Count Down Has Started

We are on baby watch! Any day now.... :)

We are currently 37 weeks and 4 days. It is hard to believe we are this far along. I am getting anxious for everything to get started, so we can meet this little guy and start a whole new journey. We have his room ready and bags packed. I still have a few blankets to wash this week, and that will be it.

The only complaint I have is not being able to get comfortable to sleep. I start out in the bed then end up on the couch. I am so ready to snuggle up with Chris! Another issue I have and most pregnant ladies have it is the swollen feet. They pretty much stay that way. My BP is fine, so the doctor is not worried.

We went two weeks ago for a check up and she wanted to check his position with ultrasound. At first she thought he was transverse, but after the ultrasound he is head down with his bottom on my right side and his feet to the left. The ultrasound tech asked if she could switch over to 4D. I was like heck yes. The better the picture the better I like it. So, she gave us one 4D picture of him. Of course he stuck his hands up to his face when she started the 4D. All our 4D pictures have his hands in front of his face. Just like his daddy....no pictures please!

As I type this he is moving around. I just got done with lunch, so he is happy. I haven't counted moves, but I have made sure that he moves around a lot. On weekends when I am busy, I try and lay down to feel his moves.

We have several family members with birthdays in September. My aunts birthday was last Friday and she kept asking all day if I felt different. Then yesterday would have been my grandfathers birthday and I know my family was praying for him to arrive then. We have three more birthdays this month, so we will see if he makes his appearance on anyone of them.

Bear is giving me the smell down in the mornings. Some things I have read say that animals can sense when labor is about to start and will act differently. This morning he just kept smelling.

Our church gave us a shower this pasted Sunday. We are just so blessed to have them in our lives. They were planning on doing a shower even if we didn't join the church. Baby Ashley got a lot of nice things!

Speaking of joining the church! We joined about two or three weeks ago. We have been visiting for several months now and just felt like this is where we should be. Chris joined by letter and I will have to be baptized at a later time. We had thought I could do it while pregnant, but after watching me try and get up off the couch, Chris thought it would be better to wait...and I agree.

Maybe the next time I blog we will have a little one to share with you.

Oh and a name!

Info overload

I think I like doing one post every once in a while. Doing them every week, gets old and I usually end up repeating myself. So for now I will just update when I can.

•Baby Boy Ashley's room is coming together. We still have a few things to move out and rearrange.

•I feel like I need to say Baby Boy Ashley. Baby Ashley sounds like a girl. Thanks to a friend of mine for mentioning this.

•We have one more shower to go, then we can rest and figure out what else we need. Then try and get his room ready. I like to get things done early and over with. Not good with last minute running around.

•Chris got the pack n play and bouncy/swing put together over the weekend.

•I go back to the doctor this Thursday.

•Baby Boy Ashley has been moving a lot. Mostly up under my b***s.

•Feet, ankles and hands are swelling more. They would only swell in the evenings. Now they are swelled in the morning and just about all day. Propping them up helps...but who really has time to lay down for 30 minutes several times a day?

•Here is my cake from our Ashland shower. You can't see the little foot print on the bottom left of the stomach, but it really made the cake cute.

•This is one of my favorite outfits that Baby Boy Ashley has received.

•When I can upload pictures from our new camera at home. I will post pictures from our Cullman shower. Chris' mom made some very cute blankets and I want to show everyone.

•Bear killed a mole Sunday night. He would not let me remove it from his pen, so he carried it with us on our morning walk. He soon dropped it and we quickly moved on.

I am not gone!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I  posted anything. I will try and do better, but then again I do have my little family to take care of.

I am not going to do several post that I missed I will just catch you up in a few random thoughts.

•We went for our 4D Ultrasound Monday. Baby Ashley kept his little hands and umbilical cord in his face for the most part. We did get a good face picture though. The tech. did everything she could to make him move his hands, but he was determined to keep them there. At one point he made the "Looser" symbol with his right hand on his forehead. We all laughed! She made sure he is still a he and trust me he is!

•Sleep is becoming more uncomfortable. I do get up once or twice during the night to potty. I am told it will get worse.

•He is head down and keeps his little feet and bottom in my ribs. I have had a couple of times where his kicks or whatever he is doing, really has hurt.

•We had our first baby shower Saturday in Cullman. We got a lot of clothes, diapers and books. Sunday we tried to get things organized in his room. We did a good job of deciding where things will go.

•All this week I have washed baby clothes. I could have washed them all together, but I rather them get clean and smell good.

•I get tired easier. Feet swell more! Tailbone is still hurting at work.

•We have a daycare!!!!! He will be going to the church we go to. I am so thankful for this opening. We really wanted him in a good christian environment and I believe he will get it there.

