Our Newest Addition!

Our Baby Boy!!

Hunter Theodore Schwartze

Born September 25, 2008

5lbs 7oz 18 inches long

Me and Hunter are still in the hospital but we should be home soon!!

Nursery Pictures!

36 Week Appointment!

Last Wednesday I had another doctor’s appointment. I really enjoyed this appointment, because usually the nurse takes care of ¾ the appointment and then the doctor comes in to finish it off. But on this occasion, the nurse had been on hold on the phone for a long time, so Dr. Lynn came in to perform the whole appointment. His heart rate was good at 134bpm. She measured my stomach and determined me to be 3cm small for my stage of the pregnancy. Which could mean he is not growing, or that the amniotic fluid is low, or just that he has dropped really low. In result, she ordered me another ultrasound. I am anxious to find out how big he is at this point and to get another sneak peak of him. She asked me if I wanted to be checked again and I said yes since I had a busy weekend, I was curious to see if all the dancing I did at Tommy and Alissa’s wedding paid off. And…It did! I am now dilated between 2.5 and 3cm and 70% effaced! Sweet!

Weekend Recap!

Friday: Andy and I headed over to Darryl and Paula’s for a fish fry. We hadn’t been to one of them in awhile, so it was good to get my fix.

Saturday: Andy and I attended our Childbirth Preparation Class offered by the hospital. It was an all day ordeal, but it was very informative and kept our attention. I think Andy learned a lot, which is what I was really wanting. I didn’t want him to go into the delivery room completely blind-sided and I think going to this class really helped.

After being dismissed from class, Andy and I headed to Columbia to go to Sam’s. This was a last attempt a stocking up the pantry before Hunter’s arrival. We spent a ton of money, and I don’t feel like we really got anything. We did get enough bleach, razors, batteries, etc to last us a year. But what we didn’t walk away with a lot of was food. While they had things there that we needed, I didn’t find it necessary to buy a gallon tub of Ranch dressing. Maybe next time! Sam’s is going to be very handy when it comes to diapers, wipes and formula!

After spending practically all of our money, we spent the rest of it at HuHots! It was a bad weekend to be in Columbia because of the football and game (plus it was parent’s weekend). So everywhere was packed. But like always, it was worth the wait at HuHots!

Sunday: I cleaned around the house for most of the day while watching Dr. 90210 off and on. Kelly and Aubrey came by for a visit while Andy and Kevin were out hunting.

Tour of Missouri

On Friday, the Tour of Missouri made its way through our little town of Vienna. I had never seen anything like it, but it turned out to be pretty neat. I avoided the huge crowds in Vienna and made my way out of town closer to my house to get a better view of the cyclist. Here are a few of the pictures I took of the race. If you want more details on the Tour of Missouri, here is a link!

Here is the first group coming through. You may notice all the cars that follow them. They are their sponsers and pit crew!

This is the second group making their way around the corner. There was nearly 100 of them in this group.

This is the second group again.

This rider had to have a tire changed. It was neat to watch!

Prenatal Message!

Last night I cashed in my gift certificate for a one hour message (compliments of Donnie & Shanda for my birthday) at River Stone Therapeutic Message in Vienna. All I can say is…Damn! I walked out of there needing a cigarette! It was wonderful! I have never had a professional message before, so I was pretty nervous on what to expect. But once she got started, I didn’t have a care in the world.

Being pregnant puts a damper on the experience, because you are limited on how you can lay down on the table as well as where she can message because there are parts on the body that if rubbed can actually cause contractions. So we didn’t want that to happen.

My favorite part had to be the hot stones. It was a weird burning sensation without the pain. All in all, it was a wonderful experience that went by way too fast. I plan to go back after the baby is born so I can enjoy the whole experience. I defiantly recommend anyone to go give it a try!

THANK YOU DONNIE & SHANDA!

SPECIAL REPORT!

KRCG IS BACK ON

DISH NETWORK!

35 Week Appointment!

Yesterday I had my 35 week doctor’s appointment. All went well as usual, but I have officially hit the 30lb weight gain! YUCK! While I there they ran the Group B Strep test (this is routine), which I should get the results of those at my next appointment. If I test positive for this, it just means that when I am in labor they will hook me up to an IV to run antibiotics through it, so the baby doesn’t catch anything as he is being born.

She also checked me, and found that he is head down and “very low.” I am also dilated 1.5cm and I am 50% effaced. WOW! I wasn’t expecting that with still a month to go! I will take any progress now, than having to wait for it while I am in labor.

I told Andy all of this when I got home, and I think I officially scared the crap out of him. His has been on me for the last few weeks about getting my bags packed for the hospital, and I have just blown him off. But this new news has just fueled his fire on getting me to start packing.

Here is a more skin-exposed 35 week prego picture!

ABB is at it AGAIN!

Andy has been working at ABB for nearly ten years, but the latest layoffs in the past few months has really got me scared. While the layoffs are chosen in order of seniority, they keep inching closer and closer to Andy losing his job! The next round may be all it takes for us to be living with one income. It has got me so nervous and scared about what our future holds. Not only would the income loss be a problem, but we are reliant on his health insurance.

