The scoop...

Time is ticking away! Christmas was here and went and now New Years is going to be here and gone. Crazy! Caleb is making his way to the world. Only 6 more weeks until that little guy is here. Josh and I went up to New Jersey and had a pretty good time. We went to my Aunt and Uncle's house on Friday night and also visited with all of my cousins. That was fun. We got to hold the twins. They are too cute, but boy would that be a handful. We had Christmas after we came home from church. Josh and I got a lot of nice stuff from my parents. They are too good to us. Then part of our Christmas gifts was we got to go to New York City and stay the night there in Time Square. We stayed at the Hotel Edison. My mom also got tickets for all of us to see the Christmas Spectacular show at Radio City Music Hall. That was a great show too. I got to go to Tiffany's and Co. and get my necklace that matches my bracelet too! It is so pretty. I had got the bracelet a couple of years ago for my birthday from my mom and then she told me that I could get the necklace to match! I love it. SOOOOO Pretty. Everything was great. We got back Tuesday night and just hung out at the house. Wednesday my mom had a mommy massage planned for me at 11:00am. It last for over an hour. It was great! The only thing that interrupted me was the little guy kicking and getting hiccups, but that was okay. I think he was enjoying it too. Thursday was okay except for the fact that I hated leaving but I knew that I will be back as soon as the baby is born so that made me feel a little better. I didn't get a lot of time to hang out with my mom like I wanted too. I did get to go the funeral home with her and do a head like we always use to do together. She does their hair and I sit and talk with her and she always makes me laugh. Pretty funny cause its a serious matter you know dealing with dead people but it doesn't bother either one of us. I'll be glad when they decide to finally move here. Don't get me wrong, Josh and I love being far enough away from family that we can enjoy ourselves, but sometimes I wish we were closer. I cared more about it in the beginning of our marriage, but now I actually appreciate it. We get along a lot better without having his parents or my parents to try and run our lives. Well, onto a different subject...I'm sorry I haven't been posting as often or putting up pictures. Life has been crazy and our computer at home has kinda taken a leave. It is very old and it just decides sometimes to freeze. So that is that.

My belly is a lot bigger because Caleb is a lot bigger. I can't wait for this little guy to come out and meet Josh and I. I just want to know what he looks like and I can't wait to see Josh holding him. Josh really deserves this! He and I are both having the first Grandbaby on both sides. That is just too cool to me. Josh has had it hard and I know that it is making him so proud to become a Dad. It makes me feel good inside to know that this is making him happy. He has had to work a lot for what he has accomplished so far in life. I am going to be wanting to see both his face and Caleb's when he comes out. It is so cute how Josh has been telling me little things like "I hope I know how to hold him", "How do you change a diaper?" I showed him the other day when we were sitting on the couch and I was folding clothes. I took a t-shirt and layed it down. I pretended that the sleeves were the tabs that you fold over to make the diaper stick. It has been pretty fun preparing for this little guy. I look back and can't believe all that has taken place since we first found out that we were pregnant. I remember waking up that Sunday morning and going to the bathroom. Josh looked over at me and was like what are you doing? Then later that day when I got to church, I whispered in his ear after praise and worship practice that there were two lines but the second one was kinda faint. So, I took another one Monday morning and then made an appointment at the doctor's. Josh and I both went together. After taking the test there, there was a double knock on the door. Josh and I were both sitting there and I kept saying I am not getting my hopes up. I am probably not pregnant. He kept telling me that I was. The doctor opened the door and said "Yup, y'all are pregnant." That quick! There was no "Hi, nice to meet you, I am doctor so and so..." It was really quick and to the point. I almost fell off the table and Josh had the biggest smile on his face! It was such an awesome feeling. There is nothing in the world that would be able to take that feeling away. She took us down to the ultrasound room and did the first one on us, but all we could see was a black blob. The next ultrasound that she did on us 2 weeks later we could see a little thing that looked like a piece of rice. Wow, did we come far! Now, only 6 weeks to go.

I just felt like remembering all those things and figured I would share them with everyone. I am sure all the rest of you moms and ones that are expecting have your own stories and each and everyone of them are special to each of us. I will update pics asap!!! Love y'all lots.

A little update on the Allard's life...

Well, a lot has been going on. Josh and I are only 5 days away from our 1st year anniversary and we just can't believe time has flown by so fast. We are really excited about it. I know most of you that read this have been married longer but we just can't believe it ourselves!!! The baby is getting bigger and bigger too. You can actually see things poking out from my stomach. He is losing room in there. Poor guy. In two weeks we are going to New Jersey! I am so excited about that. I can't wait. I haven't been home in over a year. It has already started snowing up. I hope it keeps on coming. Although my parents hate the snow, I keep telling them that it better keep snowing. We are going to be there from the 22nd through the 29th. The day after Christmas, my parents booked all of us a hotel room in New York city Time Square. I can't wait to see the city again. OOOOOOO I am so excited! Okay, well I am going to go eat some awesome chili that Josh has made. He made dinner tonight for me! Talk to y'all later.

Baby Room pictures

Hello Again

Hey everyone! Life is grand and all that except that I am still fighting this cold. It is going on three weeks that I have had this stupid cold. Anyways...Our little guy is getting bigger and moving around more and more everyday. We are on a count down. We only have 11 weeks left! How crazy is that?! I am way too excited to meet this little guy and see what he looks like. Josh and I get more and more excited everyday. We can't wait. Well, I will try and post pictures up here soon. My computer has been doing some weird things on me so I am not sure if it will let me upload pictures from my camera but I will try.

I had a fun weekend here at my house with the girls. Josh's family came and stayed here with me while he and the guys went hunting. It was a lot of fun. We went shopping, shopping, and more shopping. I am shopped out! Well, I am going to work on these pics! Talk to ya soon again.

Long time no writing

Well, I would say that my new job is going great but I have only worked there two days. The second day I got sick and now I have been out for two days. I have everything except an upset stomach. My nose is runny and stuffed up at the same time, fever, body aches, cough, and sore throat. You name it, I got it. I hate being sick. I probably picked it up from one of the babies. I guess I need to build my immune system up. This is probably the first time that I have been out of the bed other than to get something to eat or drink or medicine. To make matters worse, Josh isn't here. He is hunting. I wish he was here. Oh well. He said he is coming home Friday. I am going to go to work tomorrow and then if they think that I should go home then I will but hopefully I will be okay tomorrow.

The shower this past weekend was great. I got a whole bunch of stuff. Let's just say I don't think that Caleb will ever go naked. I was glad to see the people that were there. Aunt Janet, Jenny, and Jill got baby Caleb a bunch of stuff. I can't wait to give him a bath in his new bath tub. I was also so excited to see my friend Gaitha there! It was great that she was able to come out. Thanks girl! And then my mom, aunt Linda, and Missy all sent gifts from New Jersey. They sent a bunch of cute stuff. Now, baby Caleb has a New York Yankees outfit! He can represent the North in him.

My mother-in-law and all the ladies that helped her made the baby shower so cute. Thank you. They even had blue punch! It was so neat. I feel so blessed to have all these awesome people in my life. Well, that is it. I need to go back to bed. Talk to ya later.

Last Tuesday!

Can you tell that I am excited yet about leaving this job? I am super excited. I only have Wednesday and Thursday and then I am outa here! Yesterday, my sweet friend Gaitha from college called me. I was so excited to hear her voice. It is crazy how sometimes life gets a hold of you and time passes by very quickly. I hadn't talked to her since hurricane Katrina when she was moving to Beaumont. Her husband took a position in a church and so they packed up there stuff from Mississippi and moved on over to Texas. It was right around the time of Katrina. Then the other one hit and I hadn't talked to her since then. It was great talking to her and she said that she was going to try and make the baby shower on Saturday. That would be great.

I am so excited about the shower on Saturday. Remember all of you girls are invited!!! Email me if you need any other information.

