Wow, my neck doesn't hurt anymore!

I celebrated my 24th birthday yesterday by cutting off my long blonde locks that I've had for the past 6 or 7 years. In high school I had really short hair and then by the time my junior year rolled around I realized how fat my face looked, so I started growing out my hair. I've had it at lengths almost to my waiste at some points, but yesterday morning it was to the middle of my back. Not only was my hair long, but it was also the thickest hair ever imaginable. If it gives you any indication of how much hair I had, the last couple of times I've gotten my hair colored/highlighted it has taken the professionals 3 to 4 hours to do it. Yep, that much hair!!

So when I walked into the salon and told my hairstylist Tony, that I wanted to cut it off, he said, "Don't let the summer heat make you cut all your hair off!" I assured him, it wasn't the heat, it was the fact that I no longer did anything with it and therefore had no need to have it long anymore. I tried to tell him how short I wanted it, but he was nervous about cutting that much hair off, so he didn't go as short as I wanted. Right before he made the first big snip he asked me once again if I was sure. Yes!!!! I'm sure!! By the time it was all said and done, I think I had about 10 inches and 3 lbs of hair laying on the floor. He said he'd never seen that much hair on the floor while still having this much hair left on my head.

He cut it a little shorter in the back than it is in the front. And put lots of layers in it. So here is what the front looks like. You can't tell by the picture, but my neck feels so much better with 3 lbs less of hair on my head! lol.

23 weeks.

So I'm almost to the 6 month mark, if you consider a month 4 weeks long like most people. But I think OB doctors do the math a little different, considering you're pregnant for 40 weeks and that's supposed to be 9 months instead of 10. So anyway, here is my big belly at 23 weeks. Enjoy.
Does anyone know when stretch marks usually begin to show up? I haven't seen any signs of them yet, but I'm sure my stomach will grow another 3 feet before Nov. 24 and I just want to be prepared for that day when I will see tire tracks on my stomach. At this point I'm just praying and hoping my Mama Bee Belly Butter is actually working.

The News Clip

Okay this is the best I can do. I'm media challenged and don't know how to get the actual video on here, so here is the link to watch it. Enjoy.

http://www.wsmv.com/video/20154012/

We're Semi-Famous

Well Brett and I finally took our story and complaints about our wild animal owning neighbors to Channel 4 News in Nashville and were successful in doing one thing at least. We really really ticked off our neighbors. But only the ones that own the crazy animals and maybe one lady that forgot to put a bra on before appearing on TV. I'm trying to figure out how to get the video clip on here, but they haven't posted it on the news website and the one that is on Facebook I can't get, because my sister-in-law posted it.

But here is how everything went down. The reporter and camera man showed up at our house and then we went in the backyard to do the interview. As we were getting ready to shoot it, all of our friendly neighbors showed up to watch. They wired me up with a mic and we were ready to start being interviewed. I started the interview and Brett interjected here and there. I think they talked to us for about 15 minutes or so. Then they wrapped it up and just wanted to get a few more shots around the yard and of my belly. Yes, that's right, they put the camera on the tri-pod and shot a video of my belly. Too bad no on told me I had a huge piece of lint on my black shirt! Or that I was slouching during the interview.

Anyway, as they were wrapping things up our crazy neighbor lady started screaming and cussing about us being perverts and we need to put the camera away before she calls the cops. I was thinking to myself, "Go ahead and call them, I'd love to put this on record in case you nutcases try to pull anything." Then the reporter said he was going to go over to their house and try to get their side of the story. I just told him, "If you think that lady was friendly, just wait until you meet her husband." And I rolled my eyes. When it was all said and done and we were through talking to all of our lovely neighbors, we went inside to get some dinner. As I was passing the front window I noticed a police car sitting out front. Yep, they really did call the cops. Which I had no problem with at all, seeing as we didn't do anything wrong.

The cop asked us what was going on and we explained to him the mess. He even said his grandparents live down the street and they knew there was a goat in the neighborhood, because they could hear it at night. Then he told us that our neighbors are seeking a lawyer to sue us for harassment. I almost had to stop myself from laughing at that point. But wait...it gets better. Then he proceeded to explain that they were calling us peeping Toms and that we stare out our windows all the time at their children. Are you kidding me?! Brett works about 12 hours everyday and I work 9, so when do we have time to stare at their children. They told the cop that we know their children's behavior patterns and all this and that. Seriously, could you people get any crazier? Nope, I don't think so.

