4/4

I was tagged by Aubrey to post my 4th picture in my 4th folder. I finally got myself situated enough to get onto my backup drive that houses my pictures and play the game. All of my folders are by year/season... This 4/4 happens to land in the Christmas 2005 folder and as badly as I wanted to pick picture 3, or 5, or any other number, I'm going to play by the rules. I'm so glad Tiff doesn't read this - she'd kill me!

Here it is, picture 4... Makenna and Brendan got these yucky teeth, I couldn't get them all the way in my mouth - they were huge! Tiffany has the bigger mouth :o) hehehe! That or I was laughing too hard.

Alright, I'm tagging Chris, Gramma, Aunt Teresa & Laurece! Post your 4th photo from your 4th folder! :o)

Moving in the baby...

I took Monday and Tuesday off this past week to hang out with my husband and kind of regenerate after the busy tax deadline. Ben's new shift means that I come home Wednesday - Friday to an empty house and spend Saturday's by my lonesome - however Sunday - Tuesday he's home ALL day! He's really enjoying it though, it's taking a bit to get him adjusted to a sleep schedule after working nights for so long, but he's getting a lot of action at work. (He's got some yucky area's now that I do better just trying not to think about!)

Anyway, we're excited for night sleeping Saturday and Sunday's off to start going back to church regularly! Woo-Hoo!

Back to the point - baby stuff! Monday Ben and I wandered down to the higher end baby furniture store that's usually very high priced and kind of just for fun, and ended up finding a huge sale! They've just been bought out and are getting rid of their high end manufacturers product, for higher end European products that are just too ridiculous to even think about paying for. Seriously, the store is about to belong in Manhattan or on Melrose... instead of Andover Pkwy in Tukwila where it currently sits. We found a very sturdy, solid wood, well made crib and dresser for what we would have paid for a crappy knock off from Babies R' Us. We bought it! I'm so the type that needs the instant gratification of a purchase - sitting around thinking about the money I spent on something when it's going to take 8 weeks to get here, just isn't my cup of tea! Large or small purchases, it just doesn't matter... If the cash isn't mine anymore, I want something to show for it! I googled the style and found a picture of the set and I thought I'd share. Ben was a total trooper and didn't even seem to be having a problem with the shopping trip. I was amazed - he hates furniture shopping... let alone for a little person that isn't even going to be here for 4.5 months! 

We got this set, minus the hutch part of the dresser. This is shown in the Cherry stain, our set is in the Dark Espresso color, I just couldn't find a picture online.

I felt the baby move last Wednesday (the 15th) for the first time. It wasn't the 'butterfly flutter' feeling that everyone said I'd get... This was a very distinct 'thump'. It felt like someone walked up and flicked my tummy (but from the inside!) It's totally weird, but still very cool. Over the last 2 days I've felt it ALL day long. It's really like that last ultrasound, wild! It's still not a flutter but more of a 'tugging', like it's grabbing onto random inside parts and just pulling on it, it's not 'annoying' yet, but as soon as it gets bigger - we might have to have a chat about calming down a little - I'm totally going to lose, but it's nice thinking that I might have a little power over something my body's doing. This sitting along for the ride stuff's not my style :o) 

Annie

Chris brought home a new little kitty today... They ended up naming her Annie!

Their (much) older kitty Lucy, isn't quite thrilled about it yet and Gus the dog doesn't really care so much - but little bitty Annie freaked out with Gus in the room. I think he was a bit too big and a bit too foreign!

I went over after work, Jill and the girls were there as well for a slumber party... Here's some little Annie pictures:

Annie's encounter with Gus went a little like this:

I loved this last one, I'm so glad it turned out - she was so scared though!!

Someday, I will steal my friend away...

... And we will fly to the midwest, rent a car, and take this very road trip! Gramma sent me an email full of fun blogs she's been into lately and this was the latest post on one of them. I don't think we'll get to see Sarah Palin on our trip, but I suppose it's possible to hit a women's confrence... but what I really want is to go to these antique malls and see the beautiful architecture, and most of all: That Candle Co Outlet with all that fun Christmas stuff (which according to their web site is out all year long!!!)

Alright Aubrey, start packing, this is where we're going!

( I can't complain about not being able to hit antiqe shops like this lady though - Ben LOVES them and never gets tired of them! He actually takes longer than I do going through! He has to read everything and find out what every single little tool and gizmo was once used for!)

Alright, alright!

Here's a belly pic. I took it early last week but then after procrastinating on posting, I was going to wait another week because, no joke -  I swear it's bigger than this picture already... According to my baby center updates,  by next week the baby will have doubled in size from last week... So that's when I 'll take another picture. Maybe I'll see if Ben will take it so I'm not all twisted like in this one :) 

In other news, Tiffany is home - she found out that the 'let's just try this one other thing, that isn't the stuff that's been making you sick' was actually an experimental drug, not just to see if it worked on her, but literally an experimental stage drug - she was so mad that she checked herself out of the hospital and has been at home for the past 2 nights. Tired of being poked and sick... and SO not in the mood to be the guinea pig! She's still having contractions but they're erratic  and non productive (maybe the experimental stuff wasn't so bad!) 

