Future Soccer Star

I have determined that my baby will someday be a famous soccer star. Or at least that's what I gather from his/her actions the last several days. Since I'll be 19 weeks tomorrow, it's no surprise that I have started feeling the little booger kick. I first noticed it when I was in North Carolina last week at a sales training class. I think all the flying upset or excited the little guy/girl and he/she started kicking the crap out of me. Of course at this point it only feels like big air bubbles moving around or muscle spasms, but I have determined it is the baby because it's a feeling I'm not used to having. He/she has calmed down a bit since I got back home, but boy was there a lot of action going on when I was flying. They must hate flying just as much as I do. I hope I haven't passed my insane motion sickness onto this kid, but I guess that will be determined at a later date.

I go in for my ultrasound at 21 weeks on July 15. Then I can start calling this baby by his/her name. Yep...we finally picked out a boy's name, but that will be kept secret until we find out what we're having. I hope this baby isn't shy, because I don't think I can wait much longer to find out what we're having. At this point I'm assuming it's a boy and keep calling it a him, so I hope if it's a girl, I'm not giving it identity issues already. lol.

As of now, our family and friends have started to shower us with amazing baby gifts and things for the nursery and it just makes it all the more exciting. I would leave the nursery door open all the time so I could look in and enjoy, but the pups sometimes like to leave the baby little presents in there as well and I just think that's totally wrong. Bad Patsy and Bentley! Anywho...that's all the baby news for now. Later.

P.S. I finally satisfied my husband's greatest desire of having a 50" Plasma TV and we should be getting that this week as well. Now I just have to upgrade my DirectTv box to an HD receiver for the bonus room. I told him this was our last big purchase before the baby gets here, so he better enjoy it!

Our Frontline

I snapped this one myself and edited it as well. I removed a HUGE billboard in the background as well as all the overhead power lines. Not too bad for someone that doesn't have much artistic ability. I feel like we're the little truck dealer that could.

OCC's got nothing on him.

And this is why I follow in my dad's footsteps.

Belly Belly Belly

This is what gaining 8 lbs. in a month looks like. This is also what I look like at 17 weeks.

That Can't Be Right

I went for my 17 week checkup today and of course they forced me to step on the scale. Now I expected at least a 5 lb. increase from last month, because my stomach has been expanding at a rapid pace the last couple of weeks, but I was hoping there would be a miracle and I would have only gained 2 or 3 lbs. Well what showed up on the scale was far from a miracle. I gained 8 lbs. since my last visit a month ago! 8 lbs.!!!!! Holy crap! Now, the nurse said "Oh it looks like you've had a growth spurt, but that's pretty typical about this time." That made me feel a little better, like maybe it wouldn't happen like this again. But the doctor on the other hand said, "You've gained 8 lbs. in a month! What have you been eating?! You should only be gaining 3 or 4 lbs. Fast food is bad!" I told her I didn't eat much fast food (and that's the truth) and then I hid under the table. No, really I didn't hide under the table but I got so depressed about my weight I wanted to go home and eat a pan of brownies. Just kidding. I ate Subway for lunch and that's what I'll continue to eat for lunch until I can't stomach it anymore. So my goal of only gaining 25 lbs during my entire pregnancy just flew out the window. I'm already half way there! This is not looking good, but I will just start watching what I'm eating and get my butt off the couch and start walking more. Anywho...I can't wait to play with the new baby monitors my BFF, Casey, sent me today. She got me a couple other things too, but I think the monitors are the only thing I can really test out right now. She's the best. Thanks Case!!

Little Things Make Me Happy

I told a customer today that I was pregnant and he just looked at me and smiled and said, "Oooooh...so there's two of ya." Yes, that's right, there are two of us. For some reason this man's comment just made me smile. It's not just me anymore, I have a baby to take care of (even at this point) and that thought makes me happy. I can't wait until November.