Well, I am going to help around the offices to see what needs to be done to get this placed closed down. Talk to y'all later.

How exciting!

Today is my last Monday here at Campbell A. Griffin Treatment Center! Yeah to that one. There will not be a sad goodbye. When I left my last job at The Breakers up in New Jersey, I knew that I was never going to find a job like that again. I can honestly say that I loved working there and I would go back in a heart beat if Josh and I lived up there. I don't think that is going to happen though, but if it ever did that is the first place I would go. They treated me like family there and they still treat my family like family there. They are awesome people. Cosmo Scardino is the owner. If you want to ever stay at a really nice hotel on the Jersey Shore this is the place to stay. www.breakershotel.com I miss it a lot sometimes. When I worked there in the summer as day time manager of the restaurant, I would have to be there at 7:30am and my favorite cook Shayla would always make me breakfast. Then I would take it to the Veranda and eat it while I watched the ocean waves crash and dolphins sometimes would jump out of the water. It was an awesome view and great way to start the day. I had such a great time working there and I loved everyone that I worked with.

But as for my job here...I will not miss a moment of it! I didn't like my supervisor. She thought of me more as a personal assistant than what my correct job title was and I didn't get paid enough to put up with her crap. She wasn't my first supervisor here. My first supervisor was really nice and I liked working with her but this next one was awful! I hated feeling like I was being taken advantage of. Thank goodness that I don't have to work with her anymore. That in itself is a blessing. My job reminded me a lot like the movie Office Space. Josh had told me that I needed to watch it one day when I had done a bunch of complaining about my job. That more described a lot of what my job was like.

All in all, I can now look at this situation and just praise God for getting me out of it even though when it first happened I didn't know what to think. I actually feel blessed to know that I don't have to come back to this place again. I can't wait to start working with my little kids. I remember working at the day care in Waxahachie and I loved all those little kids there. I am excited about my new job and I can't wait to start. This week I only have to work 4 days. I will be getting off on Thursday.
Thursday after work I am going to drive to Houston. Then Friday I am going to work with Danielle at the hospital. I am really excited about that. I can walk by the nursery and see all the little babies too. Saturday is Caleb's baby shower!!! Yeah, I can't wait to see everyone. I can't wait to get gifts too but more so I am just really excited about seeing everyone. Danielle said that she a couple of other ladies have been working to get this shower looking awesome.

Okay, well I won't be writing and emailing as often during the day as I can now and before but I will update at night. Talk to y'all soon again!

Things to do...

Well, tonight I am having a girls night with all the teen girls from youth. We are not going to have it at my house though because it is just too small for all the girls. It should be fun though. Josh left last night to go hunting again up in Fredricksburg. That boy loves hunting. He won't be back until Saturday sometime, probably in the evening knowing him. Then next weekend is one of the baby showers!!! I can't wait to see all the people from Greens Bayou. It will be tons of fun and all of Josh's family will be there too. So excited! I wish my family could be there. They are planning something for after the baby is born so that way I can bring him up there and instead of them just seeing my stomach they can actually see him. That will be fun too.

I am excited that it is Friday! I need to go start some more work. I will try and post around lunch today.

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited. My end date for this job is November 4th and my beginning date for my next job is November 7th. I will not miss a pay check! Also, when the baby comes I will be able to take the baby to work with me. I am so thankful. I do appreciate all the prayer and support from all you girls out there. It has meant a lot to me. Even in my most down moments all of y'all were there to pick my spirits back up again.

Josh has been amazing too. The whole time I was lacking in my faith, he was there to encourage me. He kept pushing me the whole time and kept telling me to have faith and know that God was not going to let us suffer. He wouldn't give us more than what we couldn't handle.

Thank you again for all the prayers!!! I will let you know how my first day goes. Oh yah, I am going to be a teacher for 2 year olds. I am super excited!

Long and relaxing weekend!

This weekend was very relaxing and a lot of fun. Just what I needed. Josh had a bike-a-thon that was put on by South Texas District to raise money for Speed the Light. Josh and Pastor Doug split a 66 mile bike run between the two of them and raise over 3000 dollars. Thursday, Pastor Doug, sister Janet, Josh and myself drove to Galveston and got in around 3:00pm. We checked into the Hotel (Hilton) and while Pastor Doug was checking in the guy asked him if he wanted to upgrade the rooms for no extra charge! He said of course! So, we had a room with a king size bed, feather pillow top matress, couch and lounge area, and a large bathroom. What a blessing that was. Josh and I didn't have to pay for any of it. So, Josh and Pastor Doug started their biking that first day and I went up and laid on the bed and relaxed and watched TV. Then we all met up for dinner. The district had a dinner planned for us. We got to sit with Josh's parents and his brother and his brother's wife. That was nice to see them again. Danielle is funny. She doesn't say hi to me any more right away, she goes right for that belly and starts talking to Caleb. It's cute. After dinner we went back to the room and his family came up and hung out for awhile. We were laying on the bed and watching Caleb move around in there. He sure likes to show off now. Michael and Melissa gave us some cute baby hunting gear. I will have to post some pics of them. The next day Josh woke up pretty early to go finish the bike ride with Pastor Doug and then we all met up for lunch again. We went and ate a Fuddruckers! Yummy. After that we went and saw a movie. Elizabethtown. Stupid movie! I fell asleep and everyone else that stayed awake said it was dumb. I suggest not going and seeing it. After that we went back to the hotel room and hung around some more, then we went down to the little banquet dinner that they had to wrap up the weekend. Josh's family left after that and we went back up to the hotel room. We decided we wanted starbucks and left to go see if any one else wanted starbucks in Brother Marty's room. Another couple went with us to go get starbucks. We went back to Brother Marty's room and hung out for a little bit with all the other youth pastors and their wives and then went up to our room.

All in all, I had a very nice weekend with little worries. My job tried to call me while I was out of town but I didn't worry about that. What are they gonna do fire me?! I put in for the time so they need to learn not to bother anyone. I have a life! Sorry about that, I was a little ticked off when they called.

Baby Caleb is moving around and around! He loves to kick his daddy in the face too when Josh puts his head on my belly to talk to him. It's pretty funny.

I have this week and next week and then Friday the 4th is my last day! I am pretty excited that I don't have to work here anymore. I really didn't enjoy the people that I worked with and I didn't really enjoy my job, I was just doing it for the little money I made. Just to pay the bills. I am praying that God has something out there. I have another interview for another day care today after my job so pray that that goes well. Talk to y'all soon again!

Oh and my friend Jessica maybe having her baby today! Not sure yet. I haven't heard any word but I am super excited for her. She is having a boy, so our boys can be friends. I am praying for you Jecy!!! Come on Baby Elliot show some progress!

PICTURES!!!

Okay here are some recent updates on how I am growing. The green shirt is when I was 22 weeks and the bare belly ones are taken this morning and I am 23 weeks and 4 days. My how I have grown! He likes to move and wiggle around a lot in there. My tummy is a jungle gym to him I guess. It feels funny so far although I have heard that some of the kicks can be pretty painful.
That is my new Dooney and Bourke baby diaper bag! Isn't so cute?! My mom got that for me. I was wanting this one from Coach but then they discontinued it and I saw this one and just fell in love with everything about it. It has a little picture holder on the side that I can put his picture in, and green is my favorite color! It worked out perfect.
Then Caleb has some cool shoes too. The Timberland boots are from my mom, the converse are from Josh's mom, and the UGGS are from my Aunt Linda. They are the cutest in the world. He is gonna be one stylish little boy! I can't wait to see what he looks like in them.
Well, I promised y'all pics and here they are! Sorry it took so long.

Here is a picture of Baby Carson Yocum and Josh. We went to go see Cary, Melissa, and Carson before they left for Colorado. Melissa he is such a doll!

Sidney has become a woman!

