can never tell with boys. :o)
*love and hugs*

5 days to go!

Not like I think the Crib Lizard™ will be on time. His dad is always late, so I wonder if the little guy growing inside me will be the same. My Mom is thinking that the doc's won't let me go too far past my due date because of how big I am getting. She is actually hoping they will induce me on April 13th. Friday the 13th in case you haven't noticed it on the calender yet. The hubby and I talked about it last night on the way home and neither of us really has a problem with having a baby on that day. Hubby has always considered Friday the 13th lucky for him and I haven't ever really noticed the day was either way for me. As far as I can remember, its just another day. Now, I'm not due until the 9th and(if you remember, Cristy guessed the 7th and Slutty Hoe guessed the weekend of the 13th) and I'm due to see the doctor yet again tomorrow, so we will see what she says. The 13th is only 4 days past due, so she may not want to induce me that soon, but I certainly do not want to wait until April 20th. That seems so far away!!

I am getting anxious. I don't think I'm the only one, either. I have been told by at least 5 different people (seriously, no exaggeration) that they have dreamt about me going into labor. Most of them are not family members, but co-workers! Even a couple of the guys the Hubby works with have dreamt about me and my water breaking! I have had a couple of dreams like that, but most of them have been very odd. In one, Lord Dragons step dad was my doc and was delivering my son in a room that had ceiling to floor clear windows so everyone could see what was going on. I have a couple of scary dreams about loosing the crib lizard™ or someone stealing him, but Mom said those are normal. Those are the worst dreams I have ever had in my life. I hope they get better once he is here, but honestly, I don't expect them to. Right now I know where he is all the time, I can feel him move and know he is okay in there. After he is born I will have to learn to let go and trust in God and his Gardian Angel to watch over him when I can't.


The following are a few pictures of the Crib Lizards™ habitat. Thanks to Slutty Hoe, Mom, Dad and LD for all the hard work they put in over the weekend to make his room perfect.





Slutty Hoe will probably be one of the people calling when he arrives. Hsing, honey, I'll have to just email you or post on the forum when he arrives. I don't think my cell phone will call oversea's. :o)
I'm almost there, guys.
*Love and Hugs*

See?! I DO Read the Comments!

Miss Cristy, Sorry to hear about Bubba! It totally cracked me up the way you described him though. Please give the cute little guy big gentle hugs from me. I'm glad he is okay and is such a trooper for you.

Miss Leah, It would be awesome if you could be here when James is born, but I agree, I really don't want you to actually see him coming out. Hell, I don't want to see it myself. :o) But you are on the list of people to call when he does arrive. Either Mandi will call you that day or night, or I will call you a few days later. No matter what I'm sure you will get to meet him sometime this summer. I miss you, dude. I can't wait to see you!

Miss Yvonne, I would be happy to send you my mailing address, but only if you will send me yours as soon as you get settled. I am beginning to get my Christmas card lists together for this year and I would love to be able to send you and your family one.
I am starting to have some of the practice contractions, although they are not nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I guess anticipation is usually the worst, eh?
Good luck with your move, sweetie. I know it sucks, but hang in there! It will all be over soon and then you can start getting settled in.

Same goes for you Leah. I know you're moving soon too. Hang in there too, and I hope all of you know, I'm always available to chat, rant, cry or whatever to. :o)

This will most likely be my only post this week. I have a doc's appointment early on Thursday, so I will be leaving work early, and then I'm off on Friday, since mom and dad will be down to paint and help set up the Crib Lizards™ Room. I just wanted you all to know everything is still groovy and that I love ya.

18 Days til the Crib Lizard™ is due!

I was right. The doc has had me coming in weekly starting at about the 8th of March. Which is cool. I get to hear the Crib Lizards little heart beating every Wednesday or Thursday. Awesome! Plus it gets me out of the office about an hour early once a week!
This next up coming week (the 26th thru the 30th) my usual doc/midwife or whatever is on vacation for spring break, so I have to go see a stranger. Luckily, she won't have to violate me. I will just have to do the usual; pee in a cup (which they should make bigger, like kool-aid pitcher size, once the belly gets to big to see over), get weighed in, check my blood pressure, measure the belly, and listen to the Crib Lizards heart beat. That's is basically what my appointments are every single time. Last week I had to have my poonani swabbed with a giant q-tip to test for Group B Strep, which came out negative. Meaning no anti-biotics for me when I go into labor. In fact the doc said yesterday that I could hang out at home as long as I wanted when I started to go into labor and then come into the hospital when I was ready. That made me laugh. As soon as the Hubby knows I'm in labor, we will be in a mad dash to the hospital.
The doc also told me yesterday that the Crib Lizard could be born at any time now and be just fine. In some ways I am very ready for him to be here, but in other ways I'm not. I would like to stay pregnant for just a little longer, even with all the little discomforts, like not being able to sleep well and taking a full 5 minutes to get up out of a chair. I know that the things I feel right now (him moving inside me, the special feeling I get when I rub my belly and talk to him) are mine alone and I won't ever get to feel those things with him ever again after he born. It makes me a little sad. On the other hand, I can't wait to share him with the Hubby. It's a very confusing time!
I wasn't planning on posting about me and the Crib Lizard today. I was going to talk about the little annoyances I have been experiencing, but once I got to talking about him I couldn't stop and I realized I didn't want to relive and rant about the things that pissed me off this week. Its really not worth the stress at this point, you know?
I hope all of you are doing good. Please feel free to post updates on whats up in your world these days in the comments section. I do actually read every single comment you guys leave me and they never fail to make me smile.
*Love and Hugs*

