THE TRIFECTA!!

I have always heard things come in three's. Good or bad, it seems that things in life often happen in three's. I can' t explain this phenomenon, but I can confirm it this week.

Over all, I can't complain much about my pregnancy. I haven't been terribly uncomfortable, I have been able to sleep most nights, and PRAISE THE LORD, Beckham has been healthy by all measurements and tests. But the Trifecta rule has come true again!

When we first found out we were pregnant, the Dr. did some blood work and found out I have B- blood. It isn't any really big deal, it just means I had to have a shot a few weeks ago, and I'll need another one at delivery. But only about 15-18% of the population have this. Weird thing #1. Then we found out about the 2 vessels in the umbilical cord. Again, nothing too serious, but only about 20 % of the population has this. And I have NONE of the risk factors for it. Weird thing #2. Well, yesterday we found out I now have Preeclampsia!! Weird thing # 3!!! And only about 5-8% of the population has this!

Preeclampsia is a series of symptoms that are more hazardous for the mother than for the baby. Symptoms can be high blood pressure, protein in the urine (sorry to be a little gross), pain the the upper tummy area, blurred vision, swelling, and the list goes on. At my appt. on Monday, my blood pressure looked good, as usual, but I had a little protein in my urine. So they made "collect" my urine for 24 hours! YUCK! She also wanted me to take my blood pressure twice a day to keep an eye on it. And yesterday we got the results back. Evidently, the protein levels were pretty high. My blood pressure this week has been a little elevated but not high. And I have complained about a "pain" in my upper tummy for a couple of weeks. I just thought it was stretching!

So all that means....I am on bed rest for the next 4 days until I see my Dr. again on Monday! UGH!! Doesn't my body know it's Christmas and I still have shopping to do? Doesn't it know I had 2 Christmas parties to go to this weekend? Doesn't it know I still have 3 days to work until we are off for Christmas? My house isn't immaculate. My carpets aren't cleaned. I don't have time for bed rest!! I thought I had a couple more weeks!!! So I am now praying that since my symptoms are so mild, I will be able to limit my activity and work next week, just not over do it! Something in my gut tells me that won't be the case.

The only "cure" for preeclampsia is delivery. So, in theory, I guess we could have this baby at anytime. I hope my Dr. will hold me off until after Christmas. Anytime after that, I am totally cool with! But, we are "prepared" as we will ever be. I mean physically prepared. I don't know that we will ever be mentally and emotionally prepared for parenthood, even when Beckham is 20! But the nursery is done, our bags are packed, the car seat is purchased....prepared. So why am I so nervous??

IMPATIENT!!!

Ok, anyone who knows me really well, knows that I am not a very patient person. Josh can rarely surprise me without me bugging him to tell me what the surprise is. I use to set my everyone in my family's alarm clocks for 5:30am on Christmas morning. And the list could go on and on.

So... This waiting for this baby to be born is killing me!!!! Is that sad? I can't even be patient in pregnancy!! And it's not like I didn't know EXACTLY how long this whole process would take before I got pregnant. I mean, it's no secret! But I am SOOOOO very ready for Beckham to here! I want to meet him! I want to know who he looks like, how big he's going to be, what color hair, if any, he has..... And I am not very comfortable these days either. I really shouldn't complain. By all measures, I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. But I have reached the uncomfortable stage for sure! My feet hurt, my hands hurt, my back REALLY hurts! I have to tinkle a lot, the heartburn is terrible, and on and on and on..... So needless to say, I am very ready for this little journey to be over! And I still have 5 more weeks to go!! UGH!!!

Enough complaining! Beckham is still looking really good by all the tests. At the last sono he was 4lbs 6 oz! BIG BOY!! The dr. said if I carry to term, he should be 7-8 lbs. I am still hoping to deliver a little early. I ask the Lord daily for that! The week between Christmas and New Year's would be great!!! My family will all be in town that week, so it would be really convenient for us, but we don't really have much say in the matter at this point. The Lord and Beckham are running the show!

FINALLY FINISHED!!!

As many of you know, we, or should I say, Josh, has been working a long time on finishing the nursery. Well, we are, for the most part, finished!!! Aside from a few little "touch ups" that need to be done, it looks great!!! I love it!!! We still need to get few things to hang on the walls, but I am saving a lot of that space for photos after he is born.

Here are a few before pics:

And here are the AFTERS!!!

Isn't it cute!!! I love my sweet husband for working so hard!!

As far as the pregnancy goes....

