The first belly pic!

Well, at 13 weeks the belly is starting to show pretty well! I can't believe that Fri will start my 4th month! This has gone by so fast already. I just can't wait to be done, and nnot because I'm miserable and I hate being pregnant. I just can't wait to see this litle one. Everyday I am thinking about this baby constantly. My little heart is just thrilled.

My life has been oh so uneventful lately, but I wanted to post my first belly pic! What an exciting time this is! I'm sorry I don't have more to say. Oh, I do have a new profile on MySpace though. My address is myspace.com/cararaed My great sister-in-law Carried told me how to make it cute and add music and I'm very proud of it! So check it out everyone!

It's been too long!

Wow, I really need to not wait so long to write a post. Then it's hard for me to remember what all has been going on. Valentine's day was great. Jeff got me a rose and a beautiful card that I can't read too closely, or I cry. Then he took me to The Olive Garden for dinner. After that we went to see a movie. We went to see Firewall with Harrisoon Ford. It was a pretty good movie. I found it enjoyable.

School has been going ok. I must say that I cannot stand English. At first I was really complaining about math too, but that class isn't so bad. It's writing papers that I can't stand. For my next paper I'm supposed to explain something for 3-5 pages. How the heck can describe something for that long?? I'm just having serious writer's block. I've been thinkging about something to write about al week, and I still haven't come up with anything.

On Wednesday Jeff and I went to the Y to get some exercise in. I just did some walking, and boy did I feel great! I won't be able to make it back to the Y till Tues, so I think I'll have to test out my new workout DVD. I looked into a water class for pregnant mommies, but they're not offering it anymore. They did have a low intensity water class I could take, but the classes are while I'm in school. School is over May 14th, so I think I'll check on it again after that. They also offer swimming lessons for babies. It's called Shrimps, and you can start your baby when it's 6 months old, so we're going to get our baby in on that. I always want our kids to know how to swim and swim well. I was in swimming lessons when I was little and I was so terrified of the diving board that I never got past the Guppy stage. I think that's great to get your kids started young. Also, the lessons they take from 6mos-4 years of age, the parents are in the water with them, so I think that's great. I just know that I need to keep working out, so I can bounce back fast after the baby is here, and so it'll help labor go faster and smoother. That needs to be my mantra even when I don't feel like going.

OH! Before I forget....*sings* Happy Birthday dear Randi! Happy Birthday to you! i hope you have a wonderful day!

I need to get going for now everyone. I need to get ready for work. Have a great weekend! I love you all!

People I love and admire.

Wow, I've definitely had an exciting couple days. I want to apologize to any of you who were reading the craziness. I'm not about negativity and name calling, and I don't want this blog to be about any of that sort of thing. I want this to be a positive and uplifting page.

I'm just writing this post becuase I was accused of having nasty views. People are entitled to their own opinions, but I want to make it known about how I feel about being accused of being racist. My mom is white and my dad is black. When they started dating, it was during the 60's. We all know what racial turmoil this country was in. My parents met and fell in love during this time, and before they could even get married, my mom had to have my grandma sign a permission slip for them to get married b/c my dad is black. For a long time my grandma wouldn't do it b/c she didn't agree with it. She could have even had my mom comitted to a mental hospital for being in love with my dad. Finally, my grandma signed the permission slip and my parents could get married. They've now been married for 41 years. My husband was raised in California, and he was outnumbered by people of other races. He was telling me about how he got picked on for being the white kid. In my own life I've only ever come up against racism once. It's something I'd rather not talk about b/c of how it happened and who it came from. The person who was rude to my family really shouldn't have been, especially b/c of the position he held. You know what I've learned though......You can't go around hating on everybody. What a bitter and sad way to live your life. Growing up my mama and daddy always taught me to never look at the color of someone's skin. I firmly stick by that, and I will teach that to my kids. It was hard hearing about how my parents going through such turmoil. I would never ever in my life treat anybody else that way. When I look at people I see people. That's just how I was raised. So yeah, it does hurt my hear when people accuse me of being something that I'm not, especially when they don't even know me at all. I try not to let things get to me, but it does hurt my feelings b/c I know I would do anything for anybody.

