TUESDAY NIGHT BELLY PICTURE

Weird day yesterday. I won't go into details, but I will tell you this. I bought my new momma-moblile!

MONDAY NIGHT BELLY PIC...

We had a late night last night. We went and test drove a car and I fell in love! Calling the bank today to see what they say. I will keep you posted.

SUNDAY NIGHT BELLY PICTURE

Even though I already took a belly pic today, I feel obligated to keep with tradition and take one in the baby's room. So here it is.... Another belly picture.

who needs maternity clothes?

I had so much to do today. We started off the morning way too early. Lu-Lu the dog was heading back to Tennessee (thank god) and her flight left at 9:30. We had to get her to Nanny's by 8 ish. After that I started to clean up Draven's room and try to get it back to it's predog smell. That was a lot of work! We meet Jenn and Jay sometime that afternoon to discuss moving plans and then headed to Furr's for lunch. I had planned on working on my house and laundry all day, but soon I got a call from Aaron and he was going to see our grandmother in the hospital. I needed to go see her while I had the time. Once I got home from the hospital I worked on the laundry for about 15 mins (didn't make a dent) while Chris finished the yard, it looks incredible! We went to pick up Sophie and Luc around 5:30 for 3d Nightmare Before Christmas. That is one of Draven's favorite movies. They all loved it. After that we went out for pizza at Falcone's. Some of the best pizza in OKC, if you like thin sliced greasy pizza. Now I am home and in my jammies. We have been running around all day. Cleatus Anne has been pretty busy too. I notice that she wakes up anytime I eat. She doesn't want to miss out.
Now for the pictures. Since I was running around cleaning, working and playing I decided I didn't need to wear my fancy maternity clothes. I put on my reg. around the house clothes. I got a lot of stares. I guess if you want people to notice you are pregnant, this is one way to go about it.

What a night! Chris and I stayed up till almost 2 am. I think we were both excited about today. We are officially dogless!!!! Now I want to clean and disinfect my house. I am starting with Draven's bedding and bedroom. Ahhhh.... Feels so good. Last night Chris finally felt Cleatus Anne kick. I don't know how he had been missing it before, but last night she gave him a couple of big kicks. Sweet Baby! I guess we need to start on her room soon. So much going through my head. We have to get Jenn and Jay's place ready, Draven's room has to be #1 priority now that the dog is gone and of course baby stuff! Exciting things a happin'.

GHOUL'S GONE WILD... PART 2

We had a great time at the parade. They ended up having the fire dept. take the job of the volunteers. So, I just watched the parade. Draven and Chris joined me and we had a fantastic time. Lots of pics, most not so great. I figured I will steal some from the professionals for my blog later. Here's what I have so far.
I seem to have too many pictures of the flaming skeletons. I couldn't figure out to work my flash until the end. So, most of my pics are from the grand finale.
Here's a pic of me before the parade.

Me draven and matt

Me draven and al

MY VOLUNTEER/HALLOWEEN COSTUME

halloween part 1

Last night we got dressed up and headed to Edgemere Park. Sophie's third grade class was having a girls only halloween party hosted by Nicole. Our job was to hide in the park, scare the crap out of the girls and then give them candy. It was a hit! They were so scared! One of our friends hid under the bridge with a mask and chainsaw, chris chased after them while they had a hay ride and Draven never left character. I had a few girls tell me I was creepy. For whatever reason, I took that personally. We returned to Nicole's for games, cup cake decorating, ghost stories and much more. We were beat so Chris and I hung out and watched Munster Marathon while the kids played and left the sugar rush wear off. Tonight is the much anticipated Ghouls Gone Wild. More pics, if my boys take them for me!
Me and the winged reaper. *NOTE* Cleatus Anne just wasn't big enough, so I have a pillow filling in for her.

My boys: The reaper and the winged reaper. Scary stuff.

THURSDAY NIGHT BELLY PICTURE

Nothing exciting last night. Ate our favorite veggie lasagna, watched the office and went to bed.
Should have some fun halloween pictures this weekend.

24 weeks pregnant

This week your baby's crown-to-rump length is around 8.4 inches and your baby will weigh approximately 1.2 pounds. Although it weighs a little over a pound at this point, your growing baby is still tiny. Your uterus can easily be felt 1.5 to 2 inches above your bellybutton. The fetus does not appear to have much room in the uterus anymore, but as your pregnancy progresses, space gets much tighter!

Because your uterus is expanding and putting a great amount of pressure on your abdomen, you might get stretch marks. Your weight gain may also be taking a toll on your body at this point. Many pregnant women experience backaches, bladder problems, sore feet and fatigue that affect their daily routines. You might also have some nasal stuffiness or nosebleeds.

