24 weeks

And the keyboard tray just stopped before I wanted it to... because of my belly. I have noticed lately that it has been getting in the way a lot more. Saturday we were moving cattle (I was more careful than I wanted to be simply because my in laws and my hubby are very protective!) and as I was picking stuff up to put in the back of the pickup, I noticed that I had left a "Mickey Mouse" face on the side of the pickup!

We went to the Bible Baptist Church of Syracuse's 60th Anniversary and a complete stranger noticed I was pregnant. That was nice!

I think I finally figured out how I am going to paint the nursery. Now I just have to get the rest of the stuff moved out so I can get to it! I know, it's August 31st and I still have stuff to move out. Not much though! All of the non-baby furniture is moved out. I just have to do the small odds and ends. Oh, and get Trina's computer ready for her, then stashed out of the way till we can get it to her!

I am contemplating letting my MeeMee sew the bedding for me. Not to get out of it, but it would be very special to me. I think it would be more sentimental for my MeeMee to do it than myself. But everything is basically going to be green, orange and white until the baby is born. Then I will make either cobalt blue or bright pink curtains and accents when the Blizzard/Snowflake is born!

I have been feeling really good. A little front heavy, but good. I had to have Jerrad paint my toenails today... They really needed it and I just couldn't deal with the pressure from folding in half. I told him if he did it this time, I would plan better and have someone else do it the next time. I'm not gonna lie, it was scary, and funny but there was minimal touching up to do! However, keeping up with my end of the bargain, I will need to find a volunteer for next time *hint*!

I had my appointment last Tuesday. It went really well. I weighed in at 1 pound over my pre-pregnancy weight. At 24 weeks, I am proud to say that I am still at that weight. My next appointment will be for my glucose tolerance test. Luckily I get to start a lot earlier than everyone else! The lab girl gets there earlier than I do which is an hour before anyone else would get to start. Seeing as I have to be fasting to start, then fast for another hour, I will be glad to start at 8:30 rather than everyone else's 10:00! Have I mentioned I love my job?

We were discussing Halloween costumes today. I looked up some ideas for maternity costumes and found the one! I believe I'll be the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Shannon said she'd be Aunt Jemima, Dr. Bill could be Colonel Sanders, and we have yet to figure out Joetta's. But we are pretty excited! We knew it'd be hard to top the Cat in the Hat from last year, but this is coming together quite nicely as well!

Well, I know I am posting this a little late, but think, you won't have to wait as long for the week 25 post! So here's to week 24!

Gigglin' Girls

These three fabulous little girls have had my heart for several years. This is Allison, Ryan, and Samantha. The outer two are sisters, and the middle one is their cousin. They (and their parents) used to be our neighbors. We lived in a horrible little house with a neglectful landlord, but we found it soooo difficult to move out because it meant moving away from these beauties and their family.

Whenever it would storm, we would go over to Ryan's house and hang out because they had a basement. Ryan and I spent many late nights together playing until one of us was worn out. Then when she went to bed her mom and I would stay up talking college football while the guys just rolled their eyes at us.

We dearly miss this family now that we live 30 miles from eachother.

This particular day, we made it over there for a barbecue. The kids were playing in the sprinkler before supper, so they had to change into dry clothes to eat. They were so giggly as they stripped down on the back porch, I just couldn't help myself!

Then little brother decided to jump in the mix...

If it's a boy...

I know you've been in suspense since the "If it's a girl" post, so I shall keep you waiting no longer, my one avid reader.

What I didn't mention in my last post is that both our girl and boy names are seed wheat varieties. Accidentally/on purpose... Once again I will rest your every doubt about us being rednecks!

If it's a boy his initials will be JLB. Jerrad's initals are JWB so there is a link there too.

This name is very special to us. The middle name has a similar meaning as Keagen's. We wanted to do something to honor our nephew, but it's a little difficult to name a child after his first cousin. As soon as we found out the meaning, we knew it was to be in the boy's name no matter what. Keagen's name's meaning is very special to all who know much about him. His name means "Fiery one" which is really neat because he had red hair. That is also what is on his headstone.

As I said before, I've never been a girly girl so boys were always in order. Even before I met my husband! I've always imagined chasing ornery boys around the house, and having them grow up to be fine respectable young men. So in that case, I should probably just name them after my visions of Bo and Luke Duke! Haha! Just kidding!

...Kind of...