Ben, Jared and Rich brought Ben's gun safe to the house finally on Sunday, the monster one, this is how I found Ben after everyone left... He's got a new 'camp' (I'd say fort, but Soldiers have forts, Marines have camps)

I married a big nerd! He's really good to me... and he's cute, so I shouldn't complain too much! By the way, he's sitting at the edge, this picture doesn't do the thing justice! It's huge! Today I hit the terrible selection of maternity clothes at Target and left the store with Halloween candy and Q-tips... I was bummed! Ben took me to the Pumpkin patch to cheer me up, which can I say is so much cooler on Tuesday than a weekend! We finally used a gift card for dinner that's been sitting in my purse for almost a year - we had a 4 course meal that filled us to the brim. 

More Kaelyn

We went to Emily and Jared's yesterday with Pizza for Monday Night Football. These are some pics from the night:

Jared and Chloe boxing

Little Miss Kaelyn

Ben & Kaelyn

She decided to wake up for about 5  minutes

The little family 

(Chloe is not snuggling with the baby she's trying to hog Jared)

Tiffany update

Well, Blayne is still 'cooking' for the moment. Tiffany didn't tolerate the last round of drugs to keep him in well and was very sick last night! Like officially listed between serious and critical condition for a while sick, but was able to get the second round of steroids in - so in the long run it's going to be worth it! Aunt Cindy's on her way down to Dallas now, they're not stopping the progress anymore so it's just a matter of time until he's here. Yesterday the neonatalogist was very pleased with how Blayne was progressing and said the latest tests put him around 5 lbs, not the initial 2-3 lbs like they first thought. PTL! 

As far as I know Makenna wasn't hassled yesterday again by those mean little boys, that or Brendan the little bruiser knocked 'em around a little and handled it :o)

I think Aunt Cindy's probably going to the hospital first to be with Tiff so I don't know if that means the kids will have a little Daddy time, which I hear they're needing pretty badly - but I'm certain as soon as Nana leaves Tiff and heads to be with them, it'll be 'Mommy and Daddy who?' 

Oh, and to reply to Aunt Debbie's comment on the last post about Tiff's baby machine being broken. They'd planned to voluntarily disconnect the wires to that machine. Her body does not appear to like the Y chromosome. Makenna's pregnancy went flawlessly, however she started rejecting and kicking both boys out around 5 months... this one a little worse than Brendan. If she were to have another little boy we don't know that either one would make it out unscathed! 

In other baby news, I just got a phone call and my cousin Tiffany went into the hospital today and is in labor. They've been giving her medication to stop labor for almost 2 months now and her body isn't accepting it any longer, they've decided she's far enough that she can have him if he's coming. He's decided he wants to come right now, but now there's word that they think he's much smaller than they previously suspected he'd be. The doctors are making Tiffany very ill with all the junk they're pumping into her to keep Blayne in until they can give her the last round of the steroids to help him develop. As long as Blayne will tolerate the drugs, Tiff's just got to suffer through. Please pray for Tiffany, Jake, and baby Blayne... That they all make it another 12 or so hours to get that last round. (Makenna and Brendan aren't taking it well either, Makenna got bullied today at school and the kids said awful things about something happening to the baby - then with Tiff going into the hospital in labor, Makenna's kind of a wreck - poor coincidence!)

Kaelyn Elizabeth White

7lbs 11oz, 20 inches

10/16/08 2:00 am

Kaelyn and her very sleepy Daddy

The family's doing really well! Emily's water broke just before 10 last night and 4 hours later they were holding their girl! They haven't slept more than an hour between nurses and family coming in, I think going home will be a relief tomorrow!

Congratulations Emily and Jared!

sick of tax returns

I have been in this office, working on tax returns for 9 days straight! At least in April I get Sunday's off, not this busy season... We are slammed! It's rediculous! And totally depressing too - the last return I processed, the guy's W-2 read $15.8 million! Just his W-2!!!

Ben was off yesterday, and I was stuck here at work for most of the evening, I got home last night just before 8 and he was reading my fit pregnancy magazine (thanks Aunt Debbie)... It was pretty cute, "Did you know it takes about 4 months for a baby to learn to roll over!?!" :o)

Right when I get to start getting home at decent hours again, he's starting his new shift. 1pm-11pm... I'll really miss not having him around for dinner time, but it'll be nice when at least I'll get to snuggle up to him when he gets home. The set days off will be nice too, no more guessing when his days off fall when trying to make plans :o)

Though, if anyone wants both of us for anything on the weekend, it's gotta be Sunday, he's working Saturday's :o(
(I'm afraid this will mean that he'll miss all the birthday parties now)

Got to get back to work! 29 more hours until our deadline!

