On the road...

So, unfortunately, I got roped into traveling to Mississippi this week, because I need to transition some of my responsibilities over to one of my coworkers, so he can cover for me while I'm out on Maternity Leave. The guys that I work with most often are in MS, and he is in Montana, so we've decided to meet half-way between us in Mississippi.

I'm preparing my office and gathering my things to head out this morning...I'm not looking forward to a seven hour drive to MS today and back on Friday, especially not at 32 weeks pregnant, but I don't have much of a choice, unfortunately. I'm a little nervous about the drive...it'll be a long one, and I have had pretty strong BH contractions the past two nights that lasted for longer than I would have expected. I told Grant that I was going to go ahead and pack my hospital bag when I get home from my trip! Ha-Ha! I don't really know when I'll pack my bag, but I hate to be going this far away without any friends and family. I have great coworkers, but it's going to be a long drive.

Anyways, my posts and comments may be sporadic this week as I'll be out of the office, and I won't be able to get online until I get back to the hotel in the evenings, but I'll post as I have the availability. Hope everyone has a great week, and I'll be back! :)

32 Weeks

32 Weeks

How far along? 32 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: After the Thanksgiving Holidays, I don't even want to know, but I am going to the doctor today, so I'll find out this afternoon!
Maternity clothes? Yes...Mostly everything now, but I can wear some t-shirts that are a small, but they are REALLY tight these days, and they show my belly!
Stretch marks? Nope...crossing fingers that I don't get any! :)
Sleep: Waking up once or twice a night to go to the bathroom and tossing and turning a lot! This was the worst week of sleep so far!
Best moment this week: Just having a wonderful Thanksgiving with Family
Movement: Yes! All the time! I love it!
Food cravings: Nothing that I can think of...
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: Lots of BH Contractions last night and my belly is getting really hard and tight!
Belly Button in or out? In but pretty shallow now
What I am looking forward to: Going to the doctor this afternoon for a check-up! :)
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy pregnancy and rest and relax as much as you can!
Milestones: Being in single digit weeks and getting 99.9% of our To Do List completed! Yay!

What's your opinion?

So, as I mentioned earlier Banks went to a show this past weekend, and he competed against another male dog to move on to the next round, and he got second to this dog all three days of the show. The show took photos of the dogs competing against one another and sent them to us. I don't know about you guys, and I might just be biased, but I think that Banks is the better looking dog in these three photos. What do you think?


In case you can't pick him out, he is the second, lighter colored dog. I really wish he had won, and I truly think that he should've won. They said that he was prancing a little bit around, so maybe that was the reason. He is still a little immature, because he isn't very old, so we are going to wait until the Spring to show him again and see how he does. I hope he can do it!! :)

31 Weeks

I can't believe that I'm 31 Weeks, well tomorrow, but it's so close, and I took a photo today, so I had to go ahead and post it! I'm getting SO big! I can't even believe it! Here is my 31 week photo taken this morning before we left the house:
So, Banks didn't win this weekend at the show, but he still did a great job, and he came home last night, and I was SO happy to spend time with him and just to have him home. He was loving and just so enjoyable! I can't believe that I love that dog so much.

On to my 31 week update:

How far along? 31 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 21 lbs. based on the doctor's appointment last Wednesday
Maternity clothes? Yes...Mostly everything now, but I can wear some t-shirts that are a small, but they are REALLY tight these days!
Stretch marks? Nope...crossing fingers that I don't get any! :)
Sleep: Waking up once or twice a night to go to the bathroom, but overall, sleeping fairly well.
Best moment this week: My mom doing an ultrasound on Saturday at her office and seeing how well Weston is doing...he is measuring right on track and based on measurements the EDD is 01/24, so we'll see! And he is weighing 3.5 lbs. So happy!
Movement: Yes! He is moving a lot, especially during the day now!
Food cravings: None this week...
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: Nothing much this week...just been feeling pretty good!
Belly Button in or out? In but getting more shallow
What I am looking forward to: Getting all the remaining items checked off our list! :)
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy pregnancy and rest and relax as much as you can!
Milestones: Being in single digit weeks! Yay!