All is well. I am still going in every week for the NST's (Non-stress Tests), and Monday I have my next ultrasound. I am anxious to see how big he is now. Last time he was 2lbs 12 oz. He will probably be 31/2 - 4 lbs this time!! It's crazy! I can't believe it is getting so close! Only about 6 weeks left.

Well, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this week. Christmas is just around the corner, and then a brand new year. Anyone making resolutions yet?

My favorite kids!

One of my favorite things in life is being an aunt. I absolutely love it!! So I thought I would share some pictures of my nieces and nephews.

This is Cal. He's 6 1/2 and in the first grade. He is one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet. He's a little shy when you first meet him, but before you know, he's up in your lap telling you a story. He says his favorite subject in school is math! (He's doesn't get that from me!)

One of my favorite stories about Cal is when he was probably 2 or 3 and he was riding in the back seat of my car singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." When he was finished I said "Cal, do you know 'Jesus Loves Me?' " And he so innocently said "Jesus loves me too!!" Too cute!

This is Cameryn. She is 4 1/2 and she is in Pre-k. Oh my goodness, this child makes me laugh. She also is little shy, but boy once she starts talking....

My favorite story about Cameryn was when she was 3. I had spent the night at my brother and sis-n-law's house and was getting dressed in the bedroom. Well, Cameryn came in (with out knocking) and I had all of my clothes laying in the bed. Well, she pointed to one of my "feminine" articles of clothing and said "What's dat?" (she had a little speech problem) I, thinking I shouldn't expose her to anything too young (silly me) said "That's something girls wear when they get big, like Aunt GiGi. She looked up at me and very matter of factly said "Oh, it looked like a bra!" Too funny!

This is Cannon! He's 3 and he is the youngest of my brother's clan. That smile he has on his face rarely ever leaves. I have hardly ever seen him upset. He's just such a joy. He was the "unexpected" child, and I can honestly say, life would not be the same with out Cannon. Everyone who knows him, absolutely LOVES him! He just has that effect on people. He's too precious!!

This sweet little face belongs to Marin. She is my oldest sister's only child. She was adopted when she was 14 months old from Guatemala. What joy she has brought our whole family! She is 3 1/2 now (she and Cameryn share the same b-day) and you would never know it by the way she talks. I always say she's 3 going on 13! She is quite the little diva!

Recently we were at my step-dad's birthday party and I was asking her if she had learned any songs at school. She said yes so I asked if she would sing me one. She looked right at me and said "No, I don't want to, but maybe later, I'll do a little acting for you!" Acting? How does a 3 year old know what acting is?? Well, let me tell you, this one does. "Acting" to Marin means to act out her favorite scenes from her favorite movies. And I mean with every hand gesture, every voice inflection, every word verbatim! It's too cute! My sister better put her on a stage...soon!!

I have 2 older ones in Tennessee. I am so sad I don't have any pictures of them! The oldest is Zachary and he's 14...soon to be 15 in Jan! I can't believe I am old enough to have a 15 year old nephew! Zach is a great kid. He was always such a handsome boy (you could see that if I was a good aunt and had a picture of him). He's in the 8th grade now, and he's trying out this week for the Basketball team. I haven't heard yet if he made it or not. Zach was the first grandchild, so we all pretty much spoiled him! I remember holding him for the first time. Makes me a little teary-eyed just thinking about it!

Zach's sister is Shelby. She's 10, almost 11 in Jan. She's hysterical! She always makes laugh. She and my sister are pretty much inseparable. She's definitely hit the "tween" age, too. Very girly! She also plays basketball. I think she and Zach keep my sister pretty busy!

Well, I just thought I would share a little bit about some of my favorite people ever! I love these kids SO much. It's hard to believe that in a few weeks, I'll have one of my own. Thanks for indulging a proud aunt!

ALL IS WELL....

Not much to report. I had another Dr. appt on Mon. It was the one I have been dreading. We did the glucose intolerance test, I got my Rhogam injection, and we did a sonogram. Well, the glucose thing wasn't bad AT ALL!! Praise the Lord! Because I heard it was terrible. It just tasted like an orange soda to me. Then I got to do the sono. He's definitely growing! He's 2lbs. 12 oz!!! I couldn't believe it! He still hasn't turned head-down yet, but the Dr. said that could happen anytime now. By 32 weeks, he should be there. ( I am 29 weeks tomorrow) We have scheduled our c-section date. If I carry him all the way to that day, I will deliver January 9 at 12:00. That's kinda cool because it's my best friend, Cara's, birthday, too. Happy Birthday, Cara!!

