Happy Thanskgiving

We had a fantastic day yesterday with family filling the house. We started out pretty early in the morning deep frying some Turkeys. 8 to be exact! Stephen did 3 for Genio's family, which is what he's done the last few years in a row. Adrian asked Stephen to fry 2 for him. We fried 2 for LoneStar Plastics, one of Stephen's clients, they ran their normal 2 shifts yesterday. Then we saved the last one for us. The guys were outside most of the morning, which made it quiet for me in the kitchen for a few hours. We did most of the preparing on Wednesday, so it was an easy morning for me. Asher slept most of the day, but was awake long enough to eat some turkey dinner. He had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, devilled egg, dressing & turkey. He was ready for a nap before he even finished eating! It was funny. We had great food, great desserts and a lot of sitting around and talking. It was a really nice day and I'm thankful I was able to spend it with family. I missed everyone that lives out of town, I know they all had a wonderful day as well. I'm on vacation until the 30th, so I'm planning on getting some holiday shopping done and decorate my Christmas Tree!

Thanksgiving Potluck

Well, our potluck went great! It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of food too. It was nice to get together with friends and eat some turkey with all the wonderful sides. Stephen and I were up at 7am on Saturday morning getting the turkey ready to go into the smoker. It turned out delicious of course. He then fried a turkey later that afternoon. I did some baking, which I really enjoyed, and had some left over to snack on throughout the week. Asher tried some turkey and really seemed to like it. We've been trying to introduce new foods and textures. He also loved his Aunt Melissa's mashed potatoes! We may and try to schedule this every year from now on. It was a great idea (of Stephen's) and we're glad that all our close friends could join us. Now I've got a few days to let all that food settle in order to do it all again on Thursday!! Have a great week everyone.

Counting Down

With only 103 days to go, it still seems like an eternity. We still haven't picked out a name, it's been hard to find one that we both like! We need to get busy so Asher has time to learn it. Right now he just walks up to me and points to my tummy and says "Baby". It's the sweetest thing! We still haven't decided where we are going to put the new nursery either. I've thought about moving some rooms around, but we've just got too much stuff! It's a little frustrating when I have 5 bedrooms and can't manage to figure out where to put the junk so I can have another baby room. Ugh. We don't have a whole lot of time, so we better start brainstorming! I was doing some reading about this week in my pregnancy to see about how big this little guy is getting and this is what's going on with him: He is measuring 12 to 13 inches and weighs about 1.5 pounds. His skin is still thin, wrinkled, and pale, but he gets a bit plumper every day, thanks to the fat and muscle he's continually adding. Right now tiny blood vessels called capillaries are starting to develop below his skin, and these will give it a pink hue.

Mommy Weekend

Asher and I enjoyed our weekend together while Stephen was off on his "boys" weekend with Seth. We had fun and really did a whole lot of nothing. I did some major cleaning around the house. Boy, did it need it! This was the first time for Asher and I to be all alone without Daddy. It was a little different for us. Asher was so good, as always, which allowed me to do more than my normal weekend cleaning. He's getting to the age where he can really entertain himself with his toys. Sometimes I would just stand in the dinning room and watch him play in his pin. Just blabbering his ABC's and holding his toy phone to his ear. When we picked Stephen up, Asher was so excited! It made my heart melt watching his face light up when he saw his Daddy. I had a comp day today which made it extra nice to hang out with Stephen. We did our Thanksgiving shopping and got our turkey's. A 4 day week is just what I needed! We're looking forward to our Potluck this Saturday with our friends. Then just another week until Thanksgiving with the family!

Asher's 1 Year Checkup

Daddy took Asher to the Dr this afternoon for his 1 year checkup. He checked out healthy and has grown a lot. He is measuring 30" long and weighs 20 1/2 pounds. He did have a bad experience with his shots however. The nurse wasn't very gentle with him, to the point where Stephen called the Doctor after they left and made a complaint. One of the vaccines didn't get all the way into his system, apparently about half of it ran down his leg. Come to find out it was the live virus for his MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella) vaccine. So, we can't have a "do-over". Asher will get this one again around 4-5 years in a booster. The nurse was put on probation and IF she is still there when we take him for his 18 month checkup the Dr told us to remind him to get another nurse to do Asher's shots. What an ordeal. They came by my office when they were done and I got to see Asher for a few minutes. He was very sleepy and I told Stephen that he will most likely sleep a lot this evening. Fun stuff! That's all for now.

Having a blast at Austin's party!

Austin's Birthday

We celebrated Austin's 9th birthday today! I realized that all boys his age act the same....silly and loud! The kids had a great time bowling and even Michael and Katelyn were able to participate. I had fun watching them all and Ahser seemed like he enjoyed it as well. He gets excited when he sees a bunch of kids playing. Austin got some great gifts and seemed to be excited about them all. After the party was over I was pretty tired, so we went to the grocery store then home. Overall it was a nice and relaxing evening. Too bad I don't get more of those!

Chance is home

Stephen went to the vet Friday night to pick up Chance.....boy was he excited to come home! He's lost 30 pounds, so he really looked different. I haven't seen him that skinny since he was a 6 month old pup. He was having a hard time keeping water down, so we had to give him Pepcid and Gatorade. He's probably only eaten about 1 cup of food since he's been home, but has had 2 Greenies (green dog bones) and devoured those! He's acting a little tired and just lays around mostly. He's not letting that get to his voice though.....lots of barking and sometimes in the middle of the night too. That's what I didn't miss! When Asher first saw him come into the house he just looked at him and smiled and said "Dog!" It was so sweet. Asher has been crawling all over the floor playing with him and Chance doesn't seem to mind too much. I'm so glad to have him home so he'll start to get better.