A longer update

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post today to let you know that everything is still going good, the Crib Lizard™ and I are both doing great. We go into for a check up here in about 2 hours in fact. So far, the doc has me coming in every two weeks. If babyzone.com and other various baby info sites are to be trusted, these bi monthly visits might turn into weekly one's here soon. I can't imagine having to go into the doctor every single week! I have never seen the doctor so much in my entire life all put together! *sigh* It is reassuring to know that the little guy is doing okay with a good heart beat and growing nicely though. He moves all the time now. He is the most active first thing in the morning, right after the alarm goes off. He still moves and kicks thru out the day, but the mornings seem to contain the hardest kicks and jabs. I think the little guy is just running out of room.

I haven't experienced any of the 'midnight' cravings that one always hears about with pregnant ladies. I do wake up in the night, but if I'm hungry I usually just go back to sleep because its easier than getting out of bed and fixing something which would probably wake up the whole house and then no one would want to go back to sleep and I just don't need to deal with that at 3 am. Although I know its coming, it will be so much easier to justify (at least in my head) when there is a little screaming baby.
I don't have any 'weird' or 'strange' cravings either, but I am eating a lot of green chili these days and I'm still hooked on Marshmallow Maties. (A generic brand of Lucky Charms Cereal.) The only things that seem to upset the Crib Lizard™ are pineapples and this funky Lemon pie I had at the in laws the other night. To be fair, I had never had that kind of pie before, ever, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Oranges are okay, but other citrus fruits are out I guess. *shrug* Boys, eh?

I can tell you my temper is harder to control these days. Things that I would have been able to shake off in the past or even ignore now bother me to no end. I'm usually a very patient person, but lately I have had none, especially with people. The hubby is one of the very few people I can stand for long periods of time.
(I could list the people who I do like and who I don't like, but I don't want to offend anyone who may stop by here. Just so you guys know, you, my four glorious readers, are on the 'safe' list. None of you annoy me what so ever and in fact I hold you dear to my heart. I especially want to give a shout out to my German friend Hsing, who has provided very valuable insite thru this whole pregnancy. I will do a 'Thank You' post soon though. I need to. You guys have all been so supportive that I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you. You know I love all you guys, though, right? *sniff sniff* Okay, mushy, girly moment over. )
People, like some of the ladies I work with, bother me so bad that I have to bite my tongue just to keep from saying something nasty to them. There is one lady who insists on laughing after almost every single sentence that comes out of her mouth. This like fakey type of laugh. Doesn't she know that sounds incredibly insincere and also is really, really annoying? She also takes forever to answer a simple question. I will go to her for a yes or no answer and will end up at her desk for 20 minutes while I get the entire back story. Honestly, I don't care and I didn't ask. All I want is a yes or no so I can get back to my desk and hide out some more.
Also, I'm starting to worry about who is going to do my job while I'm out on leave. I know its not entirely up to me to make sure that everything is covered and that my bosses should be stepping up to help me out on this since they are not hiring even a temp to cover my duties, but I still feel responsible, so I am typing up notes as best as I can and training the 4 different people they have already picked out for certain things. I can tell you, though, those 4 people are not going to be enough. I still have at least 5 other things that someone will have to do while I'm out and I have no idea who to train on them. What is sad, is neither do my bosses. I try to convince myself that at that point, when the bosses are admitting we have run out of people to train, its out of my hands. I really don't think they know how much they depend on me around here. They are about to get a brutal wake up call.

Oh! Maria seems to think the Crib Lizard™ will be early, while every one else is saying late. Any one want to place a bet? Just a friendly wager, but if I could get my four readers to pick a date it would be fun to see who would ends up being the closest. :)

Thats all for now. I'll try not to leave it so long between posts, okay? Love you guys. *hugs*

A Quickie Update

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post a quick picture and update. I'm 34 weeks and healthy as a horse. Funny, I'm getting to be as big as one too! LOL!





I hope you all are doing well, and I'll post a real story or something here soon.
*love and hugs*

The Newest Member of our Family

My truck died. Well, it still runs, but the clutch is completely gone out of it.
Hubby and I were on the way to work one cold morning and got about half way down the block before Hubby started freaking out and pulled over on the side of the road. At first I didn't understand what he was going on about. "What do you mean my clutch is gone?" "I thought it took a while for those things to wear down and there would be...signs, noises, something!"
Somehow he got it back into first gear, got it turned around and limped it back to our house. While he was warming up his car, the Stang, I hoped over to the drivers seat to see or I guess feel what the hell he was talking about. Sure enough, as soon as I stepped on the clutch petal, it went strait to the floor, no resistance. Now granted, my clutch wasn't the stiffest, but at least it had some kind of feed back to let you know it was working. This was like pushing in a petal that had nothing connected to it at all. Same type of feeling I had before when my brakes have gone out on that truck. You know, I can't help but still love that truck, though. I won't let Dave trade it in. It wouldn't bring in any money anyways, being broken like it is. He proposed to me in that truck. I can't imagine not having it in the family.

