The Belly

Here is the belly! Looking at these pictures now I think I'm doing pretty good! Sometimes I just seem so huge but these pics don't make me look quite so bad. This shirt is very forgiving too. It's my favorite maternity shirt and I love how it just hangs and doesn't make me look as ginormous as others do. It was funny the other day when I went with Nathan into his work all the girls there were like wow you've gotten so much bigger. I was surprised cause I didn't think I was that much bigger. It'll be interesting to see how I do in these next few months. I was fairly small at this stage with Alex too and then I exploded. So far I've gained 13 pounds. Doing pretty good so far! I'm really proud of myself for not gaining so much yet!

Oh and those first few pics of Alex are him with his cape and hat. He loves that show the wonderpets. He'll start saying wonderpets and bring me the pillowcase and hat. Then he'll say that he's either Lenny, Tuck, or Mingming. Usually he's Tuck! It's so cute!

Thought I'd post really quick about poor Alex's lip. He has this tendency to trip and break the fall with his face! Well, last night he did it once again and busted his lip open once again. This is like the main thing we've had to deal with with him. He will either get a giant bruise on his forehead or he'll bust his lip open. Well, this time was a little worse than it has been in the past. Nothing serious but it sure did bleed a lot. Once the bleeding stopped I was going to put some ice on it but knew how he always reacts to that. I was pretty smart though and came up with a good idea. I gave him a bunch of frozen grapes. They're one of my favorite snacks and they always make my lips and cheeks numb. He woke up with a big old fat lip this morning though. Poor guy! I really wish I had the camera for this one! It doesn't seem to hurt him anymore though. So that's good!

Well, I don't have any pictures to post this time because Nathan has my laptop and the camera. There were so many times in these last few days when I thought oh I wish I had the camera. Alex did some pretty cute things!

Nathan had been gone on a three day trip to Minneapolis and Dallas. It was my first real experience with having him gone since the first time I was in Salina with my family. It wasn't so bad. I did really miss him and night time is definitely the hardest time for me. I start to get really lonely and then I can't sleep without him. By the third day it was like I was finally getting used to not having him around. Then, he came home and now he's gone again and it starts all over again. He'll be gone till Sunday this time. He volunteered to work an extra day when they asked him cause it's extra money. Next week it looks like he'll be home most of the week and every night. It's funny how the trips work out. Some weeks there's nothing and others he's gone all the time.

I always try to cook things that I know Nathan doesn't like when he's gone and I love. It makes it feel like I get a little treat! This last time he was gone I made my mom's chicken pasta salad and california blts. I really liked making the pasta salad cause you can snack on it whenever you want. It doesn't have to be microwaved or anything and it can be eaten for several days if you make enough. Nathan doesn't like tomatoes or olives in the pasta salad and he doesn't like tomatoes or avocados in the blts. Well, anyway, this time I can't think of anything I want to make. Any suggestions? I know I talk to Joanne all the time about food and you might be able to come up with something for me. I know you'll probably suggest the italian vegetable soup but I don't really feel like making that one.

My belly is really starting to get bigger now. And, it seems like everybody is telling me so. LOL! I've gained a couple more pounds but I think it all went to the baby this time. I kind of have a feeling I'm going to get almost as big as I did with Alex. I have a doc appointment next week on thursday. It's the big glucose test. I hate getting blood drawn! That's the day of Nathan's trip too so I'll have to go by myself. No one there to hold my hand! She's still as active as ever. I think even more so! I found myself having to push little arms and legs around the last couple nights trying to get comfortable. That's the one thing I really love about being pregnant. Feeling the baby move! Sure I might complain about how it's uncomfortable or painful sometimes but, honestly, I don't really care.

I need to start doing christmas shopping soon! I know it seems early but I've been thinking about this for a couple months now. So, Joanne, does Jeremy have a christmas list or wish list on amazon? Joy and Jason, do you know if you're coming home for christmas? I really think that we should try to do christmas cheap this year. So, I think we should definitely draw names! I've updated my amazon wish list. There aren't very many things on there yet but all the things on there are things I really want. Yesterday I was looking through a magazine that had a bunch of christmas stuff in it and I was getting really excited. I love decorating and getting a tree! And, we'll have our new little girl for christmas this year! I'm getting so excited! The whole pregnancy process takes way too long! I'm so glad we're having her early! There's only like three months left!

Well, I have plenty of things to get done while Nathan's gone. I have a bunch of cleaning to do. I have to clean up the disastrous office. Nathan's Aunt Brenda is going to be here Sunday afternoon after Nathan gets back and she'll be sleeping in the office. She comes down every few years for the music festival in Windfield. She plays the hammered dulcimer. I have a project I've started. I'm making Joanne and I slings for our babies. I got the most awesome fabric and got started but now I have to wait till I go to walmart to finish. Nathan reminded me that we'll be carrying around babies in them and should probably sew in some extra support. Good thinking! They are super simple to make though and I can't wait to get them done!

Nathan's Arizona trip!

These are a bunch of pics from Nathan's Arizona trip. He went to Sedona for three days this last weekend. It's really pretty out there and I made sure to tell him to take a ton of pictures. His Grandma lives like two hours southeast of Sedona in Payson. So, he got to go visit her for a few hours on that Saturday. He went on a four hour hike on the Soldier's Pass Trail. That really wore him out since he's not used to that kind of walking. The first picture is of the sink hole along the trail. Nathan was a little nervous to sit too close to the edge. There are a bunch of pics of the plane he's flying too. It was his first trip in the King Air 350. Pretty exciting. In the fourth picture with the engine you can kind of see Meteor Crater disappearing behind the lower propeller blade. Can you tell Nathan helped me write this? Nathan will be going on trips like this more often with this job. It's pretty fun and exciting for him. Wish I could go but at least I get to see all the pictures and get souveniers from different places. He brought home a really nice pair of earings for me and a super cute picture frame. Alex got a little sheriff badge that said Arizona Sheriff with his name on it. We put it on the Arizona hat Nathan's monna got for him a while back. So far we're both really liking this job for Nathan. He's doing really good at it and we like that there's room for advancement. His instructors were all so impressed with him when he went to simulator school. Can you tell I'm proud of my hubby? He has a trip to Canada coming up this next week and then he'll be going to Minneapolis and Shreveport. A lot more interesting than the little towns around Kansas. LOL!