I start seeing my Dr. every week now. Each visit will consist of a NST-a non-stress test. That just means they hook me up to a fetal monitor and make sure he's not in distress. He's showing NO signs of that so far, and we are praying he just continues to be content and happy in there as long as he can. I am extremely anxious to meet him, but not for another few weeks! I get another sono after Thanksgiving. FUN! I love seeing how he's growing.

Speaking of Thanksgiving...I can't believe it's only 3 weeks away! Before we know it, we'll be ringing in 2007!

Here's the latest sono pic. It's hard to tell, but the first one is of his little face. Turn your head side-ways and see if you can see it!

There are 76 days until my due date on January 18, 2007. Only 67 until my c-section date!! (1/9/07)

I am 204 days pregnant.

I am 6.7 months pregnant.

I am in my 7th month of pregnancy.

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE...

Honestly, there isn't too much to tell. Things in the Faris house have been pretty routine. We have finally started working on Beckham's room. Josh is painting, I am helping where I can. Everyone tells me not to paint due to the fumes, so I am complying with that...even though I really want to help. We have alot left to do, but I really think it is going to be SUPER cute when it's all finished. We have changed the bedding from what I posted a while back. It's still a sports theme, but we liked the colors better on the new stuff. I will post pics when it is all painted and put together.

I had a doctor's appt twice this week. Yes, I am a paranoid first-time mom, and ran to the doctor for no reason this week. Although, they reassured I can never be too careful, and that I wasn't the only one who had been there for the same reason. Beckham moves constantly!! Well, Tuesday I didn't feel him move hardly at all. Like, for 2-3 hours! He perked up a little that night, but not like he usually does. Then Wednesday morning, he was the same way. So I called my Dr. and they said to come in. So, I get there, and of course...I sit down in the waiting room, and Beckham decides it's play-time! I couldn't believe it! He was squirming all around! So I went ahead and let them check everything. I felt like a big dummy though! As for the second appt...I had my regular visit with my Dr. She confirmed everything looked fine. From here on out, I start seeing them every 2 weeks and I get an ultrasound every 4 weeks. CRAZY!! It feels like it's getting really close! My next appt will be a yucky one. I have to do my glucose test, and form what everyone tells me, it's really bad. They make you drink this really sweet orange drink, then draw blood an hour later. Sounds fun, huh? Then I also have to have my Rogham shots (for the B- blood thing). More fun. But the good thing is I get to have another ultrasound and see how big he's getting! That's kinda the whole reason for them. This thing with the 2 vessel umbilical cord can cause him to stop growing at any time, so we will be measuring him regularly to make sure that's not happening.

So, all that to say, we are all well here. Josh got to spend a few hours in Chicago this week. He's gearing up for his big trade show in February. They are doing some fun, new stuff on their booth this year, so he's actually enjoying work a little more right now. Praise the Lord!! It is going to keep him a little busier, but in a good way!

Can you believe the holidays are so close??? Halloween is almost here and it always seem like the year flies by after Halloween. We all get busy with family, parties, shopping, etc... I am still trying to wrap my brain around the thought that this is our last Christmas with just Josh and I. Never again will the holidays be same!! It's an absolutely wonderful thought, and yet a little bit of a scary thought at the same time. For months, people have told me that my life was going to change...YADA YADA YADA.... You hear it so much, you almost resent people who say it. And yet, when I sit and ponder things, they are SOOOOO right! But I know it's a good thing. It's just a strange feeling.

Well, that's all the rambling for now. I'll will update later with nursery pics and hopefully some new ultrasound pics in week or so. Here are a few little facts:

I am 27 weeks pregnant.

Dates and numbers:
There are 89 days until my due date on January 18, 2007 (Only 80 days until my c-section).
I am 191 days pregnant.
I am 6.3 months pregnant
1st trimester: April 13, 2006 to July 12, 2006. (0 - 12 weeks)
2nd trimester: July 13, 2006 to October 25, 2006. (13 - 27 weeks)
3rd trimester: October 26, 2006 to January 18, 2007. (28 - 40 weeks)

HAVE YOU HEARD???

