90 days, 31 years, 20 lbs, and 1 great husband

90 - days until Emma's due date!
31 - years I'll be on Sunday, Yikes!
20 - lbs I have gained since June. (The doctor says I'm right on track with my weight. They recommend you gain 30lbs during pregnancy, particularly if you are planning to breastfeed.) Yes, Miss Emma is getting bigger and my belly proves it!
1 - great husband I have, who's always taking care of and supporting me.

That's the update from my perspective! Three months and counting....
Tiffany

What will our daughter look like?

(Brad eating ice cream, I think!)

(Tiffany crawling on the groovy shag carpet, circa 1975.)

(Brad loved this hairstyle!)

(Wild hair on picture day for Tiff!)

Pictures of Brad and I as infants and school kids! How cute!

I wonder what Emma will look like at these ages?

My new pet peeve: people who use their cell phone while using the bathroom!

Ok, is it just me? Maybe it's because I'm going to the bathroom even more often than before. Perhaps the odds of me having this encounter have increased simply because my daughter is always resting on or kicking my bladder? The pet peeve? It's people who talk on cell phones while USING the bathroom. How disgusting!!! My latest experience was at the Clear Lake public library. A women was having quite a conversation with her friend. She was even singing Frank Sinatra, "I DID IT MYYYYY WAY...." Exactly - that's the problem, lady. I thought, is there someone else in here that I didn't see when I first came in? NO! She was talking and singing and flushing the toilet while talking to her friend. They must be REALLY close! Hello people! Can you not allow yourself 3 minutes to do your business and move on? Do you have to talk to someone that bad? Have you ever heard of personal boundaries? If any of you, my dear friends and family, need to talk to me that bad, please count to 10 and reconsider. I don't want to hear you urinating, flushing or other. I CAN wait 3 minutes for you to have some "alone time". Please don't subject me to your personal hygiene practices. I love you all, but please.....

Tiffany

FAQ: What do you do with all your free time?

Ok, I have been getting this question a lot lately: Tiffany, what do you do with all your free time? Most of you know that I am not currently working. I have been worried that some of you would think I sit around all day and do absolutely nothing productive! No, I do not lay around watching soap operas and eating bon-bons all day until Brad gets home. I have always been a task oriented, do-er type person and still am, with some limitations. I actually stay pretty busy most days. I had planned to try to find some sort of job, whether part-time and/or temporary after moving to Clear Lake in July. Well, things haven't gone exactly as planned. Not long after we moved I started getting sick due to the morning sickness, which for me was really "all day" sickness with serious food aversions. This lasted for about 2 months. Then, we both had some family death/health issues arise that took us out of town twice. Once we got back from dealing with the family stuff, we both got really bad sinus infections. It took us forever to get well. It took Brad forever b/c he will never go to the doctor when he is sick and I couldn't have any medication anyway. We were a pathetic pair! While we were still recovering from the sinus "attack" we were forced to flee our home due to Hurricane Rita. That was the last thing we wanted to do: leave our home, while sick, to spend 5 fun filled days in Dallas. We have lots of family and friends there, but we were just tired of traveling and sick of being sick. All this brings us up to October. At this point I'm thinking I'm never going to find a job! Besides, this would only leave me something like 5 months to work, assuming I worked until I went into labor. But, I thought - what the heck! I'll just apply for some jobs and see what happens! So, I did. I applied for several things and got an interview at Univ of Houston - Clear Lake. I also applied for several seasonal positions at the mall. Well, U of H wouldn't hire me. I didn't tell them I was pg, but they were a little suspicious why I would want to work part-time for $8.00/hr considering my background and they also asked for a 1-2 year committment, which I could not give - obviously. Also, I applied for a part-time job at Babies R Us. I just wanted to be a sales associate or cashier, etc. Well, they only wanted to consider me for the Asst Mgr position. When I told them I wasn't interested in that, only part-time work, they dropped me like a hot potatoe! Never heard back from them again. I heard back from all the seasonal mall jobs, but Brad (and I) felt that it would not be good for me to stand for long periods of time due to my backaches. Besides, the holidays are a very hectic time to work in retail. We finally came to the conclusion that everything happens for a reason and it was not meant for me to work right now. God's plans are always better than our own. We definitely could have used the extra money, but then again working 20 hours a week for min wage at the mall wouldn't make that big a difference in the long run financially. We had already planned long ago that I would not work when we had children, I just didn't think that would start until after birth. Anyway, I am keeping myself busy. At this point, I only have about 3 1/2 months to go and that includes the holidays. There is so much to do before Emma comes. I have been busy selling stuff on Ebay, Craigslist and in consignment shops. It's nice to make some extra money from things you no longer want or need. Right now I'm trying to sell some of our books. We have a lot of books and we don't need them all nor do we have the space to store them. I have also been experimenting with foods/meals that freeze well in preparation for our spring arrival. I go to a Women's Bible study each week called Community Bible Study. I also go walking occasionally at the mall with some new friends who are also expecting. And I have done all the Christmas shopping already! I don't like dealing with the crowds at Christmas time and this allows me to focus on baby stuff later on. I still need to interview pediatricians for Emma and we need to finish the nursery. This week I am going to start volunteering at Bay Area Turning Point. This is a community organization that helps victims of domestic violence. I'm hoping to help with office/clerical work for the next few months. I do get bored some days, but overall I find something to do, even if it's just to make Brad a special new dessert, which he loves, or just resting to take care of myself.

