Show Us Your Life - Halloween Costumes

This week, I am trying something new and participating in Kelly's Korner "Show Us Your Life" Friday. On the schedule this week is Halloween costumes. Being a teacher, I have dressed up many times in many different costumes. Here a couple of my favorites from school events or Halloween parties.

*Last year, all four teachers dressed as M&M's. Simple, but dazzling!

*This year, Daniel and I attended a Halloween party. I already had the Minnie costume, so Daniel was good sport and dressed like Mickey. The costumes were so cute! Look out Disney World!

*As a kid, my dad always got into Halloween! I had some creative costumes throughout the years. Does the picture below bring back some memories? Oh yes, I was California Raisin for Halloween! Somewhere, there is probably a picture to prove it. For now, I will leave it to your imagination.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to "Tales from the Waters Edge" Halloween style! Come back and visit again soon!

Week 10 Update

This morning I was greeted with a wonderful surprise from our fabulous secretary. Take a look!

This is our little baby boy or baby girl in her Clark Memorial purple. What a sweet idea is that?

You must know that a couple of weeks ago, I was greeted with this surprise.

Aren't these sooooo cute? I can't wait to see who ate the right cookie (Daniel ate the pink and I ate the blue)!

Now for the Week 10 Fun Stuff

*BabyBoo is still curled up like a shrimp

*By the end of the week, BabyBoo's organs will have completely formed but will continue to grow

*BabyBoo is now less susceptible to external toxins

*The head and facial features are now more defined

*BabyBoo has 20 baby teeth forming under his or her gums

*BabyBoo's eyelids are fusing together and will not open again until week 26 to 28

*The placenta is now responsible for oxygenating blood and delivering it to BabyBoo

*BabyBoo is nearly an inch and a half long and the size of a prune

Week 10 Picture

Hope you have a great Thursday . . . . . I am heading to Nashville tomorrow after school with my "Play Friends" to see Melissa Gilbert in Little House on the Prairie: The Musical. It should be fantastic; I hope I can stay awake!

Girl or Boy?

Yesterday, Daniel and I went for our 10 week appointment with Dr. Rivero. After getting weighed in (Oh My!) and taking my blood pressure, Dr. Rivero was able to find the heartbeat of the baby. It was very interesting to hear that little noise coming from inside my body. Anyway, the heartbeat of BabyBoo was 160. As I was telling friends and family about our appointment, everyone kept saying, "Oh, a fast heartbeat means its a girl". So, I thought I would take a look at a few wives tales that some people might use to try to figure out the sex of their baby. See what you think!

Most of this information is from http://www.pregnancy-info.net.

Heartbeats

One belief that has been around for some time, and even had some acceptance in the medical community at one point, is that the fetal heartbeat differs for boys and girls. If you're having a girl, then the fetal heart rate will be above 140. A boy will have a heart rate below 140. However, that pesky science has reared its little head again to say that this is complete fiction. A baby's heart rate is not affected by its sex until it is born, when a girl's heart rate will increase considerably compared with boys during labor.

*Since BabyBoo's heart rate is 160, will we say one vote for GIRL!

Craving Something…Sweet?

Many people believe that your cravings are caused by the sex of your baby. So, if you can't get enough chocolate, you could be having a girl . Does the idea of drinking straight lemon juice sound delicious to you? Then those sour cravings are a result of the little boy inside of you. However, if you go by the scientists, then some of them will claim that you're not even having cravings because cravings just don't exist.

*I practically jerked Ms. Vicki's chocolate pudding out of her hand at school yesterday, another vote for GIRL!

Weight Gain

Thankfully, this one doesn't refer to the mom's weight gain. The belief is that, if your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, then you will be having a girl. If he doesn't put on a pound, then you're carrying a boy.

*I think Daniel has already said something about a little weight gain, GIRL!

Acne

Do you have acne? Some believe that getting acne during your pregnancy indicates you're carrying a girl. Maybe the acne is caused by twice the amount of female hormones?

*Anybody notice that fabulous acne on my face this past week, another vote for GIRL!

Mother Knows Best

Ask yourself what you think you're having. In a study that asked women with no previous knowledge about their baby's sex, the moms-to-be correctly guessed the sex of their baby 71% of the time.

*I have been telling Daniel that it is a GIRL since day 1! Another vote for GIRL!

Chinese Birth Chart

Legend says that a Chinese birth chart (supposedly predicting the gender of a baby with 93 percent accuracy!) was buried in a tomb near Beijing for almost 700 years. The original is now at the Beijing Institute of Science. So take a look!

*If you look at the Chinese Birth Chart, Baby Boo is a BOY (Oh My!). One vote for BOY!