To Travel Or Not To Travel

Well, Brett and I have been planning on attending a friend's wedding in Indiana in August for quite a while now. We had planned on taking a few days off from work to go up to South Bend and visit some friends while we were in the area for the wedding. This was before I found out I was pregnant. The wedding is in August, which means I'll be 6 months pregnant by then. Although, a break from the hot August weather here in TN sounds really nice, the potholes in Indiana do not. Now, if you've never lived away from northern Indiana, you probably don't realize how bad the potholes really are up there. After living in TN for 4 years, when we go back to South Bend I swear my car is going to fall apart from the crappy roads. When I was up there last summer I just couldn't believe how terrible the roads were (I guess over the 19 years of living there, I got used to them).

I say all this because yesterday when Brett and I were driving down 840, everytime we hit a bump I felt like I was going to pee my pants. The bridges on that highway don't have the smoothest transition, so everytime we approaced one, I cringed. That's when I turned to Brett and told him I didn't think it was a good idea to go to Indiana in August, because I can't even handle bumps now and I'm only 4 months pregnant! Also the 8 hour drive is really unappealing. For anyone who's ever been pregnant, I think you can understand my concern. Also Brett only has a week of paid vacation and I'd kinda like for him to use it all when the baby comes, instead of for traveling to South Bend. So as of right now, our trip up north this summer is cancelled. Unless I have a serious change of heart, it ain't gonna happen. As bad as I've been craving Hacienda mexican food, it's not worth the drive!! And on top of it all, my dad does not like giving me time off work, so he'll probably be very pleased with my decision.

On a side note, I met my next door neighbor last night (the only one I had yet to meet) and she filled me in on all the ins and outs of pregnancy and child birth. She has three daughters ranging from 1 1/2 years to 11. We talked for probably an hour and a half and I got every last detail about labor I think I'd ever need. The thing I found refreshing was that she had an epidural with each of her kids and said they all went very well. From what I've heard, it's pretty hard to go through labor without one, so I'm trying to get all the facts I can about them. Anyway...that's all for now. Catch ya later.

3 Strikes You're Out

Okay, so I'm pretty sure today couldn't get any worse (unless a boulder decides to fall out of the sky and land on me). Okay okay, it definitely could get worse, but I'm just having a really terrible day. I wrote up a deal on our very oldest truck on Monday and the guy and his wife were coming to look at it and finish paying for it today. Well this particular truck, I've had 2 previous deals fall through on it due to financing issues so I was already nervous. It seems as though this truck just doesn't want to leave us. It's an extremely nice truck, the only thing is that we had the entire thing painted because it had some scratches on the top of the sleeper that we couldn't get buffed out. As you may know, when you paint a vehicle it automatically throws up red flags that it may have been wrecked. Well this truck definitely hadn't been wrecked, but trying to convince others of that is not always easy. Since about 90% of our customers find us on the internet and usually don't see the truck in person until after they've given us a deposit and gotten their money lined up to pay for it, I had been telling everyone that it was painted and explaining why. That way once they got here, there would be no surprises and no raised eyebrows. Well we decided to stop telling people upfront and just see if they would notice. Not that we were trying to hide anything, because there is nothing to hide, but we didn't want to scare people off until they had a chance to see the truck up close. Big mistake. This guy drove all the way from Seymour, IN (not that it's that far, but still) and the first thing they noticed was that the truck had been painted. Dang it! I was backed into a corner now and no matter what I told them, I looked like a liar because I hadn't told them up front. So long story short, after hours of Tom and I going over the entire truck with them, they didn't buy it because they thought it had been wrecked.

Add insult to injury, I had another guy lined up that wanted to buy it and have it delivered to Souix Falls, SD without coming to look at it first. I called him back and told him the deal didn't go through and that I was ready to sell it to him, but he had just bought another truck and was no longer in need of ours. He was disappointed too, because he said he liked ours better. And I even told him it had been painted!!! At this point, with 3 deals that have fallen through on this one truck, I'm pretty sure it has a voodoo curse on it. Yeah and I'm pretty sure that curse's name is Sable Black Metallic paint!!!! I tell you, I think we would have been better off with a truck that had scratches on it.