Happy Birthday Nick!!!!

You're my favorite 12 year old!!!

Love, Sissy

I love this kid!

My little brother is so stinkin' cool! He's going to be 12 on Monday, and the gift he was going to get from us turns out to not beavailable until after his birthday, so I emailed him for some ideas. this is the response I got back:

A HUG
cell phone
i pod touch
Xbox Game Battle Field Bad Company (T)
Gift Cards (Target, iTunes, and Gamestop)
Football Cards
Termonater Sarah Conner Cronicles Season 1
I love u

Do you see number 1 on his list!?! If he wasn't already so sweet I'd think he was buttering me up for one of the $$$ items on his list, but he really is a good boy! It's also perfect right now, I've been so slammed at work this week, extensions are due Wednesday which means really long days all week and weekend overtime!

I also just found out that he made a select babseball team and got offered a spot in some pretty cool training that most kids have to try out for! He's now in public middle school this year, transferring from private Christian school for all of his elementry years, and apparently he's been dubbed 'Nicky' by his new ball buddies at school. A few years ago he started giving terrible looks and always told me it was no longer okay to call him Nicky, it was a baby name... I get to call him Nicky again! This is his school picture from this year (Thanks Chris, I stole it from your blog)

Baby update: I had an appointment yesterday and the baby's heart rate is a little lower than it has been in the past but still very strong according to the doctor. It was difficult for her to get a count becuase 'it' kept kicking and that would muffle the sound of the heartbeat... Fun, fun!

So, I did it...

...I bought a few things maternity today. It's so weird, I'm not yet big enough that I feel like I should need them, but after trying a few things on - and feeling SO much more comfortable, I think it might be worth it. A pair of jeans, pair of work pants and a 3/4 length sleeve tee was all I could bring myself to buy. Another something that I enjoy about the maternity clothes however, is that when I wear them I actually look pregnant, as opposed to wearing my regular clothes, and looking like I've just been eating bon-bons for the last 4 months. I also bought a book of baby names. I know there's 3 million web sites of them, but I'd like to be able to sit on the couch next to my boy and thumb through them instead of trying to rope him into sitting near the computer (of which there's nothing nearby to keep him occupied so he either falls asleep, or just leaves!)

I am 15 weeks today. Still getting nausea frequently throughout the day but not for super long periods of time and I'm not getting sick, for the most part. I have terrible motion sickness, even if I'm the one that's driving. No aches or pains yet, except for a little bit of lower body joint pain, which is actually very typical for me this time of year when it starts to cool down. I've not gotten cravings, but usually have the reverse - I have no idea what I want, but I can list all the things that will definitely NOT work with my stomach. Ben says this is nothing new, I've always done this - it's just way worse now that I'm pregnant! Sorry babe! It's true, ask anyone that's ever been out to eat with me! I don't make decisions for a group for food - makes me uncomfortable... If I make a suggestion to places that are "easy" or perhaps "nearby" know that I'm not trying to make more options for you, those are my places of choice :o)

I don't think any part of the last 15 weeks have I been emotional or overly moody due to pregnancy hormones. I have noticed that I am far less patient at work though - not a good thing! We have a few people I work with that love nothing more than to walk over to someone and state the really obvious, it has always driven me (and most others) crazy, but now I'm over the edge and feel myself making a face when they turn to walk away. Totally juvenile, I know - but proven entertaining for those that sit around me and wish they could do it too. :o)

I'm still pretty low on energy, especially on work days - I think it's the 1.5 hours I drive in traffic EACH WAY, that do it to me. That low patience thing is a terrible quality to have when navigating 405 during gridlock hours. It also bites, because anytime I take 1 drink of water, it means I have about 10 minutes before my bladder thinks it's full! I'm not used to needing to get up that many times a night to pee! I'm not quick to fall back asleep either so it makes a good night's rest difficult.

The baby's the size of an apple now, I'm getting impatient to know what it is, I think so is Ben a little :o) We want to know what we should start calling 'it', because 'it' just isn't working for us anymore!

Yay Judy!

Aubrey's mama, Judy makes the sweetest quilts! I got one this year for my birthday and absolutely LOVE it! I sleep with it every night and Ben makes sure that he finds it in the morning when he comes to bed so he can get his boy germs all over it when he snuggles with it during the day. Aubrey's kids have a ton of them and love every single one to pieces!

"Gamma Judy" has finally decided to start selling them! She's got a new blog that you can check them out on and also opened a store on etsy. Click on any part of this paragraph to go to her blog! (and then you can get to her etsy site from there too)

Go take a look!