Anyway, I was completely disappointed in the news story, because it didn't convey the message I was trying to get across. It basically made us just look like we were complaining about the wild animals for the sake of complaining. They cut out the part of me explaining how the goat charged through our fence, destroyed part of my garden, and destroyed other things in our yard. Nope, we just looked like complainers. But now my next step is to find out who the property owner is and try to get these people evicted. Having a rental property in the neighborhood already hurts property values, but when you have people like this renting a house, it hurts them even more. I am committed to having the animals or even the people kicked out of the neighborhood and I won't stop until it gets done.

I hope these idiots do try and sue us, because then I won't feel bad about counter-suing for defamation of character and property damage. Fools!

whoa...now that's impressive

No wonder this kid can kick so hard, get a load of that belly! This is me at 22 weeks; which means I still have 18 weeks to go. Scary! And don't mind the fact that I look like total crap in all the photos I take. I usually have Brett snap them right before bedtime when the makeup is off, my hair is pulled down from being in a rat's nest on top of my head all day, and I'm in my PJs.

Oh yeah, I know I said you'd get no more bare belly photos, but I lied. I figured I take advantage of the stretch mark free tummy while I can. We all know that probably won't last much longer, because I will soon be an elephant. Yippie!

And this right here is just for your enjoyment. This is the reason I feel like by November I'll be taking care of two children.

My Little Monster

Yes, that's right, I called him a monster. I can do that now and not feel bad about it, because he's a boy and I'm sure if he's anything like his daddy, he'll be a little monster that destroys my clean house. Anyway, the reason for this blog is to let everyone in on another milestone we reached the other day (I know there is like a million throughout pregnancy, but if you've been there, you understand). I was laying in bed Friday night and Carter must have been flopping around pretty good, because I had my hands resting on my belly and for the first time ever I felt his kicking from the outside instead of just the inside. I immediately told Brett to come over and see if he could feel it for himself. I was hoping the little boy wouldn't get shy and stop doing it and he didn't. When Brett first put his hand on my belly he was pressing down really hard and I reassured him he didn't have to press that hard to feel the baby. So he lightened up a little bit and in a matter of seconds he felt our little boy kick for the first time. It was a pretty magical moment and I wish I had a camera to capture the look on his face. I'm not sure he really believed it was the baby at first, but after a couple more good kicks he finally believed it was Carter.

Then last night as we were both laying in bed, he started to kick again. This time it was even harder and it actually moved our hands a little bit when he did it. Weighing in at only about 1 lb., I'm actually surprised he can kick that hard. This could mean great things like he'll have a really heavy foot for NASCAR racing like my dad hopes or it could mean that he's already got way too much Clark obnoxious blood in him. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I do know one thing though, if his daddy has his way this boy will grow up to be an avid Notre Dame football fan. So as a little surprise to Brett last night, I made him close his eyes while I laid something out on the kitchen table. When he opened them back up there was a little 3 piece Adidas Notre Dame creeper set. It came with a Onesie that was made out of the Jersey material, a bib, and booties. Now, I'm no big ND fan myself (and even less of one after their recent graduation ceremony), but I know Brett loves their football team and I just knew that would put a smile on his face. I was right! He can't wait to prop his little buddy next to him on the couch and kick back and have a couple bottles and watch the game. Like I've said many times before, November can't get here fast enough!!!

Update on the Goat People

Okay, so I sent an email to the Mayor of Murfreesboro and copied it to the Vice Mayor and every single council member. I also emailed the 3 major news stations in Nashville. And boy did I ever get a response. So far I've heard back from 1 council member, 1 news producer, 3 codes inspectors, and the Vice Mayor. I think I have a slight chance of getting something done here. Two codes inspectors are going over to my house today to peek through the fence into my neighbors backyard to witness any violations. I hope they see the 6 dogs I saw yesterday, along with the goat, african servals, and the swamp/pool. Oh and let's hope they drive by the large tow truck these people park in front of their house.

The Codes guy I talked to on Saturday sounded very hopeful about getting something done, but the guy I talked to this morning seemed more like a straight from the book kind of guy. He wasn't really sure there was anything in the "books" about people having wild animals. But the Vice Mayor said he would check to see if there was an ordinance against people owning wild animals within city limits and if there wasn't, he was going to try and write up an ordinance against it.