I pray that the economy will make a turn around for the sake of all the ABB employees and their families. This election year could be a huge deciding factor for many factories around the country.

Here a an article that the New Tribune published about the current layoff at ABB:


ABB Inc. will lay off 75-80 employees at its
Jefferson City facility, effective Sept. 19.

“Overall the company is doing well,” said Human Resource Manager Matt Boyle. “It's just that the items we make at this facility are so dependent on the housing market and it's continuing to struggle.”

He added: “When housing starts decrease, you don't see the small commercial development take place. We're talking about strip malls, restaurants and gas stations being built. The distribution transformers we make are for these type of developments.”

In June, the company laid off 47 workers at the plant, citing a slow economy as the reason for that move.

“The economic conditions haven't improved enough since that time,” said Boyle. “Non-residential construction starts continue to decline. We don't expect things to recover in the near term.

”With this latest move, the Jefferson City plant will go down to a total work force of around 730. At the start of the year, more than 900 people worked at the plant.

Boyle said the company has contacted the Missouri Department of Economic Development' Division of Workforce Development to try and help the workers who will be affected.
“They have a Rapid Response Team who will be holding meetings with the workers to help them in their job searches.

”Under the collective bargaining agreement with the UAW Local 2379 in Jefferson City, which represents the workers at the plant, employees have re-hire rights for five years.

Union officials issued a statement saying, “The union is sorry to see our valued members laid off. We hope the economy will improve soon and all members will be called back to work.”

Boyle has said that the areas ABB is seeing growth in is in the wind power business and large construction sector.

Emotional Roller Coaster!

I have always thought of myself as a semi-emotional person. I always cry at stupid things such as movies, commercials or someone winning a lot of money on Deal or No Deal. What can I say; I have a soft heart that is eager to tear up! I even cry when I get really mad, which completely ruins my ability to win a fight when I am wiping tears and gasping for air as I try to vent.

So I figured being pregnant was going to completely throw me over the edge. But to my surprise, I have been pretty mellow. That was until lately I can’t seem to cope with any bump in the road. Everything has me on edge and ready to cry. I think too much about things, care too much about what people think, and worry too much about not pleasing everyone. These are all juvenile issues that I vow to GET OVER and put my attention to what matters most….My husband and son!

There is light at the end of the tunnel, so maybe these hormones will balance themselves out before I make a complete ass of myself. Which wouldn’t be the first time!
Wink*Wink*

Weekend Recap!

Friday Night: Andy and I went over and raided Kevin and Kelly’s house. We got a lot of play time in with Aubrey. She is so cute and extremely fun to play with at this age. I found myself watching Andy play with her, and it always reminds me of what a great father he is going to be. We ended up watching the movie, What Happens in Vegas. It was really funny and cute. After leaving there, Andy and I headed to Koeltztown to pick up the car that he accidently left there. (Long, boring story that is not worth telling)

Saturday: I asked Kelly to go along with me to a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. There were some last minute things I needed to buy prior to Hunter being born (aka nursing bras and supplies). And since she is recently experienced in this department, I knew she would be able to help me and answer all of my questions. First of all, nursing supplies is EXPENSIVE! Who knew an additional clasp on a bra or shirt could cause the price to sky rocket! Oh well, the price you have to pay for convenience!

While we were at the Motherhood store, they measured me to get the correct bra size. And while I was aware of my increasing bust, I was unaware of the actual bra size I now was. 36D!!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!! That’s right…..”D” as in Damn! I am still shock if you can’t tell! Anyway, I spent a lot of money, but I believe I am prepared to feed my child!

Saturday Night: We went over to Sean’s house for a fish fry. It was good to hang out with him and Paula since we don’t get to see them very much. After stuffing ourselves, we headed over to Kevin and Kelly’s for a card party. The men were downstairs, the women upstairs and the children ran frantic around the whole house. All in all, it was a successful party.

Sunday: I did a lot of chores around the house. Laundry, dishes, organizing…I even cleaned the inside of the Jeep out. I hope this productive “nesting” stage I have got going on continues quite a bit longer, I like coming home to an already clean house! To finish off the day, I cooked a roast with potatoes and onions and a side of corn. I know the meal is good when Andy fills his plate three times! Dinner was a success!

Wee Wee Toppers?????

Squirt Stoppers?

Pee Pee Covers?

Who thinks of this stuff? Someone has actually created a cloth "cone" to place over a little boy's "package" while you are changing them so you don't get rained on during the process. Whatever happened to just throwing a cloth or wipe over it. People actually pay money for this?

I don't even know how I came across these, but they stopped me in my tracks. I found them on one of my new favorite websites, http://www.etsy.com/. It is similiar to E-Bay, but it consist of crafts and homemade items. You should check it out sometime!

Busy Weekend Recap!

