My How You Have Grown!

I went to the Doctor Wednesday for my monthly check-up and we did the ultrasound. I was so relieved to see there was still a baby there. Better yet, thus far it looked healthy.  I had been feeling so good I was beginning to wonder if everything was okay.  The first time we went to the doctor I was 6 weeks and 4 days. The baby was only a sesame seed then so all we could really see was the heartbeat.  It was 0.67cm.  This time the baby is about the size of a fig and was 4.93cm.  The coolest part by far was that all the major features were there and very recognizable--a head, body, arms, and legs.   Boy was this baby active.  He/she looked like it was boxing.  Arms and legs going everywhere.  I hope it enjoys all that space cause it won't have it for long! It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  To top that off, I'd only gained 1 lb.  I was freaking out thinking about how much and how poorly I'd been eating.  Thankfully some of that hunger has tapered off a bit now that I'm not training for the half marathon.

I have to confess I haven't been doing that much reading.  I had the best intentions of reading all these baby books but they can kinda freak you out.  If you momma's out there have any books you highly recommend let me know.  I'm getting such great advice from everyone I really feel like I've gained alot of knowledge already.  I would like to read some books though so please pass on those titles.

Next topic up, maternity clothes.  I've been thumbing through my InStyles and PeopleStyleWatch I get and look at all the cute new spring clothes.  Then I dream about buying and wearing them knowing I can't because I will be starting to show pretty shortly and be biggest going into the summer. Therefore I need to know if there are any online sites or stores I need to know about for cute maternity clothes?  I have been careful not to buy 1 piece of clothing since I found out  I was pregnant.  If you want to cut back on spending costs this is a great way. Seriously, I've saved a ton of money already. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm getting ready to cheer on my tigers to victory against A & M!

Our first visit to the doctor on December 3

January 5 visit

The end of 2010

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We did our normal Christmas traditions but a new twist is evolving. Every year we go to my grandmothers on Christmas Eve and spend the night. Then we wake up the next morning and do presents and Christmas lunch.  Last year Mime hurt her arm and agreed to let us have Christmas at my mom's. I think she realized how easy that was and agreed to let us do that this year too.  Unfortunately my one and only cousin is a newlywed and couldn't come in so it was a bit different. I suppose things do change when you bring in new members to your family and some traditions stay the same and others go. Ben has already been working on me for next year to start our own tradition. Since we will have a new addition to our household he really wants to do Christmas at our house.  I kinda agree. We will see. Other that that, I have done alot of relaxing.  Usually, I start getting cabin fever byt the end of my vacation but I have been so tired I have loved not doing one thing.  And I am sick I took no pictures.

As I look back on 2010 it seems like a long year but a short one all at the same time.  In March, my company officially bought Schering Plough pharmaceuticals and we did a third lay off in four years. It took several months to get caught up there and of course baseball season was going on which always makes the spring come and go.  I was looking forward to a relaxing summer when my husband decided he wanted to be the head football coach and then everything else is a blur.  Somehow we managed to squeeze in a few small trips and then two-a-days started.  I had my 10 year reunion and college football was underway.  Thank goodness I was able to go to a couple LSU games. Then perhaps the biggest surprise of the year arrived on November 19 when I found out I was pregnant.  I have gone through many emotions: total shock, what do I do with a child, morning sickness, and finally excitement.  I have already received more advice than I ever thought possible and am extremely thankful cause my reading is not going so great.

We celebrated New Years pretty quietly by grilling some shrimp and filet's and playing a few games before midnight.  To me, New Year's has always been extremely overrated and I really don't see what the big deal is.  I have made no resolutions cause honestly, I never keep them.  I do want to try and be as prepared as I can be for our new baby. I wish we could sell our house, sooner than later, and I want to try and be more positive. I have so much to be grateful for and want to remember those things.  Finally, it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more organized.  Hope 2011 will be even better for everyone that 2010. Happy New Year!

Where Have I Been?

Yes, first let me say Merry Christmas to everyone! It has been way too long since I have blogged but honestly I have been sooo busy. This time of year is always crazy. I thought I'd fill you all in on what's been going on. First, I finished my half marathon. Hallelujah! Sadly, I didn't feel like I thought I would when it was over.  I thought I would cross the finish line and say "when is the next one?" but I didn't. I did finish under my goal time and it was fun but my I thought at any second my knees would fall off. 13.1 miles just can't be good for your body.

Secondly, I'm sure most of you already know by now but yes we are pregnant! It's still really early and I debated about whether we should tell everyone but it's just so hard to keep a secret like that. We had original plans to wrap up the ultrasound pics and give them to our parents for Christmas but after we got them in our hot little hands we couldn't wait another second. This week I feel pretty good but the last couple weeks have been pretty rough. Hopefully, I am getting over the hump.  Thanks to everyone for your sweet thoughts and prayers. Boy or girl, I don't care, I just want a happy, healthy baby.  Due date: July 24, 2011. 

May you all travel safely to your destination and be with the ones you love the holiday season. God bless!

                                   Maryanne and I before the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon

Bloggers Block

So where have I been and what have I been doing? The answer is I don't know. What haven't I been doing? So much has been going on I don't know where to begin. On top of that I can't single out one thing to write about. Please tell me I'm not alone here.  I did realize, however, that I have not blogged about the one thing that I am obsessed with. That is my dog.