Fall is by far my favorite time of the year! I love that the weather is cooler, and we have a whole 3 seasons before it gets blistering hot again. I love the color changes in the trees, yadda yadda yadda... But the BEST part about fall is...ALL OF THE PUMPKIN FLAVORED FOODS!! Yes. I LOVE pumpkin stuff and I personally think you should be able to get all of these delicious treats year-round. But you can't, so I savor the short time I am able to get all of my favorite pumpkin flavored things!! Among my favs are the Pumpkin Latte at Starbucks, the Pumpkin pancakes at IHOP, and my very favorite...the Jack in the Box Pumpkin Milkshake!! YUMMY!!!! I had my first shake of the season today, and it totally was everything I expected it to be! So try these out, and let me know if you run into any other yummy pumpkin goodies anywhere else I should try!!

A LESSON FROM...EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER
Does anyone besides us still watch this show? Well, if you don't you should! It truly may be the only show on TV that has any sort of good message and meaning to it! For those who have been under a rock and don't know the concept of the show, each week a group of designers/carpenters/home builders basically build a whole knew house in 1 week for a very deserving family who, otherwise, would never have been able to afford it. Not only is it amazing that an entire house can be built in 7 days, but the houses are AMAZING!! They only do the best of everything. But the house is not the focus, the families are. And this week's family blew me away. Now, maybe it's the hormones, but I was SO touched by this family, I cried from beginning to end! The Llanes family immigrated to the U.S. from the Phillipines. The father of the family has a rare, genetic condition that I cannot remember the name of, but basically, sometime in his young adulthood, he lost his eyesight completely. Sadly, because it's genetic, his 2 daughters also have the disease. Both are legally blind and can only see if they look at things very close up. Both will eventually lose their eyesight completely as well. And if that's not enough, while the mother was pregnant with the son, she contracted German Measles and this caused him to be deaf. They also have Grandma living with them, who is also blind. What an amazing family!! Their sweet spirits touched me so much in so many ways! I can't imagine being able to see for so much of my life, and then suddenly never seeing again. Another thing was the father had lost his sight before his son was born. They never were really able to communicate directly, because dad couldn't see son signing, and son couldn't hear dad talking. Not to mention the house was a disablilty on it's own. Well, the team did not disappoint! They built this family an incredible house, filled with all sort of techno gizmos that they will use for sure, from braile computers to a program that Dad can talk into and it's signed on a computer screen for the son. They will be able to communicate directly for the first time!!

All of this to say, that I realize in situations like this that I am SO amazingly blessed!! I have a wonderful husband that I love so deeply. We have a home that is a healthy and safe place. Both of our families have been pretty healthy. No major problems. I have 6 nieces and nephews who have all been born healthy and remain healthy. And I could go on and on....

And now Beckham is on the way, and by all medical standards so far, he is growing healthy and just as he should be. PRAISE GOD!! Of course the thoughts have cross my mind numerous times, what if he's blind or deaf or disabled in some other way? What will we do? What will I do? But seeing families like the Llanes family reminds me that it could always be worse, and yet better at the same time. So many healthy families aren't as close as they are. So many healthy families don't love each other the way they do. So many healthy families don't rely on and support each other they way they do. And in this, and in the faith that the Lord is in control and has a perfect plan, I find strength and peace. Don't get me wrong, if we should find that Beckham has some sort of diablilty, I will probably cry and ask why. But I will always put my faith in the Lord! He has been SO good to me so far, and I know He won't stop!

So, catch an episode or 2 this season of Extreme Home Makeover. It really is a great show. It makes me count my blessings every time I watch it!

WHO KNEW??

These are some fun numbers I came across on a website I read everyday...


Dates and numbers:
There are 131 days until your due date on January 18, 2007.
You are 149 days pregnant.
You are 4.9 months pregnant.
You are in your 5th month of pregnancy. (huh?)
Your 1st trimester: April 14, 2006 to July 13, 2006. (0 - 12 weeks)
Your 2nd trimester: July 14, 2006 to October 26, 2006. (13 - 27 weeks)
Your 3rd trimester: October 27, 2006 to January 18, 2007. (28 - 40 weeks)

For any of you who may be or soon will be pregnant, the website is:
i-am-pregnany.com

It has great photos and a daily message board that I love to read. Just fun FYI

The fun begins!!

Ok, time for a little honesty. As thrilled as I was when I found out I am having a healthy, precious baby boy, I still mourned the fact that I'm not having a little girl. Does that make me a bad person? I mean, I knew from the very beginning I was having boy, I guess it was "Mommy's intuition." And of coarse, I prayed for a healthy baby, regardless if it was a boy or girl. But that little part of me, deep down, that always saw myself with pink and bows, was a little...well...sad. I'm just being honest here. Maybe men go through the same thing when they get the news they are having a girl? I don't know. But I am glad to say the saddest has past, and I have embraced the fact that I am going to be the mommy of a rough and tough little boy! So the fun now begins...the nursery. We spent most of the weekend cleaning out the closest, getting ready to paint. We are thinking a football/sports themed room. Let's face it, I married a sports nut! And truly, I enjoy sports,too. So why not try to pass that love on to Beckham? So here are a few pictures of what we want for bedding. I love it!

