Is it a Boy or a Girl???

Waiting to find out the gender of this baby has been driving me crazy since the second I found out I was pregnant. Partly because I have blabbed to anyone that would listen how badly I'm hoping it's a girl since this will be our last and we already have a wonderful three year old boy. I even charted my ovulation for several months in order to try and pinpoint the optimal time to conceive a girl. So after all that blabbing and charting I was thrilled to discover a product that could predict the gender of baby #2 at only 10 weeks pregnant and with 82% accuracy. The product is the Intelligender Gender Prediction Test. It is an at home test that you can buy at most pharmacies for around $34.95. It is much like a pregnancy test and is very simple to use. And as most of you know from my pregnancy announcement post my affinity for peeing on things and getting a fast result, this product was right up my alley.

The company sent me a free one to try and I had to contain myself to wait and take it at 10 weeks. The morning of my 10 weeks I got up early and used my first morning urine for the best results and took the test. And according to the Intelligender test I am having...........................................

A boy! Dun Dun Dun!!!!!!!!! Please say it isn't so. I won't lie, I was like oh no, this can't be right, I must have done it incorrectly. So just to be sure I took another one. LOL! I told you I have an affinity for peeing on things. And the second test said.........................................................................

HAHA!!! So, we'll have to wait and see what my 20 week anatomy ultrasound says tomorrow to see if both the tests are correct. But this was a fun way to pass the time while I waited either way. I wouldn't go out and pick your nursery room colors just yet but it adds another fun little thing to do while you wait for that second trimester ultrasound.

Intelligender has several other products for mom and baby in their IntelliCeuticals line that are all natural. You can check them out online at http://www.intelligender.com/home.html.

Wordless Wednesday-Merry Christmas

Bump Alert!

I will be 20 weeks next Thursday (30th), that means I will have made it to the halfway point. Only 20 more weeks to go from that point. I can't believe that I am already almost halfway there but another 20 weeks seems like a million years away. I'm feeling much better though and I hope it stays that way. I took my first set of bump pictures last week when I turned 18 weeks pregnant. I could not believe how big I looked. I guess you don't realize how big you are until you see it in print sometimes. Haha! I seriously look huge though, I went back and compared pictures from my first pregnancy and I look like I did when I was 6 months pregnant with Jackson. It's crazy, all I keep thinking is what does this mean, how huge am I going to get with this one. Anyway, bumps are always cute in my opinion and I am happy to actually look pregnant now and not just like I've been eating one too many pieces of fudge (which I totally have but at least the bump covers up the plain ole fat). So, here are my 18 Week bump shots. Enjoy!

I'm Back........

Hi everyone, so sorry I've been MIA for the past two months. I really wasn't feeling very well and I don't think that I would have been able to write anything very interesting. Unless of course you are interested in nausea, morning sickness, heartburn, headaches, excessive peeing and an overall felling of blah. When people ask me how I'm feeling now I usually respond with, I have more good days than bad now. I am so grateful that I wasn't deathly ill like with my first pregnancy that I feel bad even sometimes complaining with this one. So far this pregnancy has been totally different since the very beginning. I have been extremely tired this time way more than the first go around. I could literally sleep all the time, which isn't very feasible with a three year old. I've had heartburn almost since day one with this one and I can not stop peeing. It's out of control peeing, like 5-6 times a night type of situation. I'm already super uncomfortable and I'm only 18 weeks pregnant. I have back and pelvic pain already which i don't remember feeling until much much later last time. I'm carrying different, I'm showing sooner and I'm not gaining much weight even though I feel like a giant whale. Eating with this pregnancy has been a total issue also, mainly due to the extreme heartburn. But if I don't eat soon enough in the morning or if I eat too much or too little or not often enough I feel sick and nauseous. It's like a science that I just haven't figured out 18 weeks in. And pretty much anything I eat gives me extreme heartburn. My doctor gave me medication for it, which does help but doesn't eliminate. Everyone including my doctor tells me that eating every couple hours at least a little snack is the best cure over any medicine but that is a lot harder than it sounds. I can barely think of things to eat for the 3 basic meals of the day let alone every couple of hours. And I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be pleased to know about my recent fudge and dill pickle chips obsession. I don't think those are the kind of snacks she had in mind when she said to eat something every two hours or so. I'm guessing those two snacks might also help with the weight gain that up until now has been pretty slow. I am actually at the exact same weight I started at because while I was sick I lost 10 pounds but I have since gained it back. I have a feeling at my December 30th appointment, after all the homemade Christmas candy my grandma will have spread out over the holiday, that I will have gained an unhealthy amount of weight. We shall see.