Thursday Evening: Andy and I went to the fair for him to pull his tractor. We got it all loaded and took it to the fair grounds for us to find out that he didn’t qualify to pull. Apparently there was a whole list of rules and regulations (that were not listed on the online list) that prevented Andy from pulling. So pretty well all the local people that brought out their tractors to pull “for fun,” weren’t allowed to even try. Oh well, it has just sparked a fire for people to bring back the tractor pull in Argyle. The festivities at the fair ended pretty early because of a huge thunderstorm that came thru at around. 9pm.

Friday Evening: We were out at the fair again. This was the night for the regular truck and tractor pull, and there seemed to be a huge crowd compared to the night before. It was great to see people I haven’t seen in a long time. I always go to the fair to socialize rather than pay attention to the trucks pulling the sled down the track. We didn’t make it home until after 1am and I still had to go to work that next/same morning. This was really late for a fat pregnant lady like myself who depends on her sleep. I am sure it would have ended earlier if there wasn’t a delay on starting the pull because of them repairing the track from the storm the night before. Why they (the fairboard) hadn’t taken care of it during the day was the question that was running thru everyone’s minds as we sat there for a couple hours watching them push the mud around.

Saturday: As I woke up after only a few hours of sleep, I looked down to find that I no longer had ankles. They had swelled to the point of being “cankles!” The late few nights of constant standing had officially caught up with me. I made my way to work where we finished our float for the parade. Have I mentioned the theme was “Git-R-Done” How stupid is that! Way to make Vienna/Maries County sound like a big redneck community. I think they should let the community vote on the theme, because the ones the fairboard had chosen the last couple of years have sucked! We closed the bank an hour early so we could head down town and watch the parade. It was the longest parade we have had in awhile, but it is a major election year so there were a lot of political advertisements.

After the parade, we headed to Andy’s uncle’s house in town for lunch. We all sat around in lawn chairs, stuffed our faces and chatted. Soon thereafter, we went down to my Uncle Larry’s lake house for another dinner. We were so full when we got there, that I just went straight for the dessert. At this point in the day, the swelling in my ankles had spread to my toes to where I was no longer able to bend them. So I told Andy to take me home. As soon as I walked in the door, I plopped on the couch and propped up my feet and took a much needed two hour nap! I woke up feeling refreshed, and while my ankles were still swollen, I was able to freely move my toes! Ah, the pleasures of being pregnant during the summer!!!!

That evening……Surprise……We went back to the fair for the last night. This was when the Demo Derby took place. There is nothing more exciting than watching a bunch of cars smash into each other for fun! The Derby ended pretty early, but we all stuck around for a little while to hang out.

Sunday: We headed down the Osage River. Since the water was really low, we didn’t have a float trip like usual. We all just hung out and ate some BBQ. Andy and I left from the river to go down to Argyle to play some volleyball. Well, Andy played and I was the “line judge.”

Monday (AKA Labor Day): I barely lifted a finger all day. I did some laundry and a few small chores, but other than that I took it easy and enjoyed the day off of work.

Antique Tractor Pull!

This is the weekend of the Maries County Fair! I always look forward to going, just because everyone comes out and you get to see people you haven't seen in a long time.

Anyway, tonight is the night of the Antique Tractor Pull and Andy is so excited! He is entering an old Farmall tractor. He has been working on it for the last couple of weeks. I don't know how well it will actually pull, but it will be fun to watch Andy give it a try.

Here is him riding on the tractor he is entering!

A Sad Loss!

I started my blog at around the time I found out I was pregnant. I like to read other women's blogs who are pregnant as well and are due around the same time. I have been reading this one family blog (I am not going to provide a link to their site, for their own privacy) for some time now. Even though when you read blogs, you may not necessarily know who they are, you tend to build an attachment to them and curiosity of what is going on in their lives. This particular blog is of a cute young couple who already has a 2 year old boy and was pregnant with their second child due around 3 weeks after me. I had noticed that there hadn't been any post on their blog for the last couple of weeks. And it wasn't until a little while ago that I found out why. Their second boy had been born prematurely at only 30 weeks and died 4 days later on August 24th. I have been sitting here at my desk unable to work because of the tears rolling down my face. They had even posted pictures of their final moments with their little boy (which I assume are just prior to or just after his death because there are no tubes or medical equipment hooked up to him).

I could not even begin to imagine what this family is going thru. To lose a baby this far into a pregnancy would be unthinkable. Especially after you hear the heartbeat, feel those first kicks, somersaults, hiccups and to see their little face on the ultrasound, you would think you are all in the clear for a healthy pregnancy. God works in mysterious ways, and while I don't understand the reasoning behind taking a child before they have the chance to live their life, I do know that what little time they are here (born or not), they have placed their little footprint on all those around them and everyone's lives will forever be changed.

So I ask you all today to pray along with me for this family and all the other families that have dealt with a similar loss.

Cardinals Win 5 to 3!

The game was awesome last night! We had such a great time! The game started off slow with us loosing early on, but we rallied back in the eighth inning to take the lead and win the game. It was really intense, but that is what makes for a great ball game. I really liked the seats we had. The section we were in was called the Casino Queen Party Porch. While it was sort-of high up from the field, the environment was unique. There was a huge bar that you could sit at and watch the game from T.V.'s (if you didn't want to sit in your normal seats), there was also a couple of concession stands designated only to this section (so you didn't have to wait in line or fight the normal crowd), there were also numerous T.V.'s above us that showed the Fox footage of the game. That was really neat, because you could watch the replay after seeing it live on the field. All in all, it was a good time had by all and the Nachos were awesome!

