14 Weeks and 1 or 2 days....

Depending on what tool I use to determine how far along I am is off by one or two days. I don't know what is up with the "What to expect" website, but they have me at 15 weeks, not quite! I am really excited. Though I am noticing that my brain does not quite function like it used to and I can't pay attention worth a darn. This will help me in being better about posting blogs though, I can't account for the spelling and whether what I am writing is making sense. According to Babycenter our little one is as follows:
"Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active."

I think I can feel him/her move at night when I first lay on my left side. I feel a mild flutter (like butterflies) in my lower left uterine area. Though this could be wishful thinking or someother thing like gas...who knows!

We're Expecting!

Ted and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our first little one! I am 13 1/2 weeks pregnant! Almost through the first trimester. I have experienced nausea, vomitting, extreme fatigue and a lot of aches and pains while my body adjusts to being pregnant. The nausea has decreased, though smells bring it on. However, my tail bone hurts much more now. My Doc says that is due to the baby/uterus pressing against my sciatic nerve. Wouldn't you know with all my back problems, this would be a must! It is a welcomed sign of pregnancy!

Sick Hubby

I don't know what is worse, a sick husband or a sick dog...or both! Here I am with a hurt knee, trying to stay off of it the best I can nursing a sick husband and a post-op dog! I am feeling a little run down right now. Any advice on caring for a sick husband who only seems able to think of himself (not meant in a mean way, but meant in a what all women know about men way).

Chewie was netutered

That's right, yesterday I took Chewie to the vet to get the grand snip! Poor little guy, whenever he and I go in the car alone he seems to have a traumatic experience. For example, it was I that took him to get groomed the first time and now it was I that took him to the vet. Maybe he'll start associating me with bad things... It is a good thing that I am the one who feeds him and takes care of him...or else! He is recovering, acting a little funny.

Yesterday he was walking like he had just gotten off a boat, he hadn't quite gotten his land legs.

Sorry Grandma and Grandpa...no great grand pups!

Scariest Chewie Moment

I thought I was going to scrape up a dead Chewie off of 70th street today. On Sundays such as today, when the sun is out and it isn't too cold, I take Chewie to the dog park. It gives him a chance to run in a fenced yard and play with other pooches. Well today Chewie realized that his head can fit through the fence at the dog park (why they have 4 inch wire fences in the "little" dog area of the dog park I have no clue). Well in Chewie land, if he can get his head through, he can get his body through and in one slick moment Chewie was out. This may not have scared me if he had gone through the fence from the little dog area to the big dog area, but no, Chewie went through the section that goes to the parking lot and then onto a busy 70th street.

I of course wasn't quick enough to catch him from escaping and luckily I had my running shoes on! I ran after Chewie (but of course got held up through the 3 gates a human must go through!). I saw him go into the parking lot, but couldn't find him. I feared the worst, I thought he had gone into the road. But thankfully a woman, a man and a pitbull saved my Chewie from the street. Thankfully Chewie is a very social pup with humand and dogs otherwise... he may have been road pizza!

I have never been so scared in my life! I cried the way home, thankful I had my pup. I am motivated to write the city a letter about the fencing, which isn't appropriate for a little dog section, but am sure I will get a response that they do not have the funds to fix the fence. Which will most likely motivate me more, afterall we pay so many taxes. This also motivates me to start saving money for a fence of our own, so Chewie can just go outside our door to his own play area, though it will be minus the other pups.

Update

Well, I was told this weekend by a dear friend that I don't blog on a regular basis. And it's true! I enjoy blogging, but have to admit that since I cannot use my work computer for personal use, I don't log on much anymore. The state is much more picky about my use of their computer than I was when I was in private practice, or any previous employers were. So to all who follow my blog, I apologize! I will try harder to keep up and keep you posted.

Moving Moment

At church last sunday it was our missions sunday. We hear about what we have been doing in missions abroad and locally, as well learn of the needs. In the service there was a true story video, I want to share that story with you. I can't remember the names, but the message is what is more important.

