12 Weeks!!

Wow!  12 weeks pregnant!  I can't believe it!  Here is a picture of me taken yesterday (Sunday) at 12 weeks and 2 days!  Several of the girls at school today were rubbing my belly.  :-)  And the kids keep asking if it's a boy or girl.  I wish I knew!

In other news, GO MAVS!!!!  We're not afraid of no Thunder!  Shame on my brother for rooting for OKC, but he's always been fidgety when it comes to what sports team he roots for. (As far as college sports and basketball is concerned).  I just wish the games didn't start so late.  Game One is at 9 pm here, which is my bedtime.  I should be able to see the games online, but I don't know how long I'll be able to stay up to watch them. 

Tonight I am going to our church's Women's Fellowship picnic.  We are supposed to bring a side dish, and I made my grandma's Mexican Salad.  This is the third time I've attempted it, and it actually worked (before I always butchered the tomatoes, and then just gave up).  I bought canned diced tomatoes this time.  :-)  Hopefully it tastes good!

Toby has recently forgotten where he is supposed to poop.  He's been doing it on the carpet...coming in after his walk and doing it on the carpet!!  He'll do it overnight/early in the morning before we get up too, so we are putting him back in his crate.  Two nights ago he wouldn't stop barking, and I heard our neighbor man yelling very loudly, so I let him out.  I didn't know if he was yelling because of the dog, but I didn't want to take any chances of having an angry man at our door, so I just let Toby out of the crate.  Last night we moved his crate into our bedroom (from the kitchen) hoping it would prevent the barking and it did!  He whined a little, and scratched at the gate, but it was nothing that a few squirts from the water bottle wouldn't take care of.  :-)  And he pooped OUTSIDE this morning and this afternoon!  :-)  Although, he did pee on the carpet this morning before I got a chance to take him out...tomorrow I'll just leave him in the crate until the minute I'm ready to take him outside.

Only 18 more days of school!!!  I got a call from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Education today saying that I am being granted the 7-9 Math Certification because my degree program was middle level.  Even though I passed the 7-12 Math Praxis test, I have to fill out another form and give them another $100 to "add on" the 7-12 endorsement.  Stupid.  The lady even said that I don't have to take another test because I've already taken the 7-12 test...so WHY DON'T YOU GIVE ME THE 7-12 CERTIFICATION?  Answer: Because they want to get as much money as they can.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal except the two math jobs to which I've applied require 7-12 certification!  :-/  So annoying.

Well, on that note, I hope everyone has a marvelous Monday (what's left of it!).

Update

So you know how I said my doctor didn't do an ultrasound or listen to the heart beat or anything which I thought was weird?  Well, after reading online about it, turns out that's normal.  Most doctors don't do an ultrasound until 20 weeks (which is what my doctor is doing) and that's the only one they do unless there are problems.  I go back in 2 weeks and we'll hear the heartbeat.  Since there is a history of twins in my family I am anxious to find out just how many babies we're having.  :-)  Tim even said what if we have triplets because my family has fraternal and identical twins so I could drop two eggs, and then one could split?  Haha.  That would be crazy!  Highly unlikely, of course. 

First Dr's Appointment A Success...I guess...