In the mean time we were carpooling in the mustang,
and he was having to drop me off at work really early every morning, so he could make it to work on time. We were at a cross roads, though. We need a 4-door for when the Crib Lizard™ arrives. So do we fix the truck right away and still have to hunt for a family car, or do we let the truck sit for a while and we go ahead and car shop. We both had money in our savings, he had a big bonus from work coming in, and he said he could borrow against his 401K. Okay. So total we had about $9500.00 to try to buy something that would be suitable for a family; safe, dependable, and above all not requiring financing thru a car dealer. With the house payment and the impending arrival of our little bundle of joy we could not afford to finance.
When the money arrived we started scounting the Auto Traders. Out of about 100 pages of vehicles, I found 2 that I liked and we could afford. The Huby called and left messages, only one called us back.
The lady said she had another guy coming to look at it for a second time the following day at 4, so we set up to meet her at noon just in case. She could have been fibbing about the other buyer to pressure us, but after meeting her and talking with her, I think that she was telling the truth. Either way I liked the vehicle and the price was right so we made her an offer she couldnt refuse and bought this:

for $5500.00!
And we still have money left over!
Its a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee, loaded with power everything, plenty of room for the Crib Lizard™ and all the paraphernalia that will come with him, plus 2 doggies! I freaking love it!
Plus it runs great and the lady who had it before us took great care of it. It was her baby. Now its one of mine.

I'm doing great by the way. For those of you keeping track, I'm 32 weeks with only about 53 days to go until the Crib Lizard™ is due to arrive!

Update on me

My ankles have swollen to this unbelievable size. Seriously, you can not even see the cute little ankle bones I used to have. I think the swelling is causing my feet to hurt. Regardless if I'm sitting or standing they ache.

Also, my belly is getting that little dark line down the middle. (I tired to find the exact term for it, but I couldn't! WTF?!)

I'm having a hell of a time sleeping at night. Just getting comfortable is hard to do, and then when I do, I sleep for about an hour before my hip starts to ache and I have to roll over. If I lay on my back at all the Crib Lizard™ starts to move a lot, so I try to limit my sleeping positions to the right or left sides. I figure he should be sleeping when I am. Ha ha ha

Last, but certainly not least, the Crib Lizard™ moves a great deal these days. Before he would move a lot one day, and then he would be quiet for the next couple of days. All this week he has moved tons every single day. It is the most incredible feeling in the entire world. Miss Leah, Slutty Hoe, I can't wait til you have one. Miss Cristy, you already have two beautiful kids, so you know just what I'm talking about. Its amazing. Even those words don't do the feeling justice.

I don't have any new pictures, sorry, Miss Cristy. I'll see if I can get Slutty Hoe to take some this weekend while she is here and maybe post them on Monday.
Hope y'all have a good weekend!

Anticipations and Excitment of a Soon to be Mom

Leah has a very good point. Fears and Worries are not the only emotions I feel right now, and I do think I should write some of the things that I enjoy or look forward to. Being pregnant isn’t all worries. I have had moments of extreme joy and excitement at the impending arrival of our little boy.

I remember feeling incredibly excited at hearing his heart beat for the first time. The doc had to hunt for 10 minutes just to find it. At first all we heard was my steady heart beating, and then all of a sudden there was this faint, fast little beat on top of mine. It sounded like a train chugging at full speed! I looked over at the Hubby and he was grinning from ear to ear. It was incredible to share that moment with him and to know that yes, there really is a little person growing inside me. I think that was the first moment that it really hit home that I was pregnant. Every appointment since then I have heard his heart beating, and although it has slowed a lot since that first time, it's still reassuring to me to hear it everytime.

Another really neat thing is feeling that little one kick and move inside me. At first I could barely even feel anything, like a flutter of butterfly wings in my belly, but within a month or so, I was positive what I was feeling was the Crib Lizard™ moving and kicking me. I could see some kicks on the outside of my belly! Its a tad disturbing to see my belly flex outward really quick in one tiny spot then return to normal. The little guy used to get shy around the Hubby, so he didn’t get to feel his son move for the first time til about a month ago. Right now, this is what I like best about being pregnant. I love feeling him move all day long and I don’t even mind when the kicks or punches are hard. He has his quiet days too, which I don’t care for, but I guess it’s his way of giving me a little time to rest up for the next batch of internal calisthenics. Yesterday he was very active all day and I think he even got the hiccups for a little while. It’s amazing that he isn’t even here yet and I am already getting used to his schedule and reading his moves. I’m going to miss not feeling that closeness after he is born.

Watching him move on the ultrasound was incredible, too. Its one thing to feel it, but entirely another to see it happen right before my eyes! I got to see him yawn, stretch and kick in the hour or so that was just my mom and I. Then when everyone else came in (the Grandpa's, Grandma Armijo and the Hubby) I let the tech turn the monitor so they could all see. Later Grandma A. told me that the Crib Lizard™ waved, flexed his little arms, and moved lots for them.