So, that pretty much catches you up on where I am right now. I haven't taken any pictures of my bump yet so I will do that and post them soon per some of your requests. :) I thougtht I would just include some random pictures from the last two months to catch you up. Happy Hump Day!

Playing miniature golf for his first time on his 3rd birthday. He loved it!

3rd Birthday party. My 1st attempt at being crafty with the banner in the background.

Blowing out his candles.

Drinking tea together. Trying to ease my nausea.

Hitting range balls. Favorite things to do together.

My little golfer and future PGA tour member.

Halloween

UPS men on Halloween.

I'm 9 Weeks!

Apparently many people think it's funny how many tests I took to confirm this exciting news. Ha ha! I actually took a few more than the ones in the picture from the last post. And the first time I was pregnant I think I about drained our bank account due to the amount of tests I bought. I just couldn't quit. I'm not sure if it's an affinity for peeing on sticks or just complete denial that there is actually an extra line on each of the tests. Hence the digital test I bought this time. This was my first time trying one of these tests and it was quite exciting I must say watching the blinking little hourglass and then to see PREGNANT pop up. Something about the certainty of actually seeing the word I loved. I've felt pretty blah lately with the nausea-I refuse to call it morning sickness due to the fact I'm quite certain it had to be referred to as that by a man who has in fact never been pregnant and completely unaware that it occurs all day regardless of the time. However, I am not sick like I was last time (which was horrendous) so I am VERY grateful for that. At my first doctor appointment last Friday I got my cocktail of drugs that have made it much more bearable to deal with. I also got to have my first glimpse of our new little gummy bear as the tech referred to the baby as. And here is HER (fingers crossed) blog debut.
So, I will try my best to not completely bore you to death or offer TMI for the next 31 weeks but I'm not making any promises. Something about being pregnant just opens you up to thinking its appropriate to offer random private bodily functions and an unlimited amount of details to anyone that will listen. But I will try to contain myself.

I'm Pregnant!!!!

25 Random Things About Me

1. I lived in England for 3 years.
2. I still think that that spiders will "get me" while on the toilet because of the movie Arachnophobia.
3. I tore my ACL on my right knee the very first time I ever went skiing. Ran right into that orange mesh fencing and had to be strapped to a stretcher and taken to clinic by a snowmobile. Very embarrassing!!! All that while my lovely Aunt Lorrie snapped photos to document it! =)
4. I have never been skiing again and have no desire to ever do it again. Cold, wet, clothes that make you look fat, so hard, and did I mention cold. No Thanks!!!
5. I sleep with one leg outside of the covers.
6. I started dating Jason the summer after my Junior year in high school (1997) and we got married seven years later in Oct. 2004. He is my best friend and the greatest daddy in the whole world!
7. I miss having sleepovers and girls night with my girlfriends. I wish that we didn't have to wait for somebody to get married to do this. What happens when we are all married???
8. I always said that I never wanted children and then my best friend Kellie had her daughter and something changed the moment I first held her and over the years the amount of love I had for her and she wasn't even mine.
9. I always said that I didn't believe women who said that there biological clock starting ticking and that they couldn't help it. Unitl it happened to me. Not so much that I thought I had to because I was getting old but that I could just feel it in my heart that I wanted to have a child. Once you get bitten by that bug, it's all over. I drove everyone crazy talking about it until it finally happened. (I know what you are going through Abby)
10. I was off birth control for about 14 days and got pregnant.
11. The day I had J was the day I discovered what pure, unconditional, true love is all about.
12. I love seeing J smile, he has the GREATEST smile in the whole world.
13. Getting kisses from J can turn any day into a great day! My heart melts every time.
14. I have the craziest family ever but I wouldn't trade them for anybody elses. My brother and sisters and I are closer now than we have ever been and I am loving it.
15. I have a great group of friends that I know that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. And I like that that group is small. Some people think that it's the amount of friends you have but I think that it's the quality of those friends that matters. The one's that are there in good times but especially the hard times!
16. I am addicted to my iPhone.
17. I love reading instruction manuals. Like to cars and gadgets.
18. Whenever somebody I care about tells me sad news about an illness or something I immediately go to the internet and research it to death and try and get as much information as possible because it makes me feel better if I know a little about it. I do the same with anything that I am told about myself also.
19. I come off as uncaring or not interested sometimes in situations where people I care about are sad, telling me something sad or are crying especially. This is never true but I never know the right thing to say or do.
20. I think that #17-19 above are all due to the fact that I am a control freak and that I like to have information and fix things, including problems, people and things.
21. I love reality TV like Big Brother, Survivor, Top Chef, all the Housewives of whereever shows, Project Runway, the list could go on and on......
22. I am addicted to HGTV and TLC shows that deal with real estate like, House Hunters, My First House, Flip This House, this list could really go on and on forever.
23. I want to flip houses one day, I think that I would be really good at it.
24. I want to own my own clothing and gift store for kids that actually has things in it that are affordable but still so cute and trendy. (Not any of those out there that I have come across)
25. I can't stand to have my hair touch the back of my neck when I am laying down. I have left strict instructions to have my hair OFF of my neck before I am buried. I do know that this is crazy!