Staying busy in Clear Lake,
Tiffany

Emma's getting bigger and so is my waistline...

Yes, I know I'm not exactly bursting at the seams, but I definitely didn't have a "bump", "love handles" or the beginnings of a "beer belly" in my mid-section before either! I'm finally starting to show more, which is a good thing since I'm 24 weeks or at the start of my sixth month. The BabyCenter website approximates that the baby weighs just over a 1 lb and is about a foot long at this point in the pregnancy. Of course that's a generalization, but it gives you a good idea of size. Hard to think I have a very small person living in my body, sounds sort of like a sci-fi thing to me. Emma Caroline is moving a lot and kicking or poking much harder these days. Guess she's getting more comfortable and relaxed in her temporary home. Can't wait to meet her face to face!

Overall, I'm doing great health wise. Just having the usual discomforts: bad leg cramps at night, stretching of ligaments, trouble sleeping, backaches, and many trips to the bathroom. But, these are all manageable and thankfully don't usually hit all at one time. I feel very blessed to not have any more serious complications. I heard some people in our childbirth class share some more serious concerns than these. So, I'll take my above mentioned list and be very happy!

Tiffany

Not your Ma's Lamaze

We have begun our classes at the hospital that teach us all about the childbirth process and much more. Last night was our first night, and we are one of about ten or twelve couples in the class. We have signed up for a once per week 6-week series that covers a very broad range of topics. The hospital brochure lists them as:

6 week series covers: integrated information on pregnancy, preparation for and coping with labor, birth, hospital practices, induction/augmentation, medications, epidurals, cesarean birth, baby care, breastfeeding and postpartum. Our hands-on approach to teaching Lamaze techniques will enhance your learning experience as you practice relaxation and massage skills during each class. The class includes a hospital tour, books and written materials.

Our instructor made a point to inform us that Lamaze is no longer about learning a particular breathing technique like was taught a few decades ago. Their experience found that couples (especially the mommies of course) got too stressed out about doing it right or wrong and made the delivery more complicated and difficult than it already was. Now, they allow a more personalized approach and encourage couples to find their own distractions, routines and relaxation techniques. The main point is to eliminate fear by educating, that will eliminate tension that makes the birth more painful and difficult.

It seems like it will be a fun class because the teacher and a few other couples seem to crack a lot of jokes and take it all lightly. I know we'll learn some things that will help us when the time comes. Tiffany is very interested in some of the pain coping techniques (obviously), and I'm interested to tour the hospital and learn the hospital practices so that I know what to expect and where I need to be and what I need to do!

We got treated right off the bat to the video of actual childbirths! No matter how much you know about it or have seen them before, that is still an awkward event sitting in a room with a bunch of pregnant women! Seriously, how many videos do we watch of other medical procedures before we have them done? I wouldn't watch a dentist do a root canal before going in for one, and there's no comparison. Just a random thought I had, but it was still educational to see it happen so I guess it's a good thing.

That's the latest...

Brad

Our Camping Trip & Some Talk of An Arranged Marriage

We went on our last camping trip for a while this past weekend. We headed out to Pedernales Falls State Park in the Texas Hill Country, just west of Austin. Brad's friend from high school, Jeff, and his family joined us for the weekend. Jeff & Tonia have a little boy named Dewey. He's almost 10 months. Brad and Jeff discussed the possibility of an arranged marriage for Emma & Dewey, but since we could not settle on a dowry at this time (one or two goats) we have put off the nuptial planning for now. Besides, all of our friends have boys. We need to at least consider Caleb M, Jordan, Caleb S, Ethan, Maximus, and Sam for the coveted right to Emma's hand in marriage. We still have some time left to get this matter settled. Let's not rush into anything.

Can't you tell Dewey is flirting? I think he's seriously interested in striking a deal with the Granderson family.

Tiffany