Well, Tim and I went to our first doctor's appointment on Monday.  It was kind of a let down actually.  The doctor just did an exam and talked to us a little to answer my questions.  They didn't even confirm the pregnancy!  They told me I was 11 weeks and 3 days along, which I already knew, and confirmed my due date as November 25th soley based on the calendar, nothing medical.  No ultrasound, no listening to the heartbeat to make sure he/she is alive.  She said they do ultrasounds at 20 weeks, and I'll come back in 2 weeks and we'll listen to the heartbeat.  My friend Kristen, who is also pregnant, has had an ultrasound at every doctor's visit, starting at 6 weeks I think.  The last one she had showed that she is a little more farther along than originally thought based on the size of the baby.  So she's 12 weeks, and I'll be 12 weeks on Friday.  I did fill out a medical history form, but no one talked to me about it, and I didn't think to mention the history of twins in my family.  I guess at our next appointment we'll know if it's twins or not based on the heartbeat.  I will mention it and maybe get an early ultrasound.  They supposedly have state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment so why can't we use it??  I was really looking forward to at least hearing the baby.  How do they know that it's growing at the correct rate?  Maybe I'm farther along than I thought?  What if there is more than one baby?  It is frustrating, but the doctor was really nice so I didn't think of these things until we left.  There are 4 doctors in this practice so I may see a different one next time.  The one we saw on Monday doesn't do deliveries anymore, so whichever one of the other three is on call when I go into labor will deliver the baby.  I did get a bag full of information that I've been reading, including the 2011 Target Baby Catelog, which is awesome because that is where I want to register.  Babies 'R Us is just too expensive, and there's not a good Walmart close to us.  Target has lots of cute stuff and is kind of middle ground, price-wise.
So, hopefully we'll have more exciting news to share after our next appointment which is on May 24th.

Happy Friday!

I am now 11 weeks along today!  Here is what babycenter.com has to say about my baby's development:

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.
She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

This picture is a 3-D ultrasound of an 11-week old fetus. It is also from babycenter.com.  Hopefully I will have a similar picture after my appointment on Monday!! :-)

Last Sunday was "Youth Sunday" and the youth praise band led worship, and some of the guys led the prayer time, communion, and offering prayers and passed the trays, which was a first for most of them, and they did a very good job.  Tim preached on baptism, and did an excellent job, as usual.  This coming week, he is going to be leading the worship with Brenda, the piano player.  We are slowly transitioning to having more live instruments during worship.  Right now, it's just Brenda playing the piano, no one leading with a microphone and for half the songs, we sing along with a recording.  My preference is still a capella, but most of the members here do not have that type of backgroud and don't know how to sing in parts.

Only 25 more days of school left!!!  I'm really looking forward to the summer!  Our friend Angie's mom has a pool and Angie has said we can hang out with her there anytime we want and I fully intend on taking her up on that offer as much as possible!  I have applied to work summer school, which is only 6 weeks, half-days Monday - Thursday, but I haven't heard anything yet.  I don't know when they will be making their decisions about staffing.  I will be gone the first two weeks of summer school because I am going to Florida!!  My grandparents and aunt Mitzi are coming up June 18 and then they are going down to visit Jason and Melody the next week, and I decided to go with them! I will be there a week and a half, flying back on July 2.  Then, Tim and I will be in Ohio the next week with Shelley and Sally for the North American Christian Convention.  I am excited about this because one of the speakers is going to be Francis Chan!   It should be awesome!

There are two math teacher positions open in two other districts that I will be applying for.  It's a little confusing trying to get all the paperwork together because they both require proof of all the clearances from the state (child abuse, background check, etc.).  I haven't been having any "morning" sickness lately but I am still pretty tired when I get home, and haven't had the energy to figure everything out.  Hopefully  I can get it done today or tomorrow and get the applications in.  I found out after I applied to the last one that they actually don't have any vacancies right now; they are just accepting applications. 

The Mavs have apparently been doing well, up 2-0.  I haven't been able to see any of the games yet, but I should be able to watch tonight's game on ESPN 3 online, so that is exciting!

Gotta go...so hope everyone has a great weekend!

Spring Finally Arrived!

The weather finally got nice, and I am so happy!  :-D It just puts me in a good mood.  Work is going better too.  Also, I applied to a math teaching position in the Exeter School District last Wednesday, so we'll see if anything comes of that.  Tim decided to start up our tutoring services again for extra money, and he got his first client today.  They bought a "package" of sessions so it's $250 up front.  That is good news too.  :-)
I have a cold, and I talked to the OB doctor at church about what is safe for me to take and she suggested Clariten first.  So, I started taking that today so hopefully it will work.  I pretty much have seasonal allergies, and was told when we moved here that your allergies get worse from living here, so that is wonderful. :-) 
My first doctor's appointment is two weeks from yesterday!  I'm very excited to go and see my baby!  Hopefully it is healthy and normal!  I don't think we'll be able to find out the sex, but somewhere around 17-20 weeks we can.  I really want to know what it is so I can decide on a nursery theme.  I have some ideas, but I don't know for sure what I want to do.
One last thing, on Hillside's new website, http://www.hillsidepa.org/, you can WATCH videos of the sermons now.   Tim has one up from a few weeks ago, and he is preaching this coming Sunday, May 1st, so look for that one to be up next week!
Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