My little Sidney has become a woman! To my surprise this morning, I woke up with seeing little red spots. Yea, it might be gross but she couldn't help it. Poor baby doesn't know what is going on with her body. Anyways, I got my resolve and cleaned it right up. That stuff does wonders! Every bit of it came out. So, now today before I drive down to Houston, I have to go pick up some doggy diapers! Our other dog, Bailey, is fixed, but we decided that we were going to try and have puppies with Sidney. We'll see. Well, that is is so far today. I will try and update again. Hope y'all have a good weekend.

Everything is Moving

Josh and had our monthly doctor visit yesterday to check on baby Caleb. He was doing fine! She took a few more measurements and said that his thigh bone (forget the medical term for it) was long. His head looked big too. Actually, a lot of things looked a lot bigger. She found his digit too and said "Yup, it's still a boy". Very cute. She checked out my placenta and said that it has repositioned itself and is moving up fine. She still marked me down as placenta previa, but she said that things can return back to normal. I thought that was an answered prayer. I didn't want to have complications. I have been experiencing a lot of cramping but I think that is just do to nerves and stress. I saw his little face too. He looked like he had a pug nose like mine! So cute! I can't wait to meet him in person. I have 17 more weeks! I also found out from my doctor that she is 3 weeks behind me pregnant with her second boy! I thought that was neat. Although she may be delivering me when she is huge or someone else will be delivering. Either way I am very happy for her. She is the sweetest dr. I need to promise that I will post pictures of our ultrasound! Our computer at home has been acting funny so I will try tonight after youth. I promise. My mom has been wanting to see them. Sorry Mom.
Well, onto the next move...A lady in our church is leaving for Afghanistan in April of 2006 and has asked Josh if he and I wanted to live in her house "RENT FREE" for one year! Crazy huh? It is a 2-story house and it is only like 5 minutes from our house now. All we would have to do is pay for the utilities and watch her dog for her. Of course that doesn't matter because we love dogs and have 2 of our own. So, I think we may take the offer. We would be saving almost 9,000 dollars and be able to get out of the debt that we have got since we have been married. I was a little reluctant about it at first because the first thing I thought about was the baby's nursery and how cute we had decorated it and then I thought about having to change all of my addresses. But now that I have been thinking about it more, it would be stupid not to take this opportunity. So that is the news. I guess I should start packing a little bit now with the clothes that I don't wear (pre-maternity) because I am sure that I won't be wearing them in April yet either. Gosh, I hate moving. I know that we were not going to live in this home forever but just the thought of having to move makes me feel exhausted. I am going to get back to work now. Yeah for it being Wednesday! Only 2 more days for the weekend. We are going to Houston for Lacey's birthday. That should be fun.

Shower!

Hey Girls

My mother-in-law is giving me a baby shower in Houston and said that I could invite y'all. If you are wanting to go email me your address so we can send y'all an invite. It will be November 5th. Not sure about the time, but it will be at Josh's dad's church. Greens Bayou Assembly of God. Let me know. My email is aliciaallard@yahoo.com. I totally understand if you can't make it either.

Jecy, I'm sorry again that I couldn't be there for baby Elliot's shower. I will be excited to see him at mine though! Jenny, I don't need your address cause your Aunt will probably get it from your mom or maybe she will just invite y'all all together from the same invitation. I don't know, but don't worry. Okay, talk to y'all later and have a good weekend.

Thanks again for all of your encouraging words.

Oh Yeah, CONGRADULATIONS LINSDEY ON YOUR NEW BABY GIRL!!!

Why I haven't blogged

It has been very hard lately having to deal with this mess. People keep telling me, it's okay God has something out there for you, but to be honest it has been so hard having to trust in Him. I know that I should know better and that God does really have something out there for me, but it is so scary what has taken place. I would have never imagined myself in this position. I guess that is why God has me here for the moment. Because I would have never had to rely on Him completely. It is one thing if it was only Josh and I, but because we are bringing another little one into this, I want to be able to give this baby everthing he needs to live and be happy. Josh has been handling my situation pretty good for the most part. He has had to be strong for both of us when I have been weak. Yes, I have been weak. I have done plenty of crying. I don't think I have cried this much in a long time. While all my emotions have been stirring, I think that little Caleb knows that I am going through something because he has been moving quite often. It makes me smile when I look down and see and feel that he is in there kicking and squirming. I just hope it doesn't upset him either. Every day gets a little easier to accept this but every day it gets closer to the closing date of my job and I don't have another one lined up yet. Who would want to hire a 5 1/2 months pregnant woman? I just don't know. I have sent out about 10 resumes. I had an interview yesterday with one of them. I guess it went okay, but the whole time I was nervous that they were going to ask if I was pregnant. I'm sure if I went to a grocery store or Walmart I could get a job, but I need something with benefits and something that is going to be flexible with Josh's job and the church. I know now exactly how some people in this world feel. Josh and I were laying on our bed last night just talking and I started to get teary eyed again and told him that I loved our bed. He looked at me with a funny face. I said that I would have never appreciated the things that we have as much as I do now. Our bed is really comfortable. Anyways, I look around and now I thank God for what we have. I am not looking around and wishing I had more. Although, don't get me wrong, I am a girl and would love so much more, but I understand the circumstances. Well, I guess I could go on and on about this subject but there is no sense of sulking over it. I just need to have faith and trust that God will take care of us (all 3 of us).

On a better note, Josh finally felt the baby kick. I have been telling him for a couple of weeks now that I have been feeling the baby, but he couldn't feel him. We were laying in bed the other night watching a movie (scary) and I guess the baby could hear or maybe he was trying to get comfortable, but all of sudden he just started throwing himself around in there. I told Josh to give me his hand. Josh didn't know at first what he was feeling for but then finally he looked over at me and said was that one? I was like yeah! You felt it? He had a big smile on his face and then started calling his name. Caleb, Caleb, Caleb? It was really cute. That always brings a smile out. Well, I am still here at work, so I do need to get back to it, but I will try to bring myself to update again more often. I hope all is well out there with all of you.

My in-laws sent me a cute display of cookies that looked like lemons and a pitcher of lemonade. On a few of the cookies it said "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade". I thought it was so sweet of them to do that. Danielle told me that that is why she has a pitcher of fake lemonade in her kitchen. This situation that we are in right now has made me so upset and stressed out. I just pray that something will happen for the good out of this. It is very hard to see outside of what is going on right now. Thank you for all the encouraging words.

Bad News

My company has closed down. That means that I will be out of a job. It is not a good situation right now. I have all the odds pointing against me, so please be praying for us.

Thanks

continued from last post...

Update on Baby Boy!
This little boy is kicking so much now it is unbelievable. In church on Sunday, I was sitting their listening to Pastor Doug speaking and it started happening. He was moving all around in there just like he is doing now. I think he knows what I am thinking or something. I look down at my belly to see if I can see anything on the outside but you can't yet. It is such a weird yet amazing feeling. Last night I got up to go to the bathroom for like the 5th time and at this point I guess he didn't want to settled back down when I wanted to. At 5:45 this morning I just layed there rubbed my belly and talked quietly to it. He still moved around a bunch. So, I finally just rolled over on my side and rocked back and forth. I guess he liked that because it stopped long enough for me to fall asleep. Also, he loves it when I eat. He goes nuts in there. It is just truly amazing!!! Josh told me again he likes and wants the name CALEB. So, we may go with Caleb, unless Josh changes his mind. I love it. I love that it the bible it says that Caleb was Joshua's right hand man. How awesome is that! Josh and his little boy Caleb. So cute!

3rd time writing this!!!