•I now have gained 20 pounds! Wow! Ultrasound tech said he should be around 8lbs. I believe my eyes popped out of my head for a few seconds. So if I keep up eating how I am eating I will be in the normal 25-35 pound range.

•I bought a few more maternity items. I hope they will get me through to the end.

•Chris and I went to our last baby class. We also got to tour the Women's and Children's Unit.

•A couple of days ago I just had stressed out moment. I decided to only worry about Chris and I and Baby Ashley. I am tired of making choices that others can make.

•We got our new camera and accessories in. I have played with them some. I am excited to get to take thousands of pictures of Baby Ashley when he comes. So get prepared to see several pictures! I mean, who doesn't want to show off their baby?

•Since we got a lot of books at our Cullman Shower, I have been reading to him every night. In the mornings we read the Bible.

•Bear is still the same. We still go for walks in the mornings. He will some times smell my belly. It's like he knows something is not the same. I gave him a bath a few weekends ago and he did good. Me not so much. Chris will have to bath him from now on. It is just to hard to bend over and bath him. I keep talking about Baby Ashley (but I use his name) when talking to Bear. So he will know the name.

I believe that is it for now. I will try and keep things updated!

Riding

Bear loves going for rides, so I try and take him when I am just going somewhere quick and easy. The other day I needed to run to the ATM, so I thought I would take him along. He did good....just hated that I got out at the ATM.

Our watch dog

I took Bear out of his pen one day last week so he could enjoy being out. I know he has to get tired of staying in the backyard all the time. Since the time had not changed, we only stayed for about 30-45 minutes before it started getting dark. He mainly sat by me and wanted to be petted. He did get up and find a few sticks to chew up. I think in his previous life he was a woodchuck.

He is such a watch dog. Some people that live down the road were coming home. So he had to be attentive and make sure they didn't come in our yard. If you notice the small stick that is in front of him, it didn't stay there long.

Happy Birthday Bear!

Since we don't have children yet. I have to spoil and talk about our dog, Bear. Saturday was Bear's 5th birthday. I know it is crazy to keep up with that stuff, but he is our child for now.
Saturday, I gave Bear a bath and let him come in the house and stay for a while. He is starting to not like staying in long. He gets really restless and gives you puppy dog eyes to go back outside. Poor Chris took a beating laying in the floor with him.
Here are a couple of pictures of Bear over the last 5 years. Some of them you may have seen before, so just stick with me.

This was taken this weekend on his birthday!

He was barking at the garbage can.

He loves chewing on sticks.

Such a cute puppy!

He Loves The Sun

Bear loves to sleep in the sun. The last couple of days have been around 70 degrees outside and he loves it.
I sent this picture to Chris while he was at work. Of course Bear has to have his rope close by. If you can't see it, it is at his back end.

One more picture I want to share is a picture of a snake's egg. Most of them had string like things attached to them. Not sure what they are???? We had a rat snake to lay 12 or so eggs in our front mulch bed. Chris killed the snake a few days before we found them.

Bear's Block

Here are some random things about Bear recently.
•He got to ride in my car.
  -We had someone to look at the house, so Bear had to be gone. We were gone for two hours!!!
•We took a trip to Petco in Gadsden and got a new rope.
  -The guy that checked us out tried to give him a treat, but he was not having any part of it. We got to
  bring it with us and he ate it in the car. It really is embarrassing when Bear has to poop at Petco. He gets
  right in the middle of the bushes and does it. EVERYBODY LOOKS!!! There was also a guy in the
  store that had an artificial leg...Bear was so curious about it. I politely moved him away.
•Ripped his tarp - AGAIN!
•He has kept critters, other dogs & cats away
 I saw this as I was leaving to go to work this morning. Not sure if Bear saw it or not. The cats stay
 around the front of the house because we have chipmunks. Trust me if they were in the back yard Bear
 would let us know.

Bear's Block - Lawn Mowers & Cats

Would you believe that Bear hates it when the young man comes and mows the yard next door? Well believe it!!! He does his usual barking and running around.
This morning was a little different...you see Bear also has concerns about cats. There is a cat that lives two houses past us and he loves to taunt Bear when ever he sees him. So, this morning the cat decides to lay down in his yard and stare towards Bear. Bear is a little uneasy (guy mowing & cat) and is barking, running around his pen and jumping on his fence. I think I told him to quite down several times and that did no good. So I was praying..Dear Lord please don't let him wake Chris up...well that didn't happen and Chris woke up. Needless to say Chris wasn't happy...and I don't blame him! After a few more minutes of barking and just looking up at the house Bear finally calmed down. I think the cat left and they guy on the mower was out of Bear's site. Thank Goodness!

Bear's Block

From time to time I have a funny or not so funny story about Bear. So I thought I would start sharing them with you. I told a little bit about him in the post HERE.