Andy & I

Kevin & Kelly

Andy's Birthday message I had put on the scrolling sign!

Here is Hunter watching the game!

Tonights Plans!

We are going to a Cardinals Game!

Weekend Recap!

Saturday: I made a trip to Rolla to do a little shopping. My main reason for going was to pick up some items I had purchased at Walmart.com and had shipped to the store for free. I got confirmation that 3 out of the 5 items I ordered were in. Before heading that way, I checked the status of the other 2 items to see if they would be there as well. The item I was really wanting was the baby travel system (Car seat and stroller) and as I tracked it, it said it was in transit from the St. James distribution center to Rolla. Which made me really excited thinking it would be there for me to pick up. Well I was wrong, but I was able to pick up the other things.

The main highlight of my trip happened as I was pumping my Jeep full of gas. While I was standing there patently waiting as the pump was sucking all of my money, there was a car full of guys driving past hollering and whistling at me. I KNOW....I couldn't believe it either! I must of had myself positioned just right for them not to see the belly. It is the little things in life that can builds one self esteem! Andy didn't find this story as thrilling as I did!

Saturday Evening: Kevin, Kelly, Holly, Andy and I headed to Columbia for some HuHots! You may think we go there a lot…which is true but we make a point to go once a month. And guess what…next week is a whole new month for us to meet our quota. This was Holly’s first trip to HuHots, and it can be pretty overwhelming trying to decide what to put on your plate. But I think she liked it, even after her first plate was too spicy/hot for her to eat. After leaving Columbia we headed back to Jeff City for some Cold Stone!

Sunday: I headed back to Rolla with Shanda and Holly in hopes that my travel system had finally made it to Wal-Mart. And it had! I was soooo excited! As soon as I got home I was tearing through the box so I could put it all together. The pattern is so cute and it was really easy to put together. Hunter will be riding in style. Here are some pictures of what it looks like!

Andy's Diaper Bag!

Look what I found on E-Bay! Per Andy's request, he has really been wanting a camo diaper bag, and this one is perfect! It actually says, "Daddy's Lil' Hunter." What could be more perfect than that?

Baby Shower!

The baby shower was on Sunday and it was a huge success! We got so much stuff! And it is going to be so much fun going back through everything and putting it away! There was a large turn out of family and friends that came. And to my surprise, Andy came down to the shower and stayed the whole time! What a great husband and father-to-be. He didn't sit up front with me to open the gifts, but that didn't matter to me. I was just thrilled he was there to share in the excitement! Below are some pictures of the day!

Here is the cake that Beth made!

Andy and I posing with the cake!

Dad, Denise, Me & Andy

Denise, Dad & I

Belly Comparison!

Dad, Me, Andy & Mom

Mom, Me & Dad
I knew I couldn't make it through this shower without getting some Camo!

This is the best shower gift ever....Liquor! Thanks Kevin!Andy sitting amongst the women playing the shower games!

Here is the quilt Shanda made! Adorable! And the backing was brown with blue polka-dots!

Here is the afghan mom made!

Daycare!!!!

WE HAVE A DAYCARE!

This was a long and overwhelming process trying to find someone that first of all had openings and was good and highly recommended to watch Hunter that was at a convenient location for either Andy or I to pick him up. I am glad to finally check this off of my to-do list!

View From my Office!

Finally they are replacing our broken sign outside. It has been down for months! In addition they are upgrading us to a scrolling sign so we can be on the same page as the rest of our branches!

31 Week Appointment!

This mornings appointment was far from ordinary. I was first thrown off by not having one of the two nurses that have usually taken care of me. This girl seemed really young and wasn’t very social able! She took my urine sample, blood pressure, measured my stomach, and checked his heart rate, all while not saying a word. So I assumed all was well…not so much!

The doctor came in and said they detected something in my urine sample. I have no clue what it was called because it was a really long word. I just went with it because I pay them to know what they are talking about! She listed a bunch of symptoms that are associate with this “thing,” none of which I had. She said they wanted another urine sample so they could send it to the lab for further test. Until then, she prescribed me some antibiotics to try to flush it out of my system.

If that wasn’t enough, the doctor wanted to re-measure my stomach because the nurse measured me being too large for this state of my pregnancy. Meaning I could have too much amniotic fluid. But when the doctor measured me, I was right on track. The nurse must just be having an off day!

Since I had given them all I had to give in my first urine sample, I was dry docked! The doc said she would get me a cup of water to help speed up the process. She apologized that the only cup she had to give me water in was the ones used to pee in and assured me it was brand new and sanitary. While that was a concern I was more embarrassed about people seeing me stroll the hallways drinking from a pee cup and waiting for “the urge!” Seeing my point of view, she let me just chug the water and then go have a seat until I was ready! I am not sure when I will hear the results, I guess they will call and let me know if there is any concern.