Well, my company has come and gone. Michael, Melissa, Lacey, and their two dogs all arrived at our house on Thursday afternoon after an 18 hour drive from Houston. They were beat. Michael and Melissa passed out and Lacey was beyond tired that she couldn't fall asleep. After everyone woke up, we all went out to Friday's and then to Baskin Robbins. We came home and Lacey, Melissa, and I all went to bed while Michael and Josh hung out for a bit.
I had to go to work Friday, so after work Mike and Danielle had made it in from Houston. They didn't have a bad drive because everyone had already left. The girls made dinner while all the guys watched TV. After dinner, Danielle, Lacey, Melissa, and I all went shopping. Danielle bought me a few cute outfits at Maternity Motherhood. Then we went to Ross and Target.
Saturday morning I woke up around 8:30 and made breakfast. We all ate, got ready, and met up with Mike, Danielle, Pastor Doug, and Janet at Baskin Robbins and then went over to the movies. Josh, Michael, Lacey, Melissa, and I saw "Lord of War" while the rest of them saw "Flight Plan". After the movies, we met up with Matt and Stacey and we all went out to the Grismil to eat. It was very yummy, hot, but yummy.
Sunday we woke up and did the church thing. It was so good having my inlaws there. All throughout service this little one kept kicking. It is so weird but so amazing to have this little one inside of me kicking now. After church, we went to Salsalito's for lunch. Went home and took naps and then went to church again. After church, we came back to my house and made burgers. THANKS MOM!!! I had to work yesterday but then we went over to Pastor Doug and Janet's for dinner. We took steaks over there and grilled them. THANKS MOM AGAIN!!! It was all very good.
Michael and Melissa left last night to go home because Melissa had to be at work at 5:45 in the morning! Good Grief. Mike, Danielle, and Lacey are all leaving today.

It was such a long and good weekend. I had so much fun being around family. The reason for the mini vacation was bad but I had a blast anyways. Thanks Melissa for helping with all my laundry! It helped so much.

Looks like a full house

Well, it looks like we will be getting company this weekend. Josh's parents, brother and his wife, and Lacey are all coming here to San Antonio this weekend to try and get away from the Rita. That is just crazy. Pray that their homes are okay. I am not sure when they are coming. Either Thursday or Friday.

This little guy

Lately, it has been rather quiet around my office due to the job situation that is taking place here, but anyways, I sit here and sometimes get kinda lonely. Not that lonely because I like being by myself a lot but sometimes you know a little hi here and there wouldn't hurt. As I have been going through files thinking to myself a lot about nothing, I sometimes feel this fluttering and movements in my belly. They have been getting a lot more stronger lately too, but I think it is cute because the times that I feel the most alone it is like this little guy inside me is saying "Hey, I'm here, you're not alone". It almost makes me want to cry (probably the pregnancy emotions and hormones working). I feel like he can sometimes sense my emotions and feelings. It's so awesome. I have this connection with this little man that I don't even know yet. Just some random thoughts that I figured I should log so I would remember moments like these.

NEW BLOG RING FOR XANGA

Hey all! I started a new blog ring for my xanga site. It is called "Christian Couples expecting new baby". If any of y'all want to join it come on.

What a wonderful weekend!

I had such a great weekend. The only thing that would have made it ten times better was if I had my parents here too. Anyways, Josh and I drove to Houston on Friday night. When we got in we dropped our dogs off at Michael and Melissa's house and then met the family over at Josh's parents house. We all just hung out and talked for a bit. Then we busted open the ultrasound video and showed the family. They were so thrilled about seeing him again. After a little bit Michael and Melissa went home. Then the rest of us were just sittin around for a little bit talking. Josh's dad showed us how Phoebe, their little dog, says her bedtime prayers. It was the cutest thing. Josh and I were getting ready to leave to go back to Michael's when we heard his dad going into the garage. He came back in with this 8 millimeter movies and the reel. We all sat down around 1:00am and watched the old movies on a sheet on the wall of Josh when he was a baby. It didn't have any sound but it didn't need it. It was so cute. It got me kinda choked up. It was nice sitting there watching his family watch him when he was a baby and now we are going to be doing that soon watching our baby. I love the family I married into.
The next day we all got up early, got breakfast, and went over to the sale at USA Baby. We got there early and didn' t have to wait for anything. I was having a hard time trying to figure out which one I wanted. I knew I wanted certain pieces, but I couldn't decide anything at the time. Josh was having a hard time also. We ended up getting what we wanted. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD! We got the crib, which is convertable, 4 drawer dresser, 3 draw dresser, when we flip it over it is a changing table and a dresser and then when you don't need the changing table anymore you flip it over and you can put a tv or anything on top, and a toy chest. It is all such nice wood furniture. My parents offered to pay for all of it so we didn't have to worry about it. It is such a blessing!!! I am going to have to take lots of pictures and send them to them so they can see it. I will also post pics up here too. After getting the furniture we went to Luther's BBQ and ate lunch. After that I spotted a "Dunkin Donuts"! Josh brought me over there to get an iced coffee. It was awesome. Then, we met up with Josh's family again and went and looked at model homes that Josh's brother and his wife were looking at. They were very nice and pretty decent priced too. I wish that Josh and I could live in Houston. God knows best though! After that we went back to the house. We had to go rescue Lacey because her battery went dead in her car. That took a little time and worked up everyone's appetite again. We all went to Casa Ole and had dinner. It was yummy! Josh and I left there around 6:00ish and got home to San Antonio around 9:30ish and he asked a friend if he could come over and help us unload all the furniture. They got it all in the room and after Jon left, Josh and I set up the baby furniture. We couldn't wait. We were both very excited. It looked so cute in the room with all the Winnie the Pooh stuff. Sunday was our normal day of church.
What an exciting weekend. Now, I always have to open the door to the baby's room and peek in there just to see everything set up. God is really awesome.

Time

Okay, I got two more hours and then I'm homebound! Work is driving me nuts. Actually, it probably isn't so much work but it is my supervisor for that matter. I really hope this school calls me that I applied at. I guess I haven't really talked about it much on here, but really there is nothing important. They may be closing the facility down that I work in and so that would leave me jobless. Not good. But on the other hand if they were to keep it open I wouldn't want to work with this superviser. Anyways, I applied at a local school to work in the office and I pray that they hire me. I would get school holidays and it is less than 10 minutes away from my house. Oh that would be awesome!
We are going to Houston this weekend to get the baby furniture. That should be exciting! We are going to USA Baby. Okay, well I am going to try and push the time to make it go faster. Talk to y'all soon again. Feel Better Michelle!

IT'S A .....................

Hey everyone! I'm soooo sorry about not posting right away. I had a lot go on last night and this morning. We didn't go home at all last night until about 11:00pm and by then I was exhausted. I know I said I would post but I am so sorry. Okay, well here it is.............

BABY ALLARD IS A BOY!

He was so cute too. We got to see his little pee pee (that is what my doctor kept calling it). As soon as she said it I saw the look on Josh's face and he was so excited and proud. I wanted to cry but all I could do was giggle because we had a butt view and we saw his little butt too. I just kept thinking to myself typical guy. She gave us his measurements and he weighs 9.9 ounces right now, which is a little under a 1/2 pound. At one point when she was showing us his little face we saw the hands up by his head and then all of a sudden they moved down so she followed it and it looked like he was scratching his butt. He is definetly taking after his daddy already.

My doctor also told us that I had to be careful because I was caring the placenta low, which she called it previa. Not sure if that is the correct spelling. She said it was still early in the pregnancy enough for it to move up but she said just to take it easy. Please pray that nothing will come of this. I had dreams all last night that I couldn't stop bleeding. I guess I am just being over paranoid.

That is it. I am going to have a son! Crazy. I praise God so much. He truly knows our desires. I will try and post pics tonight.

Tonight!!!

You know I just love all you blog buddies out there. It makes me feel so special to know that other people care and are just as excited as me about milestones in my life such as finding out what Baby Allard is going to be. Thanks! We go today at 4:00pm. I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get things done at work so I can leave early. I will post tonight if we find out what the baby is. I am just praying that this baby is ready to show us who he/she is! I'll talk to y'all later! Have a great day.