It’s hard to put into words the level of excitement I feel towards him getting here. I can‘t hardly wait to look into his little eyes, see his little hands, fingers, feet and toes. He is a little miracle of ours and Gods creation. I look forward to seeing the hubby hold him for the first time. He has very limited experience with little one’s, especially baby’s that new, but I know in my heart he is going to do perfectly fine. I can only imagine the look on the Hubby’s face when they place his son in his arms for the first time. I sometimes wonder if the Hubby will be nervous, if he will get tears in his eyes, or will he just be all smiles and blue cigars.

I look forward to hearing the Crib Lizard™ smile and laugh for the first time. There is nothing in this world like the laughter of a baby. They don’t hold back and they don’t care what people think. I challenge anyone to hear and see a baby laugh and not laugh with them. Last night I dreamt I was blowing raspberries on the Crib Lizards™ belly. He was laughing and giggling so hard and so was I, to the point where I woke myself up laughing.

You may remember me talking about the really vivid dreams at the onset of my pregnancy. All thru the second trimester they seemed to chill out a little, but now they are getting vivid again, and I have to admit, most of the time I dream of the Crib Lizard™. I have dreamt of him talking to me, explaining to me that he wanted to build a VW Bug Convertible. (the hubby being a car guy, agreed to that, but said it would depend on how old he was when he made the request. Grandpa Armijo has a few ‘donor’ bugs that he would probably be willing to part with for his Grandson.) I’ve dreamt about talking to him in baby talk and him talking back in baby talk (also resulting in lots of giggling from both of us) and then the recent raspberry dream. I love those dreams and sometimes I wonder if he is dreaming of me.

Most of all, I look forward to sharing my life with this little guy. I know that life is going to be hard sometimes, and that I’m not always going to ‘like’ being a mother, but I think I will always ‘love’ it, just like I will always love him. This is going to be one of the greatest adventures of my life, although I'm not too 'rosey-eyed' to know that life isnt always going to be easy and care free, I wouldn't trade him for anything in the heavens or on Earth.

I can already picture him getting on the bus for his first day of school, his first girl friend, graduating high school, and getting married. I like to imagine what he will look like and wonder if he will like music like I do, or be a great artist like his dad. I look forward to watching his personality develop. I wonder if he will be a class clown or a serious student. Will he have an imagination like mine or be a little more ‘down to Earth’ like his dad? These are the things I think about before I go to sleep.

So, you see? I'm not all worries and fear. I think I'm more excited than anything else. There is so much to look farward to and I know that with the support of my Hubby and our wonderful family, we will be able to get thru any hardships that may come our way.

Fears & Worries of One Soon to be Mom

76 days til the Crib Lizard™ is due to arrive and I'm finding that the closer I get, the more scared I become. I keep reading these 3rd trimester articles that give tips on how to know if the labor pains are real or just warm ups, what kind of exercises to do in order to prepare my body for birthing, or what to do to avoid tearing. Tearing!!! Every time I see that word my whole body starts shaking.

They want me to create a Personalized Birth plan detailing how I want things handled during the birth. This 'plan' details everything down to what I want done with the placenta. *shudders* I don't really care what is done with the placenta after it comes out and I sure as hell don't want to see it afterwards. I want to hold my Crib Lizard™, cry because he is beautiful, and then cry some more when I see the hubby hold him for the first time. I really don't want to make all these decisions about what kind of monitoring to have, or whether or not to induce labor. I want a health care professional who knows a hell of a lot more about these things to make those decisions for me. Yes, I would like them to be discussed with me and Hubby before he/she starts poking on me or in me, but for the most part I want them to make the best decisions based on my particular situation because, honestly, if I put any thought into half the things on that 'plan' I start getting freaked out.

I don't know if I want pain meds or not. I would like to avoid them, but what if it becomes to much for me to bear? Does that make me a bad person?
Does it make me a bad mom not to want to fill out this birth plan?
Am I terrible because after I read some of these articles I promptly make myself think of something else because I'm so afraid I literally want to cry?

The only things I really care about on that birth plan are 'Separation'; IE: None, I think I would like him in the room with me at all times if he is healthy enough. Sick Infant; wanting unlimited visitation/holding rights, breastfeeding if possible, and if they have to move him to another facility, I want to be moved with him as soon as possible. (Basically all the options listed.) Oh, and the circumcision to be done in the hospital, please use anesthesia, and no, I don't want to watch them cut on my baby boy.

I'm scared that I won't do as well with giving birth as I thought I would. I'm also afraid of any complications that may arise. This pregnancy has gone almost text book since the beginning and I'm afraid of something going wrong right at the end.

I'm worried that there will be something wrong with him when he is born. What are we going to do if he is autistic or has down syndrome? What if he isn't 'perfect'? What if he is blind, deaf or both? What if he has 11 toes?