Cute Clothes Purchased

Look at these precious clothes purchased by BabyBoo's Janny (Combination of Janet, Daniel's mom's name and Granny, HOW CUTE!) and Papa. Based on the number of clothes bought, what do you think they are wishing for BabyBoo to be?

Early Gender Test

My friend Ms. Julie suggested I tried the Early Gender Test from Walgreens. Has anybody else tried this with a correct result?

Anyway, have fun thinking about what BabyBoo might be and please share any predictions you might have with me. I am keeping a little mental tally of everyone's guesses.

SYTYCD and Week 9

As you might know, I am a bit of a reality TV junkie. One of my favorite shows to watch on Wednesday night is So You Think You Can Dance. If you are not familiar, it is an American Idol type show except for dancers instead of singers. It is known for taking unknown or barely known trained dancers and turning them into STARS of the dance world. Also, it introduces many different types of dance to the reality TV population which is quite neat. Each year, the group of dancers that make it to the Top 10 of the show do a nationwide tour and Tuesday night my friend Michelle and I traveled to Atlanta to see the Season 5 group perform live. We had such an amazing time, and the dancers were so fabulous. Below are a few pictures from our little trip. Enjoy!

Michelle and I Meeting the Dancers

Pictures Taken During the Show

Now, if this looks like something you would enjoy, a new season is just beginning. This wonderful show has just picked the Top 20 for Season 6. Like I mentioned before, it comes on Wednesday nights at 7 on Fox, but next week it will be on Monday and Tuesday. It looks like maybe it will continue to be on Tuesday as well (check you TV Guide). Set you TIVO; you will not be disappointed.

Season 6 Dancers

BabyBoo also had a nice time at SYTYCD. He or she made mommy very tired but I hung in there until we got the last autograph. We were actually at Week 9 yesterday (Wednesday), but I could not stay awake long enough to post. Here are a few week 9 updates.

*At week 9, the baby changes from embryo to fetus

*BabyBoo is now the size of a quarter

*BabyBoo's organs, muscles, and nerves are beginning to function

*BabyBoo can open his or her mouth, kick and move his or her head

*BabyBoo's eyelids are beginning to cover the eyes

*The main construction of the heart is complete

Week 9 Picture

For those of you who are on Fall Break, enjoy the rest of your week. If you are not on Fall Break, the weekend is fast approaching. Until the next blog post . . . . .

Jackson's Joggers

The focus of this post is not about BabyBoo, Daniel or myself, but a sweet baby by the name of Jackson. You can read a little of his story and see his picture below.

Jackson Porter was born with an immune system deficiency (Chronic Granulomatous Disease). He celebrated his 3rd birthday on July 27. His first visit to St. Jude Children's Hospital was when he was six months old. Sadly the medications the doctors thought would help this disease did not. His only option was a bone marrow transplant. January of this year Jackson underwent his transplant. After spending four months at St. Jude, Jackson was able to return home. So far the transplant has been successful. The family is still making weekly trips to St. Jude but feel blessed to have their son with them and are so lucky for such an amazing hospital.

Jackson and Aunt Michelle

This past April, my friend Michelle (Jackson's aunt) and I decided that we would try to get a team together and run in honor of Jackson. Michelle has been doing all the work, and I am just along for walk. I feel like we all know someone, directly or indirectly, that has been the benefit of the wonderful work done at St. Jude.

To learn more about St. Jude, follow this link: http://www.stjude.org/

Through the hard work of Michelle, our St. Jude team has finally begun to form for the 5K in December. If you would like to donate to St. Jude by sponsoring our team please check out this website. Our team’s name is Jackson’s Joggers! Thanks for your support!

https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/search/displayEventSearchPage.do?programId=401&intent=find&sectionStyle=section2

Wearin' Me Out!

Okay . . . . being pregnant is wearin' me out! This is such a fun and busy time of year, just let me tell you a little of what BabyBoo, Daniel and I have been doing.

Saturday Morning -

Saturday morning, my gym had two special guests as teachers for the Body Pump Class. Mass Appeal alumni Wendy and Missy came to help Janet teach. It was a full class with lots of energy and enthusiasm. I really enjoyed meeting Missy and having Wendy to teach again. It was also the first time I had lifted weights since I found out I was pregnant, so you better believe I was sooooooo sore. This was the first in the series of "Wearin' Me Out" events of the weekend.

Saturday Afternoon -

Saturday afternoon, my friend Andrea, her daughter Hazel, her son Payton, and I loaded up to head to White County to watch the South Trojans play football for the CTC championship. Her husband Kermit is the head coach and my Daniel is the assistant. If you don't know, White County is about an hour and a half from where we live. Andrea was so kind to drive us. Unfortunately, for the Trojans, we lost. But, it was a good game and the team worked very hard. This is just event two in the "Wearin Me Out" weekend.