Now I'm wishing Brett wouldn't have straightened out the chicken wire around my garden or screwed the fence back together. But at least they'll still see the board that is broken in half.

So we'll see what happens after a little while. I'm prepared to take on any retaliation from my neighbors if they get their animals taken away. Would it be too much to sit on my back deck with my shotgun in my lap? Just asking...

I live on a farm.

Well at least somedays it feels like I live on a farm. Actually I live in a really nice, quite residential neighborhood, but you wouldn't know it be taking a look at my backyard neighbors' yard. They currently own 2 monkeys, 2 African Servals (the female is pregnant), 1 Fox, 1 Goat, 5 or 6 dogs, and about 80 billion cats. No joke!! Now most city regulations across the country would not allow people that live within city limits and especially in a neighborhood to keep these wild animals, but the City of Murfreesboro does.

Brett and I came home last night from work to find that our fence had been busted through by the goat. Not all that surprising, since it constantly rams it with its horns. Two of the boards were cracked in half and an entire section of the fence was busted loose. Therefore, the goat and all the other animals had free reign on our yard. They took advantage of this too. My garden was trampled and all of my green been plants were destroyed. The goat also took its non-stop chewing jaw up on our deck and ate part of one of my plants and shredded a cardboard box we kept our inflatable pool in. It also took a drinking glass that was sitting by the back door and placed it in the middle of the yard. The list goes on.

Needless to say, I was ticked!!! As many of you may already know, I'm a hot head and things like this make me go off! So what did I do you ask? I took the cucumbers that the goat didn't get a chance to finish and I hurled them over the fence as hard as I could. I was hoping to land them in the swamp they consider a pool, but I didn't make it that far. Not that they would have seem them in there anyway, because the algae is far too thick to see anything. These people obviously had to come get their animals and attempted to put the fence back in place hoping we wouldn't notice. Right........good thinking. Most decent people would have come by and offered to pay for the damages or at least apologized, but not these hill billies. Nope, they just put their goat and dogs into hiding. I kid you not, they must have taken the goat inside their house until we went to bed, because it was nowhere to be found until this morning.

Oh yeah and about this morning. I was awaken by what sounded like an animal on our deck. I was right! When I looked out the window I saw a puppy Beagle on my back deck sniffing around. The little booger had gotten through the newly made gap in the fence, but couldn't seem to get back. So I went out there and played with her for a little while. She was the cutest little thing and our dogs loved here. I thought about holding her for ransom, but wasn't sure that they would even notice she was gone and I can't afford a third dog. When we pushed her back through the fence she fought us with all her might. She did not want to go back. She whined and cried and I felt so bad for having to put her back over there in those conditions, but I had no choice.

Anyway, I contacted the City and no one is willing to do anything. The only thing that can be done is that Animal Welfare can site the owners if the animals are found roaming free. I was thinking of opening up the fence and letting them in my yard and then letting them out my front gate and then calling Animal Welfare to come witness it. Does that sound like a plan or what? You tell me.

Drum Role Please...

It's a boy!!!! Yep that's right, now Brett will have a little buddy to watch football with him, because we all know I have no interest in ND football or any of the rest of it. When the lady started doing the ultrasound yesterday, she said the baby had his legs curled up right to his crotch and I just knew we were going to leave not knowing what we were having. But 30 minutes later, she was able to get a glance at his boy parts. Don't ask me how these people identify these things, because it just looked like black spots to me. We were so excited, because this means we'll get to use all of the little boy outfits that my sister-in-law gave us. In one box alone I counted 70 outfits and I didn't even bother to count the other box. This also means the outfits we got at the garage sales last weekend will be put to good use as well. No more thinking, "well I guess I could pair this with a pink hat or pants or socks or something."

Now for the other anouncement. I said I would hold off until we found out what we were having to announce the name we had picked out for a boy, so here it is: Carter Joseph Mitchell. Carter being a totally random name that we loved and Joseph being Brett's middle name. So we can call him Carter, Car, or C.J. My dad already has visions of C.J. whipping everyone on the NASCAR track. If the ultrasound is any indication of what this kid will grow up to be, I think he'll be a boxer. The technician kept trying to get a good image of his face, but he kept putting his hand in the way everytime she tried. He was very very active and even seemed a little obnoxious, because anything she wanted to see, he would block it with his hands or feet. Awwwww...I love him already!! Stubborn just like his momma.