ALL IS WELL!!

Let me first say that Josh took the whole day off today. I forget how fun it is to have a random day off with my husband, not a holiday or a weekend! I love it! I wish we could do it more often!

Anyway, we headed to the "high risk" Dr. today. She was great! She did confirm that there are only 2 blood vessel in the umbilical cord, but that it is really nothing to be too concerned about. In fact, she didn't seem concerned at all! She took a good look at everything and confirmed that Beckham(she confirmed for sure it's a boy!) is growing exactly how he should be. His heart, brain, and spinal cord all look great. And she looked for facial abnormalities and didn't see anything. So PRAISE THE LORD!!! ALL IS WELL!! She said that she sees this fairly often and in only 2 cases has the baby's growth been affected. So, all it means is that I will have ultrasounds every 4 weeks until I deliver, and starting at 28 weeks, I'll be seen at my regular Dr. every week instead of every 4. So the fun part is we get to see Beckham alot as he grows! And growing he is! He's already gained 2 oz since Monday!!! So thanks for all of your prayers! We truly appreciate them!

What a week...

Well, the week started out really great. We got the news that we are having a baby boy, and for the most part everything is looking perfect and right on schedule! All good news!

It sorta went down from there. I hesitate to even post this blog, only because I know that Josh and I are so incredibly blessed, and I don't want to sound ungreatful at all, but sometimes ya just need to vent! So here it goes...

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling ok, but not exactly "right" of you know what I mean. Well, by 10:00 that morning I was throwing my toenails up at work. Never a fun thing! I thought is was a little strange to be having morning sickness this late, especially when I have felt so good the past few weeks. Well by the the time the aches, fever and other fun things that come along with a stomach flu set in, I was pretty sure this is not morning sickness. So I finished my last 3 patients of the morning, called my temp, and headed home to spend the rest of the day wretchedly ill! The good thing is it only lasted 24 hours, but I went ahead and called in for Wednesday, just in case...

So Wednesday morning, I am feeling a little better, PRAISE THE LORD, when Josh calls and says his car is on the fritz, and he really can't get above 50 MPH without it doing some scary things. Well, any of you that know Josh's car, know that it is on it's last little miles anyway. It's a 1992 Honda Accord w/ 180,000 miles on it and it has NO A/C!! Fortunately for us, we have been using his brother's car for the past 5-6 weeks while he's been traveling, so Josh hasn't had to battle the 100+ degree heat w/ no a/c. That has been a HUGE BLESSING!!! Anyway, we decided it is probably time to bite the bullet and just buy a new car.

Can I just say, it was less stressful buying our house than it was buying a car! The guy we worked with was really nice, but you just can't help but think you are getting ripped off somehow. Maybe that's the cynic in me, or maybe car sales guys have a bad rep for no reason, but that's how I felt. Nothing and everthing sounds like a good deal all at the same time! So to make a long story longer...we now are the proud owners of new car, well, semi new car. We bought a 2006 VW Jetta w/ 19,000 miles on it. it's white w/ tan interior, very basic, but I love it! And more importantly, Josh now has a reliable, safe car! God really is so good to us!!

So tomorrow we go to the "high risk" Dr. for the level 2 ultrasound. I am hoping to get some really good pictures of Beckham, especially since Buddy ate the last ones! (I won't even start on that!!) I'll post when I know more.

OK...ok...ok...

I know it's been a really long time since I have posted anything. I have had 2 Dr. appt's since my last posting. And today we found out we are having a LITTLE BABY BOY!!! Yes, a boy. I never thought of myself as the mom of a boy, but I love the thought of it now. And I know the Lord has given me exactly what I am suppose to have. Josh is, of course, THRILLED! He has wanted a boy since we found out we were expecting.