I'm Feeling Nostalgic Today......

Home from the hospital. So beautiful & perfect!

Fun Little Game

I've been tagged by D over at Dearinger Diary to participate in a fun little game to help get to know your fellow bloggers. D is one of the first people that ever followed my blog and she always leaves the best comments. She had me hooked on her blog as soon as I read her About Me bio next to her picture on the main page of her blog. You must go check it out, the two things she says you must know about her are perfect and I totally relate. :) OK, back to the game, she answered 5 questions about herself and then tagged 4 more people to answer a new set of questions she picked. So here is goes......

1.  What song reminds you of a childhood memory? Anything from the Like A Prayer, Madonna album circa 1989. My best friend at the time Shannon (i wonder whatever happened to her)and I used to listen to this all the time but especially when we had to drive twice a week, an hour each way to and from gymnastics practice. We drove our mothers crazy! Neither of them to this day probably ever care to hear Like a Prayer, Cherish or Express Yourself ever again. 
2. Are you a night owl or and early bird? Definitely a night owl. I love to stay up late.
3. Give us a snapshot of the high school you. OK, I wasn't sure if this was asking for a little description or and actual snapshot/picture of me from high school.  I only have one picture of me that my step-dad posted on Facebook to torment me and I didn't feel like digging another one out so here I was my senior year in high school. This was one of my senior pictures.  
4. This or That: Rain or Snow? I love snow but only if I don't have to drive in it. But I also love rain but only if it's for a few hours and then moves on. Too much of anything is a bad thing. ;)
5. Favorite Movie Quote? This is REALLY hard for me because I LOVE movies. But one of my favorite movies of all time is Steel Magnolia's and one of my favorite quotes from that movie is: "Ouiser Boudreaux: I do not see plays, because I can nap at home for free. And I don't see movies 'cause they're trash, and they got nothin' but naked people in 'em! And I don't read books, 'cause if they're any good, they're gonna make 'em into a miniseries."
6. What Color are your Underwear? White with pink flowers.

Ok, now to pass it on to some fellow bloggers....

1. Kellie at TheCooksBuns 
2. Bonnie at  http://mamabsblog.blogspot.com/
3. Momma Wilson at The Wilson Family

Just Between Friends Sale

For those of you that haven't heard about the Just Between Friends Sale, you will be so happy you read this and hopefully go find one in your area and save LOTS of money on items you would have bought anyway.

It's a children's consignment event held twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. You can find clothes, shoes, toys, cribs, strollers, car seats, bedding, play-sets, highchairs, books, room decor, Halloween costumes, swimsuits, athletic gear, maternity clothes.....the list could go on forever. Just wait to see the pictures below and you will get a better idea of what I'm talking about. You can get all of these items for a fraction of the cost compared to retail prices. I'll show you what I bought this year and give you the retail price versus the price I paid. Your mouths will seriously hit the floor. The Tulsa JBF sale that I go to is held in the Exchange Center with over 58,000 sf of space.They had over 1500 consignors this fall and more than 200,000 pieces of clothing. IT'S HUGE!!! I started going to this sale in the spring of 2008 after my son was born in the fall of 2007. I couldn't believe all the bargains I found. My only regret was not knowing about it while I was pregnant. It seriously made me kinda sick to walk around and see the EXACT same items I had paid full price for just a few months ago now on sale for a fraction of the cost. I've now been to the sale six times as just a buyer and I think that next spring I am going to sign up to be a consignor. Consignors set their own prices and make up to 70% on the items they sell. It's a win-win for everybody. You get to clean out your closets and attic and make money and then use that money to buy new stuff you would have probably bought anyway but now for a fraction of the cost.