Good News: The Glucose Test game back perfect!

Andy's Birthday Gift!

I ran to Rolla Monday evening to see if they had the Wii game I was wanting to buy Andy for this Birthday, and they did! I bought the last one! I gave it too him that evening and this is what I get the pleasure of watching at night now!

(Shown on the screen is him looking thru a gun scope at a Moose!)

I have to admit the game is pretty fun, except when a large Grizzly Bear eats you!

GAME OVER!

Weekend Recap!

Friday: Late that night, Andy and I made our way froggin’ around some ponds on the farm. It was a lot of fun! Andy is nice enough to let me gig some frogs myself, so I don’t have full time duty of holding the spot light while he has all the fun. I do make him take the frogs off the gig for me because I just don’t have the nerve to grab these massive frogs myself. I managed to get my fair share of the action, not bad for being 7 months pregnant! Also, as we cruised from pond to pond, we came up on a lot of deer (mostly does and fawns, but still exciting). When we were done we headed back to the house to clean the frogs…well Andy cleaned them, I was there for moral support.

Saturday (ANDY’S BIRTHDAY): That’s right my stud turned 29! I had previously bought some Cardinal’s tickets for Andy’s birthday present (but he already knew about them), so I wanted to get him a present that he could have on his birthday. I bought him a Cardinal’s t-shirt to wear to the game, but that is not very exciting, so I headed to Jeff City to buy him the Cabella’s hunting game for the Wii. Well needless to say they were sold out everywhere! Figures! So I told him he would get his gift on a later date!

Saturday Evening: We headed down to Donnie and Shanda’s to celebrate Andy’s birthday. We swam in the pool, had a frog/fish fry, played cards and watched a movie. It was a fun yet relaxing evening!

Sunday: I woke up early and made Andy some French Toast (his favorite) because I felt guilty about not having anything for him on his birthday, so I made him a delayed Birthday breakfast. We spent the rest of the day working around the house. I worked in the nursery hanging up Hunter’s name and other odds and ends. Andy worked outside trimming some trees. Below is a picture of him hauling off some of the limbs in his Ranger!

I also went over to Mom’s and got a bunch corn on the cob, Yummy! By the time I got home, Andy had got a bunch of tomatoes for us to can salsa! So I spent the afternoon canning salsa as Andy shucked the corn. I ended up filling 18 pint jars, so I believe we are good on salsa for a couple of years! After all of our hard work we crashed on the couch and watched the Olympics!

Nerve Wracking Evening!

Wednesday Night Andy and I were on the verge of getting ready to go to the hospital. I was having really bad stomach cramps that eventually began to spread to my back. They felt like my Braxton-Hicks contractions but they were accompanied with pain. Not a good sign! Andy at first was trying to down play the situation, but as the evening went on and the pain kept coming, he began to get concerned. I remember hearing that you could feel as if you are having contractions if you are dehydrated, so I began chugging water like crazy! Andy had to go into work early the next morning and he needed to get up at 2am. So because of that, I was trying to get him to go to bed so he could get some rest. This was a chore because he was concerned about me (ah, how sweet) and didn’t think he could sleep. I kept reassuring him that I was fine and if I needed him, I knew where to find him. After finally getting him to go to bed, I went and sat on the couch with my feet up and continued to drink my water as I read all of pregnancy books trying to diagnose what was going on. My doctor had previously told me that if I had more than 4 contractions in an hour, I needed to go to the hospital. Well…I was way over my 4 maximum, but something kept telling me that it wasn’t necessary and this all would pass. And it did…Thank Goodness! All has been well since then.

After this experience, I pray that I am part of the 15% of women whose water breaks before the contractions start, so I am not sitting at home wondering if I am really in labor or not.

3/4 Baked!

Nursery Letters!

About 6 weeks ago I had found a lady on E-bay that hand paints wooded letters that spell out your child’s name to hang on their bedroom wall. This lady is an excellent painter and can do anything you ask. I had e-mailed her a picture of the crib bedding set I had bought and told her to come up with something creative to match.

I finally got a confirmation e-mail that she had Hunter’s name complete to match the bedding. So she e-mailed me this picture of the final project. I love it. I can’t wait to see it in person.

(Skip Hop Mod Dot is the name of the bedding. I am not sure why she included that in the photo)

What do you think?

Weekend Recap!

Friday Evening: Andy and I headed to Jeff City. We went and ate supper at Pizza Hut. As we ate we got to enjoy the Cardinals game on their plasma T.V.’s. After supper we headed to the movie theater to the watch the new Mummy movie. It didn’t start until 9:55pm, so we sat in the Jeep and continued to listen to the Cardinals game. We finally made our way in the theater and we were the first ones to take our seats and there was only about 10 minutes left before the movie started.

It is just our luck that of the grand total of 12 of us that were in the whole theatre, a group of 3 people sat in the row just in front of us. There were 100 other empty rows, but they had to sit in front of us. That wasn’t the big problem I had with them. What drove me nuts was the guy proceeded to rock back in forth in his chair throughout the WHOLE movie. It was so annoying and distracting. We tried to put our hands up on the side of our faces so we couldn’t see him, but this became really uncomfortable. I finally got up and sat on the other side of Andy. While sitting over there, I could still see him rocking in the corner of my eye, so I strategically combed my bangs to the side so it would block any view I had of him. Rrrrrr!

