St. Louis Get Away

We had a great time in St. Louis yesterday and now we're back at home again. So glad that we went yesterday because it's a rainy day today.

We got up early and we were at the St. Louis Zoo by 9:00. We couldn't believe how perfect the weather was for late June. We spent about 3 hours there...most walking I've done in a long time.

Jacob's favorite animal name of the day:

I think I've decided that giraffes are one of my new favorite animals. They're so cool to watch.

Man, was it ever cold in the penguin area!

Headed over to Africa to see the elephants:

Prarie dogs are adorable. They were all enjoying lunchtime before we left.

Had to get a picture of us at the zoo.

We left the zoo around noon because we had seen all of the animals that we wanted to see. We still had a few hours before we could check into our hotel, so we went to Union Station for a little while. We just walked around and looked in the shops and then split some Subway for lunch since we knew we'd be eating an early supper.

Then we went and walked around St. Louis Mills mall for awhile too. That's a fun one to walk through. I'm more of a browser than a shopper, but we had fun looking around before heading to the hotel to check in.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza by the airport. I got a great deal on the room, and it was pretty nice minus the fact that it didn't have a flat screen tv. Sadness. But, the bed made up for it because it was so comforable. Time to relax a little bit before heading back downtown!

We went to Joe Buck's for supper, which I've been looking forward to for weeks and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I never am. Plus they always change their menu, so there's always something new to try.

Pulled pork, beef brisket, cornbread and mac and cheese with bacon. Yummy!

Then it was time to walk over to the stadium! We got there right before the gates opened and found our seats...which were awesome! In fact, we were there for batting practice and where we were sitting was a spot where the balls were being hit to. There were lots of little kids lined up trying to catch them. I was a little afraid that I was going to get nailed with a ball...and then I almost did. I almost got hit by a ball hit by  Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays. Now...I do not have deapth perception so there were several times where I'd kind of jump thinking they were coming at me. Jacob wasn't paying attention for about 2 seconds and I was like, "Ahh! It's gonna hit me!" It ended up flying over my head and bouncing directly 2 rows back from where I was. Yikes!

Standing 4 rows in front of our seats.

We were this close to my 2nd favorite player (who hit me a homer last night)...Matt Holliday!

Play ball!

The game felt like it was going on forever (especially since I had, had a pounding headache since leaving the zoo), and then some of the lights went out!

Those were the only ones out around the entire stadium. I had no idea that if any lights went out you had to stop the game until they can get them back on. That took about 15-20 minutes. I told Jacob I think someone at Buffalo Wild Wings didn't want the game to end! Haha!

Just hanging out waiting.

Cards ended up losing 5-4. I was sad. I'm now 5-1 at games. My first loss.

Jacob is used to it. He saw 3 losses this week.

Oh well....at least it was fireworks night!

We slept in until 9:00 this morning and then went out for breakfast at IHOP where we indulged in chocolate chip pancakes and strawberry cheesecake pancakes. Mmm. Then it was back to Taylorville. Good times!

All About Ashley

Meet Ashely

Ashely and I work together in the baby room and she "complained' to me last night that all I ever talk about on here is the baby and not how incredibly awesome she is. This of course was not acceptable in my book, so this is going out to you , Ash.

Ashley and I have worked together since the 2nd week in April. I actually remember this because she started on the day that I announced that I was pregnant (hence me talking more about the baby that about her. Geesh.). I did write about being nervous to meet her, because really you just never know if you're really going to like a new person or not. In fact I added her on Facebook right before she started because I needed to "stalk" her to see if she seemed halfway decent.

Anyway...I decided from day 1 that we were pretty much work soul mates. Not to mention in the 2 months that we've known each other she's pretty much become my best friend here. I have of course had some other really great co-workers/great friends from the baby room too (you know who you are!).

I'm pretty sure we were separated at birth.

Let's see...some awesome things about Ashely:

*She is freakin' hilarious. (HAAAAA!) (yeah she's the only one that will get that last part)
*He little girl is also hilarious and for some reason unknown to me, she calls me Sheena. I started out as Donald/Donna, but I find that Sheena fits me better.
*She loves Friends just as much as I do, and we pretty much compare everything to old Friends episodes.
*She brings out the crazy random side of me...in fact we've shared more TMI moments with each other than I've ever shared in my life I think. Haha!
*She'll listen to me vent and then vent right a long with me.
*She likes to keep track of Weight Watcher points on her phone...and then eat brownies and pretend like that didn't just happen.

