Changes

Wow! Lots of changes have been happening lately!

First of all, there is the matter of my growing figure. I am constantly surprised when I reach down to touch my stomach. My first thought is always -- WHOA!! How did THAT get there?! And then I remember -- oh yeah ... there's a baby in there! I have to be honest. Watching my body change has been probably the hardest thing about being pregnant. Everything else I love. But it feels as if my booty is growing as fast as my belly! I'm still exercising pretty regularly, but not as intensely as I used to. I mostly walk or do the elliptical at the gym. Just when I make the decision to let go and stop worrying about how much weight I've gained, I catch a peek at my backside in the mirror. YIKES!!! I really have no right to complain, though. It's not like I've been doing a great job of eating super healthy! I definitely have cravings -- but rarely give into them -- Arby's roast beef sandwiches and Doughnuts! The doughnut thing has really got me going. The other night I got into bed and Jon was trying to talk to me. I was like "I'm really sorry, but I can't concentrate -- all I can think about is doughnuts!" He asked me if that was his clue to run out to the store and I was like "PLEASE, NO! I can not indulge in this! I'll won't be able to fit out the door by the time I'm 9 months!" A few nights later I actually dreamt about going to Krispy Kreme. What a psycho! Anyways, this is the first picture I've taken of my growing tummy (about 17.5 weeks). I'm totally at the stage right now where people can't tell if I'm pregnant or just putting on weight. So I finally broke down and bought some maternity clothes. That is a whole other post by itself.

I can't believe I'm almost halfway. We go to get our ultrasound on Feb 6. We are planning on finding out what the sex is if possible. For a while I was sure it was a girl, but lately I've been thinking it might be a boy. We are really excited to find out so we can go ahead and settle on a name and start buying cute things! I am just waiting until I start to feel it moving. Sometimes I think I feel it, but I'm not quite sure. Every day I think about how excited I am to meet this little one! I can't wait! I feel so blessed!

On to other changes...

We sold our townhome, which is really great. We will be closing next week sometime. So we spent all of this week moving. A friend of ours who lives in our same townhome complex is trying to sell his unit and it's empty, so we'll be renting it out from him until we move or he sells it. What a stressful week, though! Probably one of the most stressful weeks in our whole marraige! We moved everything ourselves -- who knew we had so much stuff! And everything needed to be out by last night because Jon was leaving today for his career conference in Austin! I'm so thankful that we have a place to live, but it was so sad to leave my own house. I had put so much work into it. It will be really hard to look across the street and see someone living there!

Like I said, Jon is at his conference this week. He's been working really hard to prepare, and I think he'll do really well if he just relaxes and acts like himself. I just have this nagging feeling, though, that deep down he really wants to stay in the Army. We'll see what happens. Maybe he'll come home from this conference and be really excited about the corporate world. I really thought things were set but then he went in and talked to two of his commanding officers this week and now he's talking about some other options he has in the army. We'll see, I guess. I'm at the point right now where I don't really care what we do, I just want to know what I can plan on. I think both of us are ready for a time in our lives where our future is pretty set at least for a few years.

This weekend is my birthday and our anniversary. Unfortunately, Jon will miss it again, but I still get to celebrate with my close friends! We are going to see DreamGirls and then go out for Fondue. YUMM!! My favorite! I'm so lucky to have such great friends! I'll try to remember to take some pictures and then post them!

Settling Back In

I guess it's time to take my Christmas Break ticker off of the bottom of my blog and replace it with a countdown to Spring Break! Jon and I finished our drive back to Colorado on Tuesday and I started work again on Wednesday. It's really not that bad and the kids have been great so far -- still a little bit in shock about returning to school I think! It's funny how news travels fast in my building -- the kids knew all about me being pregnant before I even said anything to them! Too funny -- some other teachers must've spilled the beans. That's okay, though. It's always a little bit awkward, I think, to tell people you're going to have a baby. And I did want all of my kids to know so that they wouldn't wonder why I was getting big. They're old enough to know it's usually inappropriate to come out and ask a woman if she's pregnant. They were pretty excited, though, and I got lots of congratulatory hugs from them.

Yesterday, I went to a coworker's house to look at some baby things they wanted to get rid of. I was fully expecting to pay for everything, but they wouldn't let us. They gave us an infant car seat (so that we would have an extra for Jon's car or to leave at Grandma and Grandpa's), another little seat that vibrates and also has a little hood and a net that zips (hard to explain) that will be perfect for sitting outside late summer, and one other thing. I really feel bad that they wouldn't take any money for it -- I'm thinking of getting them a gift card to a restaurant or something. What do you think?

I'm still feeling pretty awkward about how I look. I totally thought that I was starting to show last week, but then this week at my appointment, my Dr. showed me where my uterus was and it's not really anywhere near where my tummy is starting to get bigger. Oh well. Too many Christmas cookies I guess! We got to hear the heartbeat again at my appointment (she said it was fast -- in the 150s -- could that mean girl??). I know it wasn't the first time, but I still felt like I was going to cry! It's just so amazing to hear proof that there is another little person living inside of you! I was walking the other day at the gym and all I could think about was how anxious I am to snuggle and love on that baby once it's born!

Speaking of my doctor's appointment, I just have to stop and rant a little bit about the Army. I know I can't complain too much since it's free, but they have GOT to do something about their customer service! The last time I saw my doctor she said she wanted to see me in 4 weeks. I tried to make my next appointment before I left, but they said they were only scheduling two weeks out so I needed to call in two weeks. That was fine. I called the day after Christmas to schedule. They didn't have any openings until JAN 20! I was so mad! Obviously some people were allowed to schedule way more than two weeks out! The guys told me that if I called on the morning of Jan 3, MAYBE he could get me in on the 4th (our first day back at school with kids). I did call, and he did get me in. When I got there, nobody even knew what my appointment was for. They thought I was just getting a routine physical. When I finally saw my doctor (no complaints there -- she is awesome and was definitely on the ball) she thankfully recognized me and knew just why I was there. She ordered my ultrasound and gave me the number to call at radiology. She said I should schedule it for sometime between 16 and 20 weeks (I'm almost 16). Of course, as soon we got in the car, I called -- we are so anxious to see the ultrasound! As it turns out, they don't have any appointments open until March, so they are referring out all of the patients sent to them, which I fully understand. However, instead of just giving me the name and number of places where I can go, I have to wait two weeks to get a letter in the mail from them with information on who to call. UGGH! I know it's probably no big deal, but when you're so excited about something, it kind of puts a damper on things. Once again, I guess GOD is trying to teach me a little patience!

Jon is doing good. He has spent lots of time snowboarding lately. I'm so glad. I know he's missed out on a lot after being gone for two years. It's one of the things he was most excited about when we found out we were going to live in Colorado. He's still helping me out a lot around the house, which means so much to me -- I don't think he realizes! At the end of this month, he goes to a career conference with the recruiter he is working with and starts his interviews. We're keeping our fingers crossed that something good comes up!