Thinking

Right before I was getting ready to write this post I looked at my ticker and it said that I was 18 weeks and 2 days. It hit me all of a sudden that in another 2 weeks I will be counting the weeks by the teens! It feels like it was only yesterday that Josh and I were on our way back from the Dr.'s calling our family and telling them about the news. It is just crazy to me how time went by so fast. In two weeks I will be halfway through! Now that I am going into my 5th month my stomach is starting to show. I can actually wear maternity clothes now and not look like I am swimming in them. Some are still a little too big but it is a heck of a lot more comfortable than trying to squeeze into something. I'm also starting to feel the baby really move around a lot. I don't get really hard kicks but just little flutters like the kid is saying "really, I'm in here, see!" It is just amazing what God can create. I am watched the ultrasound video over and over again and just can't seem to come to the realization that that is my baby sometimes. Tomorrow we are hoping to find out what he/she is, that is if the baby is in the right position. Well, a lot to think about.

My weekend was pretty eventful with church stuff. Friday night I went to a ladies night at the church. We played bunco and ate food. It was pretty fun. Then Saturday, I had worship practice in the morning and then Josh and I went to lunch. We hung out for a bit and then we had to go visit one of our youth in the hospital. Sunday was church and then between church and church we had our friend Brent over for lunch. After lunch we all sat down to watch a movie. It was called Crash. It was really good. Today, I am pretty tired. Well, I am gonna get back to work. Hope y'all had a good weekend and now lets look forward to this weekend again together!

4 MORE DAYS!

I hope this baby is gonna show us what he/she is on Tuesday or else I am gonna have so many countdowns. Not too much going on lately. Just trying to get through another week of work. Pray for my job situation. Don't want to go into too many details but it needs prayer. I just booked my flight for Christmas to go home to Jersey. I am soooo excited to see all my family and my home town and my home that I grew up in for 23 years! I think it is kinda cool that my parents still live in the same house. They don't think so but I can just walk in there and it brings back so many childhood memories. Oh, I can't wait for Christmas! Tonight I am going to a ladies fun night at the church and then tomorrow Josh and I are just gonna straighten up the house a bit from last weekend. I'm sorry Jenny that you had to see it a wreck like that. Life is just crazy sometimes. I work all day and then we go out at night for church, church events, etc. Lots of church! I guess being a youth pastor's wife that would make sense of why we have so much church. Anyways, I am going to continue working. Y'all have a good weekend. I'll try to post more if I get a chance. Not sure what I am going to talk about but I'll try. Okay! Love y'all.

6 MORE DAYS! Nursery Pics

These are the pics of the nursery. Josh's dad painted Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet on the wall on two different spots. Then he also added those cute jars and pots that look like they are sitting on the shelf. Danielle, Lacey, and I all painted and put the border up and then we hung the curtains. I still can't get over how awesome of a job that Mike did painting all that by free hand. All he did was look at the border and then painted it on. He also painted little bees all over the room. It is sooooo cute. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Now, we just need the furniture which my awesome parents has said they were going to help with! God is just great and He is supplying all of our needs.

7 MORE DAYS until we find out if it is HE or SHE!

I didn't want to load my blog up too much. It may have a ticker overload!

something funny

I'll update more about my weekend later when I can put the pics up of the nursery but I just had to share this with everyone. I was sitting down at my desk to get ready to eat my lunch. I got chili and then a salad. I went to go put the napkin on my lap and low and behold I have to place the napkin on my stomach because my lap is now being kinda covered by my stomach. It was rather amuzing to me and funny because not that I was super skinny before this but I could look down and see my lap clear. Funny! I'll update more in a bit. I had a blast though this weekend and got so much accomplished with the baby's room. I think I will put a ticker up for a countdown to when we find out if it is a HE or a SHE!

A good time was had!

Well this is the border that is going to be in the baby's nursery. Josh and I went out last night night when I got home from work and we went to Target first to pick the border up and then to Home Depot to get paint. The paint matches the little green leaves in the border. It is so cute! So after we got all that stuff, Josh had surprised me and took me out to Red Lobster. Okay, Red Lobster is not the best seafood in the world considering I am from the shore area up in Jersey where seafood is awesome and cheaper than it is down here. But anyways, I was just glad to get a lobster. I ate the whole thing! I could have eaten more but I only got a 1 1/4. The lobster actually tasted good like ones from back home. After that we just went home and well...Yeah, we had fun. Ha ha. Then, we were going to start cleaning the house and the baby room but we just decided to go to bed and do all that today and Saturday. I got to talk to Lacey last night on the phone for a bit too. I love her and I love how it feels like I have a little sister. Not that she is little anymore cause she is going to be 18 in October but I love how she comes to me for advice and I can remember the days when I was going through some of the things she is experiencing now. Well, that is it. I can't wait for this weekend so the family can get here and we can start painting and decorating. It is so exciting for me. Yesterday was my last birthday alone without kids. Kinda weird. I will always be a mom on everyone of my birthdays now. Well, write in a little bit again.

Christmas Celebration

I had to join in on the ticker celebration and count down to Christmas. "It's the most wonderful time of the year." It's better than my birthday! So, I hope y'all like my ticker for Christmas.

Today, 24 years ago my mom was going through what I am about to experience in a couple of months, LABOR. I hope that I have my baby as easily as she had me. She actually went to the doctor's that morning and the sent her home and then around 1:oo-1:30 her water broke while her and my Aunt Barb were together. So, my dad came and picked her up and they all went to the hospital. I came so fast that the doctor was still in the elevator and didn't have enough time to get there so an intern with the help of a nurse delieverd me. Pretty cool story. I was born at 4:14pm, so I am actually not 24 until that time. My due date though was August 17th so I was a couple of weeks late. Not too bad though.

A girl in the youth group last night gave me a present. When I opened it I was so excited and she said that no one had told her that I wanted to start collecting them. She got me the pregnant woman holding her belly from the Willow Tree collection. My mom had bought my first one for me and it was an angel holding a sunflower. So, now I have two. There are so many more that I want. They have a whole nativity scene too that I want. I put both of them in my china hutch and they look so pretty in there.

I am not sure what the plans are for tonight. I don't think anything really. All I want to do is go get paint and the border for the nursery that way when Danielle and Lacey get here we can just start painting. With four people working on it, we should have it done in no time. Okay, well I am gonna get back to filing for a bit. I will try to write in a little bit.

Thanks Jenny for my birthday post!

Prayer

Hey everyone. I just wanted y'all to keep my friend Gaitha and her family in prayer. She lives in Mississippi and I have been trying to get a hold of her by phone for the last two days and there is a beeping signal. She and her husband are supposed to be moving to Beaumont, TX by the 9th of September. Just pray that with all this madness she is okay and they can have safe travels to their new place. If you need to put a face with the name she is the girl that is in the picture with me at my wedding a few posts back. Thanks

My birthday ticker is doing something funny. It is saying that I am 25. Tomorrow I will be 24 unless I am just getting that old that I can't remember my age. Ha ha. No, really, I know when I was born and what age I am going to be. Maybe the thing just reset itself to start counting for my next birthday. It is just moving life along rather quickly.

We have decided that we are not going to Houston this weekend since Mike, Danielle, and Lacey are coming up here on Sunday afternoon. We are going to just celebrate my birthday then. It makes me excited though because then we don't have to spend for gas. We are going to Houston for the weekend of the 17th because there is going to be a huge sale for USA Baby furniture and then we will be there again on the 24th for the COLDPLAY concert! Yeah, I am soooo excited about that. It's going to be our first baby concert and he/she can hear faint sounds too now. Pretty exciting. So, this weekend when Josh's family gets here we are going to paint and put up wall paper in the nursery room. How fun! That's it.