Okay here goes....When I walk Bear I take food, leash and treats. He gets real excited and starts running and jumping, so Chris decided a while back to give him a treat when you go into his pen. That way he will settle down some. So this morning I have all three ready. I had the leash around my left wrist and his food under my left arm. I go into his pen and he sits down in front of me to get his treat. In all his excitement he turns and gets his head caught in the leash....takes off and I dropped all of his food on the ground. Uggghhhh.....

So I stood there for a few seconds deciding what to do. I could have got mad and said a bad word, but I kept my cool. God is watching!!! I bent down and started picking it up and putting it back in his bowl. Thank God that most of it landed all together. While I was picking it up (dirt and all) Bear comes over and starts eating out of the bowl. I was like, you could help me out by eating it off the ground! Needless to say he sensed I was in distress and started eating it off the ground. We got it cleaned up and off we went on our daily walk.

One last little story that happened this week. We had a Tropical Storm to come through the early part of this week. Tuesday morning it was still raining while we were walking. (Remember we walk rain, sleet, snow or hail). Bear loves to stop and sit down for a little bit while he is being walked. Of all mornings he wants to stop and sit, it has to be pouring down rain. I kinda made the motion for us to keep moving. I told him I would get him out for a bit when it wasn't raining. Poor thing, just wanted to sit!

Bear & Wilson

I don't think I have blogged about Bear & Wilson. Bear is our big man and Wilson is my little man. I will post a little bit about both.

Bear:

Chris and I got Bear in December of 2006 at Pet-co. We initially went to get some stuff for a fish tank that Chris had. On our way out of the store there was a shopping cart with a bunch of puppies in it. They were cute, so we stopped and looked. We had been talking about getting a puppy, but was not real sure. After a few minutes of looking we picked this fur ball out and named him Bear. He lived with me before Chris and I got married. 

Every weekend Bear and I would travel to Rainbow City to spend time with Chris. Since we have been married we have had some interesting adventures with Bear. They mostly are about him killing opossums/raccoons and him getting out of his pen. Since we live in a town with a leash law, Bear lives in a 20x20 kennel. He has a tarp that covers half of it so he will stay dry and out of the heat. We have gone through so many tarps, because he rips them up, that I can't even count them. Chris and I say that is his way of letting us know that we need to come out and check on him. 

Here are some facts about him:

*Every morning I walk him (rain, sleet, snow or hail). 

*He hates squirrels, birds or any other animal/person that is not supposed to be in the yard

*Loves drinking out of a cup

*Loves his rope (hates it when I have to wash it)

*Loves to chase bumble bees in the summer

*Likes going to Pet-Co (you have to let him do his business before we go in, or he will do it in the store)

*Likes coming in the house and staying for awhile.

Wilson:

I have had Wilson since he was 6 weeks old. I tried to train him to stay in a small kennel, but that didn't work out at all. So he started sleeping in my bed, under the covers. I house trained him very easy. I felt like a real mother getting up 3 or 4 times a night to take him out. I bought him a rain coat, because I got tired of him being wet and coming back to bed! I would carry him everywhere (except work) that I went. We take him camping and to the park. I even rode him on my wave runner, but he didn't like the wind. He loves going for walks while we are camping, but HATES people on bikes. He is very protective of my mother and I, and is know to bite. Just like most dogs, he doesn't like going to the vet. I once dropped him and put him into shock coming out of the doctors office. Scared me to death!
When Chris and I started dating, he didn't like Chris but has come around to like him. He still barks at him.
Here are a few things about my little man Wilson.
*Loves to sit in your lap and will bite someone if they try and pick him up
*Loves to sleep all day (I trained him well)
*Barks at everything
*Loves riding
*Is interested in everything
*Hates it when you make clicking sounds with your fingernails
*Loves to sit in your lap while you eat (Got that from me)
*Hates bees
*Had his picture taken with Santa Claus

Bear (AKA Killer)

This is what Bear killed Friday night.

It was a bad night. When I started to bed I heard Bear barking so I checked the window and heard the worst sound ever. The raccoon had no chance at survival!!! A raccoon had got in Bear's pen and he was killing it!!!!!!!!!!! I paniced and called Chris (he was at work-football game), he told me to call the police. Well they were busy at a Boaz football game and it took awhile before they could get here. When the officer got here, I had Bear out of his pen and all the nice police officer had to do was get the raccoon out of his pen.
I am so thankful for the police officer. He was nice and very helpful, even though I was a mess when he got here. Chris called Monday and talked with the police chief and put in a good word for the officer.
I called the vet and they said to just watch Bear for the next couple of days since he is up todate on his rabies shots.
So Chris and I have started calling him Killer since this is his second kill this year. He killed a opossum earlier this year.