Half Way There

It is hard to believe that I am half way through my pregnancy. The last 20 weeks have been a complete blur! I have been so busy, but luckily all the craziness is finished (for now). I had something going on every weekend since the beginning of October. Some of it fun, and some of it for school.

After 18 weeks of no nausea, baby decides that my stomach is a punching bag. Hello heartburn! It isn't a constant, thank goodness! It seems to be more when I have only water on my stomach (I think). Weird? If I eat a little snack or drink something that isn't water, that usually helps.

And another thing... that whole "pregnancy brain"... yeah, my brain didn't work so well to begin with much less add extra hormones, etc. Oy!

My mom posted a Facebook pic of me at 18 weeks. Here I am two weeks later. I know it isn't a complete side shot (Matthew will learn), but I think I can see that my belly has grown.

Honestly, I have no real complaints. I think the excitement (and fear) of this little one's arrival trumps it all.

It's a...

Girl! Here she is sucking her thumb. I got to watch her stick her thumb in her mouth. :)

Big News

After Labor Day, I took a pregnancy test which was positive! I took another one the next day, and it was positive. I didn't know what to think. Yes, we are excited, but reality told me our world would be turning upside down in 9 short months (in a good way, of course).

I called the doctor and made my first appointment. Matthew went with me. It was the first time we got to see the baby and the little heartbeat. It's amazing. The baby measured to be 8 weeks and 4 days, and my due date is May 9th.

At my next appointment, I was 12 weeks and heard the heartbeat for the first time. Matthew was no able to come with me.

A couple of weeks later, I saw my niece and nephew at a King dinner. My sister-in-law called me a few days later to let me know little Tyler went to the doctor and was diagnosed with 5ths Disease. I called the doc and had to go in to have blood drawn. My sister (nurse) let me know Stephen had it when she was pregnant with Josh. So I didn't worry too much. I went in for the blood work and asked if I could hear the heartbeat while I was there. The first nurse had trouble finding it. "Don't panic yet" she said. She got another nurse who found it, and I was able to record it on my phone. When I got home, I played it for Matthew. He didn't say anything but I could tell he thought it was pretty cool. Oh, I tested negative for the disease but am not immune, so I have to get another test.

Two weeks later brings us to today. I am going today for my 16 week check-up. In the last couple of weeks my belly has popped! I have been very fortunate because I have had no sickness. I had the major fatigue during the 1st trimester, but I am over that hump. I definitely have more energy now but still get tired easily. I have to remind myself to not push it. Last night I wanted so badly to make dinner but had no energy whatsoever. Matthew didn't mind. He had some soup and pimento cheese crackers. Don't tell him I said this, but he has been so awesome. He has especially been a good sport about cleaning 3 litter boxes. Those little boys can fill a couple of litter boxes!

Matthew and I are pleased to announce that we are due to have a baby in May!

Camping & Catching Up

Matthew and I are in Hollywood, SC, again. It's the weekend after Labor Day, and since the mountains decided to feel like fall we decided to go for one more beach trip. We both had an exhausting week of work and thought it would be better to drive down Saturday. We were able to take our time. We had a lovely breakfast at the Atlanta Bread Company then hit the highway.

It was quite cool at the beach but Matthew surfed anyway. I sat on the beach reading which is what I do best. I decided to play hooky on Monday, so we made the most out of Sunday and Monday morning. Matthew bought a long sleeve wet shirt. He said it really kept him warm. He managed to catch one really good wave while we were there.

OK. So I started this post while we were actually at the beach, and I am now realizing that I had not finished it! All in all, it was a very nice get away just after school had started. Now it's a week until November begins! Tomorrow and Tuesday is our All-County Orchestra Festival, and November has 3 short weeks for me. I have a trip to Winston-Salem, Thanksgiving, and my sister's 40th birthday! It's going to be a good month. :)

Writing Spider

I am not a spider person. My mother, however, can look up picture after picture of spiders on the internet. I... I can't do it. As a child, I did read "Charlotte's Web" and have always been fascinated by writing spiders. About three weeks ago, this Charlotte showed up next to our basement door. I have been careful when I call the kittens inside, so they don't mangle her web. I make them go around.

When I decided to get some photos of our friend, I noticed that she had a friend, too. Can you see "him"? He was moving ALL around her. She was not moving, and I thought she was dead. He was pulling her legs, and it looked like he was attaching her to the web. It was weird.
I went back inside for a minute, and when I came back out she moved! The next thing I knew, her little "friend" was wrapped tighter than a burrito at Moe's.

Yes, he is that white dot at her mouth. This all happened August 20, and she is still out there. Sometimes when I'm out there calling in the kittens, I picture the last scene of "Charlotte's Web" when the babies release, and I get some major heebie jeebies. I haven't seen any egg sacks yet... I guess I'll find out how that works.

Busy Summer

Hey kids! It has been a busy summer for me. I finished my 5th Summer Strings Camp last Friday, and then went camping at the beach. Matthew had a good time surfing, and I enjoyed fighting my new beach umbrella. Half of it broke, but half shade was better than no shade! When I got over being embarrassed by my flapping umbrella, I enjoyed the pounding waves and reading a book.

Matthew went down Friday afternoon, and I drove down Saturday. I met Matthew in Edisto and made a new friend.

The campsite had these adorable geese. These boys were pursuing a pretty little female.

I made dinner Sunday night. Matthew packed a few leftovers from our fridge at home which included some rice, and I brought a red pepper and some tomatoes which we added to the rice. I went to Piggly Wiggly and bought some andouille sausage and a red onion. This is everything before I piled it all together on a plate! (I also poured a little bit of my beer into the pan with the sausage! Yum!)

It was delicious! I love camper cooking! I am looking forward to more camping weekends!

Making Dinner

I knew I wanted to make a quiche since I have a lot of eggs and tomatoes. I bought some Gruyere cheese, an onion, and a pie crust (sorry, Jen, I just haven't quite tackled making my own).

Time to make dinner! Mmmm... I have chorizo sausage in the fridge. I start cooking the chorizo and chop up an onion. As I add the onion to the chorizo, I realize... Gruyere cheese doesn't pair so well with that flavor. I had already defrosted my chopped spinach. What to do?

Make two quiches, of course! I made a crustless quiche with spinach, tomato, and Gruyere. Yum!

The second was with a crust. I put the chorizo and onion on the bottom, poured the egg, spinach, and cheddar mixture on top and then topped it with sliced tomatoes (just for looks).

We'll see how it turns out!