Saturday: Both Andy and I had half days at work, then afterwards we both hauled butt home to get ready to go to the river for Paula’s birthday party. We had a large crowd go on the float trip. It was really hot outside and the only way to tolerate it was to be in the water. It was probably about a 4 hour float, and by that point we were all starving. Luckily those who didn’t float with us had the grills going by the time we made it to shore. There was a lot of food. Andy and I had brought Marinated Deer Steak Wrapped in Bacon, it was soooo good! I also made a dirt cake, yummy! It was a long, fun, and exhausting day.

Sunday: Holly and Shanda came up to the house to help paint the nursery. It turned out really good. Even Andy commented on how nice it looked, and that means a lot coming from him! Once I get the furniture moved back in the place, and the curtains put up I will post some pictures.
Holly and I also went through some of my wedding stuff, to see if there was anything she would want to use for her own. After all of our hard work for the day, we went and swam in the pool for awhile. Kelly and Aubrey also came and joined us. Aubrey loves her pool time. She likes to kick and splash like crazy. She is so cute to watch!

Childbirth Preparation

It is official….I have signed Andy and I up for a Saturday Childbirth Preparation Class at our hospital, Capital Region. It was either dedicate one Saturday or 3 Wednesday evenings. So I figured we would just get it over with in one day. Andy is not too keen on the idea of going….well he doesn’t exactly have a choice. I may be the one carrying this baby but I need all of his support come delivery.

These classes aren’t like they use to be, meaning there are no Lamaze or breathing lessons. It is more informational on what to expect. They will give us a tour, tell us when we should come to the hospital, where to go when we arrive, what we need to bring, what to expect during labor, types of deliveries, recovery expectations, infant care/checkups and much, much more.

I like to plan ahead. So when it comes to going into labor, I want to be comfortable with where I need to go and what their procedures are. I feel like I have read a lot of books and articles and watched hundreds of the Baby Story episodes to prepare me for what to expect (except for the pain aspect), so I really want to go to this class so Andy is up to speed. Andy does not handle situations well in unfamiliar territory. Maybe if he has an idea of what to expect and can focus on being more supportive, he is less likely to be short tempered and pissy because he is scared and nervous.

The moment of truth will be here before we know it, and our lives will be more fulfilled than ever.

The one thing I anticipate to expect is the overwhelming love, joy, tears and excitement this little boy will bring to our lives.

29 Week Appointment & Glucose Test

Yesterday I had another doctor’s appointment. All was good. I had only gained one pound, so I was pretty proud of that. The baby’s heart rate was around 140 bpm, so he is still going strong! After leaving the doctor’s office I headed over to the hospital for my glucose test. This is to determine if I had developed Gestational Diabetes, which is a routine test now for anyone who is pregnant. I had walked in the hospital with mixed emotions; because of course you always hear the worst. The test consisted of drinking a bottle (a little larger than a can of soda) of a sugar substance that tasted like flat Sprite. I had 5 minutes to drink the whole thing, but I had the whole thing chugged in less than a minute. Then I had to wait around for an hour before they would draw my blood. So I sat in the waiting room and tried to entertain myself. I checked my blood pressure a couple of times on one of those machines where you stick your arm in the hole, I played Tetris on my cell phone, read some magazines and was ease-dropping on the old ladies at the receptionist desk. The time went by pretty fast. After my hour was up they called me back to draw my blood. It just took a couple of minutes and I was finally done.

I don’t know when I will hear the results. Cross your fingers that I don’t have gestational diabetes, because this girl LOVES sugar. And if I would have to restrict my sugar intake for the next couple of months, I am liable to flip out!

One thing that was neat to watch was my OB doctor in action. As I was sitting in the outpatient waiting room, I could look out the window to the parking lot. There is a sign on one of the parking spots that says, “OB On Call Parking Only.” When I had arrived, there was no one parked in this spot…meaning no babies were being born at that time. But as I was patiently waiting, I saw a van whipping into the spot and out jumped MY doctor (who I had just met with 20 minutes prior at my appointment). She came sprinting across the parking lot and into the door next to the maternity ward. It was exciting to see her in action, I can only imagine what kind of adrenaline rush that would be. And as I was leaving the hospital, she was walking out at the same time to go back to her office.

All in a hard day’s work!

Weekend Recap!

Friday: After work, Beth came and picked me and we headed to Dixon for a garage sale. Beth knows this lady from work and she had invited some people to come up early and to go through all of her baby stuff. It wasn’t as extensive as we were expecting. I only spent $5. Beth walk away with quite a few things, but she was buying things for other people as well.

Kevin and Kelly had rented the volleyball court in Argyle for the evening. So when I got home from Dixon I began making supper so we could eat before we headed down to play. Well as soon as we sat down for dinner it began to storm like crazy. So needless to say, we stayed home for the evening and watched a couple movies.