6 Month Checkup

I had my 6 month checkup this morning and was able to hear our little boy's heartbeat at 147bpm. Sonogram shows that he is on the large side, in the 91% for growth! Dr said that we'll watch closely to make sure he doesn't get too big too fast. My blood pressure is also looking great, 128/68. I was a little concerned since over the last few weeks I've noticed my resting heartrate was higher than normal. I've only gained 2 pounds so far, which has me thinking that I will put on most of my weight during the last trimester. Dr said to be watching for pre-term labor signs. I had to laugh for a minute and remind the Dr that I never had contractions or went into labor with Asher, so I wasn't real sure to look for! Over all, Baby and I are doing great. Next appointment on November 30th. Only 125 more days to go!!

NICE WEEKEND

Friday night we stayed home and watched a movie and had Chicken Parmesan, yummy! On Saturday we were doing stuff around the house while watching the beating Texas gave Tech. Boy that was a great game! Around 5pm we started getting ready to head to the State Fair. It was nice, good weather for walking around. Was there for a few hours and Asher seemed to have a good time. Sunday we celebrated Katelyn's 2nd Birthday. It was a lot of fun watching the kids play. Asher was scooting all over the house trying to catch up with his cousins. The weather turned cooler and it looks like it's here to stay. This is my favorite time of year. The holidays are getting closer which makes it extra nice that it's not 90 degrees outside!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHER!

Today makes it official....this little monkey is a year old!! My how the time goes by. We really enjoyed everyone celebrating with us over the weekend. I could tell that Asher had a great time too. Happy Birthday son!!

IT'S A BOY!

Asher is so excited that he's going to have a brother to play with! We made our announcement on Saturday at Asher's birthday party and everyone was very surprised. At no fault of my own, all the ladies were convinced that we were having a girl. We were all in the kitchen and my mother-in-law thought that since I was wearing a pink shirt that meant I was having a girl. I couldn't deny it since then they would for sure know, so I just smiled and let them assume away. We were still waiting for some of Stephen's family to get to the house and I knew that he wanted everyone there. When we made the final announcement, you could tell some people were a little upset. We are still mulling over some names, but will let everyone know when we've decided on one.

EXCITING

We went to the Dr this morning to have a sonogram. Baby is doing great, all organs and limbs plus fingers and toes. Heatrbeat was 137 bpm.....baby was sleeping. It was exciting to see everything and the little bit of movement once those sound waves hit my belly!! More baby news to be announced tomorrow.

Busy Weekend

We spent all weekend with friends and family and it was nice, especially since we were at our house. Friday night we prepared an 18 quart pot of chili for Game Day. Everyone started to come over around noon for the TX/OU game, after that we turned over to the Tech/Nebraska game, which turned out to be a pretty good, sit on the edge of your chair, kinda game. One of our good friends Scott, a Tech graduate, looked like his head was going to explode there at the end when we thought Nebraska was going to win their 37th Homecoming in a row! Oh, but the Raiders took em down! We turned over to the Stars game after that, which was another good one until that stupid ref called the penalty on Dallas for the brawl between the two teams. Turned out that Dallas couldn't pull it off with the 7 min power play given to Colorado. Oh well. I did a lot around the house while the games were on. Stephen was really sick all day and ended up going to bed after the Tech game. Went to a Bridal Shower on Sunday and Asher had fun getting passed around to all his Great Aunts on the Schnitzius side & his Great Great Aunts on the Leverette side. Did some more around the house after that, trying to get prepared for our friends coming in from Phoenix. We're having immediate family and close friends come over on the 15th to celebrate Asher's first birthday. I'm really looking forward to it.

Asher giving Fish Kisses to his Aunt Michelle

Asher playing Paddy Cake

New Play Yard

Stephen and Asher met me and Melissa for lunch today. Asher was a hoot making faces at his Aunt Melissa. She was sharing her roll with him and he loved it. The squash casserole on the other hand, was a different story. It cracks me up to watch his expression when he tries new foods and textures. After lunch we went to Babies R Us and got him a new play yard. He is cruising in that thing like it's easy. Still wont take steps on his own, but that's ok with me!

Amazing!

We finally got some rain last night and a Beautiful lightening storm as well. It really reminded me of living in California the way the sky lit up. The storm also brought us some much needed cooler temperatures. The high yesterday was 104 and this morning when I got out of bed it was only 61 outside. Looks like the high for today is only going to be 75. Hopefully this will set the pattern for cooler temps in October.

5 Month Checkup

I had my 5 month checkup this morning and was able to hear the baby's heartbeat at 142bpm. My blood pressure is also looking great. I've only gained 1 pound, very exciting! Had some blood work done for CBC and a Liver Panel just to check and make sure the levels are still normal. We're scheduled for the sonogram to find out the sex on October 14th. We are really looking forward to it. Only 2 more weeks!!

Say Cheese!

Asher is such a HAM! He just loves to get his picture taken. We were in the car, sitting at a red light and Daddy turned around with his camera phone and as you can see, Asher put on a great smile. We were on our way to the vet to pick up Chance, he's been there for about 13 days waiting for his tail to heal. The vet felt like he was doing good and said we could take Chance home. Stephen went in to get him and of course Chance was so happy to see his Daddy that he wagged his tail and banged it around and it started bleeding. SO, he's still there. We had to go ahead and leave him for a few more nights to see if they can get it back to normal. We're thinking they may have to cut his tail off at the base in order for it to heal 100%. We've got a great vet and are just following his instruction. Makes me sad that we've had to leave him there for such a long time. It's been really quiet around the house and no one misses Mommy yelling Shut Up all day long!! We'll see how it goes.