YEA for Weekends!

So this weekend was definitely a good one all around. I started off on Friday afternoon and evening not feeling all that great with symptoms of a cold setting in; however after getting some extra rest by working from home the rest of the day and having a relaxing movie night at home on Friday (The Proposal...a good one to see), Saturday proved to be a better day.

Kurt had set up, as a surprise, an hour pregnancy massage for me in downtown Bradenton at The Little Day Spa, my first massage ever actually. It was really nice and very relaxing. It was very sweet and thoughtful of him, especially considering it was never something I'd even mentioned to him. He came up with the idea all on his own. What more can I say...I think I married a good one!! After the massage we had what we like to call Linner (lunch/dinner.....a mid afternoon meal that ends up being both Lunch and Dinner for us) at Sweet Tomatoes. I know it's not a gourmet meal or anything fancy, but lets face the facts, we aren't over the top people and we simply like Sweet Tomatoes. Make fun all you want!

To complete our Saturday afternoon we bought our first video camera. So yes we will be toting it around with us to make shaky at home movies so we can show everyone and torture our family with them. We just could not resist!! So since we have lots of time to practice and perfect our video camera skills before Baby Baxley is born in March.....you'll probably be getting a lot of Wrigley and Pepper videos. Below is our first clip and I feel the need to explain slightly. The clip is Wrigley and Pepper PLAYING...they are not fighting and actually despite what it may sound or look like to anymore else, the dogs are just playing and having fun. Not to worry, this is normal dogs having fun behavior for those of you not used to this. It's even more fun to play the video back on the computer so the dogs can watch and bark at themselves on the computer screen. It's the little things that amuse us. Also note the quality of the video was saved down quite a bit for internet and posting on the blog. I'm still trying to figure things out but the actual video quality is a whole lot better than what you see below.

Movement!

We have movement!.....the baby is moving I mean.....I finally felt Baby Baxley last Friday and have continued to feel it every once in while since then. Kurt finally got to feel the baby too on Sunday. He felt it once and then sat for another forty-five minutes with his hand on my stomach waiting for it to move again, he finally gave up sometime after I fell asleep. We went to the doctor yesterday for my regular appointment. Everything seems to be good and all my measurements are adding up to be on target. The heart rate of "BB" was 150bpm which is slowly going down from it's original. They say this is normal and during the second trimester the heart rate will begin to level off to a more consistent rate, but food and whether it's asleep and other things can effect it too when the heart rate is measured. So who knows!!

Both Kurt and I officially got our H1N1 vaccine yesterday at my OB's office. So we are Swine Flu FREE and have the ID card to prove it. I'm not joking they actually gave us each a card to carry with us that says that we've been vaccinated....weird!

Everything else is good in the Baxley Bradenton House. Kurt is busy studying every minute possible in preparation for his upcoming test. Wrigley developed bumps yesterday all over his back so I'm pretty sure the rash is back yet again. He seems to still be in good spirits and continues to chase Pepper around the house and gives her a good beating every once in a while, which both Kurt and I think she deserves with all the ankle biting (literally) she's given him in the last year or so.

We bought our pumpkin yesterday and it's a biggin'!! It's so big I felt the need to buckle it in on the way home. Kurt tried to give it a name the whole way home, but I refuse to name something I'm going to cut up.

Happy Birthday to both my Mom and Scott this week!

Girl or Boy!

Well I can't really say on here, but if you really want to know then you'll have to ask us. It's not a secret, just a secret for my dad by his choice and I respect that.

Everything looked good in the ultrasound (see above the profile of the baby's face in the middle of the image and rib cage to the left) last week. Baby is moving around a lot so it's kind of surprising I can't feel it yet. There are times when I think it might be the baby moving, but I'm not sure.....I just have to wait a little longer and I'm sure I'll really feel it soon. Everything measured up correctly and all looks good so far. I'm starting to notice the difference now in the things I can or can't do and being a little less comfortable. My usually everyday wearing of flip flops doesn't always cut it anymore and certain movements I am more and more aware of my stomach. I really can't complain though, things have been pretty good. We are now well on our way to the second half of the pregnancy.