Your baby's face is basically complete now. The fetus's eyes are close together on the front of his face and they are still shut. Your baby's ears have moved into their final position on the sides of his head. Where they are now is where they will be when your baby is born! Hair will continue to grow on his scalp and his eyelashes are well developed. Most of your baby's features look the same as they will at birth. Because your growing baby is getting plumper, he no longer has room in your tummy to do cartwheels and somersaults.

Now is a good time to ask about prenatal classes being offered in your area. Many local hospitals offer classes for expectant women and their families. You should aim to complete the classes approximately one month before your due date.

You may sometimes get a stitch-like pain in your side from time to time. It's simply the muscles of the uterus stretching.
the unborn child is covered with a fine, downy hair called lanugo. Its tender skin is protected by a waxy substance called vernix. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed.

The child practices breathing by inhaling (up to a liter/day) amnionic fluid into developing lungs.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BELLY PICTURE

Yesterday I had my doc. appt. All went well. Iron was at a 33, which is much better, weight was up 2 pounds and the baby had a heart rate of 155. Nothing too exciting, but at this point I like it that way. We will have plenty of excitement in about 16 weeks. Little Cleatus Anne is moving more and more every day. Daddy still can't feel her, but Dr. Reisig did. She put her hand on my belly and my little girl kicked her. I woke up about 4 a.m. this morning to little Cleatus Anne kicking and moving. I have been sleeping on my left side and am starting to feel comfortable that way. By the time I was up and ready this morning she was back asleep. Daddy tried to talk to her this morning but she was done. She will wake up in time for lunch. He wants to start reading poetry to her every night. I think that is great, as long as it doesn't interfere with my bed time tv. I get to be with the baby all of the time, I forget that I have to share with my husband.
Last night Draven and I went and bought our halloween costumes. We will take pictures Saturday. I took some last night, but I want everyone to see us completely dressed. I am a pregnant skeleton this year. I hope no one thinks it is morbid. That is not the intention. We are walking with the "thousand skeletons" in the parade so I thought a skeleton suit would be perfect under my volunteer t-shirt. I have pinned to my skeleton suit a mini skeleton. I think it is cute.
Here's my Wednesday night pic. Not a lot of growing.... I am getting there.

The best part of being pregnant...

I am now enjoying food again. I have been trying to eat more protein per my husbands orders. I have been doing really well until today. I started craving Prairie Fries from Iron Star. They were so yummy, I decided to take a picture.

Draven got Boo'd...

This morning on the way to school I noticed an extra pumpkin on the porch. I sent Draven to investigate. It seems that he had been Boo'd. I had never heard of this. He had a pumpkin filled with treats and instructions on how to boo someone else. So look out. You might be next!!!!! Ha, Ha, Ha... (in an evil laugh.)

GHOUL'S GONE WILD...

I have to say that I am quite disappointed in yesterdays meeting. I really thought we were going to get to spray the fire extinguishers during the parade. Well, we might get to spray them... but only if we see a skeleton on fire. I am such a dork. We did get to practice spraying "just in case of an emergency." After the meeting I did some modeling. Oh, what is that? You didn't know I was a model? Yes, I did a little hand modeling at the gazette. Now I can't get Trya Banks off my ass to do her America's Next Top Model.

SUNDAY NIGHT BELLY PICTURE

Just for the record...
I think the baby should be named PRESTON ANNE HENRY.
There. I said it.

THE CUTEST DRESS EVER...

Our friend Tracy came into town and brought the baby a gift. It has to be the cutest dress I have ever seen. Chris and I looked at that dress after she left and just couldn't get over how sweet it is. Just can't wait to have a baby inside the dress. She is going to look great in that shade of blue!

Lottery...

So I decided that if I want to do ensure that my kids have a great life I need to do something about it. That is why I started buying lottery tickets again. I bought three (one for each of us) on Friday. Today I looked up the numbers and I got 3 out of the 6 right! I was really excited till I went to cash it in and only won $21.
At least I made my money back plus some.

Saturday night belly pic

You will notice a new wardrobe in my more recent pictures. I went shopping yesterday and bought tons of clothes. I got 3 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, 3 sweaters, a purse and a pair of shoes for $120!!!!! I found the best maternity bargain shop! All of the clothes are cute and hip and fit really well. My new jeans are a little tight and they are a large, but too cute to not buy anyway.

Last night at dinner Cleatus Anne wanted everyone to know she was there too. All through out the dinner she was kicking me like crazy! I could feel her bulging out of my lower belly when I was sitting. I don't know if it was the jalepano gravy on my chicken fry or just the fact that she could here all three of our voices together and she felt left out. I really feel like she wants to be her with us and is as anxious as I am to be born. We both have made an agreement that no matter how excited we are we are still waiting 40 weeks. That means we have 17 more weeks to go. WHAT???? 17 weeks, that can't be right.

Mixed Bag of Nuts...