Nursery

Well, I managed to put the crib together last night and our nursery kinda resembles a nursery now. As you will see, we still have a ways to go but at least you know what the little room at the end of the hall is for now. So here are some pictures.

16 weeks

So I probably blog waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much about my baby that's not even born yet, but that's pretty much all my life consists of nowadays. That and semi-trucks. Well, today marks me being 16 weeks pregnant and to celebrate the occasion, the baby's crib arrived! My mom and dad bought it for us along with the mattress and I've just been biting my nails waiting for it to arrive. So my dad graciously volunteered to put it in his truck and take it to my house for me. I'll probably have the thing put together tonight. I can't stand waiting. Although I was planning on going to the park tonight so Brett and I could relax and we could run the Ozone generator in our room to get the smell out of our carpet. I found out last night that it's not a good idea to run that machine while you're in the house even if you close the bedroom door. Let's just say, it turned my stomach reeeeeeaaaaaal bad last night and once again (for like the millionth time during my pregnancy) I was hugging the toilet.

On a side note, we pulled up our carpet and ripped out the carpet padding and painted the floor underneath. It didn't seem to have any cat pee stains though, so I still can't figure out why our carpet smells so foul, especially since it was brand new when we bought the house. We replaced the padding with odor ban padding and hopefully once the Ozone generator does its thing, we'll have no more funky smelling carpet. Cross your fingers!

Poor Bentley

Well Bentley and I went to the Vet today and learned he has an infected anal gland. Painful, yes, but at least it's not a hemorroid. Poor guy. The Vet said it should pop on it's own and release the sweet juices in the next couple of days and if it doesn't I have to take him back so they can perform a little surgery on it. In the mean time, he's on pain pills and antibiotics. He's sleeping very comfortable on the floor as we speak.

But while we're on the hemorroid subject, I'm praying to God with all my might that I don't get those terrible things. I'm too young to have bumps on my butthole!!! But I guess it's worth to have my own little bundle of joy to hug and kiss on. I guuueeeessss.....

My Dog Has a Hemorroid

Since my last post was pretty sad and depressing (so sorry for that, it's just something that has really been bothering me) I thought I'd lighten the mood by letting you all know my dog has a hemorroid, or at least it's something along those lines. Bentley was acting as those his his butt was itching him yesterday, because he kept tucking his tail and sitting funny. Well this morning I got a glimpse of his rear end and he had a huge bump on it!! I kinda freaked out and decided I needed to rush him to the Vet. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I have a customer coming to pay for a truck this morning and couldn't be away from the office. So Bentley will have to wait until 3:30 when I can take him. Poor guy, it looks really bad and all I can think of is when I watched the episode of "Rob & Big" and their dog Meaty had a chicken bone stuck in his butt and had to go to the Vet. I hope Bentley doesn't have a bone stuck in his butt, but I doubt he does because I haven't been giving him any bones. Maybe he just got bit by a bug or something. Who knows.

Happy Friday!!

A Really Touchy Subject

A certain subject has been on my mind lately and I just have to get it off my chest. It's an extremely touchy subject and you pretty much can never have a conversation about it without offending someone, but this is my blog so I figured I have the right to post anything I want and you have the right to not read it. The subject I'm referring to is abortion. Uh oh, is probably what you're thinking right now, but here goes nothing.

I guess this subject has become more important to me ever since we elected a Pro-Choice president and he decided to spend our tax dollars to provide women all over the world with abortions. My personal belief is that abortion is murder of a human life, unless there is a serious reason for it. And when I say serious I mean things such as tubal pregnancies that will bring death upon the mother and child. In this case, the pregnancy is terminated immediately and the baby hasn't had much time to develop into a being. I know the age old excuse has been rape or incest, and I guess I can understand why someone would not want to carry a baby in that circumstance and for that particular reason I guess I don't have much of an opinion. Just that if you are raped, you should be responsible enough to get yourself checked out ASAP and as soon as you can possibly find out you're pregnant then you decide right then and there whether or not to terminate the pregnancy. Not 3, 4, or 5 months down the road. What infuriates me is women who use abortion as birth control. They are irresponsible and have unprotected sex and then go to the clinic and take care of their problem. Are you kidding me?! Is that not murder?! Because the way I look at it is like this; there have been people in my life that inconvenienced me in major ways but does that give me the right to take away their life? No!!!! I fully believe in self defense and being able to protect yourself against criminals, even if that means killing them, but to take away a life of a human that has never had the chance to harm anyone is absolutely crazy!!! Women's rights my ass! What really gets me is the same people that believe in the right to abortion do NOT believe in my right to own a gun to protect my family against violent criminals. Seriously?! Anyway, before this gets too out of hand, I want to get to my true intended point.

