It's official, I have an outie...

Yep, my belly button is no longer an "in-ie." I have 2 months left and I'm not really sure how much more my belly can expand. I was not looking forward to getting on the scale again today because I feel like I've put on quite a bit of weight these last couple of weeks, in other places than my belly. However, I was pleasantly surprised to have only put on a little over a pound in 2 weeks. I'll probably regret saying that next time I go to the doctor.

I can definitely tell she's getting bigger, as she is putting either her hand or her foot up in my ribs. I keep trying to push her back down, but she is very determined that's where it belongs. I've also had a lot of back pain lately. Hopefully I'll either get used to it or it will get better.

I've been trying to be productive the last couple of weeks and get finished with several projects on my "to do" list. Last week I worked on school stuff quite a bit, trying to figure out 6 weeks of lesson plans. I haven't put anything in my lesson plan book yet because I'm not sure of the schedule and I'm pretty overcompulsive when it comes to having things in time order. However, I'm finding sticky notes really useful...that way I can write out my plans now and stick them in later. I also made several pieces for the math calendar that I kept saying I was going to make last year. At night I've been trying to finish up the baby quilt I started 4 or 5 months ago. Here is a picture of the final product.

Alan went to Oklahoma last weekend with his dad to pick up another engine for the jeep...hopefully this one works! He also went to see his cousin who was in a motorcycle accident. It had been a long time since they saw each other, and Alan's been keeping up to date with his progress through the hospital's care pages ever since. He is also looking forward to a 3 day weeken, even if it is going to be busy. On Saturday we are planning on taking our jeep through the Collins Park parade and then being at my parents' for fireworks and a fun time with family and friends. I'm looking forward to the homemade ice cream! On Sunday afternoon we have a church picnic.

Here, There, and Everywhere

We had a great vacation to Colorado last week. Exhausting...but fun. We stayed in Ouray everynight, but managed to drive over 3000 miles throughout the week. That was way too much sitting and riding. On Sunday we drove a few "easy" trails around the area, seeing as how we just had the truck and it wouldn't have been a great idea to bounce around very much in my third trimester. We also went to Telluride and saw Bridal Veil Falls. Monday, we went to Black Canyon National Park in Montrose and got to see some of my cousins. Tuesday, we drove 3 hours to Moab, Utah, to go to both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. I thought my legs were going to fall off from all of the walking and hiking. They were both very pretty. Alan liked Canyonlands better, but my vote is for Arches. On Wednesday we went to Silverton and Animas Forks (a ghost town). It was pretty neat to walk around buildings from that long ago. We also took some supposedly easy trails above Silverton. However, their rating must not include 8 feet of snow in some parts and it snowing so hard you can't see around you while driving. The trails were also pretty bumpy due to the lack of maintenance this early in the year. Needless to say, I did not enjoy these trails at all. My belly hurt almost the entire time, poor baby didn't know what she was getting herself into this day. Thursday was better, we went to Mesa Verde National Park. We took a walking tour for the Spruce House and Cliff Palace. Friday we went back to Silverton and did the Old Hundred Mines tour. That was pretty neat, although probably not as neat as the Salt Mines in Hutchinson. We also did a little shopping in Silverton, and the baby and I enjoyed a delicious funnel cake. Mmmmmmm!

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Snow on one of the trails we took the first day.

Bridal Veil Falls

Black Canyon National Park

Canyonlands

Arches- we needed a 6 month picture, and I didn't want to do it when anyone else was around.

Snow from Cinnamon Pass

Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde

I had my glucose test today. It wasn't as bad as everyone kept telling me. I had the orange kind, it just tasted like kool-aid that needed to be watered down. I think the lady missed when she drew my blood because my arm is going to have a big bruise tomorrow. It hurt more than the first time I had blood drawn.

Anyway...did I mention that it is HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And to think we're not even in the 90's yet.

Fear Not!

This week went by in a whirlwind, but I had so much fun. I'm not sure exactly how many years I've been helping with the preschoolers during VBS, but I think it's 9. I can honestly say that this was one of the best years. Yes, we did have some wild kids (who really should count as more than one child based on their energy level and the level of energy they require from you), but we also had a lot of really sweet kids. I loved the theme, Crocodile Dock, and the kids did pretty well at listening and remembering the stories taught. The highest number of kids we had on a single night was 21, but over the week we had around 30 different kids ranging from 3-6.

I was also amazed at the number of older kids. Each night they kept multiplying, which was so exciting to see that they wanted to invite their friends to learn about God. Over the week, the kids brought $1001 to send to a feeding center in Honduras.

We had another doctor's appointment this week and now have to start going every 2 weeks. I have to do the glucose test next time...fun, fun, fun! I am now 27 weeks and a few days. So far I've gained a little over 20 pounds. The baby is moving quite a bit...except when Alan comes to feel. He has only felt her move a couple times because every time he puts his hand on my stomach, she stops squirming. He's starting to take it personally, but maybe he has the calming effect on her (let's hope).

What a Day!