I'm worried about the excessive bleeding that I should expect for 4 to 6 weeks after he is delivered. I have gone 9 months with out a period and now I'll have one really big long one to make up for it. Why this worries me after having almost 13 years of heavy periods, I don't know. It just does. I never claimed this post was going to be rational.

I'm scared about how I'm going to be able to cover bills while I'm off on maternity leave. Although I have a pretty sound financial plan worked out in my head, what if something happens that throws that plan into the shitter, like a big problem with the house or something like that? My truck has already died on me and now we have to buy something newer, which we were planning on doing anyways because we wanted a 4 door for when the Crib Lizard™ arrived, but now its something we have to do soon, not something we could take care of when we felt financially sound for it.

I'm worried about what I'm going to do do with the Crib Lizard™ after I go back to work. My boss said they are willing to work with me, and maybe I can drop down to part time until he is old enough to go to a preschool, but will I be able to afford to live like that for a couple of years?

I'm scared about depending on the Hubby for every little thing for a couple of weeks. I have always been so self efficient, never really relying on him for anything other than just love and support. Now he is going to be in charge of dinner, doing the clean up, babying me and the Crib Lizard™, and be the sole provider for our family for a few months. I feel terrible putting all that pressure on him. I'm not worried that he will leave us, but I am worried about the stress its going to put on him. I don't want him to be stressed. I want him to be happy and enjoy being around me and his son.

Ma says not to worry, to lay all my troubles on his shoulders and let him carry the burden for a while, since I get to carry the little one. The Hubby agrees with her. He is incredibly sweet and understanding to even want to do that, but I can't put it all on him. These are my worries and fears and although I may share them with him I could never let them go completely on Hubby. I don't know how to give them up like that and trust in someone else to take care of everything.

I don't want you all to worry about me. (Good lord, there is enough worry in this post to freak out even the most worrisome of worry warts. Please don't add to it.)
I don't walk around looking all worried all the time. Far from. Most of the time I don't even think about this stuff and I'm the same Anj you all know and love. Actually, most of you probably wouldn't even know I was having these fears just by looking at me or spending time with me. I do exactly what I mentioned before, I just try not to think about it or dwell on any of these fears and I can still function normally everyday. I don't lay awake in bed at night and fret over these things. I don't talk to Ma, Hubby, or anyone else about them. Well, not much. I just needed to get these worries and fears off of my chest today and I figured this was the best forum for it.

I know in the end, no matter what happens, that everything will be fine. I'll be okay, the Crib Lizard™ (no matter how he turns out) will be perfect in my mind and all these worries are really for nothing. Does that stop them from creeping up on me every now and then? Of course not, but then I would be worried if I wasn't worried. It's a vicious cycle. :o)

Week 27 of (hopefully) 40

Damn, my ass is getting big. To be fair, though, there isn’t a part of me that hasn’t grown, so I guess it balances out. Sigh. I'm beginning my third trimester this week. At least I think that's how it breaks down. Babyzone.com says that the third trimester is "from 24 weeks until 40 weeks or 'term'" where as msn.com lists the 27th week as the first week in the third trimester. *shrug* Either way, I'm in the home stretch.

As I'm typing, little James is kicking in my belly. He is an active little guy today. He must have really liked those French toast sticks I ate this morning.

I'm enjoying being pregnant more now than I was in the beginning. I think that's because I know it’s a 'him', I can feel him kick, and I'm getting closer to the end. Ha ha! My emotions have settled down somewhat, and my dreams are a lot less vivid and weird. Although, I still have to be careful of what I watch before bed, otherwise I end up dreaming some twisted, distorted thing involving the MythBusters crew. I love how everyone keeps telling me how I glow and how cute I look, but honestly, it’s been hard for me to be this big. I look at myself in the mirror when I get out of the shower and wonder how the hubby can find me attractive. We haven't had sex/made love in weeks. I don't know if that's because he is afraid to, or he really doesn't find me attractive anymore. The entire time we have been together I have been this skinny little thing and now, as you can see above, I have quite the profile. (As Grandpa likes to say) I know it’s not permanent, and mom keeps reminding me I won't be pregnant forever, it’s just been hard to adjust to.
I'm really looking forward to James getting here. Hubby can then feel like he is more included in the whole experience. I ask him how he is doing with everything and he says he is fine. He really isn’t the type of guy to talk about his feelings, so even if he was feeling left out, I can't say for sure that he would tell me about it. Honestly, I feel like all this attention is on me and he just gets pushed to the side. The hubby is as much a part of this as I am! I try to keep him involved as much as possible; inviting him to the check ups, telling him about things I'm going thru, trying to get little James to move so he could feel it. He has seen my belly move, but he hasn't actually felt it yet. Every time Hubby puts his hands on my belly, James stops moving. Poor guy! I'm sure there will be a lot more opportunities for him to feel his son move in the next three months. Especially if James keeps going like he is today! I just wish there was more I could do to keep hubby involved. I'm looking forward to James arriving so that the Hubby can hold him, play with him, and be more involved with him.
Maybe I should be cherishing these precious few months of having James all to myself. I am not that selfish though, and I want to share him with the world. I wonder if that will change once he gets here.
Anyways.....
Hope you guys enjoy the picture. I have a couple with out my tongue hanging out, but I figured this one was so 'me'. Love you all and hope you all are doing well.