Today I am pretty sure we spent the entire morning doubled over with laughter. I totally needed that. I mean, I had tears in my eyes and my abs and cheeks hurt. The baby must've thought I was nuts because it was moving around like crazy in there! Not to mention our other babies were kinda looking at us like, "What is wrong with you guys?"

So yeah...I'm pretty thankful for meeting one of my new best friends, Ashely.

Extra Down Time

It's been kind of a strange week and for the most part pretty enjoyable. Here is is Wednesday and I've only worked 1 full day. Tomorrow will be my only other full day and then I'm off again on Friday!

Yesterday we were really low on kids at the daycare. 2 staff were already gone and there were 2 others that were pretty much extra. I had hoped to get off a little bit early at least, so I let my boss know that I was willing to go early if she wanted someone to. I ended up leaving at 10:00! I came home and finished up some cleaning around the house (which has been a lot easier this summer, because my awesome hubby has been helping me out around the house!) Then I went and did the grocery shopping. Since I had time, I went to Aldi and WalMart. This was only my 2nd attempt at Aldi , but it wasn't too bad. I got around $28 of the groceries there, but price checked those against Wal-Mart's prices and saved almost $10.  Doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but if I can get more consistent it would save money in the long run.

Jacob and his dad left around 3:00 to go to the Cards game last night, so I had the house to myself. They got back around 12:30 I think. Then they went again tonight! They worked around the house today. Fixed the leaky hose faucet, cleaned the air conditioner and Kent checked out our roof situation and thinks they can re-roof for us. That is SUCH a relief because it will save us a ton of money.

I was off work at 2:00 today. Had to make a doctor's appointment at my OB today. Nothing major, so don't worry! Anyway, didn't see my doctor but saw her nurse practitioner who I immediately loved too. I REALLY love my Dr's office. Since I was there she asked if I was feeling movement at all yet and I told her flutters sometimes. Then I got to hear the heartbeat again. It has become on of my favorite sounds.

She asked if I had any guesses on the gender or if I've had any dreams about it. I told her my instinct has always been girl (it waiver's occasionally) and I have had 3 girl dreams. Then I said, "So, I'm sure we'll find out that it's a boy" Haha!  She said she'd guess girl too. My dream the other night was so cool though. Usually I don't see the face, but the other night I was holding our baby girl and she was beautiful. Either way though, I will be thrilled!

Enjoyed another evening at home and even went and got my hair cut since the first time since about the beginning of the year. Felt good to lose a couple of inches!

Now off to bed!

2 Years and Lots of Flutters

I'm happy to report that this past week was much better than the week before.

On Monday Jacob and I celebrated 2 years of marriage. Amazing how quickly time goes. It really doesn't seem like that long ago since our wedding day. We actually didn't do anything too big. We had Pizza Hut for supper and DQ for dessert. This coming Friday we're heading to St. Louis, which will kind of be like a little anniversary trip. I took Friday off and we're going to the zoo and to a Cardinals game. I'm pretty darn excited about it too! Lucky Jacob is going to 3...yes 3 Cardinals games this week! He and his dad are going to games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I have to share my exciting baby news of the week. I've been feeling the baby move! I haven't felt any full blown kicks yet, but I'm getting flutters here and there! I always hear that it feels like flutters or like being tickled from the inside. It's true. I really wasn't sure if that's what I was feeling at first, but after feeling the same thing 3 days in a row I decided that it had to be. I usually only feel them when I'm sitting or lying down. It's pretty brief, but I felt more of them today. This afternoon it was really tickling me! I was on the couch watching TV and I started feeling the flutters...they're almost always on my right side. I was trying to stay really still because the feeling is so cool, but then it just tickled too much and I jerked! I guess the baby decided it was done messing with me after that one. Haha! It'll be really exciting when I can feel real kicks and Jacob can too.

Time for my bi-weekly belly shots:

Then I decided it would be fun to compare between the past 6 weeks:

I really don't feel that big yet. In fact most of the time I don't even look pregnant depending on what I'm wearing. And I'm one of those people who WANTS to look pregnant. Haha! The shirt I'm wearing in the 18 week shot was the same one from 12 weeks. It was feeling a little snug, but it was better to get a good shot in.

22 weeks to go!

Cry Babies

Last week = one of the worst weeks ever.

Well, work wise that is. I've been majorly stressed out. My patience has been worn thin. I didn't get to work with my co-worker at all last week. I shed a few tears along with the babies. I'm exhausted by break time, which makes it really hard to go back and keep plugging away.