Wow, can I call a redo on today? I should have known it was going to be a bad day when I woke up 30 minutes early with a cramp in my leg. I haven't had one since I started taking Tums before I go to bed for extra calcium. Well, I apparently didn't get enough calcium yesterday, because this was a doozy. Later in the morning I laid down on the couch to try to catch up on some sleep that I missed because of not sleeping well last night. I kept having this feeling of something crawling on me. I just dismissed it as being paranoid. Well, I woke up 20 minutes later to the phone ringing and then looked in a mirror. It turns out I was not paranoid, there were actually little black bugs (smaller than an pinhead) on my face where I had scratched. Eeeewww. I immediately went into full cleaning mode trying to discover and take care of where these bugs were coming from. I vacuumed every inch of the couch, chairs, and floor. Then I threw all of the sheets, blankets, and pillows in the washing machine.

While I was still cleaning, I went by the washing machine and it smelled like something was burning. I couldn't figure it out until the load was finished. One of my pillows got stuck up around the edge of the washing machine while it was spinning and melted the polyester filling and burned a hole in the pillow. At least the washing machine didn't catch on fire, but I decided to go to Walmart to get a new pillow later this afternoon.

So, I'm at Wal-Mart and I got my pillow and then I went to get a few groceries (including a bug fogger thing to use while on vacation). I decided to get some Dr. Pepper for Alan, as he is addicted to the stuff. I picked up a 24 pack from the shelf, and the box fell apart. Do you know how much 24 cans of pop can spray and get all over you as they're spinning out of control? Well, now I do. Completely embarrased, the Walmart worker asked me if I wanted to get a new cart. Ummm, yeah I do. Not to mention that this was my second change of clothes today because of the bugs I feared were all over me, and it got my nice cushy flip flops all sticky...and my legs.

So this has been quite a day...3 hours of cleaning, 5 times vacuuming the carpets, 4 loads of laundry, 1 burnt pillow, 24 cans of pop spraying all over me, and 1 dog rolling in cat poop later, Alan walked in and asked how my day was? Little did he know. The good news was that we had a supper club get together tonight with several people from church...and all went well.

Alan's new project

Alan and I both took today off so we could come to his parents' for a 3-day weekend. He has been waiting for jeep parts to arrive, and they finally did about 2 weeks ago. He spent the day working on the jeep, and it's finally starting to look like a jeep. Although, it's going to be a very tall jeep. I think he's going to need to attach a step so that I can climb in. I'm a fairly tall person, but there's no way I can climb that high without a step. I will post pictures at a later time because my battery is about to die on my camera, and I still need it this weekend.

I spent the day catching up on projects that I haven't had the time for lately. I do have to say I didn't miss being at work...sorry girls. This week has been crazy, so I felt like it was a good break. Our dogs also enjoyed swimming this afternoon in the pond. I think Gunner would prefer to have a heart attack while swimming than any other way of death. And they also play this game of let's see how wet we can get and then go shake all over Kristen. (Not my favorite game.)

We had another doctor's appointment this week. The doctor said things looked fine on the sonogram, but said he needed us to have another because they did not get a good picture of the baby's upper lip and the brain/back of head. So I am going in on Tuesday to have another sonogram. Darn, I have to go see our baby again. :) I didn't argue with him, but did ask to make sure insurance would cover another. Alan is not going to take off again so soon to go, so I asked my mom to go with me. My niece is also coming, I thought she would like to see the baby, too.

I did not, however, like to step on the scale. It wasn't nice this time. I have found that it is better to weigh myself at home that morning just to prepare myself for that number at the doctor's. I have really been feeling the baby move around a lot lately. It's pretty cool, but I'm afraid for when she gets quite a bit bigger. My energy level during the day has improved, but I find that I overdo myself and need to go to bed early at night. I am one who needs her sleep.

Well, tomorrow's a busy day, with Moundridge garage sales in the AM and a bridal shower for Christy in the afternoon.

Pictures of our little girl

This is the best profile picture we got.

Our little girl not being shy.

Look at her little foot.

You can see toes and fingers on this one.

Crossing her legs. Apparently she is as fidgety as me, she likes to cross her legs, uncross them , and do it all over again. She also was putting her hands behind her head and sticking out her tongue.

It's A Girl!!!!!!

We had our sonogram yesterday, and found out we are having a little girl. (Alan was right, and he hasn't stopped rubbing it in.) I can't even imagine how spoiled she is going to be, and I think Alan is already wrapped around her finger. He has said that there will be a limit on the amount of pink.

I am still amazed at how much you can see on a sonogram. We got to see that our little girl is a wiggle worm. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs, putting her hands behind her head, and sticking her tongue out (that comes from the Carlson side). I felt the baby move yesterday morning before work for the first noticeable time, and I thought it was kicking. Apparently, she was punching me instead. I will post scans of the sonogram when I get back home.

My class took a vote yesterday before my appointment on whether they thought it was a boy or girl. They voted 13 to 5 that it was a girl. They were excited to find out that they were right. I also enjoyed keeping the secret from coworkers overnight. At my school, there is a pattern going of babies born. I think it starts with girl, girl, boy, boy, girl, girl, boy (on the way), boy (on the way), and now me...girl. I'm pretty sure I'm number 9 in the pattern. At least the pressure is off of me to keep the pattern going.

Well, I'll get those pics posted in a couple of days. Only 21 1/2 days of school left!!!!!!!!