Oh and by the way: Leah, thanks for staying on my ass about blogging. :o) Love you too, girl.

South Western Snow Storm!

It started snowing Friday December 29th at about 8 am and it hasnt stopped for more than two hours total. Even as I write this, tiny flakes still fall.
No captions because I think the pictures speak for themselves.

My pleasure to introduce you to...

James William. Thats right, its a boy!!! Below is a slide show of his first pictures. It was awesome to see him on that tiny little screen and see him move as well as feel him. Hubby is tickled beyond belief that he has a little boy on the way. Now granted the lady who did the ultrasound was only 99% sure its a boy, but we are liking those odds.
My parents were there and so were the hubbies, plus him and I, well, it made for a packed little room, but there wasnt a dry eye to be found on the grandma's and the grandpa's were puffed up and very proud. Not to mention the perma grin hubby wore for the rest of the day. (And still has.) She said he looked healthy, heart pumping away and although he moved a lot at first he did eventually settle down enough to wave to everyone.

Today was a really good day...

Clock in the Battery

I have to give credit to the Hubby for that title. We have this clock in the kitchen that was hung before the batteries were unpacked. I had come across the batteries later that week and took it upon myself to install one in the clock so that it would be working. A few days later, my hubby, who had not had a lot of sleep, noticed and said "Oh! You put a clock in the battery!" I just looked at him and said "Yes, hun, I did. Are you impressed?" Then when it dawned on him what he had said we had a good chuckle over it. I warned him that I was going to use that for a blog title one of these times. He said that was cool as long as I explained why he said that the way he did. So I guess I should stress again that he had not been sleeping well, had been working very hard, so he had a little word dyslexia..Hey, it happens to the best of us. One of my recent favorite examples of this is:


Ha ha ha..drunk cats. Tell me that's not funny. Okay, well maybe its just me, but I laughed loudly when I read that. Maybe its because I can picture my little furry cat drinking beer and trying to get the bottles to stick to wall with static electricity all the while trying to convince the dogs to join in. (Dogs are not mentioned in the comic above, but I know Shelby likes to encourage my two little angel puppies *cough bullshit cough* to cause trouble with him) Otis would be up for it I'm sure, but I think Midnight would take some convincing. If it doesn't involve playing fetch or a butt rub, she really doesn't seem too interested.
Anyways, the comic is called Two Lumps: The Adventures of Ebenezer and Snooch and you can read it by clicking on the colored link. Although the artist/writer doesn't update every day, it is worth a check at least once a week if you have a few minutes to kill. I read a couple of other web comics, which I will be posting links to on my side bar either today or whenever I get around to it.

Hubby tore down the upper part of the back porch wall, so the pictures are already outdated! He moves quick! Personally, I like it better with out the jail motif. The back porch actually feels bigger, even though we really didn't gain any ground space. It looks awesome, so as soon as I can I'll try to get some updated pictures of the back porch posted.


Alrighty, well that's all for today, I think. Its about time for my afternoon snack, although I don't have my milk today, dammit. Ah well. I think I can survive with out it for one day.
Oh and speaking of the Crib Lizard™ I feel him/her moving all the time now. Not constantly, but mostly in the evening after I have been relaxing on the couch for a bit. I had some chocolate cake last night and about 10 minutes after finishing that he/she started moving. I think he/she got a sugar buzz!
I hope to end the whole he/she thing by the end of this week. I have a doc's appointment tomorrow, just a check up, and she will help me schedule the ultrasound then. I'm hoping to schedule it for Friday because everyone could make it (Hubby [who is off work, that punk], Mom, Dad, Slutty Hoe, and Momma Judy) and because I cant wait to know what is growing inside me, James William or Alexandria Lynne. I'll keep you updated as soon as I know though!

House Pictures!!

Okay slide show testie done. I decided I didnt like the one I used for testing anyways. This other place is much faster at uploading the photos, uses the same way to upload as the testie one did, and did not freeze up on me once. The testie slide show I used froze up on me almost every single time and completely closed down my net. Grr. But, thru the amazing power of google, I found a better site that does all the same things, but has their poop in a group.

Okay, so with out further ado...
Anj and Hubby's New (to us) House

By the way, there are no pictures of the three bedrooms, or the other two bathrooms, but ah well. You all get the picture, right? Ha ha ha..Get the picture..Woo Hoo! Anj has got her Funny hat on today!

Slide show testie

If this works then I'm going to use it for my house pics. Hopefully will get those posted this weekend. YAY!




Woo hoo it works! But so far all I can upload is my myspace pics, which you all have seen. Hmm. I will have to play with this more this weekend and see if I can upload from my home computer.
But at least I know it can be done and how cool its going to be. Plus I got to say "testie" again! hee hee

Happy (late) Birthday Blog!

Whoa! Can you believe this blog was born a year ago, this month? I can’t. I was just checking thru my archives and I see my first post Testie was on November 9th 2005. Wow. So much has changed since then. I had to read thru some of my old posts and comments and I couldn’t help but laugh over this and this. Those are probably my two favorite posts. Although re-reading them I see how I could re-write them to make them better. Ah well.
There are a lot of memories on here that I'm glad I can look thru whenever I want. I can actually see myself changing over the past year and that’s something I have never gotten to experience before.