The guy who did the sonogram said everything is looking right on schedule. He is exactly the size he should be. He has all of his arms, hands, legs, feet, eyes, etc... His kidneys, brain, heart and spinal cord all look good too. The only "bad" thing we learned was that there may only be 2 blood vessels in the umbilical cord, where there should be 3. So Friday I am heading to the "high risk" doctor to have a level 2 sonogram to help us to see if that is really the case. If it is, then we will be monitored very closely from here on out. Starting at 28 weeks I will be having weekly appts. and a sonogram every month. That will be to track his growth very closely, and if he shows any signs of growth problems, my Dr. said she will deliver me early. I am praying that the tech was wrong about the whole thing. And if it is true, that he will continue to grow normally until term. Although, a few weeks early would give us a great tax deduction for 2006! As long as he is healthy, I am good with that!

So for the long weekend, Josh and I are planning to start on the nursery. We are hoping to put up a chair rail and paint. We are thinking a football themed room!

I feel him moving around all the time! Just about the time I begin to settle down at night, he decides it's time to "play." I guess that's why so many babies are born with their days and nights mixed up. I am feeling really well. Morning sickness is completely gone...Praise the Lord... And I haven't had any really weird cravings. Well, that 's all the scoop for now. I will try to post again after the second sono on Friday!

Here's the latest pic of BECKHAM JEFFREY FARIS!! Isn't he CUTE??

EMBARRASSMENT And other news...

Ever have one of those moments where you feel like a complete idiot, and you have no one to blame but yourself? Well, I had one of those moments on Sunday. Yesterday morning Josh and I woke up and did our normal Sunday morning routine. We were going to the late service at church, because we had 1:00 lunch plans with my family. We never go to late service, so I was really looking forward to seeing some people I don't see very often. So I had finished my makeup/hair routine, and then the question all of us girls dread on a Sunday morning..."What in the world am I going to wear?" I am just getting to that place in my pregnancy that things are getting a little tight. They still fit, but anything with a button is really uncomfortable. But since we were going to lunch after church, I didn't want to dress up, so I decided to wear jeans. I put on all the necessary under garments and I went to put on my jewerly. I heard on the radio that the heat index for the day was going to 104 degrees!! Blah!! Well jeans are too hot in 104 degree heat. So I elected to wear some really cute white capris that still fit pretty well. Cool, comfy, etc... So off we go to church. We were actually on time for a change. I was SO proud of myself. I was ready in 25 minutes, AND we were on time for church!! So I stopped and talked to a couple of people in the hall. All is going great, right? Well, we go to sit down, and my hiny hadn't hit the bench for 2 seconds, when I had that sinking feeling... In my rush at home, I forgotten to change in to the proper undergarments for white pants. I still had on my RED w/ white polka dot w/turquoise trim panties adorning my pregnant rear-end!! I leaned over to Josh immediately and whipsered "we have to leave...now!" I explained why and we exited the back door before the first song was even sung! UGH!!!! Such a great morning ruined!!! Well, of course, we live 35-40 minutes from church. There's was NO way we were going all the way back home to change, so we went to Target and purchased some appropriate under garments. By that time, it was too late to go back to church, so we just waisted time until lunch. I'm sure I made a bigger deal than it was, but as girls, we all know "that" feeling.

Anyway, on the baby front...
Things are going very well. I am about 12 weeks now. I had a Dr. appt on Friday and I was able to hear the heart beat for the first time! It was really fun...and a big relief. I am sure I am not the only one to experience this, but I am a little anxious between appts. Just the inablilty to tell if all is well is a hard thing. I mean, I have had no symptoms of miscarriage, but it is still comforting to be able go and know everything is going the way it should be. She said everything was perfect. The heartrate was 160 beats per minute. Which, if I believed all the old wives tales, the baby would be a girl. (Anything over 140 b/p/m is suppose to be a girl) But I don't believe that. But we only have 8 more weeks before we find out what it is! The morning sickness is subsiding. I still have moments, but for the most part, it's going away fairly well. No weird cravings yet. I have fleeting thoughts of things that sound yummy, but those thoughts go away as quickly as they came. But I am certain before this whole adventure is over, there will be a few.

Buddy is getting so big! He's 7 months old now and rotten as ever! Josh's sweet, precious grandma made him 2 really cute pillows. Well, anything that is stuffed is just something he can rip and tear into little bits. Well, Grandma's pillow were double the fun, because she stuffed them with plastic grocery sacks. So once he was able to get the stuffing out of the pillow, the plastic had to be ripped to shreds too. Here's pic during the pillow ripping party!

9 weeks and counting!