I know some of you are probably saying, "Used clothes and toys? That's not for me." or I don't want to have to dig through a bunch of junk to find a few good items." Well let me try and convince you otherwise. I too had that mentality originally when I first heard about this event. I didn't like the idea of buying used stuff to give to my child. I think I felt this way because I had this picture in my head of dirty, worn out crap that nobody else wanted. I also pictured it being a bunch of bins you would have to dig through to find maybe a couple good items. I won't even go to the Victoria Secret Semi-Annual sale because the thought of digging in little plastic bins for my size bra and panties while other women try and grab them away from you makes me crazy!!! I'll take my Wal-Mart and Target panties thank you very much! =) This event is NOT like that. It is so well organized and laid out, some retail stores I shop could learn a thing or two, and its held in a clean, air conditioned facility. It has all the clothes organized by sizes and hung on double bar racks in perfectly lined rows. (My OCD side loves this!) All the shoes, costumes, swimsuits and maternity clothes are also organized by size. The toys are organized by age and the larger toys are organized by outdoor or indoor use. All the baby gear items are grouped together by type-strollers, bouncers, car-seats, bedding, jumpers, walkers, etc. They only allow gently used items to be sold. Clothes can't be stained, ripped or torn up. Many items I've found still had the original tag on them. Shoes are all inspected carefully, they don't allow worn out, scuffed up or unwashed shoes into the sale. All toys that take batteries are required to have batteries in them so you can test to see if they actually work. Anyway, I could go on and on about all the wonderful things but until you go to your first sale you won't be able to fully grasp the big picture. They currently have sales in 23 states and are always expanding. Hopefully you can find one near you and start saving money this fall.

Here are the items I bought this time at the sale:

Little Tikes Desk & Chair, Crayola Double Sided Art Easel, Black and Decker Jr. Power Workbench, Little People Race Track, Lite Bright, Touch & Feel Flash Cards, Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera & Case, Little Tikes Digital Camera.

Clothes. All of these are from Gap, Old Navy and Children's Place. 

I went to Amazon.com and was able to find the exact same items for everything except the clothes and the Little Tikes desk which I found on Ebay. Here are the retail prices with the price I paid next to each one.

1. Little Tikes Desk and Chair: Ebay: $99.99 I Paid: $25
2. Crayola Double Sided Easel: Amazon: $61.99 I Paid:$14.00
3. Black & Decker Jr Power Workbench: Amazon: $69.99 I Paid: $10.00
4. Little People Race Track: Amazon: $38.99 I Paid: $6.00
5. Lite Bright: Amazon: $17.14 I Paid: $6.00 (Brand New-Never Opened)
6. Touch & Feel Flash Cards: Amazon: $9.95 I Paid: $4.00
7. Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera & Case: Amazon: $83.97 I Paid: $20.00
8. Little Tikes Digital Camera: Amazon: $34.50 I Paid: $5.00
9. The Clothes totaled $18.00 at the sale for all five shirts and one pair of pants. Retail they would have been probably around $80.00 at least. 

That equals a retail price (w/o tax) of $496.52. 
I Paid $108.00 (w/o tax). 
That's a Total Savings of $388.52!

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how large this event is:

View from above of the entire sale. (Picture from http://tulsa.jbfsale.com/pages/shopper_information) 

This is a shot from a story the local news station did on the event. That's me shopping on the far right hand screen of the picture in the navy shirt.=) 

Here is the link to the main Just Between Friends Sale. Go check it out and see if there is a sale going on near you. And if you've been to a JBF sale, please share your experience. And for any consignors out there, please let me know if you have any great tips that will help me in the spring.

Don't Mess With Mama Bear!

The day I became a Mama something awoke inside me, an animalistic instinct that felt completely natural, like I'd always had it but was never really necessary until this moment. This primal instinct that takes over and is sometimes irrational and hard to contain. I immediately become unconcerned with politeness, courtesies, feelings, etc. when it comes to matters involving my baby boy.

No, you can not come into my hospital room and hold the baby without heading back over to the door and helping yourself to a couple pumps off the Purell. Come on people, its flu season!

No, weird lady at Target you can not walk up to our cart and pull back the blanket and breathe your possibly contaminated germ breath all over my baby and you certainly cannot touch him. BACK OFF!

Yes, I do mind if you bring in your medical students to examine my child that has been in the hospital for two days and is really OVER IT. Especially after one of your students tried to order a suppository that was strong enough for a 300 pound man. MOVE ALONG and I MEAN NOW!

Yes, I will continue to BLOW UP YOUR PHONE and leave messages regarding my son until you return my call and DO YOUR JOB. Seriously....this has been going on for two months and I'm tired of it. My next call will be to your supervisor.