I also wanted to thank you few who are my loyal readers. You have stuck with me thru all my really shitty days, my crazy days, and my happy days. You few are special to me, more than I can succinctly put into words. With out you and your ever uplifting comments I would feel like just another lonely blogger. You all make this blog special and have kept me at it for the past year. Thank you.

Side note: James took pictures of the house this weekend, so as soon as she emails them over, I will get them shrunk and posted here. Either that or I will create a slide show on myspace so you guys can see it. I wish I could figure out how to do a slide show on here. Heck, maybe I will, since I have a decent net connection at the house now.

Our House...is a very very fine house

Well, I was hoping to post some pictures of our new home (new to us anyways), but being sick all this week, not getting home until its dark and pure lazy-ness has prevented me from taking any pictures though. Not only that, but I have to download the pictures that are already on my camera onto the computer before I can take any more. Work work work. I'll try to get some taken this weekend, though. Yes, I'll take a few of the ever growing belly too. It has gotten a little bigger, and I actually have clothes that fit right, (Thank you Slutty Hoe, Momma, and Motherhood!) which actually helps to accent the belly a bit better than the hubby's big shirts. I was feeling a bit frumpy before, where as now I feel feminine and pretty. I can’t thank Momma and Slutty Hoe enough for that little shopping spree. Now every day I hear how cute I look and I feel so much more comfortable than I was before.

As of today I am 20 Weeks, 144 days til the due date, and almost half way thru the pregnancy. Wow, I can’t believe how time flies. Although, I can’t help but wish to see the little Crib Lizard™, hold him/her in my arms, see him/her laugh, and see the Hubby with him/her. Plus I'm going to be tickled freaking pink (or blue) when we know what we are having. A few more weeks and we will.

The house is coming along nicely. The Hubby got the queen sized spare bed set up last night after finally discovering the missing pieces I have been telling him exist for at least 2 weeks now. He kept insisting, patiently, that there were no such pieces. I have been tearing down and setting up this bed since I was 15 years old, pregnancy memory loss or not, I think I would know what is supposed to be there. Still, he got it together last night and I'll get it all made up and pretty for our house guests that are due in tonight. Oh and he tried to hook up the cable in the bedrooms, but for some reason its not working, so for now, if you stay with me, you will have to live with a VCR and a selection of Movies for your viewing pleasure. Luckily both of the spare rooms have actual lights so we no longer need a TV to help illuminate a room. Most of you will remember the spare bedroom at the other house not even having a light fixture in it. Then the plug-in style lamp we had got a broke light bulb, and of course it wouldn’t have been a standard light bulb, which I had 30 of..oh no. It had to be a special one. And you all know what a procrastinator I am, so it never got replaced. Hell, I dont even know where that lamp is right now.

I still need to unpack some things, like my books. I miss my books. But for the most part we are living very comfortably and have just about everything we need. Life is good right now. Except for both the Hubby and I being sick pretty much since we moved into the house. We had a very thorough inspection before we bought it, so I dont think it’s something wrong with the house, but just the fact that it’s been getting colder outside and we have been pushing ourselves way too hard. We just need some good old fashioned rest. I think we will get our chance next week with the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend. Woo Hoo!

Anyways, I got Maria to take a picture of my belly with my phone so here you go. (By the way Maria says Hi!)


No. I'm not pushing it out, thats what I wake up to every single day. :)

Name was Russel

Good News! We closed on the house yesterday! I think I may have developed carpal tunnel syndrome from all the paperwork I signed, but I was rewarded with Wendy's afterwards, so I was/am happy. The sellers have even generously offered to have all the carpets cleaned before we move in. Woo Hoo! Of course the hubby was slightly upset about that. He wants to move this weekend and be done with it. Personally, I think its going to take us a longer than one weekend, especially with me being forbidden to move anything in my 'delicate condition'. Okay I totally understand that. I do not need to be carrying heavy things, but good god, would people please stop reminding me that I am so damn fragile? I have heard many times that I should enjoy bossing people around and having them do all the work for me, but you all know I'm not that kind of girl. When the truck has gotten stuck in the mud, (eh hem, Aud, if you are still reading this blog you should remember a situation like that) I am one of the first to jump out, into the mud puddle, to help push to un-stick us. I have moved couches and other various furniture items since I was a young 'en because of my mom's need to rearrange the living room every other month. I'm not used to just supervising and its going to be hard for me not to take a more active part in moving my home. I have no choice though, and since we are blessed with so many wonderful friends who have volunteered to help move us, I have no excuse either.