8 Weeks!

I made it to the two-month mark!  Here is how my baby is developing according to http://www.babycenter.com/:
New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.
Yesterday I had a bazzar experience.  Tim and I were putting groceries in our car at the store and a man drove up asking directions to a restaurant.  I walked away to put the cart away as Tim was talking to him.  On my way back to the car I see the man jerk his head and make some kind of loud noise, and then drive off.  When we got in the car Tim told me that after he gave the directions the man started to say thank you, but sneezed, so it went something like, "A CHOOOO! Thank you!" and for some reason, the situation and the way Tim said it just struck me as hillarious and I started laughing and couldn't stop.  I was laughing for a good 5 minutes or so, and then all of a sudden started bawling.  Now, I have laughed so hard I cried before, but this felt different.  I was leaning forward, laughing then all this emotion just started pouring out, and I'm making sobbing noises and I look at Tim and say, "I don't think I'm laughing anymore."  But as soon as I said that, I did start laughing and then I was laughing and crying at the same time.  Talk about mood swing!  That was a really strange one!!  On the way home from school earlier that afternoon I was thinking about my dad for some reason and just reliving everything that happened, and I think that kind of slipped in my brain when I was laughing which could have triggered the crying but I'm not sure.  It was a weird feeling though!
And then this morning when I was bending over to get something, a nerve in my lower back spasmed and it's been hurting all day.  I can barely get out of a chair, and walking is a chore.  This is not good since Tim and I have a 6 hour car ride tonight to Boston.  The only thing I can take is Tylenol, and it hasn't helped.
Well, those are my crazy pregnancy stories!  Hope you have a great weekend!

Happy Hump Day!

Well, I've had my first major craving.  Monday night I was really wanting a Big Mac from McDonald's.  Don't ask me why because I've never had one!  But it was bed time so I just ignored it and went to bed, and decided I could have one the next day.  On Tuesday morning, I packed a can of soup for lunch, but when lunch time came around, I REALLY wanted that Big Mac.  I texted Tim, who was home, and asked if he could bring me one.  Because he is such a wonderful, caring, compassionate, husband, he did!  It took a while, and I only had 4 minutes to eat once he got there, but don't you know I finished the burger and fries with time to spare! :-)  I have to say I wasn't that impressed with the famous Big Mac.  It was good, but I think I still prefer the Quarter Pounder with Cheese.
I haven't been really craving anything else specific, except I've been eating a lot of cheese.  I'll just grab a couple of slices from the fridge a couple of times a day.
I was looking online the other day for teaching jobs, and actually found one!  A district nearby has an opening for a secondary math teacher, so I've been trying to get everything I need to apply online. (Just waiting on my letters of recommendation)  If I could teach for a few years it would really help pull us out of debt quickly and we won't have to move.  Our townhome is pretty expensive, and if I stay as an assistant we will probably have to move after our lease is up in December to help cut costs.
Well, the cat has done it.  He attacked me again yesterday.  He didn't actually bite me, but he tried, so I moved all of his things to the basement and locked him in there.  He's allowed to be out during the day when Tim is home and I'm not, and I haven't locked him up today, but his stuff is not coming back up so hopefully he'll be down there more often, and especially when the baby is here, Max will be kept in the basement with the door closed.
So I'll be 7 weeks pregnant on Friday.  Here is a picture from babycenter.com of what the embryo looks like and here is what they said about his/her development this week:

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.
If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.