Here are the two best images we got from the ultrasound. The first one is an image of his cute little face and the second one is of her trying to get his face, but only getting hands, knees, and cord.

Almost a Big Announcement

Well I'm at 21 weeks and tomorrow Brett and I will find out the big news; whether or not this baby that's been kicking me in the belly is a boy or a girl. Hopefully he/she won't have his/her legs crossed. That would be upsetting. But mostly I'm just extremely excited and nervous to see my baby for the first time. I'm assuming it's normal to have fears of something possibly being wrong with your baby when you take your first glance. I'm not so sure it's normal to think my baby may have an arm growing out of its head. Or is it? Anyway, I guess I'm just nervous because of the unknown. What if my 1 cup of coffee every two weeks really has hurt my baby, or what if carrying that night stand that probably weighed 35 - 40 lbs. was too much, or maybe inhaling paint fumes while painting my room was harmful. I mean, I think I've followed the Dr.'s rules pretty closely, but I still have fears. I've never been pregnant before and I'm so used to over doing things (especially when it comes to straining my body) that I just don't know what is safe. I have been a huge believer in not listening to everybody's advice and only listening to my Dr. and my body and so far I think that's the right thing to do. I know there are so many people out there that believe if you have a sip of coffee or lift over 15 lbs. you're hurting your baby, but I don't believe that. But I'm still a little nervous for tomorrow.

I really haven't been that worried so far, until I went over to my in-laws the other night. My sister-in-law had a baby about a year and half ago and her and her husband were the types that took no chances and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even take a sip of Coke for the entire 9 months. So when I had mentioned I painted my bedroom, her and my mother-in-law freaked. I told them my Dr. said it was okay as long as I had plenty of ventilation. Then when I picked up a box of baby clothes that probably weighed 10 lbs., my sis-n-law quickly made me hand it over and told me I'm not supposed to be lifting stuff that heavy. I know they only have the best intentions and are only trying to look out for the baby, but it just makes me feel bad like I'm not taking care of my own baby. I don't know. I think this blog just turned into something way more that I had intended it to. Must be the hormones.

Anyway, I'll make sure to let everyone know on Thursday morning whether or not our little boy or little girl has an arm growing out of its head. Until then...someone please get me a chill pill.

Gray is an impossible color

Well over the weekend I was determined to add some more color to my house. Apparently it was pretty colorful before we bought it, but the seller painted it all a boring beige to make it more sellable and now I'm trying to change it back. I painted our master bedroom a couple of months ago and was trying to achieve a medium gray color and ended up with a dark olive green looking color. Kinda similar to gross baby poop. I guess someone thought it would be a great idea to mix a lot of gold into the paint and made it look disgusting once it was on the walls. So I went to Sherwin Williams and picked out a couple of over priced paints to fix my situation. I stressed to the guy that I wanted a light to medium gray that actually would turn out gray. Not blue, not purple, not green, but actually gray. Well I got a color I really thought would look gray once on the walls, but it once again looks a little different. It has a blue look to it, but I'm satisfied. It's waaaaaaaay better than the color I covered up. So I am in love with my room once again. We got the smell out be painting the floor and replacing the carpet pad, we finally got a bed that we love as well as the bedding, and now the color just really tops things off. So here is the final product (almost, I still need to hang the curtains).

Here is the color I picked out to paint two of the walls in my living room. It's called Svelte Sage. I'm doing a two tone, because my ceiling is sloped and two of the walls are two stories high and God knows I don't want to attempt that project while pregnant (or ever for that matter).

Oh and some how I actually convinced Brett to let me paint the kitchen purple!!! Can you believe it? I told him that a lot of people are starting to use dark purples in their houses and I left it at that. When we were at Lowe's last night I had showed him a Taupe kind of color for the kitchen and he replied, "I thought you were going to paint it purple." What?!?! You mean you would actually let me do that?! He said as long as I had lots of white accents. No problem, our cabinets are white and there is lots of white trim in there to help out. So this will be exciting, because I'm going to do a wine/grape/Italian theme in the kitchen and I think purple is very fitting for that.