Dave has seriously gone off the over-protective deep end. It’s gotten to the point where he frowns at me if I bend over too far. He made me hot chocolate the other night so I didnt have to get up off the couch. It’s all incredibly sweet, but too soon! What happens when I AM too big to get off the couch?! That’s when I'm going to need the spoiling.
Also, I wish he would talk to the belly more, but I can see why he doesnt yet. It’s just a little bump. I'm hoping when it gets bigger and starts kicking that he will want to talk to it more. He said good-bye and kissed it when I left for Farmington last weekend, but that’s only because I asked him if he wanted to. It felt incredible for me when he did that, so much I almost cried and I can't pin point exactly why. Maybe it’s because I talk to the Crib Lizard™ all the time and Dave doesnt really acknowledge it more than trying to wait on me hand and foot. Maybe it was one of those "family bonding moments" I keep hearing about. *shrug* Anyways, it was very sweet and rare, but maybe thats why it was so special. I really cant wait to see him with the Crib Lizard™ in his arms. Thats going to be the ultimate "family moment" and it will be hard to hold back the tears.
I think we have settled on names, finally. The boy was easy and we actually knew what it was long before we even got pregnant. I thought it would be neat to name a boy after Dave's grandfather on his Mom's side, James William. Plus that name also pays homage to my dad, and also Dave's middle name. A girl was harder. I think we are having a boy, but its better to be prepared than stuck with "Baby Girl Biesecker", so after much deliberation and rejection, we decided on Alexandria Lynne. I discussed with SH and Momma this past weekend and we liked Alexis, but the Hubby liked Alexandria and I liked it a bit more than Alexis too. Plus think of the nick names. Lexi, Allie, Alex, Al..It just goes on and on. Of Course her initals will be ALB (Albuquerque), but ah well. There are kids walking around out there with worse names. The only thing I worry about is we will need to figure out what we will call her before pre-school. I mean Alexandria Biesecker is kind of a long name for a little one. Although it covers just about all the letters of the alphabet, so she would have a head start on that. LOL We cant start her out as Alex Biesecker, because she might be mistaken for boy. Ah shit. We may have to go back to the drawning board for girls names. Crap. Here I was all happy that we had FINALLY settled it, and now, after some thought, it might not work. Ah well.
Alrighty, well this post has gotten hella long and I have spent most of it talking about the unborn Crib Lizard™. There is a lot of stuff going on with the house and Dave is about at his wits end over it, but I'll save that for the next post, which should be soon.

Belly and House Update

Yep, that’s my belly. Remember the flat little thing from The initial Preggo Post. I told you it would soon be gone. Replaced with this small little hump I like to call The Crib Lizard™. Have you ever tried to puff out your tummy real big just to see what you would look like pregnant? That’s what I think it looks like right now. Only it’s like that all the time, even when I'm relaxed. I hung out in my black and white tear away pants and a "tank top" yesterday that was kind of form fitting and I caught a glimps of myself in the mirror. I was shocked I looked like that. I guess I shouldn’t be. I mean, I'm growing a person inside me. Also I keep having aches, kinda like growing pains, so it’s not like I should be surprised. Ah well. I'm only going to get bigger. Be sure to keep watching for my infrequent updates and pictures. :o)

The house thing is going good. They are going to do some inspections and then we will know for sure if we actually want the place or not. I am totally tripping out how grown up all this is. I still feel like the person I was in junior high. Sure, I have more control over my gangly body, I shave my pits regularly, and I feel wiser, but to me, I still feel like I'm a kid. Now, when I actually take a moment to examine my life I find myself married, with a little one on the way, and looking to get into a 30 year mortgage, all willingly. What the hell happened? Life, I suppose. No matter how much we want to, we can’t stay kids forever. Then again, would we really want to? Remember that feeling when you first moved out of your parent’s house? I do, like it was yesterday. I remember the sense of freedom. "Yay! Now I can eat Coco Puffs for dinner every night if I want!" (I did too, for a good month) "Yay! No more curfews! I can stay out as late as I want!" (I did that too. James and I used to go cruising in her Duster til all hours of the morning.) The thing is, with the freedom came responsibility. Supporting myself, making sure I got to work and school on time, that I had enough money to pay my bills and still eat Scronic were all part of the freedom package.
Now, I am an adult. I have been supporting myself for several years, my parents, as wise and supportive as they are, have no more say in how I live my life. I always listen to their advice and try to do the right thing for the hubby and me, but at the end of the day, I have chosen my own path. Now I am taking on more responsibility and I feel like I am loosing a bit of that freedom I hungered for and enjoyed so much when I finally got it. Am I sad? Sure, a little bit. Sometimes, I wouldn’t mind going back to being 18 and mostly free. But would I really trade everything I have to do that? Probably not. I do love my hubby and I am thrilled to be having his/our baby. I can’t wait for The Crib Lizard™ to get here. I'm excited to move in to our first home of our own. I'm not that excited about the house payments, but we will get thru it somehow.

I guess what I'm trying to say, in a very rambling type of way, is that in the month of May, we shall play all day...oh sorry. Got off on a rhyming thing there. What I'm trying to say...eh hemm..is that although I'm tripping out over being a "grown up" I'm happy about it too. I'm entering in the next stage of adventures and I'm actually looking forward to it. I know it isn’t going to be all roses and walks in the park, but I think it will be exciting and rewarding.

I'll let you all know when I know when/if we are moving. Also, I'll post another pic of the belly when it gets a little bigger. (Probably not for a couple of months at least)