Saturday: I was off of work and Andy was mandatory to go to work. Bummer! The sacrifices of being pregnant are starting to arise the farther I get along. There were a couple float trips on the Gasconade River going on that day that I really wanted to attend. But I knew there was no way I was going to be able to make it 4+ hours in a canoe in 90 degree weather. These float trips are unlike the ones we have on the Osage River. On the Osage the water is deep and smooth, and we are on floaties that keep us half way submerged under the water to stay cool. On the Gasconade it is really shallow with a lot of gravel bars and you find yourself having to walk down the river during the shallow parts because your floaty is scraping the rocks below you. So if the float trips would have been on the Osage, I wouldn’t have hesitated. But I didn’t’ think heat exhaustion would have been a good idea at this stage in my pregnancy!

Saturday Evening: We went over to Kevin and Kelly’s after they got done with their float trip. We ate some BBQ and sat around and watched the Cardinals game.

Sunday: Being unable to sleep and somewhat motivated, I got up early and made pancakes and bacon. We rarely eat breakfast on the weekends, because as soon as we get up Andy is getting ready to head to the farm and work for the day. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t eat down there. So on this day, I made took the initiative to not ask Andy if he wanted breakfast, I just did it!

That afternoon Holly, Shanda and I headed to Jeff City for the Bridal Spectacular. It was a good time and I think Holly got a lot of ideas. My favorite part was all of the samples of cakes! Yummy! My favorite was the Red Velvet cake with the Butter Cream Icing! I forgot how overwhelming these events can be, especially for the Bride. There are people pulling at you from every direction begging you to come to their booth so they can give you a presentation on why you should use their services at your wedding. They all ask the same generic questions as a conversation starter: When is your wedding? Where is your wedding at? Have you booked/purchased a photographer/DJ/wedding dress yet? Holly mentioned having a t-shirt made that included all of this information on it so you didn’t have to repeat it 50 times in one day. Not a bad idea!

For the evening we went down to Donnie and Shanda’s for some swimming and BBQ for a going away party for Abe (Holly’s fiancé). Kudos to Abe for joining the National Guard!!!! That is a huge decision to make, but I am so proud of him for making the sacrifice for all of us! He is leaving on Wednesday evening and will be gone for 8 months (except for a small break at Christmas).
I cannot image what Holly is going through right now. After just getting engaged, that has got to be so hard to send him off to the unknown for so long! I plan to do whatever I can to distract her and take her mind off of him being gone. Whether that is dinner, shopping, or going to the movies, because I know she would do the same for me!

Weekend Recap!

Friday Night: I was periodically working in the house and going outside to watch Andy, Donnie and Sean work on the location for the new shed we have ordered. We originally were going to building a nice shed (one big enough for Andy to park his truck in, as well as his ranger and lawn mower) but when we were given a quote of over $20,000 for just the concrete work, we said forget about it. So instead we have purchase a small shed from Hilkemeyer’s in Freeburg. It should be in within the next couple of weeks. Until then, Andy has been working hard to level the place in which he wants to put the shed. Since we live on such a slope, we have had to bring in 7 large concrete blocks that weight 2,400lbs each to balance out the hill. It sounds confusing, but it makes since when you see it.

Saturday: Work…Again! I was such a bum when I got off of work, that I went home and took a long nap. I should have taken Holly up on her offer of swimming in the pool that afternoon. At least then I would have gotten a tan as I was napping.

That evening, Andy and I went on a date for my birthday. I bet you cannot guess where we ate at….HuHots!!! It was excellent as usual. While it was to be a dinner with just Andy and I, ended up including a small baby. No, not ours! There was a little boy (close to a year old) sitting at the table next to us that Andy kept on watching and making funny faces at. This little boy was so cute! Andy spent the whole time looking past me to get a smile out of the little boy. I guess Andy was just practicing for when out little on is here!

After leaving HuHots, we headed back to Jeff City to check out what was in the movie theaters. We ended up seeing, A Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was alright. We thought about seeing the Dark Knight, but it looks a little disturbing to me. Plus, throughout the whole movie I would be thinking about Heath Ledger being dead.

After the movies we ran over to Cold Stone for a Cake N’ Shake, but they were already closed! DAMN IT! Better luck next time!

Sunday: The Schwartze family has a lot down on the Osage River. It like a small neighborhood with some good neighbors and some bad neighbors. At the annual meeting this year, the Schwartze boys were nominated to do some much needed tree destruction. The trees were beginning to take over the road down to the river. So on Sunday we all got up early and headed down there for some work and play. The guys took off up the road to begin their job as the women stayed back and cooked breakfast. The guys did an excellent job clearing the roads. After everything was done we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the river!

Reba Video!

Reba McEntire has a new music video out. It is called Every Other Weekend. She sings it with Kenny Chesney. The song is about a divorced couple that meets every other weekend to swap their children back and forth. And both of them still miss each other, but don't have the nerve to tell the other one that they want them back. It is a really good song.

But the part I wanted to tell you about was who the actors were that played the divorced couple. IT IS VAN & CHEYENNE OFF OF THE REBA SHOW!