Baby Names

Okay, Josh and I have narrowed the baby names down and unless there is just something else out there that takes our breath away these are the names.

For a girl:

Isabella Joy Allard (but we would call her Ella)

For a boy:

Caleb Paul Allard or Levi Austin Allard

Josh really hasn't decided yet which one he likes better. I told him it was up to him, but I favor Caleb Paul.

So, those are the names. I have been stuck on Isabella for a long time so if I don't have a girl this time, when we do have a girl that is going to be her name. Let me know what y'all think about them.

A fun but not relaxing weekend

Well, friday Josh and I left San Antonio to go to Houston around 3:30. The drive there wasn't that bad except for the fact that we had two stinky dogs in our back seat breathing heavily on us because they were hot. Once the car cooled off and Josh got some air freshners it wasn't so bad. When we got there to Houston we went to Michael and Melissa's house and dropped off our dogs and picked Melissa up. We got to the conference a little after 7:00pm. That night was pretty good. Josh and I got a lot from the service. Afterwards, we went to Pappasitos (I think that is the correct way to spell it) with a bunch of old friends. They are more of Josh, Michael, and Melissa's old friends considering I didn't grow up here but I knew all of them. It was a lot of fun. There were probably like 15 of us there. We didn't end up leaving until about 12:00 or close to it. Josh, Michael, Melissa, and I went back to their house and hung out until about 2:30 in the morning just watching the dogs play and get to meet each other. It was rather interesting because Michael and Melissa have a puppy female boxer and then a little toy female chihuaha (don't know how to spell those names) and then we have a 2 year old female boxer and a female bassethound. They seem to get a long for the most part if there were no toys or bones involved cause if there was then Bailey our boxer would get really mean and role her lips and snap at their boxer or other dog. We had to spank Bailey a few times cause she was being a brat. Anyways, that was fun.

Then we had to wake up early the next morning to be at the conference again. Michelle, your brother Ryan was cute. He came up to me and told me that you said to say Hello. I also saw Wade there too. Wade actually was with us all when we went to Pappasitos.

After the conference was over we went to Josh's parents house where Danielle and Mike made an awesome roast dinner. It tasted so good. There was mashed potatoes, roast beef, gravy, green beans, corn, fruit salad, biscuits, and then we had that chocolate thunder thing like Outback has for dessert. Hmmmmm Yummy. It was all very good. Josh and Jessica Long came over to be with us for dinner too. That was so good to see them. I love hanging out with Jessica. I wish we were closer to each other in living distance. After dinner, we all watched the video of our baby on the ultrasound that the doctor had recorded for us. That was pretty neat too. Later, Jessica and I were sitting on the couch and I had my hand on her belly and I could feel that little guy kicking and squirming all around in there. I can't wait until I can feel that in my belly. Right now all I am feeling is butterflies and the baby floating around. We left there house around 9:30-10:00 but the crazy thing is that we didn't get home until 3:30 in the morning! Houston started flooding because of the storm that came in and they made us take another highway to get to the other side of the highway that we wanted to be on. Oh, it was bad.

Then, we woke up for church on Sunday and had a normal church day. Sunday, we were blessed by this couple that we had met a couple of times out at youth events because they wanted to take us out to eat. It was so nice of them. We didn't have to pay at all. I love it when God does little things like that to let you know that if you bless Him, He will always take care of you. Well, I think that is it. Ha ha. That is probably one of the biggest posts ever. Have a good rest of the day! On to work now.

On the brighter side

Last night I fell asleep on the couch around 9:30. Josh woke me up around 10 and brought me into bed. He got the dogs and got them up on the bed too. So, it was me, Bailey, and Sidney all in the bed around 10:00pm. I slept for awhile and then the good ol routine of waking up a million times to go to the bathroom kicked in. I woke up around 12:30, 2:30, and 5:30. But I did feel a little better this morning because I got like 8 hours of sleep. Normally, I go to bed around 12:00 and have to wake up at like 6:30. Not a good thing. So, I feel a little bit more rested today which is good because we have to go to Houston tonight for a conference this weekend. Pray for us though because I am beginning to hate car rides and we have to travel with dogs this time since we don't have a house guest to watch them. It will be quite interesting to see how it all ends up. Saturday night I am pretty excited because Danielle is making us dinner and invited our friends Josh and Jessica over too. I haven't seen Jessica since our wedding. We don't get to see too much of each other but when we do get to hang out I have a blast. I get to leave work early today because of the fact that we have to be on the road by like 3:00 or earlier. So, that is exciting to me too. Okay, well I am gonna get to work now. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Not a good day

Today is just not a good day unless there are hopes for the afternoon. I am so sleepy, nausious, hot, cold, headache, and anything imaginable. Funny how everyday I just want to crawl back into bed, clothes the curtains, pull the covers back over my head and fall back to sleep. It's pretty sad that when I am typing all of this my eyes are going cross-eyed. What is wrong with me? I have never in my entire life been this lazy. Maybe, I'll go visit the coffee the closet and grab me some fresh wake me up. I don't want to be at work at all. Okay, enough said. I just am cranky and needed to let it out. I wonder if there is anyone out there that is as miserable as I am. Well, I am going to attempt to wake up and will try and post more later.

Oh my oh my

Okay, so I am sitting at my desk here at work not wanting to step foot into that file room to start filing and I can't get into one stinkin comfortable position of sitting. I just got done a little bit ago eating my lunch which consisted of Tuna fish sandwich, bbq chips, and a coke and water. My belly is hurting and I feel like my head is going to drop any second now. A big, huge, ginormous sleepy wave just rolled over me and all I want to do now is curl up with all my pillows and fall asleep in my bed. That time will come around 8:30pm tonight. I have to go from work to church. Not so fun but that's the breaks. I think what I am going to do now is just go file and pray that I don't fall asleep while filing. Well, the big guy of the company that I work for just walked in and everyone is freaking out. I don't understand why. Some people get so worked up over nothing and they get all tongue twisted. Chill out. Okay, well I guess now I really need to wake up. Ha ha. Okay talk to y'all later.

Whooo hooo

Well, today I can freely walk around my house however I want to. I can go in any of my rooms. Heck, I can get naked and run around! Our house guest leaves to go to college today. Isaac is attending a University in Austin and today is orientation for him. I sometimes wish that I was going back to college. Anyways, he has been staying with us for the summer and now he will be living in Austin. It is going to be an adventure for him. I pray that he takes God with him to school. He has really grown up alot in the year and a half that he has been here at Shift youth. I didn't get to see him in the beginning but I heard Josh talk about him. He has grown spiritually and musically. Also, what is really exciting for me is that we get to start turning the room that he was in into a nursery! Yeah. Josh and I are going to paint the bottom half of the wall a green color like the color I had in my wedding. You can see it if you look at the picture with Gaitha and I from my wedding. Anyways, bottom half green separated by "Classic Pooh" border from Target and then a soft white off white color on the top. Josh is also going to paint a mural of Winnie and all his friends on the wall where the crib is going to be. Oh, I can't wait to get started. I have been anxiously awaiting this moment. I want to be able to do a lot of it now so that I don't get too fat and I can't help out. I want to be as much as involved as I can with decorating it. That's it for now. I will update more later.

Quiet

Seems like life in the blogging world is kinda quiet today. Not much to read up on and no comments to check out. Hope everyone is doing good. Talk to ya soon again

Awww..Here we are "Bride and Groom" 

Going through wedding pics. This is my good old friend from college. I love this pic. 

I know it may not look like much to you but that is a side view. I honestly cannot fit in any of my clothes any more. The first time that I went to the doctor's back when I was 4 weeks along pregnant I weighed in at 123. Now I am weighing 130! I haven't even got to the point where the baby starts gaining a pound like everyday. I am scared out of my mind. I have gained 7lbs within the first 10 weeks. What to do. I am too fat for my clothes but to skinny for maternity. I look funny when I put maternity clothes on cause then it just looks like I am trying to be fat and pregnant. I am not sure what to do. If they are any suggestions please let me know. I have went and bought some bigger sizes but I don't want to buy too many because I am hoping that after the baby comes that I can get back to where I was.