Last Sunday a prominent abortion provider in KS, Dr. Tiller, was murdered while attending church (first of all I want to know what kind of church he's attending). Of course, this enraged Pro-Choice people and they just couldn't understand why this man was murdered. My only response to those people is "it's okay for this man to have killed thousands of babies, but it's not okay that someone killed him?" How ironic. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't believe it was right to have murdered the man, but I will be completely honest about my feelings on this matter. I'm not saddened one bit by his death and that's just the honest truth. In fact, I am a little relieved that this sick individual will no longer be able to harm our babies. Does that mean I wish death upon every abortion provider, absolutely not. But this man was of extreme evil. He provided abortions at such points as 26 weeks. Now if you do the math, that's over 6 months! All of you mothers out there know exactly how developed your baby is at 26 weeks and know that it's even possible for them to survive if they were born that early. So to say that he was not committing murder is mind blowing to me. Why does our government allow this to go on? Is it because we are so afraid of infringing on some one's rights that we don't put a stop to it or what? I just don't understand it! But for anyone out there that doesn't have much of an opinion about abortion; I want to leave you with this:

I assure you, this diagram is not nearly as gruesome as some of the other pictures I could have posted on here. If you still don't have much of an opinion about this, I encourage you to google partial birth abortion and check out some of the images. I guarantee you will feel differently about it after seeing some of the real life photos. It's absolutely heart breaking.

The Weirdest Thing

Ever since my belly has started to expand, there is increased pressure on my bladder which in turns makes me have to use the bathroom more often. So this usually means I'm getting up in the middle of the night several times to relieve some pressure. Well I didn't wake up until 5 this morning to use the restroom and when I put my hand on my belly I felt something I've never felt before. My bladder!!! Or at least I assume it was my bladder. I had a rock hard bump towards the left side of my lower belly that is not normally there. Now I thought the bladder was more centrally located, but that's all I figured this could be. If I were like 8 or 9 months pregnant, I would assume it was the baby's foot pushing out my belly, but that's just not possible at less than 4 months. Plus when I did use the restroom, my belly went back to normal. That has to be the weirdest thing that's happened to me thus far.

On another note, I received my Belly Book (thanks for the recommendation Megan) yesterday and "What To Expect When You're Expecting." Apparently, there is a lot to expect when you're expecting because this book was like 600 pages long!!!! Holy cow! If I start reading now, I might get it done before I am rushed to the delivery room in November. So I better let you go so I can start getting educated on what to expect through the next 5 months. Maybe they'll have something in there about bladder bumps.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy early birthday C$!!!! And for those of you who don't know who C$ is, that'd be my BFF Casey LeMasters (I almost typed Downs, oops, gotta remember we both got married this past year). Anyway, I haven't gotten to spend Casey's birthday with her in about 4 or 5 years, ever since I moved away from South Bend, so this is the best thing I got. And since my voice is absolutely dreadful, I'll take the opportunity to sing Happy Birthday through this blog. So here goes nothing. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Casey, happy birthday to you!

I hope you have an incredible 24th bday and make sure to celebrate to the fullest. Kick back, relax and don't do anything that involves working any brain cells on your special day. You get a day off, now take advantage of it. Make Phil do all the laundry, dishes, and house cleaning. And to kill two birds with one stone...Happy early 1 year anniversary!! Can you believe it's been a year already? I can't! Time flies so fast nowadays! Best wishes in having many more wonderful birthdays and anniversaries. I love you!!!