Belly Pics & More

Last week, I had three women teachers comment on my growing belly:

Comment #1: "Your belly is growing bigger every day!"

Comment #2: "Is the baby measuring larger than he should be?" (Actually I am measuring a little small) "Are you sure you're not having twins?" (Positive...are you sure you're not?)

Comment #3: "Oh, my goodness you can't be 7 months! Your so tiny! (I wanted to hug her!)

Here is the latest belly picture so you can judge for yourself!

33 weeks down...7 weeks to go!

Parker has started to move around like crazy. Dave & Vicki since you can't be here to see it in person - here is a video of your Grandson doing back flips and cartwheels!

Check out the new and improved Parkermobile!

Brian and I knew we needed to get a new car before the baby comes, so we have been looking on and off for quite a while. We finally found a car in our price range with lots of legroom and most of the features we wanted. Long story short, we traded in the Mazda for a '09 Nissan Maxima.

Spring Break!

This week is my Spring Break! What will I be doing for a whole week? Will it be a week of relaxation? Perhaps getting last minute things done around the house? Or even having extra time to try some new recipes? Ha! No such luck! We are banished to the Man Den while the hardwood floors are being redone. That's right the 4 of us are living in the 400 sq foot converted garage for 4+ days while the house is full of sawdust and fumes. Now don't feel too bad for us -we are not exactly roughing it! We have a fridge, microwave, toaster oven, heat, phone, cable TV, internet, queen size bed, and a bathroom with a shower. It kind of reminds me of my studio apartment in Bremerton, which eventually became our first place together. But this has not stopped me from threatening Brian with "I'm going to tell people you're making your pregnant wife live in the garage!!!"

Here are some pictures:

Here is the "kitchen"

Ike thinks he can trade in his dog bed for a queen size

Once I explained that it was my dog bed he got down...for about 5 minutes!

I think the dogs are really going to like it. We are always in their line of sight, they can wrestle in the middle of the floor without hitting anything, and I think Turner really likes the bathroom. He got so excited while exploring that he peed in the shower (last time he was in here was New Years and he peed on the carpet so this is a definite improvement!)

Wish us luck!!!

Final Whacka-doo Update

Class 7: Bummer, they weren't able to make it to class this week! The class was enjoyable, relaxed and full of smiling couples.

Class 8: They were back with a vengeance. We brought Ike home a few hours before class so Brian stayed home with him while I went to class. I started making tally marks on my workbook every time they told a story, commented, etc. I counted up 13 marks in 2 hours!

Class 9: We were about 3 miles from the class when Brian said, "It's not too late, I can still turn the car around." I wish I had said yes! When we got there the Whacka-doo's were the only couple there. One couple had gone into labor, another mom was sick and our instructor, Laura wasn't sure about the other couple. Great just us and the crazies!!! Laura asked how we were doing with our nutrition. The Whacka-doo's said they were increasing their protein and dairy consumption by eating lots of...breaded chicken strips and mozzarella sticks. Oh lord! Their kid is going to come out breaded and fried! Apparently their neighbors have seen her naked. I think they have been eating a lot of beans lately. The husband farted at least 5 times! He wasn't even trying to hold them in and at one point actually lifted up a butt cheek and pushed one out! Brian was dying and could not stop laughing!

Class 10: Nothing interesting came up this week.

Class 11: We both skipped class this week. Sunday afternoon, we came back from a great camping trip at the ocean, but the combination of an uncomfortable bed and Brian and Colby's "Crown and coke filled Friday night booze fest" left both of us exhausted.

Class 12: Hallelujah!!! Whacka-doo's were no shows for the last class!!!!!!! We practiced relaxation techniques and during our fake contractions we held ice to teach us how to mentally block pain and discomfort. We forgot our water bottle this week, so Laura gave us a glass of water to have Brian practice keeping me hydrated during labor...he drank all the water!

Oy Vey! My Week in Review

Monday: Perfectly normal.

Tuesday: Left the house at 6:45 AM to help proctor the HSPE (formerly known as the WASL) got home around 5 PM completely exhausted. The boys were not thrilled with hanging out in the dog run all day long, but were very excited to see me...I have the muddy paw prints to prove it!

Wednesday: Thankfully I was not proctoring today because at 10 AM Turner started panting and drooling like crazy and showed symptoms of an allergic reaction or poisoning. A frantic phone call to the vet and one to PHS office manager to get a last minute sub and off to the vet we rushed. Spent the day at home grading papers and watching Turner.

Thursday: I cancelled proctoring in the AM so Turner would only be home alone for a few hours today. Relaxing morning until I lifted up a pile of laundry and found 100's of tiny sugar ants! Raced to grab the vacuum, sucked up a sock and clogged the hose. Ran to the man den to grab the little vacuum in there and spent 30 minutes sucking up anything that moved.

Friday: No major crisis, but came back from the chiropractor to find Ike & Turner wrestling and playing tug-a-war with Turner's collar. Still not sure how they managed to get it off his neck!

I'm worried about staying home full-time...I'm not sure I can handle the stress!

Questions from Students

Thought I would share some of the amusing questions and conversations I have been having with my students:

"Mrs. Masten should you be sitting like that? If your rib cage collapses you could crush the baby!"

"Can the baby throw up in your stomach?"

"What happens to the umbilical cord?" I explain it is cut and then you have to wait for it to fall off. She actually gagged! After a few more questions I realized she thought the umbilical cord would hang off the baby like a snake until it fell off!

I was talking to a female student and telling her that Parker had been kicking really hard lately and she said, " Maybe he is trying to make a little skylight out of your bellybutton so he can see what is going on out here." A male student nearby looked at my stomach wide-eyed and stammered, "Could that really happen!?!"

"Do you know you're going to have to work really hard after the baby is born to get rid of all your flab?"