Baby belly at 14 weeks 

Okay, yesterday was an exciting day. First of all, to clear everyone's mind, we didn't find out yet what the little bambino is. It is still just "the baby". The doctor said she could see something but she didn't want to make any guesses because it was unclear. So we are schedule to go back September 13th. Hopefully, we will be able to find out then what the baby is. Okay, onto the whole story though. Josh had told me that he needed to meet me over there because he had to go visit someone in the hospital and it would be pointless to drive all the way home and then back again. So I thought that is fine. Well, me not knowing San Antonio yet, I got lost, stuck in traffic, and then was behind an accident. You can just imagine my mood by the time I got there to the office. I walked into the waiting room and saw Josh sitting there with two people that had magazines in their faces. Then the magazines came down and low and behold it was Mike and Danielle or I guess I should say Pappy and Grannelly. They were trying to think of cute names to be called and those were one of the choices. They drove all the way from Houston to be with us to experience that moment. Anyways, we walked in and I had to be weighed in. I lost weight. Crazy, cause I still can't fit into any of my clothes. And then we went into the sono room. She got me all lubed up and started rolling the thing around on my tummy. There HE/SHE was! Wow, the baby had grown so much. We all could see, the face, nose, mouth, eyes, legs, knees, backbone, ribs, and the little heart beating. Oh it was so cute. Then one of the hands was up close to the head and the little fingers were moving almost like it was waving hello. :) Oh my, I was so excited. It was so amazing to see how much that little baby is growing in there. We saw the spot where the digit was, as Josh would call it, but it was still a little unclear to see it. But the doctor was able to record it on video for us and then when we come back the next time we can just add to it. After that we went to Outback and then to Target to look at the classic pooh stuff. It was a fun day. They had this all planned out since our last appointment. It was so much fun. I can't wait till our next appointment. The baby will be even more bigger. What a miracle!

Why Women Cry

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman," she told him.
"I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."
Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?""All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"God said:"When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly. I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly. And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed." "You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

Leave work early!

Yeah, I get to leave work early today. I have overtime and right now our facility can't afford to pay overtime due to budget sake which is fine with me as long as I get paid for what I am suppose to work. So, today I will be leaving at 2:00 instead of 5:00. That also means that we will be able to get into Houston at a decent time. Sounds good to me! We are going to Houston for Danielle's birthday. That should be nice to see family. I just am not thrilled all that much for the drive, but oh well. Josh will be driving so that is good. Well, if I don't get on any more today, have a good weekend! God Bless

Here are the babies

Karen will probably post more pics on her blog. That is if she gets a chance, but my Aunt sent me a couple last night and this was one of them. Their names are Sophie and Olivia. They are so cute. They both weighed in at 7lbs except one was a little bigger with 10 ounces added on. Not sure which one though.

Back from training

Well, I just got finished with training. All the employees at my facility had to have training in a portion of the medical to be able to access kids when they are ill or attention seeking. Anyways, I do hope this weeks moves a little faster than what it is going at. I have been trying to do things to pass these next few weeks along but it seems like my mind is focusing on so much. I can't wait to find out what we are having. Hopefully, the baby will be in a good position to be able to see. Also, I can't wait until we can start working on getting the guest room into the nursery. I am going to keep the twin bed in there so that way we can still have a guest over. Plus for the first couple of weeks and months we are going to keep the baby in with us. We are going to have to do some moving around in our room with the furniture. Josh will be doing that, but I will help with all the decorations. Anyways, I just can't wait to start making some of these changes. I'm just really anxious. I think you know what I am talking about Jenny! I would love to throw out all my feelings on here but I think some times thoughts are better left unsaid!~

Babies...

Hey everyone! I don't know but I think that some of y'all have been keeping up with my cousin's blog too that is pregnant with the twins. Well, she had them today around 11:00am. She didn't have to have a c-section either. Praise God! Just wanted to let everyone know because she will probably have little time to update her blog now that she has 6 kids!

What a weekend...

Well, we had a good weekend. Friday night when I got off work, Josh and I went to Sam's Club and picked up all the food and drinks for Saturday. Then we went to Taco Bell for dinner. After that we went over to Toys r' us and just looked around. That was fun. Josh and I checked out all the baby stuff. We haven't registered yet, but we have plenty of time still. There were so many cute things that I just wanted to buy right then and there. As soon as Isaac goes to school we are going to start putting the nursery together. Josh is going to paint Pooh and a few of his friends on the wall. We haven't figured out totally what we are going to do in there but we will for sure have a plan before we start. I would rather have it done way a head of time than to be in my later months and be struggling to do things. I don't have a big belly yet so now is the time to do it. We are doing the nursery in Classic Pooh style. I love it so much. It is so soft looking and it fits well with my personality too. I like the earth tones rather than bright colors. I like it to look more natural.

Okay, well back to the weekend, after Toys r' us we went to Petsmart and looked around for a bit, left there and went to Baskin Robbins. We got some ice cream and the flavor that I normally get didn't taste the same to me. Normally, I use to love it, but this time I couldn't even finish it. It was butter pecan. My taste buds have totally changed. We went to blockbuster on our way home and got the movie Hide and Seek. That was pretty good but Josh knew everything 20 minutes into the movie. He always figures movies out.

Saturday morning we woke up and took the youth group to Lake Medina. Brent took his boat out for us. He made several trips for all of us to be able to go on the boat. We anchored his boat in the water when he found a place that we could go swimming at. The last time I went in the lake to swim was when Josh and I first met and he took me to Lake Waxahachie. That was not very pleasent. There was creepy crawly things and seaweed and junk going up my legs. I did not like it at all. Me, being a Jersey shore girl and going in the ocean all the time with sand and crabs and shells, was not use to all this lake stuff. I'd rather swim in the ocean than a lake any time. Although, I must say that this lake was much more nice than Lake Waxahachie. I did like swimming in this one. Brent also took everyone tubing but obviously I didn't go. I just video taped Josh and Isaac when they both went. It looked like a lot of fun, but I don't think the baby would have enjoyed all that bouncing around. We ate sandwiches and hot dogs and played volley ball for part of the day too. All in all, it was a nice day. We got home around 7:30 and was pooped! We came home and went to bed.

Sunday morning is quite the obvious one, got up and went to church. After church the youth had a servant sale (aka Slave Auction) but some people thought it would be politically correct if we called it something different so there a "Servant Sale". Anyways, the youth raised about $700 for Speed the Light. That is some more money we can put towards our goal. Went to double dave's for pizza, came home and cleaned part of the house, and then went to church all over again. That is it! Now, I am sitting in front of my computer at work, procrastinating to get to work because I need a day of rest from my weekend. Gotta go work now. Write more later.

Went to the Doctor's

I had to go to the doctor's yesterday due to the fact that I was running a fever a couple of days in a row. I am feeling better now, but for a couple of days there I was feeling really bad. The doctor told me that there was a virus going around and that I probably was experiencing a little of that. Well, hopefully I won't get any more fevers. It is a bummer feeling like your head is just going to explode. While we were there at the doctor's we got to hear the heartbeat again. It was beating at 149. That little baby is pumping really fast in there. Hopefully, by the 16th we will be able to see what the little baby is going to be. Time is going by fast but I think since we found out so early on that it feels as though it is going a little slower. I guess I am just anxious. Well, onto another subject...this weekend on Saturday, we are taking the youth to Medina Lake. We have two people in our church that offered to take their boats out for all the youth to use. I don't know if I will be doing much of the water stuff because of my stomach but I will be hopefully catching up on some sun rays on the side lines watching everyone. It should be fun. Hopefully the weather holds out for us too. Gotta go catch up on some filing and grab some lunch. I plan on eating Chili from Wendy's today with the hot sauce. Mmmmmmmm I love spicy food. Okay, talk to ya later.