We had our second Dr. appt today. It was pretty routine, but very informative! I have lost 4 pounds, which is not unusual in the 1st trimester. Especially the way I have felt the last couple of days. BLAH!!! The nausea has been pretty bad. All day long! But I think of it as a good thing. It lets me know things are normal and going well. I also found out that I am blood type B-. I never knew that! What that means in pregnancy is that I have to have shots in the 28th week to basically turn me to B+. There is a chance that the baby is a + blood type, which wouldn't make any difference in this pregancy, but it could effect any other pregancies. Basically, if my blood and the baby's blood mix at anytime, my body would build up an immunity to + blood. So if the next baby is also a + blood type, my body would basically reject that baby. So bring on the shots! I am glad she prepared me for that this early. At least it won't be a big shocker then. Over all, she said everything was normal and looked great with all of the other blood work.

So then we were ready to listen to the heartbeat. She put all of that really cold jelly on my tummy and we listened, and we listened, and we listened....but no heartbeat! So we did another ultrasound!! SO FUN!! We got to see the little munchkin again and oh my goodness...what a change! It has grown SOOO much in just 3 weeks! I doesn't look like a dot anymore. Josh thinks it looks like a snowman. It has a definite little body and head. We saw it's tiny little arms. And we could see that it had eyes and little facial features! AND it's little heartbeat looked GREAT!! Whoo, what a relief. My next sono won't be for 10 more weeks, but that's the appt that we get to see if it's a boy or a girl. And YES we are finding out! I can't wait.

The picture posted is not mine. The Dr. was out of printer paper. How sad! So I found it on the internet, and it looks a lot like what our baby looked like today!

I found this picture on the internet and was amazed by it, so I thought I would share. This is what "the Dot" should look like right now. Pretty cool, huh??

Ever have one of "those" weekends???

Ever have one of those weekends? You know the kind that are really productive, but you end up having no weekend at all? Well, that is how ours was this weekend. We got a ton of stuff done...but no rest at all! Since getting Buddy, we can forget sleeping late on Sat. mornings. He's up with the roosters, and so are we! Everyone says this is good training for when the baby arrives. So Sat. began at 6:30am in the Faris house. Praise the Lord for my sweet husband who got up and took Buddy for a walk so I could rest a little longer. Then around 10:00am, we headed over to Saginaw to see my brother, sis-n-law and the kids. They have 3 great kids, Cal (6), Cameryn (4) and Cannon (2...almost 3). We took Buddy with us so he wouldn't have to be in his crate all day. We had a fun visit, but we were ready for a nap when we got back to McKinney. No such luck! We had a blow out on 190 coming home, and had to change the flat tire in 100 degree heat. Fortunately, we were under a bridge. It helped a little bit! So off to the tire store we go! Of course, we were 1 month out of warranty on that particular tire (Mind you, this is the 2nd flat and third tire since March). So 45 min and $90 later, we were off to McKinney again. We left Saginaw around 3ish and finally were home around 6:30ish. Woo we were tired!

By the Lord's amazing timing and my sister's generosity, we now have a baby crib and changing table. My 3 year old niece has out-grown her crib and she sweetly wanted to give it to Aunt Gigi's baby. PRAISE JESUS!! Have you looked at the prices of baby furniture recently??? So we spent most of Sun afternoon moving the furniture from my sister's house to our house, and switching bedrooms around. So now we have a nursery room and we have a guest/office room. We haven't put the baby furniture together yet, but I think we have few months to it. It is BEAUTIFUL furniture, too. It's exactly what I would have picked out if we were buying it ourselves. Not to mention that she gave us all of the bedding and changing pad, mattress, mattress cover, 3 pack-n-plays, and SO much other stuff! It pays to be the youngest and the last to have babies in the family!

SO all of that to say, that it has been SUPER productive, but exhausting as well. I have tomorrow off, but poor Josh has to work. But he has the Mavs in the playoffs and the World Cup to help beat the exhaustion I guess.

Baby news:

Well, morning sickness happens around here at night. It starts about 6ish and continues until bedtime. I really can't complain, I have only "been sick" once. But the nausea is pretty constant. Nothing sounds appetizing in the evenings.

The baby, according to the internet, should be about the size of a kidney bean this week. That's grown from a raspberry last week. Over the next few weeks it will be the size of a grape, and kumquat (which I don't believe I have ever seen one of these before), a fig and an lime. I don't know how accurate all of that is, but it's fun to imagine. We go to the Dr. on Friday and we hope to hear the heartbeat for the first time. How fun!!

WOOHOO!!!! THE MAVS WON!!!
Which means we are on our way to the FINALS!! For the first time in Mavs history, we will play for the championship. GO MAVS!!!