Dear Mr. President

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln

Week 20 Belly

For the first time in my life my legs actually look skinny compared to the rest of me. I promise you, I really do have thunder thighs!! This is me at 20 weeks prego. I hope I'm not expanding too quickly, but if I am, oh well! You probably won't be seeing anymore pictures of my bare belly, because it's really not that attractive nowadays. I don't have any stretch marks yet, but I still have a tiny tiny fat roll at the top of my stomach that the baby hasn't seemed to push out yet, so it leaves a gross red line across the top of my belly. It's horrible, because it's the tiniest little roll you've ever seen, but it just won't go away!!! What can ya do?? Hey, with my belly looking so large at least my but doesn't look that big anymore. (At least for now).

Halfway There

Today marks my 20th week of pregnancy, which means I'm exactly half way there! It seems like these past 20 weeks have flown by, but it also seems like November 24 is still an eternity away. These next 8 days are going to crawl by, because on July 15 at 3:00p.m. we find out whether our child will be playing baseball or softball. To date, we still haven't had an ultrasound done, so this first one will be extra exciting. It's supposed to be a 3D ultrasound, so that'll be really cool to see. Hopefully the baby cooperates and I won't have to wait any longer to find out the gender. Brett and I were at the mall the other day and stopped by The Children's Place and were debating on whether or not to buy a pack of neutral colored body suits, but we decided to pass. Afterall, we're going to be find out if it's a boy or girl in just about a week, so there was no point in spending the money on something we weren't crazy about anyway. Although, I did find a website a couple of weeks ago where I could design my own Onesies and I got a couple personalized for Brett and my parents. The one I got for my dad (or the baby really) said "Grandpa, it's not fair to blame your gas on me." So fitting.

On another note, our new bed arrived yesterday and we got to sleep in it last night. It's a King size pillow top and I thought I may never get out of it once I layed down. Not only is the mattress super comfortable, but the sheets and comforter are also soooooooo cozy. I think Brett and I will be going to be at 6:30 tonight.

Fat Lady Suit

I got my new maternity swimsuit/fat lady suit today. I haven't tried it on yet, but just by looking at it makes me sad. I'm thinking, "Could my butt really be that big?" The answer: yes, it probably is. I've always prided myself on my thunder thighs, because they were built like rocks (at least when I worked them out), but now that I'm pregnant the term thunder thighs has a whole new meaning. Some how all the muscle that I used to have has been replaced by cellulite. Gross! But this is just extra motivation to lose the baby weight and then some once I am no longer pregnant. My goal is to have a nice body once again by next summer. Now I just have to purchase a treadmill to make that possible. That's the one thing I miss about living at home or in an apartment; unlimited access to exercise equipment. I did put a jogging stroller on my registry though, so maybe that will also be a bit of motivation.

Anywho...I'm just excited to finally be able to get into a pool without fear of one of my girls popping out. Let the summer fun begin!

Party at My House

I've been looking forward to this for months and now it's almost here...our neighborhood block party to celebrate the 4th of July. Ever since we moved into our house back in January, all of our neighbors have told us about the awesome block party one of our neighbors hosts for the 4th. Our neighbors, Craig & Annginette, moved from California a few years ago and they decided to host a block party their first 4th in the new neighborhood in order to get to meet all their neighbors. I guess it has been a big hit the last few years and about 75 - 80 people come and eat, drink, and shoot off fireworks. I'm totally excited to participate and am even more excited for Brett, because he absolutely loves the 4th of July. My only concern is that someone may shoot a firework at my house and burn it down. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Let's also hope no one blows off any fingers in my front yard. I do not want to be responsible for that.

I'm really trying to involve myself in this party and so far I think I'm making a good effort. Today I called the City of Murfreesboro to have someone come pick up the tree branches and grass clippings that are still laying on the side of the street. It's a great service the city provides for us homeowners so we don't have to bag that stuff, but they aren't always consistent about the pickup. So hopefully they will get it cleaned up before Saturday.

I am also planning on throwing down on the food table. I am going to make pasta salad, tater-tot casserole, slow cooked pork roast for pork sandwiches, some Neiman-Marcus bars (a lovely sweet treat), and possibly a seven layer dip. It sounds like a lot of work, but all these things shouldn't take much effort. The pork slow cooks with no assistance, the pasta salad is easy, and so is the tater-tot casserole. The bars and the dip are the most work. But still not very difficult.

So if you're in the neighborhood, stop by Kirtley Ct. for some food, fun, and fireworks!!! It'll be a great time.