Kurt is busy studying every minute possible and continues to claim I am an "easy pregnant wife"...we'll see how long that lasts. Wrigley has been looking really good lately (knock on wood) and has returned to his original spunky self that we had forgotten he had. He actually plays with Pepper and chases her around the house, which of course she loves. He even initiates playing with her. We haven't seen this side of Wrigley in so long we both just sit and watch them play like it's a good movie. Work is very busy for both of us, which is why this post is so short.

End of Week 17 Update

17 weeks marked my last doctors appointment. Everything seems to be going well and no complications thus far. We heard the heartbeat again and it's beginning to settle down, recorded at 156bpm. That's down since the last two visits but they claim that is normal. According to the old wise tale, a faster heart beat means it's a girl, but we'll just have to wait another couple of weeks to find out. My doctor has recommended that I get a Flu Shot (I can't even remember the last time I got one) as well as the new H1N1 vaccine. Which I am "thrilled" about considering how new and experimental it seems, but I trust that my doctor knows what he's talking about and I'm going to do it. I'm not going to lie it's a scary thing and being pregnant has made both Kurt and I more aware of how disgusting and unsanitary so many people are....and that's just what we can actually notice.My stomach is beginning to show more and more now. Most of the new clothes I bought still kind of hide it, but it's beginning to come out now. In the next month or so there will be no mistaking whether it's baby or just fat. My flat stomach is long gone to me at this point though, Kurt reassures me by telling me it's "good" fat.

We've already begun to plan for the nursery and with the help of our families we have most of the major items including a glider complete with ottoman, the crib, a changer combo unit, and the bedding set plus a couple decor items and a wood working project that is already in the process. You know me....I like to plan it all out and be prepared well in advance.

Less than two weeks until we have our "big ultrasound" to make sure everything is going okay and we find out the gender. Unfortunately I will not be posting whether it's a girl or a boy on the blog due to the fact I'm going to attempt to respect my dad's request that he doesn't want to know. I'm not sure how that's going to work considering everyone else will probably know...but, I'll try my best. Love you Dad!

The New Kid on the Team!

As you can see there will be a new little person added to our team soon....March 11th to be exact! That's right I'm pregnant! Yesterday marked 15 weeks which makes me well into the 2nd trimester and everything is going very well. The heartbeat has been strong at each doctors visit and everything measured up correctly on our first ultrasound at 9weeks. I had very limited amount of morning sickness in the first trimester, mostly just constantly feeling like I was going to be sick, but never actually being sick. I haven't had any food cravings yet, everything just doesn't usually sound that good so it's hard to decide what to have and/or cook for dinner. We find out the gender of the baby on October 15th if all works out. (Sorry Dad, I just can't wait, the anticipation is killing me already! I don't care if it's a girl or a boy, I just want to know.)

The doctor says I will start to show very early because of how my body is and how the baby and my uterus is growing. I feel I am already. I've officially went shopping and changed my entire wardrobe last weekend when we first announced the news to our parents.

The doctors don't seem to be concerned with my Crohn's and do not predict any complications because of it. They actually said because of the hormones from pregnancy that my stomach will probably be better than it ever has before. My daily Crohn's medicine is safe to take throughout my pregnancy so that makes it easy as well.

It's raining, it's pouring...

So now on day number 4 of all day rain, it's starting to get a little old. Our lake is beginning to creep slowly beyond it's capacity and up higher than we've ever seen it before. On the brighter side, our grass is a lovely shade of green.

The little things

Sometimes it's the little things in life that really make life exciting. No, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but like the day our Dyson Animal Ball arrived!! All purple, new and ready with it's jet engine sucking vacuum power to take on our house. YEA!! I never imagined the day I would be excited about a vacuum! And I must say, I wasn't the only one excited. Here are the boys with our new toy.

We not only forked over a small fortune for our new vacuum, but we purchased it from the "THE Home Shopping Network".....another first for us. Hey it was a good deal!!