Baby Stuff:
I felt really good yesterday. My mom and I hung out all day yesterday afternoon, then my in-laws came over and brought dinner last night. I actually had an appetite, which I hadn't had in a few days. BUT today was a different story. I felt pretty "green" all day. And REALLY sleepy. Buddy and I took a 2 hour nap on the couch this afternoon. But no real appetite today. Just kinda BLAH. But, again I'm reminded it could be a lot worse. Kam said her sister is throwing up about every hour. PRAISE THE LORD I haven't had that...YET. I keep waiting for it. Other than that, nothing new. The next big thing is we have a Dr. appt in 2 weeks and we should be able to hear the heartbeat at that time. So exciting!!! We'll keep ya posted.

Did I mention that we have a puppy? His name is Buddy and he's about 7 months old and weighs about 50 pounds. He's the cutest black lab ever, and for the most part, pretty well behaved. He does have this lunging/biting thing going on right now that we are trying to break him of. I really think he's just playing, but when you have 50lbs of dog lunging at your face, it can hurt a little bit. So, to help settle this problem I have turned to the "Dog Whisperer." Have you heard of this guy? Anyone who watches Oprah probably has. His name is Cesar Milan and he has his own show on the National Geographic Channel. He's SOO cool! He totally gets really bad dogs to do whatever he wants them to. You should check it out. Anyway, Cesar has conviced me that I am not "The Pack Leader." This is the position where the dog knows that I am boss and he is not. Evidentally, according to Cesar, dogs think of their families as packs and they all want to be the pack leader. Well, we as humans have to show them that WE are the pack leader. Well, Buddy and I are battling it out in our pack right now! I am trying all the little tricks I have picked up from the Dog Whisperer, and none of them are working! I've even tried telling Buddy that I am the pack leader on our walks. Josh just tells me not to say that out loud where other people can hear me, please! He really thinks it's dumb. So, alas, I am not the pack leader yet...but I soon will be!! Help Cesar!!!

Anyway, the Dot and I are ok too. Still pretty much constantly quesy. I found that ginger herbal tea helps in pretty long intervals. And NOTHING sounds good to eat. I guess that's good. I'm really trying not to gain any weight this first trimester. We'll see how that goes...Well, I have to go watch the Mavs. Hope we win tonight and can put the Suns away on Sat!!

I'm pregnant!! I know this type of thing happens everyday, but for us it
took 7 months (and a little clomid) to get to this "everyday" occasion, so please indulge my excited-ness! This is the first baby for Josh and I, so that means everything is brand new to both of us! SO I would like this blog to walk you thru this momentous time for us. Yes, some of it will be brutally honest, which may or may not be a really fun entry to read. But hopefully, most of it will be happy, fun things!

I found out about our little "dot" on May 11th, just before Mother's Day. How appropriate, huh? After taking 2 tests, and getting a posititve on both, I thought I should share the news with Josh. He was really excited. We told the family that weekend, and of course everyone was very excited for us. It made a great Mother's Day gift for both of the grandma's ! I was 4 weeks along at the time, and everything was going great. I was a little tired, but no morning sickness, no other obvious symptoms I thought this is great!! Well, that was 3 weeks ago, and things have changed. There have been days that I could hardly keep my eyes open! I even fell asleep at the movies the other day! I walk around with this constant queasy feeling all the time now. I keep a package of saltines with me everywhere I go. I don't know why I am surprised by this. I was warned it would happen. And everyone, and I mean EVERYONE who has EVER had a baby, has given me their remedy for morning sickness. From ginger ale to watermelon, everyone has advice to give! But I am VERY grateful it hasn't been worse. I haven't vomited yet! Although, everytime I do eat something I ask myself if this is something I won't mind throwing up later. (Gross, I know, but I said I was going to be honest!) My best friend lost 20 lbs in 6 weeks with her first pregnancy. So I am fully aware it could be worse.

The fun part was going to the Dr. last week! She did an ultrasound and we got to see the little "dot" and we were even able to see it' s little heart beating! The Dr. said it was a really good thing to be able to see the heartbeat so early (6wks). I go back to see her in 3 weeks and we should be able to hear the heartbeat at that time. I can' t wait. I look at websites all the time to see how big it is right now. This week (week 7) it should grow to be about the size of a raspberry! How cute!! It's spinal cord is being formed, along with the eyes, ears, fingers, toes, and even a the start of a nose. It's so crazy to me. Like I said , I know this happens everyday, but I have a person growing inside of me!! Honestly, it's still a little weird!