You get the idea, Mama Bear doesn't play when it comes to Little Bear. Sometimes this Mama Bear instinct can be destructive. I've had plenty of moments I'm not proud of after the fact, but in that moment all rational thinking goes out the window. I think most moms are like this when it comes to our children. Mothers especially are pretty forgiving when it comes to situations where another mothers Mama Bear instinct has kicked in. Even though she may not have agreed with your actions she will at least understand and get where you were coming from in that moment. Sometimes a calmer but still assertive and strong response will get you further than the initial animalistic instinct reaction to claw someones face off. So, as I sit here waiting for a certain someone to return my call I will try and remember this and try not to rip her a new one when she ever does call back. But, I'm not making any promises. I'm still a work in progress.

Trying to take a Family Photo at the Alamo

My Current Quest for baby #2

Let me tell you about what I have been doing for the past couple of months.....Tracking my ovulation.

Now, let me tell you why I have been tracking my ovulation for the past couple of months......To try and increase my chances at conceiving a girl.

When I tell people this I usually get the same responses. A) That's crazy, how will tracking your ovulation help your chances of having a girl, B) Why would you want a girl, so much drama, I would love to have all boys, C) Just be happy with whatever you get.

Let me address each one of those responses here:

A) By pinpointing the exact day of ovulation you increase your chance of conceiving, this applies to anyone trying to conceive regardless of gender preference. There are many different ways to track ovulation and I have only chosen to do a few. The first is a Basal Body Thermometer (BBT). You take your temperature at the same time every morning and over a few cycles, you'll see patterns that indicate when ovulation typically takes place for you. The other way I help pinpoint ovulation is through Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPK's). These are much like pregnancy tests except they test the monthly LH surge- the sudden increase in luteinizing hormone present in your urine just before you ovulate. The presence of the positive ovulation test indicates that you will likely ovulate within 12 to 36 hours. If you are trying to have a girl, you'll need to begin timing sex during the period at least 2 to 3 days before you anticipate ovulation to take place. This method favors the slower but larger and more resilient X-chromosome sperm (girls). Intercourse further away from ovulation favors the larger slower moving X (girl) sperm. The weaker Y (boy) sperm will die more quickly in the more acidic preovulatory vaginal / cervical secretions and by the time of ovulation there will be a much larger concentration of X (girl) sperm available to fertilize the egg. Hence, your chances of conceiving a girl are greatly increased. At least according to this theory of thinking known as the Shettles Method.

B) I'm glad that you would be happy with all boys but we are different and that's ok. Please don't judge my desire to have a daughter. And since when did having a girl automatically invoke people to say things like "Drama and Way more work than boys?" I'm here to tell you that I have a son and OMG he is a lot of work. I just think that boys and girls have different issues than each other, not to say that either are more or less easier to deal with on the whole parenting spectrum, just different. I also want a daughter for things like bows, pink, purple, glitter, dresses, accessories, shoes, dress up, shopping, girly movies, prom dress shopping, wedding planning, being a mother to my daughter when she is pregnant one day, long talks about boys and what all the celebrities are doing, this list could go on and on forever. And Yes, I am aware that not all girls are into all of these things but the likelihood that a girl would be more into some of these things over a boy is pretty high. I already have a son and know I will get to enjoy all the absolutely fabulous things usually associated with having a boy that you may not get to experience with a girl. So why wouldn't I want the same thing with a girl? Sorry I'm coming off so defensive but I have quite frankly been shocked at the response I have gotten to my desire to have a girl. You never hear the same reactions I have received when you hear a father express the desire to have a boy. It just kinda seems skewed to me. 

C) This response bugs me a lot. Of course I will be happy with whatever God decides to give us. But don't look at me like I just told you I'm going to steal the lady next to me on the OB floors baby girl when I tell you that I'm trying to increase my odds of having a girl by tracking ovulation. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. Yes, I know that many people are desperate to have a child regardless of gender at all. I feel for these people (some of which are some of my readers) so badly and I can not imagine having to go through all the things that you have had to go through mentally and physically just to try and conceive at all. But I also think that it is OK to desire a child of a certain gender and not to be judged because of it.

So, that's my rant for the day. Thanks for listening. I'll try not to drive you all crazy as we begin this wild ride again into parenthood for the second time with all my bodily functions, mental ups and downs and just plain ole' TMI that seems to take over many women when they are trying to conceive and especially when they get pregnant. That could be a whole other post entirely. =)

Wordless Wednesday-Texas Vacation!

Here are a few pictures we took on our vacation to South Texas with some of our friends.