Jerrad is wanting tractor drivers, calf wranglers, and shooting partners. He just wants some full time friends/co-workers that have no choice in the matter! =)

For colors and "theme" on a boy I am thinking a bright blue with lime green and orange. I know that sounds exactly like what I am already doing. But there will be a different spin for boy and girl, rest assured. I would really like to see some flames somewhere in there. Maybe more towards the toddler stage though! Probably some tractors of some sort in there too. But for baby stages, just some solid, bright colors.

Oh, and we went to the western wear store in Garden a few weeks ago. Maternity pants were right next to the kids' clothes(talk about some mad marketing!). We priced some size 2T Wranglers... YIKES! We can get a pair of Jerrad's size Wranglers for that price! And don't even ask about a 2T Carhart coat! (Mind you we will most likely no be shopping name brands at a western wear store to clothe our children... I'm way too cheap for that!) College fund? No way! How about a clothing fund for the little buckaroo!

Anyhoo... That is what I have in mind for the little Blizzard masculine style!

Week #23

Wow! #23 already? That's crazy!

It's been two weeks since I've posted because last weekend was a little crazy and we went for a one day road trip. Last Saturday we went to Trinidad Lake and met up with Jerrad's sister and her husband while they were on their way back from Denver. We had to stop at WalMart to get a few last minute things. I wondered if we would run into our friends Steve and Liana. Sure enough not a full minute into our WM expedition I saw Liana. Got to chat with her a little bit as she was doing last minute shopping for their church picnic they were hosting.

After we got WM out of the way, we headed out to the lake to fix a wonderful meal of steak and pork chop bits with potatoes and squash. We also had lots of other munchy stuff, which was great because I think the little squirt is going through a growth spurt(more of that later)!

We got to spend a little bit of time with David and Katarina before they had to get back on the road. It was so nice to see them and love on the puppy!

Then we decided to go driving around the mountains and enjoy the beautiful day before driving back home. So we basically spent all day in the car with a couple of hours at the lake. But it was a great day!

Ah! The OTHER reason I didn't blog last week... My new computer is here! YAY! I LOVE it. It's really fast, quiet, and pretty. Did I mention I have a 23 inch monitor? Jerrad said it's ridiculously too big. But once he got on the 18 wheeler game for a while, he learned to appreciate the ridiculous largeness!

It took a bit for us to get everything hooked up to the internet. Funny story for the day... I had to call HP the other evening because our internet was being poopy and our ISP thought it had something to do with our firewall. So I'm talking to the middle eastern guy and he asked for my email address. Once he convinced me that he really had to have it for customer service I told him what it was. my74dart360@hotmail.com - He put it in and said, "You must really like to play darts!" I actually succeeded at not laughing out loud, not insulting him or even being sarcastic with him! Aren't you proud!? I just calmly told him that it was a classic muscle car made by Dodge and that it happened to be my first car. Besides, he hadn't attempted to fix my problem yet, and I didn't want to tick off the guy that was supposed to fix my computer! After all, he really sounded like he knew what he was talking about... and I really had a hard time imagining his cubicle with anything other than a bunch of Short Circuit memorabilia. And who doesn't like it when he says, "Number 5 is alive!!"

Anyway, I really think the little one is going through a growth spurt. I have felt like my belly is twice as big as it really is. And I have been incredibly hungry!!! The other day for lunch I ate a hamburger, 1/4 pound hot dog, and a bag of chips. Only to find out 2 hours later that it wasn't enough! Today I ate a mixing bowl full of ravioli only to get back to work and look for a snack.

I weighed myself on Monday and was still 3 pounds under prepregnancy weight. I am happy about that. Don't get me wrong. I am NOT afraid to gain weight and definitely understand the importance of it. I am not trying to stay under, but I'm not using the pregnancy excuse to eat a whole box of donuts either. I am just really happy my body is using what it already has stored rather than feeling the need to get more!

I have my next appointment and ultrasound on Tuesday. I am far enough along to have Dr. Bill look and see what we are having. But we are still set on letting it be a surprise. After all, we have a bunch of stuff already picked out for neutral.

We were going to go to Wichita this weekend and register at Babies R Us, and Target. Not to mention staying with my favorite college roomie, see her two GORGEOUS kids, and put up with her husband... J/K! David is a great guy, just don't let him know I said it! But our trip was postponed. Stuff came up at the farm and we are home this weekend. I don't know when we will get there, but we will soon! I was too ready for this trip to just let it slip away completely!