Lola. Enough said. She is so the light of my life. She's a maltipoo who is 4 years old.  I got her when I moved back from D.C. to Ruston and was living by myself.  Do ya'll know that song, "whatever Lola wants, Lola gets...?" Well, it fits her to a T.  She is so spoiled it really is sickening but I can't help it. It is a bad sign of how my children will be that is for sure. She has more personality than any other dog I've ever known. And oh my is she smart. You can tell her something once and she remembers. It's crazy! I think that's the poodle in her. Everyone says poodles think they are people and are some of the smartest dogs and she definitely is. Lola is the number 1 reason we bought a king size bed. We needed more space as she sprawled out horizontal in between us to sleep at night.

I dress her up for Halloween every year. This year she is gonna be a hot dog. Literally. A big bun and weenie in between her body. Hilarious.

Lola when she was about 8 weeks old

Not happy about LSU Gameday

Cheering for the Saints!

She loved the snow!

Last year's halloween costume-a bumble bee.

Baby Haddox?

Just to clear up any questions you might have had when you saw the post, no I am not pregnant.  So I'm sure are wondering what is this post about?  Well a little website called morphthing.  You may have seen the segment Jay Leno does where he takes two celebrities and shows the audience what their kids will look like.  You can use this website now for yourself and a celebrity or another photo you upload.  I thought I would give it a try.  First off, you need photos where you are not smiling.  It's hard enough for me to take a picture with Ben, but to find a pic of us not smiling was near impossible.  So I uploaded a pic of us smiling and the baby's lips came out really Angelina Jolie-like (see pic 1).  I just had to scan some new photos.  The second photo was better but the baby had adult-size ears (see pic 2).  Oh well, it could have been way worse.  Ben and I showed this to our family one night and I feel the same way as my grandmother does.  In her words, "that's a cute baby but it's not my grandbaby."  Enjoy and try it out for yourself!

Declutterization

Over the past month I have been trying really hard to get super organized. The problem with my house is that I don't have an office I report to every morning. Therefore my office is my house and my house is my office. We have an extra bedroom that we use as my office but all my stuff rarely makes it there.  I need several shelves and a file cabinet but maybe one day I'll get around to that.  I went through everything and discarded things I know I will need not again and moved alot of my study materials to my storage unit I have for work. Then I took my reject fall and winter clothes to a consignment sale called My Girlfriends Closet.  This Saturday I decided to participate in a multi-family garage sale. I sold even more clothes and a few furnishing items that we haven't used in forever. Ben and I both had our own houses before we got married so we have been renting a storage unit for over 2 years just storing things we don't have a place for. Ridiculous if you ask me. Hopefully we will get that cleaned out soon enough.

I remember seeing an Oprah episode last year about de-cluttering your life and I have decided that's just what I need to do.  I went through all the do-dads that were stocking stuffers and nick-knacks stuffed under my bed. I kept what was relevant to me at this time in my life and the rest was discarded.  It really does feel good to be able to walk into our garage storage and have room to spare and actually find what you're looking for.  Plus, I finally came to the realization if I couldn't fit in it last year,  chances are I won't this year so even though they might be really nice jeans, it's time to let em go.  At least I made some extra cash out of the situation.  Thanks to Joanna, Rachel, and Ashley for letting me participate in the garage sale. I have also made a conscious effort to be super careful about my spending habits. Am I going to get good wear out of that dress or will it be a one and done? It's definitely a work in progress! 

De-clutter your life today. I promise you'll feel brand new!

CCHS Class of 2000

It's been awhile since I've blogged but last week (and this week for that matter) has been so crazy.  Last week was Homecoming week at the creek and it was also our high school reunion.  Homecoming week was always one of my favorite weeks of the year during high school and it has gotten soooo much better now than when I was there.  We had the big pep really Thursday night that lasted for an hour and a half. That's a long pep rally!  The best was when all the homecoming king candidates did a talent and we voted on the best and then the king was crowned.  There were a variety of talents from a unicycle to an impersonation of "The Situation" to a serenade to the queen. You couldn't have paid me to get up in front of the whole school and parents by myself and make a fool.  It was really entertaining, especially when they had to give their best pick up line to the queen.

Friday afternoon I went to the homecoming assembly to see all the pretty girls in their dresses and listen to Ben speak.  Later that night all alumni were invited to tailgate in the end zone of the field and it was so fun to catch up with people I literally haven't seen in 10 years.  Most of my class left at halftime and I finally got to watch some of the game. Thank goodness we won. No one wants to lose your homecoming game and everyone told my husband that all week. No pressure or anything!

Saturday it felt great to let lose. The weather was beautiful. However, I was still collecting money like a mad woman and trying to decorate was stressful but it all worked out.  We ended up about $100 short so I waited til everyone had a couple drinks and were feeling generous to donate a few more dollars. I will definitely let someone else handle that job next time around.  We had several classmates over to watch the LSU game that afternoon and I'm really not going to waste anyone's time commenting on that game.  Les Miles needs to go. Period. After I was all worked up from watching the game we headed out to Lincoln Hall. There were several people that couldn't make it out to the game the night before so we caught up with them. We only had about a third of our class there and I was hoping for more but I know it's hard for everyone to be in one place at once.  They were missed. We watched a hilarious slide show of pics from HS then ate some good food and enjoyed a band play some music (and attempted to get the dance floore started).  We also voted people for several categories like "least changed,"  "most unique job," longest marriage," ect...and visited until they kicked us out.  After that we headed to 3 Docs and visited even more. I couldn't tell you the last time I remember staying out that late. It was a blast and everyone says the 20 year is even better.  I don't think I can wait that long. Below are some pics.  I am sick I didn't take more but I was too busy being social. Enjoy!

      we were a few people short so we did it again and we still didn't get everybody in it!