I should get to bed. I feel a lot better now that I have my side of things out. I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. I send my love to you all :) Nighty-night

An interesting read that my husband found. Just interesting, that's all.

Subject: I guess people in North Dakota are really different fromthe people in New Orleans.
THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT North Dakota News This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of North Dakota state after the recent snow storm. WEATHER BULLETIN Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with A Historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that Broke Trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of Motorists in Lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and Cut Power to 10's of thousands. FYI: George Bush did not come.... FEMA did nothing.... No one howled for the government... No one blamed the government No one even uttered an expletive on TV... Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit Our Mayor's did not blame Bush or anyone else Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else either CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit - or report on this Category 5 snow storm Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards..... No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.... No one looted... Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something Nobody expected the government to do anything either No Larry King, No Bill O'Reilly, No Oprah, No Chris Matthews and No Geraldo Rivera , No Seann Penn, No Barbra Streisand, No Hollywood types to be found. And Nope, we just melted the snow for water Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars. The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask For a penny. Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow bound families. Families took in the stranded people - total strangers. We fired up wood stoves. Broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns. We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work Or Die" We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks. Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never Fallen this early...we know it can happen and how to deal with it Ourselves. "In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 Degrees North Latitude, 90% most of the world's social problems Evaporate." It does seem that way, at least to me.. I hope this gets passed on.. Maybe,, SOME people will get the message,, The world Does not owe you A living....

Jeff, you are the best!

For this post I would like to start out by thanking my sweet husband, Jeff. He has been so wonderful! He has been such big help since we found out that I'm pregnant. He's always helping me do stuff around the house, he does the dishes, cleans the bathroom, whatever needs done he'll jump up and do it, and I thank him for that. Women always say you're very, very tired during the first trimester, and you don't really understand until you're in that situation and you definitely are as tired as they say. Thanks honey for helping me get the extra rest :) He's also giving me hugs and little kisses all the time. He is so sweet! He has such a big heart, and I love that about him :) Thank you for all of your help and for being so good to me!

I'm finally getting out of the tired phase! I feel a little more energy coming back everyday and it feels great, I feel great! I must say though that I am now getting into the frumpy phase. I only have one pair of jeans that fit. My belly is definitely growing, but I'm not showing yet. I'm just at that awkward, in-between phase. Hopefully in the next 4-6 weeks I'll be showing enough to where I look pregnant and not like frump girl.

I do think that I am getting more emotional everyday. I cry atleast once a day b/c I'm just so tickled about this baby. I cry when I look at its newborn diaper, when I look at the bedding we have picked out, or if I see a cute baby on tv. I feel ridiculous sometimes, but it's still hard to believe that this is all happening and that this baby is on its way. I'm loving every second of it though. Like I've said before, women try to be so negative and tell you all about the bad things, but I'm just trying to enjoy every single second this little one is in there. I'm thinking more and more everyday that I don't want an epidural either. It seems like so many women who don't have it, go fast! I think I'd much rather feel some pain and have it over fast than having an epidural and being in a hospital bed for atleast 12 hours. It seems too that so many women need an emergency c-section after having an epidural b/c they don't progress at all after they have it. So, I'm just going to stay active. After Friday I'll start going to the Y again. I haven't wanted to exercise the first 12 weeks just so I was getting the rest I need. Anyway, I also have a tape coming that has yoga, pilates, and toning for mommies, so that should be great! I hear yoga is great for pregnancy! Also, I'm going to check the Y program b/c for a while they had a water class for pregnant mommies and I think that would be awesome! I just want to stay as healthy as ppossible so everything goes smoothly.

I'm going to head on out for now and study some stuff for my nutrition class. Have a great night everyone! Thank you to all the girls who leave me comments. It might sound silly, but they are encouraging :) Nighty-night, everyone!

Lazy days...