This video is excellent, but using them as the couple makes it a link to the Reba Show. Meaning, we had left the series finale of the Reba Show with Van & Cheyenne as a happily married couple expecting their second child. Now years later this video comes out and depicts them as a divorced couple. It is so sad, that I literally cry every time I watch it. I love them two as a couple and it may just be a show, but when you watch it for 6 seasons they begin to grow on you like family.

For those outsiders who have never watched the Reba Show, probably think this sounds really ignorant. Too bad for you because you are really missing out by not watching this show, it is so funny!

Here is a link to Reba's Video!

Every Other Weekend

Enjoy!

27 Week Appointment

I had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday. All went well except when the conversation came to my weight. I had gained 7.5lbs since my last appointment. Holy S**t! A little more than the average one pound a week I am suppose to gain. In my defence I reminded them that I had only gained one pound at my last appointment, so I was just making up for those other 3lbs I was short. Oh well, there is no going back now!

I can tell this boy is going to be a feisty one. While the nurse was measuring my uterus, she was pressing really hard on my stomach. She made on comment that she is probably going to get kicked. I could feel him moving around but it wasn't until we were searching for his heartbeat that he really let loose. She was moving the Doppler around my stomach, trying to get a good reading of the heart rate. But as soon as she found it, he would move away. It was a funny cat & mouse game, because he obviously didn't want to be bothered. And before long, he started kicking like crazy. Both the nurse and I started cracking up, because my stomach was just moving up and down as he kicked. He was mad! Finally he gave up and we finally got to hear his heartbeat, it was a strong 137bpm.

I received an order form from the doctor for me to go to the hospital and take the Glucose test. I am not exactly looking forward to that. Since I don't take many trips to Jeff City, I believe I will just have this done the same day as my next doctor's appointment in two weeks. Yes, I have finally reached the point in this pregnancy were I have to go every two weeks. It is crazy how fast time flies.

I Love My Hubby!

Look what Andy sent me for my birthday from the Flower Basket!

Both the statue and flowers!

He always knows how to surprise me!

Man I love him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

Pot Patrol!

Yesterday, I had to go inspect/measure a house for work. We don't care for the customer himself, and to be honest he really freaks me out. So before heading out to the house I had to get myself a bodyguard....TINA! Not knowing exactly where we were going made it a mystery to which house it was and/or who lived there. Good thing Tina was with me, because when we pulled up to the house we realized it was a house that had a reputation for producing drugs. Great! Luckily, there was no one living at the house any longer! And from what we could tell, we didn't see any pot growing around the property. I doubt they would have left any behind. After getting done what we needed to do.....We got the hell out of there! So if you ever need an inspection of your property just call: KELLY & TINA: POT PATROL!

Weekend Recap!

Friday Night: Andy and I went over to Gerald and Darla’s for a Fish/Frog fry. We had a really good time chatting and playing Nerts. We even enjoyed shooting off a few left over fireworks.

Saturday: After getting off of work, I headed down to the park in Vienna for the Hollis Reunion. There was a huge turnout and even quite a few people I didn’t even know. That is to be expected when you have a large family that is spread out all over the place. It was extremely hot outside, and our lawn chairs were sitting right in the sun (all of the shade was taken). Before too long the storm clouds started rolling in to give us some relief…..but it never rained. After a few hours there, I decided to head home to tackle some weeds I have needed to pull out of my flower garden. Actually it looks like a grass garden with a few flowers sprinkled around. I decided to water them before I started pulling in hopes of it being easier. Well, it wasn’t! I had to quit after about 20 minutes of pulling. It turned out to be a much bigger job than this pregnant woman could take on such a hot day. So to this day, my flower garden still looks like crap!

Sunday: We went to the river for a huge float trip. It was such a great time. I believe we were on there for about 4 hours or more. It is strange to be sitting back chugging water while everyone else is drinking beer and taking jello shots. In the end, the sacrifice is more than worth it. It was also fun to observe those who more than had their share of alcohol…It makes for good stories! By the time we returned back to the cabin, we were starving! Thanks to Gerald, he stayed back on shore and grilled us pork steaks, hamburgers, brats, and hot dogs. They were all excellent! Afterwards, Andy and I headed home for the evening and crashed on the couch. Actually, I crashed and Andy more or less passed out.

Monday morning came around way too fast to begin another work week! Boooo!

Double Digits!

I have officially entered the double digits in regards to the number of days left in this pregnancy! And I believe either this week or next week I will have started my third trimester! Where has the time gone? No Seriously.....where is it? It just seems like yesterday I was was prancing around in the bathroom waiting for the pregnancy test to reveal our fate. Now I am registering for our baby shower and decorating the nursery. He is going to be here before we know it.

I know every pregnancy is different, but this child is SO active! It seems as if he is moving around and kicking 24 hours a day...which is reassuring! I know this is only the start of things to come, but last night was the first time his jabs and kicks kept me from sleeping.

The anticipation is building and I can't wait for his arrival (and maternity leave). Until then I am going to enjoy the silence and alone time with Andy!