Anyways, I have more updates to come later this week from our weekend, but I'll leave those for another day. Hope you all have a great short week! I'll likely only be posting on Monday & Tuesday, because I'm off on Wednesday, and I don't think that I'll make any posts, but we'll see. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Appreciation

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

- William James

I didn't realize how important appreciation was or how often it was thought of or brought up by people until I started to feel like I wasn't being appreciated. I looked up the word appreciation today, and not only did I find the definition, but I found hundreds of quotes, poems and stories on appreciation and appreciating those you love and who do things for you.

In the past few weeks, I've felt like I'm not appreciated, and it hurts my feelings. It's become increasingly difficult for me to bend over, fold clothes, iron clothes, etc. as I get bigger and bigger. It's uncomfortable and my feet hurt if I stand for too long. I'm still cooking dinner daily, as well as, cooking dinner for the dog (long story), and I just want someone to notice that I'm still working hard. It's not that Grant doesn't appreciate me, because I know he does, but I'm at the point right now where I need that reassurance that I'm still doing a good job. I'm sure that a huge part of it is my emotions right now, but I just feel like I'm being lazy and that it's not good enough if I just want to sit on the couch and relax. And Grant would never say that to me or make me feel like that, but it's just my emotions telling me that and letting it get the best of me.

Here's to hoping that I'm a little less emotional and not so "needy" next week...

Show Us Your Life - Pets

So, when I saw that Kelly at Kelly's Korner was hosting a "Show Us Your Life - Pets", I knew that I had to participate! As all of my readers know, Banks is my first baby, and he goes everywhere with us, so it was a no-brainer that I would participate.

Grant & I decided in August of 2008 that we might be able to get a dog. We had been talking about it for quite some time and things were slowing down for us, so we decided that it was time. Ever since we started dating, Grant had said that he wanted a Vizsla one day. He said that he had seen one once, and it was really cool, so that's what he wanted. So, I bought a book on Vizsla's, and we started to research breeders.

We found a breeder named Nancy who runs a kennel called Vizcaya Vizslas, and we got in touch with her. She had a litter on August 14th, so we were thrilled. Perfect timing for us!! We went and visited, and the puppies were so cute. I was sold. So, we picked Banks up on October 4th, 2008.

Our first family photo on the day we picked him up from the Breeder

I love this dog so much...he makes me smile when I've had a bad day, and he always knows when I've had a bad day or I'm not feeling well, and he comes over and just sits with me. He cuddles with Grant every night. He has a great temperament, and he always wants to be right by your side. He will also let you stick your hand in his food bowl while he is eating, and he'll just back up until you are finished and then come back to eat. He is so gentle, and I know that he'll be so good with Weston when he arrives. I dread thinking about the day when he'll go to Doggy Heaven, but he is only 15 months, so we've got quite some time left, I hope. :)

I'll leave you with some photos of Banks:

Sitting together after a hard day's work outside in the yard!

Sleeping with his blanket...he loves to be covered up with a blanket! :)

Waiting for his turn to find Quail at the Hunt Test

My two favorite boys, Grant & Banks

Quail Hunting

His favorite place to relax during the colder months, especially when I've just opened it to remove clothes!

Eating the cake I made him on his 1st Birthday

My First Child

As you all know, I'm SO in love with my sweet dog, Banks. Someone sent me this note called "Potential Danger of Dog Hair", and it's totally me! I'm SO crazy about my dog. I won't say that I've stopped wearing make-up or good clothes or high heels, but I do sometimes delay cooking or cleaning, so I can hang out with him more. I also buy him things before I buy myself things regularly. Does anyone else who has a dog have any of these symptoms?

Urgent Notice: Potential Danger of Dog Hair

In a press release today, the National Institute of Health has announced the discovery of a potentially dangerous substance in the hair of dogs. This substance, called "amobacter cainii" has been linked with the following symptoms in females: Reluctance to cook, clean or do housework. Reluctance to wear make-up, good clothes or high heels. Reluctance to spend money on home or car repairs until after 'Baby' has new collars, leashes, beds, treats, food, blankets or toys.