A group of seasonal banana farmers/harvesters/workers (men, women and children) were on a bus headed to the banana fields in Colombia, when they were stopped by guerillas. The guerillas took the bus and drove it about 20 miles with the people at the back of the bus. They stopped the bus and had the workers get out, kneel, and tied their hands behind their back. The guerillas set the bus on fire and proceeded to shoot the workers. One male worker while on his knees prayed for his persecutors, that God would show mercy upon the guerrillas. At the end of the ordeal all 26 workers were shot, all died but one, the worker who prayed. A few years later the worker who prayed was in a local jail (for preaching the gospel) and was celled next to the guerrilla commander ordered the killings. Over time, the worker witnessed to the guerrilla commander and that commander came to know the Lord. To this day the worker and commander are friends and the worker disciples the commander.

What struck me about this story was the interview with the commander whom is so remorseful for what he has done. He weeps daily for the death he has caused. Also, the compassion for the worker to put aside his judgements, anger, vengeance and just be Christ, how amazing!

I don't know if I could do that. Forgive something like that. It was truly touching and life changing.

Work!

I have been getting many questions about work and thought I would share with all. Work is work. At times I enjoy it and at other times I wish I was somewhere else. But I do love it most days. At times my job can be stressful as I come from a progressive state and Nebraska often seems as if it is still in the 50/60s. But I know I am doing great things, I know the Lord is doing great things through me.

I found out today that a new co-worker of mine has resigned, I really liked her, so she will be missed greatly. But I also found out that I can laterally move into her position which is a permanent position. Which means I would be a permanent employee and would do more of what I love. This job would be working mostly with sex offenders. I know what many of you are thinking, how could you work with those type of people? I didn't think I could at first, but let me tell you I think it is a calling from God. It seems so many times I had people mention being a sex offender therapist and I would always say no, until now. This inpatient program in corrections is amazing! It is using DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) which is a new concept and is quite successful. I am currently working with sex offenders about 35% of the time and really enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, it can be difficult at times hearing their stories, but it is great to watch these folks change.

The Agony!

I have to be a part from my puppy this weekend and I am sad about it :(. I know many of you laugh and say, its just a dog. But he's not, he fills my baby void. I am sad about having to leave him at Grandma Hay's house for the weekend. Oh well...

More Honeymoon Pictures!

Haystack Rock and the house from the movie "Goonies". The bungalow where we stayed. View from Ecola Park in Cannon Beach (part of the Goonies was filmed here, the part of the old restaurant was constructed on the park grounds and torn down after filming). And a large anchor in Newport (Ted is standing next to it).

Honeymoon Pictures!

Prayer

Just wanted to let you know that my Grandma Louise (Maternal grandmother) is actively dying. So please pray for my family during this time. Please pray for me as it is very difficult to be so far away from my family right now.

Puppyhood

I can't believe that we have had Chewie for over a month now. He is such my focus and pride and joy. Not to mention I handle Ted's hours a lot better with a cute puppy to come home to. He can now sit on command, goes to the door to go out to potty and is learning "come". This morning he did the cutest thing when I was giving him his morning H2O and breakfast. He started to get very excited and began jumping up and down. This was the first time he had done so. However he gets so excited now that he doesn't want to eat much, so we are working on his breakfast meal and getting him to eat it. Some of you may say no big deal, he'll eat when he is hungry. True, but when he gets dinner he is so hungry that he doesn't chew and eats too fast, thus vomitting it back up and then re-eating it. Wouldn't be so bad if it didn't stain the carpet.

He has grown since we first got him. I think Chewie will get his first hair cut on Saturday, so I will try and post new pictures of him after that.

Pictures of Chewie!!

Well, we finally got pictures of Chewie on the computer so will put a few on! Sorry about not blogging all. It is hard when I am not infront of the home computer very often. I plan on getting back into my old routine on Saturday mornings while Ted is still asleep.