Friday was my worst day by far at work. I didn't want to go back after break. I walked in to screaming and it continued for 30 minutes straight. All 3 of my girlies screamed and cried and I couldn't do anything to get it to stop. Finally, at my wit's end I started grabbing them and strapping them in the stroller. No one else was going out because it was so hot, but I didn't care. I HAD to get out of that room!

5 minutes in the stroller made a world of difference. Bet ya think they look all sweet and innocent...don't ya!? Haha!

I got a big blanket out and spread it under the shade and we chilled out for about 30 minutes. Of course, 3 of the 4 are mobile, but one of them stayed on the blanket! I just let them explore the grass while I got a grip on my sanity. They were MUCH better after that little excursion.

Needless to say, I was wiped out when I got home. I fell asleep twice on the couch before 9:00 that night and then slept for 12 hours. Yesterday afternoon I laid back down again with Jacob even thought I didn't feel tired and woke up 2 hours later! At least my body let me sleep to relax a little.

I'm hoping for a better week this week. With any luck I'll get to work with my coworker again, but it's still up in the air. I do know I'm adding a 6 week old to the mix tomorrow!

Backing up to earlier in the week to a happier moment...

I had my 16 week appointment on Tuesday afternoon. This was the first appointment Jacob was able to go with me to. I got signed in and sometimes the nurses only called your first name. As it turned out there were FOUR Rachel's there that day. Talk about some confusion! We had to wait awhile for my doctor to get into the room, so Jacob entertained himself with puzzles.

This was after he amused himself by reading the titles of pamphlets and looking at the model female reproductive system.

My doctor finally came in and asked the routine questions of how I was feeling an such. I told her about my headaches since there have only been maybe 5 days in a 5 week span where I haven't had one. She ended up giving me a prescription. It's basically stronger Tylenol with caffeine. Took it for the first time yesterday and my headache was gone within 2 hours (compared to about 12 or more)!

Next it was time to listen to the heartbeat. Last time she found it immediately. This time the little munchkin decided to play hard to get. She kept getting my heartbeat, but no babies. I felt a tiny bit worried because it took what seemed like forever. Then I faintly heard it at one point...always a relief. She asked if we heard the "whooshing" sound? That was our baby moving around and doing flips! Finally after almost 5 minutes she was able to get the baby to hold still for the 10 seconds she needed it to. Heartbeat was 151! Nice and strong.

Our next appointment is Friday, July 8th. That day we will get to see the baby again and find out if it's a boy or girl! I'm so excited to know. I've felt almost all along that it's a girl. Occasionally I switch to boy, but I really have no idea. Only about 4 weeks until we know though!

16 Weeks

That's how far along I am. To some it may not seem like much, but when I started to think about it, that means that I only have 24(ish) weeks left to go. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm starting to look somewhat pregnant. Although it's hard for other's to tell at times depending on what I'm wearing, I'm pretty conscious of my growing stomach. I've gotten lots of, "You sure don't look pregnant!" comments. Well, I'm tall and this is our first. What do they expect?!

I am trying to document my pregnancy through pictures though, so I'm taking belly shots every other Saturday. Here are this weekends pictures:

I think I "popped' out a little bit between Thursday and Friday. I joked and told Jacob that it must've been because I was rubbing it the day before. That's how it works, right? ;)

I've been thinking back on the past 11 weeks (which is how long I've known I was pregnant), and I really can't complain too much. I'm actually really enjoying it for the most part. It's not that every day is a picnic, but I'm thankful that other than 2 random mornings, I haven't had to experience morning sickness. Certain foods would sound gross at times, but I could usually eat pretty much anything. I'd say my biggest pregnancy complaints have been frequent and painful headaches (although I've only had 1 in the past 4 days. I think that's a record!) and sore muscles/round ligament pain. Oh, and just being plain old tired and worn out! Even though I'm in the 2nd trimester I struggle with energy most days. By mid-afternoon I'm usually ready to fall asleep in the rocking chair at work! And at home, I've taken more naps than I probably have since I myself was a baby. That and I fall asleep on the couch before bedtime most nights!

Tuesday I have my 16 week appointment and Jacob is going to go with me. This will be the first time that he's been able to go with me, so he'll get to hear the heartbeat for himself. I've heard it twice already, but I'm excited to see him experience it for the first time! Then I'll be able to set up my next appointment, which should include our 20 week ultrasound. That's when we will hopefully learn if we are having a boy or a girl! That's only about a month away! Then we'll be able to call the baby by name. I don't know if I've shared our names or not. Our boy name is Daniel Jacob. Our girl name is Madison. We don't have a middle name picked out yet for a girl.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a baby update...I know at least the grandma's enjoy reading about it! :)