Here is the final scoreboard (18-6)

Saturday Night -

Saturday night, Andrea and Kermit were so kind to invite us to their house to eat pizza and celebrate the end of a great football season. I was sooooo tired but had a really great time and enjoyed the yummy pizza. By the time we left, "Wearin' Me Out" did not even come close to explaining how I felt.

Sunday Morning -

Sunday morning, Daniel and I got up and went to church and Sunday School. We recently joined a Sunday school class and are loving it. We have a fabulous teacher who is super dynamic and interesting. This week, we begin a new study that will review the "childhood" stories we learned in Sunday School as a kid and look at them through an adult's eyes. This week we began with The Creation Story. We are going to continue this discussion next week.

Sunday Afternoon -

I took a nap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday -

After a normal, sleepy Monday at school, I was excited to be heading out to Bon Temps with my wonderful friend Jodi. The October meeting is one of my favorites because it is our Make It, Take It. This is where we auction off different items to raise money for different things we support (This year we bought tennis shoes for needy children.) Although my friend Ashley did a wonderful job as the auctioneer, I didn't walk away with any gifts. But, I still had fun. The lady who hosted has beautiful home and had it decorated for Fall (Wish I had pictures). All the snacks were so delicious, and I drank enough spice tea to make someone sick. It was sooooo yummy. Another "Wearin' Me Out" Event.

Tuesday -

After school Tuesday, I was so exhausted that I took a nice long nap. My precious Mother-in-Law made me tator tots and a grilled cheese. It hit the spot.

After all that, here we are at today. Today is the start of my 8th Week. So, here is the Week 8 Update.

Week 8 Picture

Week 8 -

According to IPregnancy, here are some fun facts about the 8th week of development.

*Babyboo's head is large compared to the rest of it's body

*Babyboo is still in the middle of major organ formation

*Babyboo's arms and legs are still forming and he/she should be beginning to have webbed fingers and toes

*This is the week that BabyBoo's develops his male or female parts. Unfortunately, we will not be able to see this for another couple of months on the ultrasound.

*BabyBoo has ears and a nose

*BabyBoo is growing about one millimeter a day

*BabyBoo is about the size of a raspberry, Can you imagine?

I hope I am the only one who is feeling like life is "Wearin' Me Out". Fall is such a busy and fun time. I hope you are enjoying all it brings to you and your families.

7 Weeks

So . . . .Here is the first of the weekly updates. It is so hard to believe I am already seven weeks pregnant. Since we have known for about a month, it is so fun to see everyone's faces with they first find out. I have figured out that having a baby makes everybody excited! I also find it interesting that everyone's response is, "I bet Daniel is beside himself!" And yes, he is. I think he has visions of golf, hunting, and basketball with his little son.

My Week 7 Picture

Week 7:

Baby's Nickname - All last week I was calling the baby "Little Bit", but I found out from my niece that she has decided on another nickname. So, from now on this baby will be nicknamed "BabyBoo". I guess she chose that because she got the great news in October. You never know, it might stick! Here is BabyBoo's first picture. Do you see that big white spot? That is BabyBoo!

My IPregnant Application on my IPOD touch gives the following information for 7 Weeks:

*BabyBoo has a relatively distinct head and body

*BabyBoo is in the middle of major organ formation. I bet this is why I feel dizzy all the time

*BabyBoo's heart is now beatly rapidly and now has a distinct blood type

*BabyBoo's facial features are becoming visible (mouth, tongue, eyes)

*BabyBoo has arms and leg but no toes or fingers yet!

*BabyBoo has all major muscles developed (Time to start lifting weights)

Baby at 7 Weeks

Now, I have a challenge for all the mom's out there! I would like to know the one thing that was most helpful to you as a mommy. So, if you have time and want to, feel free to leave me a comment.

Happy Faces!

I love to see happy faces and get to see them often. Lately, Daniel and I had the pleasure of making these faces happy!

Do you see these happy faces? . . . .this is Daniel's mom and dad.

Do you see this happy face? . . . .this is Daniel's brother.

Do you see these happy faces? . . . . . .this is Daniel and me.

There is only one thing that could make all these faces this happy, soooooooooooo . . . . . here it is!


I am so happy to be sharing this wonderful news with all our friends and family. I wanted to let everyone know straight from the horse's mouth, and I thought this would be a fun way to make the announcement. I look forward to hearing all the baby wisdom you have, and I hope this news gives you a happy face!!!!!!

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