So there it is... My week #23 post! And here is Week #23's calendar! Once you look at the comic on that page, be sure to come back and look at this photo taken on Saturday!

And, Yes, I still have a VERY active baby! It's so cool!

Week 21

I have found out that the lil one really likes the song "How Great Thou Art" because everytime I sing/hum it, (I've been practicing it up for a special for church) there's a LOT of tumbling! Yesterday I started humming it in the pickup on the way back from Kalvesta, and I started giggling because "he" wouldn't stop!! It's so cool! I'm kind of wondering if I'll be able to sing it in church without giggling!

I've been working at getting online and trying to put together a registry. Mostly on, errr, WalMart... Did I just say that? Sorry, I feel like such a traitor! But we are going to Wichita in a couple of weeks to see some friends and go register at Babies-R-Us. I can't wait for that!

You know how I told you that my goal was to get the office totally cleaned out by the end of August? Yah, well... I'm still shooting for that!

We were going to go to the mud run in Elkhart today, but it's nice enough that Jerrad is having to spray instead. So I get today with my house, but not for long. My MIL comes home today and I believe we are having a church dinner of sorts tomorrow. Then next weekend, I believe we are going to Pueblo to meet up with David and Katarina on their way back from Denver. Then the next weekend we are going to Wichita (YAY!). Then the next weekend is the last one for August! Yikes!

So you see, it will be a pretty big push to get this room cleaned out before the end of August! I WILL get it done even if it means staying up to all hours of the night on the last few days of August! =)

I started getting the Christmas fever this week. I usually get it this time of year. I feel August coming on and that means fall is around the corner. That stirs up connotations of Thanksgiving, then Christmas falls right in line with that! I know I will probably be particularly excited because this year will be an extra special Christmas. And I know it's hard not to think of Christmas this time of year because retailers are already moving holiday stuff in. But to be terribly honest, I do this every year. And I don't make it to many retail stores. I go to our small little grocery store and the occasional Duckwall/Alco trip. So I can't even blame it on that!

I did make it to our flower shop in Johnson on Thursday. My grandma had surgery on Wednesday (nothing serious, just fixing some problems to make life a little easier) so I went to wire her some flowers. I was SOOOO excited when I saw they had their Christmas tree up and their hearth was ALL decked out! I walked in and exclaimed, "Oh I'm so glad there is someone out there that is getting Christmas fever too!" And Anna said, "Alyssa, I just got done with our Christmas in July sale o clear out last year's stuff." Ooops. Either way, I took advantage of the sale!

Well, here is the post to let you all know what page I am on for Week 21!

If it's a girl...

Ok, I'm gonna break down and let out some info...

No we are not going to find out the sex early. Jerrad really wants to wait. The suspense is starting to mount for both of us. But since Dr. Bill won't even look for a bit yet, it's ok. Now when we are able to know and choose not to find out, I'm sure the suspense will bring me to my knees!!!

Anyway, I mentioned earlier that I didn't want to disclose the names we had picked out just in case someone fancied them. I don't think that anyone will accidentally pick them, even though someone used my girl first name for her girl's middle name. But that's because it's a family name. But I really like the names we picked so I will let you know the initials and what I am thinking of with each one (I'll do the boy post later).

If it's a girl (which not many people that have suspicions have suspicioned this direction) her initials will be AAB, just like mine!

I am not a girly girl and have never been fond of having a girl for that reason. I have grown more fond of the idea. There are still lots of people that think I should have a girl so THEY can make her girly. I think I should have a girl so I can make her rough and tough like me! However, bows and ruffles will be in order for some occasions, i.e. to make sure no one thinks she is a boy!

Which brings me to these...

Raynebows which are made by a high school classmate of mine.

Avie Adorned by another high school classmate.

Briar Claire which are featured on Small Fry.

I do absolutely love these bows, hats and Small Fry!

I really love a nice, soft, sage green with an earthy theme. If you're one of the privileged to know the name, you know why!

Candice will be doing my birth announcements as soon as I let her know if it's a boy or a girl and I buy her all the stuff! I assure you they will be nothing short of amazing! Have you seen her scrapbooks?!

Darci will be doing pictures, all of them. She, also, is amazing! I told her that I may call her to do some birth pictures as well as newborn pics. When I get larger I have signed her up for maternity portraits. I'm sure she is up for the job!

I think that is about all I have planned for AAB. Stay tuned for a baby boy post!