Tonight after the garage sale we cleaned up and went out for dinner and an art show. We had a gift certificate to a restaurant that we normally don't eat at but were willing to give it another chance since it was free (ish). We dropped Draven off with my sister after dinner and then spent two hours out as adults. Our friend Matt was showing his art along with two others. They called the show "A Mixed Bag of Nuts." As usual, there were tons of kids there and we should of brought our little artist. I guess he isn't so little anymore. The show was at a gallery that is in the home of a friend of ours. They really have a great space that was originally just a tack add on when they bought the house. It is always great to see all of our friends. They are so sweet. I have never received so many compliments. They all were commenting on how I was "glowing" and my belly got lots of rubs. I wish I felt this good everyday. There are more pics that Matt took with his camera that I hope to see. One is a picture of my baby being feed a beer through my belly button. Now that's not tacky!
Here's a picture of Chris and one of the artist that was showing. We bought the little whole chicken painting in the background.

Chris and Rusty in front of one of Matt's paintings. I am sure they are deep into discussion about art.... or football.

Me and Megee looking good as usual.

Me and Lo getting our "Free Rides."

Garage Sale...

We worked our butts of Thursday and Friday getting ready for this garage sale. We even made $160 before we were officially open! People go crazy for garage sales. We placed an ad in the paper that said we would open at 8 a.m. Everyone was lining up at 7:30. We had an antique store owner from Anadarko come by this morning and go through our stuff. He gave us a $400 credit towards his store. Chris has picked out a dining room table there. Of course, our $400 credit only gets us about a 1/3 of the way to being paid off. This morning I felt like we were making some money until our carpenter came by to be paid for some work he has been doing on our rental property. Once again, we were back to $0. Actually, we are in the hole. I guess it is all how you look at. If we end up with an empty garage it will be worth all of our time and effort. Here's a pic of Chris and Charlie helping. In all fairness, he is covering the garage sale right now. Of course, he works from the couch.

23 weeks

This week your baby's length, from crown-to-rump, is approximately 8 inches! Your growing baby has finally reached one pound. Your baby is about the size of a small baby doll and looks very human. The baby's face and body look similar to that of a newborn at this time. Your uterus can be found about 1.5 inches above your navel. Your total weight gain should be approximately 15 pounds at this time.

You might notice some Braxton-Hicks contractions around this time. These contractions are not regular and they should not be painful. Braxton-Hicks contractions prepare your body for the upcoming labor and they will get stronger as your pregnancy progresses. You might be able to feel the contractions if you put your hand on your abdomen and your baby can probably feel the uterus gripping and massaging her. It will not harm your baby, so there is no need for concern.

Fat is still being deposited at a rapid rate, but your baby still looks red and wrinkled. Skin is being produced at a higher rate than the fat is, so the skin hangs loosely. Your baby looks red because the skin is losing its transparency and pigment is beginning to form. You should be feeling your baby moving quite a bit throughout the day as she will kick and punch the uterus walls. Babies also run their hands along the umbilical cord and touch their body parts while they are in the womb. Your baby now can suck her thumb for real, where she was just sticking it in her mouth. Your baby will continue to swallow amniotic fluid and recycle it as urine. The liquids and sugars that the baby retracts from the fluid is a supplement to the nutrients that the placenta delivers. You might be able to feel small `jumps` inside of you when your baby gets the hiccups from swallowing fluid. The pancreas is developing and it will responsible for insulin production, to help break down sugars.

Oily fish in your diet could help boost your baby's health. (Women who eat oily fish while pregnant have children with better visual development, a major study at Bristol University suggests.)

As the baby continues to grow, it has less space to move around in the uterus. Bones, muscles and organs are growing steadily.

ThursdaY NIGHT BELLY PICTURE

I took off Thursday and Friday to get ready for a garage sale. It is hard work, especially pregnant! I get tired easy and most of the stuff is too heavy to lift. Luckily, Draven is practically a man and helps a lot. I planned on starting the garage sale Friday. Looks like this is going to be a Sat and Sun sale. I have so much to do. I have most of the stuff on the front porch. Most of the stuff was upstairs, which made moving it all outside quite a chore. There is still some stuff in the backyard that came out of the garage that needs to move up to the front yard. For the most part, I will spend the day pricing and setting everything out. Hopefully, I will have some very exciting garage sale photos to post. By now, everyone has to be sick of looking at my belly, except me.

Curtains....

Nicole and Denise hung our first set of curtains. They look awesome. I can't believe the difference they make to the room. THey have to finish one window and they will be done with the living room. Then we work on the dining room. I think those curtains are going to be even prettier! The fabric is a salmon color and she found these really cool tie backs to go with them. Can't wait!
This is the window that they are working on.

This is the one they finished last night. I have the curtains shut because it was still early in the morning. They look great closed, open or pulled back.