Chewie Update

We have had Chewie a little over two weeks now. He had his first Doctors visit and all went well. Ted took him as I was at work. Ted made an appointment for Chewie to have the grand snip in December or January...Merry Christmas Chewie?

Chewie has been able to go up stairs since about the third day we had him...but until this morning couldn't go down the stairs. This new development means the addition of another puppy gate to the stairs going down to our front door. I think Chewie may think his name is "NO!" as he is living up to his name and chewing on most anything left on the floor. Which isn't so bad when you pick things up. But as Ted is going to find out when he gets home from work, leaving your prized turkey butt feathers on the floor makes for a wonderful toy for Chewie. Just hope we still have a dog when Ted gets home.

Feeling blue ):

I am feeling a bit blue today, this schedule difference between Ted and I is really getting to me. I feel a bit more like a maid and cook than a wife. I am sure it is because I clean up during the day, make sure a meal is on the counter for Ted when he gets home, etc. It wouldn't be so bad if I actually got to spend some time with him, but I don't.

When we are home together, our schedules are still opposites. I don't feel like a priority. I'm not sure what to do.

Great picture of Ted and I.

Ted's friend from work took this picture of us. It was taken during a joint reception with two other couples from Ted's work. One couple got married on the same day we did and the other couple got married the first saturday of August.

Back in the Swing of things!

I haven't blogged in quite some time as I have been sick and with the new addition to our family, busy! Yes, Ted and I now have a sweet and adorable puppy! He is a Shitzu/Poodle mix otherwise known as a ShihPoo. I have pictures but haven't been able to get them on the computer yet. His name is Chewbacca, we call him "Chewie". He is adorable and worth every bit of it.

It is really fun to watch big 6'7 Ted with this little 5 lb puppy. I love it as I now have something to come home to and something to mother! Will get pictures up as soon as I can.

I went to the Optometrist a week ago. I have been having horrible headaches, which seemed to be vision related. The news from the Optometrist is eyestrain. I continue to have good eyesight at about 20/25, but with being at a computer most of the day and being under fluorescent lights, my eyes are suffering. So he prescribed reading/computer glasses for me. However the prescription is so little that I can't buy any over the counter as the lowest level of reading glasses OTC are +1.00. I need +0.50, so I had to pay $112 for glasses that are UV and Glare protected. Oh well!

Finally over my cold...I hope!

Endnote: Chewie is able to fit in Ted's work shoes. Not sure why anyone would want to smell Ted's work shoes, but Chewie sure does think they are great!

Husker Game Day

We went to the Husker vs New Mexico game on Saturday. Our first attendance of the year. It was a beautiful day/night for a game. Huskers played a good game even though they were playing against an "easy" team. But it was a good morale booster for them and it gave playing time to the third and fourth strings in the last quarter. Something I thought was cool, the Huskers have brought back praying in a huddle on the field after the game. Under the Callahan rule after a victory they would take of their helmets and chant with the band. This was a wonderful surrender. Not to mention they invited the opposing team to join them. At that point they were just football players taking a knee to pray. That was amazing!

In our times of the separation of church and state non contextual overboard, this was awesome! I pray that their efforts to include God in their endeavors continue and that an example is being set.

To my friends rooting for Mizzou...Ted says to watch out!

Fall Cleaning

Okay so the first day of fall is around the corner, but when your husband says lets clean, you take advantage of that time. However, he has Fridays off, so his thought was lets clean Friday when you get home from work...WRONG!!! Must I remind him that is my last day of work for the week and all I want to do is relax. So he cleaned mostly (remember his idea of cleaning is different than mine, as mine is logical). I was always taught to clean public areas first, then private areas (bedroom, game room, office, etc). Ted has a top/bottom approach, which means lets clean the office, bedroom and guestroom first. So I let him clean those areas of Friday, then yelled at him on Saturday for making the rest of the house more of a mess (it was also hot and humid in our house which I don't do well in). I think he understood my point and my upset as he demonstrated by closing all the windows, turning on the A/C, giving me a kiss, then going upstairs :) Nonetheless the house is clean!