"Amobacter caninii" usually results in long hours away from home and exhaustion which may lead to a loss of physical contact with other humans (especially husbands and boyfriends). "Amobcater caninii" is thought to be addictive, driving the need for additional sources - this may lead to a "pack mentality" or like the potato chip commercial, "you can't have just one". Beware! If you come in contact with a female human infected by this substance, be prepared to talk about dogs for hours. Additional symptom is a lack of motivation to seek a cure. Full recovery is rare and if cured, serious side-effects may result.

Surgeon General's Warning: Dogs are expensive, Addictive and may impair the ability to use common sense.

I can't relate to all of these things, but I can relate to some, and dogs are expensive and addictive. I keep telling Grant that we need to get Banks a playmate! Ha-Ha! He strongly disagrees! Tomorrow I'll update you all on Bank's achievements last weekend...for now, he is off to the Breeder and headed to Montgomery, AL for a three-day dog show. Keep your fingers crossed that he gets some points and wins this weekend!

And I'll leave you with a photo that I took of my two boys this weekend...
They lay together every evening and watch TV and usually fall asleep like this. They are TOO cute, and it melts my heart that they are so close like this and Banks will sleep on his shoulder. I love them!

Falling Behind...

So, I know that I'm actually ahead of schedule when it comes to setting up the Nursery and getting everything done, but I set dates for myself to get things finished by, and I'm starting to fall behind! It should be no big deal, but I'm so Type A, that I want everything to be done like I envision. Anyways, here is my list and my revised dates. I'll be working on some things this weekend. I've removed all the items from the list that have been done for quite some time.

Weston's Room
- Wash Clothes & Hang / Organize in Closet or Dresser Drawer (1/1) - DONE
- Recover Glider (1/1) - DONE

Our House
- Deep Cleaning (1/1)
- Rearrange photos on wall in Guest Bedroom to coordinate with new furniture (11/30) - Behind
- Hang Floral Canvas prints in Dining Room (1/1)
- Hang prayer on wall in Dining Room (1/1)
- Recover Small Chair for Vanity (11/30) - DONE

Weston's Bathroom
- Hang Photos on Wall - DONE
- Put Bathroom Sign on Door - DONE

Left to Purchase
- Toothbrush Holder & Accessories for Bathroom - DONE
- Two Lamps - DONE
- White Basket for Toilet in Bathroom - DONE
- Blue Washcloths for Bathroom - DONE
- Blue Candle for Bathroom

Can someone come and do the last few things for me? I just want it to get done all on it's own without me having to do it. :(

Ebates.com

Has anyone ever heard of it? I learned about it today, and I immediately signed up. I mean, who doesn't want to get cash back from shopping?! Especially when it offers locations that I shop at regularly, especially Target! :) I'm so excited about my next purchase, so I can get money back. It's kind of like using coupons! :)

If you are interested and want to sign up, check out this link. You sign up, and we'll both get $5.00 back! And I'm not sure about you, but $5.00 adds up quick!

Weston's Nursery

So, we are pretty much finished with the nursery...we've got a few things remaining, but they are minor, so I'll go ahead and post pictures of what we've got finished. I'll post pictures of the glider when it comes back from being recovered, as well as, the lamp and bathroom when we are finished with those. But for now, I'll post some photos that I took earlier this week of Weston's Nursery!

Without further ado...

Crib w/ Initials - The pillow will go on the Glider & the step stool was made by my Grandfather, and it has his name on it! I love it! :)

Window with Valance and Side Table

Dresser w/ Name Blocks above & Diaper Cake from Shower

Sign and Frames...I have no idea what I'm going to put in the Frames!

Behind the door...Bulletin Board my mom made, so we can hang photos!

Closet Door

And that's about it...I'll post more photos later, and I'll post photos of the finished bathroom, when it's complete. I'm so thrilled with how his room turned out! :) What do you guys think?