Today has been quite the uneventful day. For some reason I can't keep anything down today, so I'm at home resting with my Maggie. This is the worst day I've had in a little over 11 weeks, so I'm very fortunate. Even when I'm sick like this I try to stay focused on how blessed I am to have an upset belly b/c of the baby I'm carrying. I'm so excited about all of the shopping we'll ge to do soon! My mom said she would pay for half of the baby's furniture, so I think that's next on the agenda to get. I found some really pretty cherry furniture I want to get, and I found it at a reasonable price, which is even better. That baby's room is going to look better than our's.
I've reached the decision that I will continue working 2 days a week after the baby is here. My mom is going to babysit, so that really puts me at ease because there aren't any babysitters better than Grandmas! Since We have a land contract on our house I'll still have to keep an income just b/c it will look better since it's our first big loan. After this baby is here I want to get a 2 day job at the hospital. They have a nurse's assistant job open right now that I really, really want and I would make twice what I make now in 2 days. I would go for it now, but you have to be able to lift and I'm in no condition to lift, so after this little one is here I'll bug them till I get a position that I want. Also, the hospital is like 30 seconds from our house, so I would even be able to come home on a long break and see the baby.
I must head on out for now. I think I'm going to get some chicken noodle soup. I hope everyone is having a great day :)

Something that's bothering me...

I know I've talked about this issue before, but it's something that's really been burdening my heart. I don't want to leave the baby after it's here. Right now I'm only working on Friday and Saturday, which isn't bad, but I feel like time with our baby is so much more inportant than people getting their hair done. I know that there are pro's and con's either way, but babies are only that small for a short while. I don't want to have the regret that my mom now has. She regrets not staying home with us till we were in school. It's such an important time. I would like to say that I've always wanted to be a big career woman and make big bucks, but I haven't. I've always wanted to stay at home with my kids. I think it's the most important job a woman could have. I know that some don't agree with this, but it's a strong conviction that I have. I know in the Spring I'll have to leave a couple days a week to get clinicals done and that's not bad at all. Atleast as a nurse I will only work 3 days a week. I just....gosh, I don't know. I don't want to miss out on one single thing. I know that what I'm wanting is realistic b/c women do it all the time. I just need to figure out what's going to work for me. Babies are so precious aren't they? I already had a breakdown tonight over not wanting to leave. I'm already praying about it all the time. God always gives us the desires of our heart, and all I can do is trust Him to help us work this out. We do have a great God who meets our needs and wants. So Lord, this is in Your hands now. I'm not saying I won't cry from time to time over my fear of leaving, but I will trust You to help me decide what is best.

I had to put the pic up again b/c it's so cute! I love my baby!

I had a great day today. I went to see Randi and Brian and their new baby, Landon. Let me just tell you that he is the most beautiful baby! His color is great and he has the cutest features. I could tell that Randi and Brian were just so proud of him and love him so! He is the most precious baby, and he's so tiny. I just love him!
Being around Landon just made me so much more excited to see our baby. I'm getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it. It's amazing the process that God has allowed the female body to go through. It just boggles my mind when I think that I'm growing a tiny little human right now. I'm loving everything about this so far. Although, last night I was very freaked out b/c in psychology class we're starting with the development of the fetus to birth. Well, Mr. Newcomer decided to show us this video about birth. It was terrifying and very close up! So, I just put my head down and went to happy place. I know what's coming, but I'm going to enjoy being pregnant and not think about what's going to happen at the end. This leads me to a little rant I have about women out in this world. Do not scare women who have just found out they're pregnant! We know labor is coming and we know it hurts!! Keep your horror stories to yourself! I don't need to hear it....I'm not you! My experience won't be exactly like your's anyway! Every woman is different! Please, just keep it to yourself!
I think that my hormones are getting to me too. Last night I got so upset. I went to Wal-Mart to buy some groceries, and I decided to go through the self check- out b/c the person behind the booth usually comes out to help you if you're by yourself and you have a good amount of items. Well, the lady came out from behind her little booth thing, she stood about a foot away from me and just smilied. She was in my face smiling the whole time. What I would have liked was some help. Anyway, half-way through the machine goes off and tells me the belt is full and I need to bag before I can continue scanning, so I stop and bag everything with her still grinning away at me. the I finished scanning and paying and bagging and I left. I'm not really sure what that woman was doing. I woud have just appreciated some help. I was so upset by the whole thing that I put my groceries in the car and then sat in my car and cried. I was upset at her constantly grinning at me that I wanted to slap her. Normally I would have gotten so upset. I just need to take a breath a think and try to relax.
Well, I must go for now. My bed is calling me. Nighty-night!