AUGUST 15TH!

On August 15th we go for our 14 week check up and our doctor said that we are going to try and see if we can find out what the little bean is inside. We are very excited. Josh and I really don't care what we have, but I do know that I would like a boy sometime. I grew up having a sister and I always wondered what it would be like to have a big or little brother. Whatever God gives us is more than we can imagine!

Footsies

I found this really cute image on the internet today while I was checking in on my daily updates of the development of the baby. I thought this was so precious. I can't wait till I am able to do that with my little bean!

A new week

This past week and weekend was pretty busy. We had Michael and his youth group in town doing a ministry tour. They did a great job! I had fun being able to hang out a little bit with Lacey too (Josh's sister). We don't get to see them too often beings that we live in San Antonio and they all live in Houston. Sometimes I wish we could just pack up our things and move to where family is. It is very frustrating sometimes. I guess God is trying to teach us something while we are here in San Antonio for the time. Well, Sunday was quite embarassing. Before I tell you about that, I need to build the story for you. Friday Josh wakes up in the morning and works all day. Friday night we have a lock in for the youth. So therefore Josh is up all day and all night into Saturday. Saturday he has to attend this men's breakfast for the church. So he couldn't go home and rest. Saturday afternoon after the men's breakfast he had to work on Isaac's car because it had been broken down in the HEB parking lot since last Tuesday. So Josh is working outside under the car in the hot air meanwhile hasn't had any sleep. Then after he gets the car fixed he has about an hour to do whatever then he has to go back up to the church to unload chairs and put them up on the balcony. Heavy chairs with no sleep! Not a good thing. Saturday night after that was all said and done he came home and I made him a salad to eat. He said he didn't want anything greasy and that a salad sounded good to him. While he was waiting for the salad he ate some chips and green sauce. I tasted the green sauce and it didn't taste good to me. He said it tasted fine to him. Saturday night-Sunday morning around 4:00am he woke me saying that he was throwing up. He had it bad on both ends. So from 4:00 to about 8:30 we were up on and off. I told him that I thought that he needed to stay home from church because he looked and felt so bad. He was running a temperature of 102! That is a good enough reason to stay home and relax and get better. Anyways, getting back to embarassing...I went to church. I ran out of the house with only drinking a cup of juice. I need to eat some sort of breakfast or else my sugar will drop really low due to hypoglocemic. So I am up on stage singing in the praise team and about the 3rd song in I started feeling really funny. I had to stop singing and only lip sing. It doesn't matter that I do that because you can't hear me anyways when I am singing so I played it cool for awhile and then about the 6th song (which there were 8 and no way would I have made it) everything started going black. It was like I was in a tunnel. I started sweating really bad and getting very very shakey to the point where I couldn't stand up or hold the microphone any more, so I did what I could and put the microphone down and got off stage. At that point I went out into the hallway and leaned over and basically fell into the wall. A lady that is a nurse at our church ran out to see if I was okay. She said she could see my colors changing when I was onstage. She quick got me some juice and cookies from the nursery. There were 3 ladies that came out of service to see if I was okay. That felt good to know that people care enough to come see if I was okay. After that I felt better. I told Janet after service that I was sorry for just getting off stage and she said she didn't even notice. Hmm. Well, it was quite embarassing for me. I seriously thought that I was going to pass out. I may have to step down for a little bit. We'll see. Anyways, what a long weekend. After church I came home and just layed around all day and all night. It felt so good to just relax and not have anything to worry about.

I'm Back

My weekend was great! It was a long one too but it wasn't long enough. Saturday morning I woke up and drove to the DFW airport to pick up my parents. It has been since the day of our wedding which was December 11th since I saw my parents. I talk to them everyday but not being able to see them was pretty hard. Kinda frustrating but we will get through it. Anyways, we met up with my Aunt Dora and Uncle George for dinner at Don Pablos. It was pretty good. Then we went back to my aunt and uncle's house and my mom did my aunt's and my hair. Oh man did I need a coloring bad! Now, it will be good for a little bit. We stayed there until about 1:30am! We had fun just hanging out talking and doing nothing really. Mom, Dad, and I went back to the hotel and went to bed. We woke up the next morning and went to church. Then after church we had to pick Aunt Dora and Uncle George up for their surprise 50th Anniversary party. I got to see all of my cousins and family that don't get to see often. It always makes for interesting conversations. After we were done with the party we went back to my aunt's house and waited until it was time to go get Josh. Josh was able to get off a couple of days and get a cheap flight to come and see my parents too. The next day we woke up and went to Waxahachie to look at some house and property for my parents. They are thinking about moving down here. That made for an eventful day too. Anyways, had to say goodbye to my parents on Tuesday. That was kinda sad. I know I will be able to see them at Christmas time but that is 5 months away! Not cool.

Tuesday night, on our way back to San Antonio, we stopped by to visit Cary and Melissa and baby Carson. That was nice. We ate hot wings for dinner. That is always a plus with me. Ever since I have been pregnant spicy foods are number one on my list. I got to hold Carson for a little bit. He was so cute. He was making these little sounds like he was trying to say something and then smiling really big when I would talk back to him. Just seeing him made Josh and I more excited about what our baby was going to look and act like. Anyways, we left there and made it home around 10:30pm. I did not like the fact that I had to wake up for work today, but life goes on!

Tonight, we have Josh's brother and his youth group coming into town for a ministry tour so that should be nice. Although Michael and Melissa will be staying at our house and I haven't even unpacked since two weekends ago so you can just imagine what it looks like! Oh well, I have had no time. Well, I have got to get back to work considering it is piled high since I was out for 2 days. Talk to ya soon.

And again FREE MARTHA! 

The rest of the gang gettin ready for the boat ride! 

Our Men! Jenny's Matt and My Josh.  

Jenny and I gettin ready to go for a boat ride. It was fast and we got to stay pretty dry. Thank goodness! 

Aunt Pam, Lacey, and Happy having fun in the water. 

Inside joke. We stayed at a house that was owned by a Martha not the Martha Stewart but she was just as crazy. 

New Ticker

Josh felt left out when he saw that I didn't have a ticker up on the blog for him too so that is why there is one for him now. Hope everyone is having a good day. I will try and write more later. It is kinda busy here at work now.

These walks are killin me!

This looks exactly how I feel today. So sleepy! I need a vacation after my mini vacation. We had a blast in Port Bolivia. It was a little island type place right off of Galveston. We took a ferry over to it. There was 19 of us total in the house that Hap and Meme got for us. It was so nice of them to do that so that we could all spend time as a family. I really married into a great family. I enjoy all the cousins being around my age and we all get along great. I just wish that we lived closer to everyone that way we could see more of each other. There are so many things to tell but I will have to update later with the pictures because I am at work now and can't get the pictures on here plus I am somewhat busy today. I will try and write more later.

Rough morning

Well, I'm not sure if it really was morning sickness or if it was a freak thing, but this morning I finally threw up! I'm sure everyone wants to know and that is why I am sharing it with y'all. J/K It was not a good feeling at all. I felt sick when I was in the shower, but I tried to ignore it. I always try to ignore it because sometimes it really works. But this time it didn't. After I was done brushing my teeth, my mouth started to water a bunch. I got so much saliva. I didn't know where it all came from. I started to take my hair down from the towel and then it hit me. I quick went into the bathroom and threw the toilet seat back. Oh yeah then it came out. Except there wasn't any hard food, it was a liquid. Afterwards, I felt better, but now that I am sitting in my office I feel like crap again. I hope I don't need to run to the bathroom today. First of all, the bathroom is so far away from my office and second you need a key to get into it, so I would have to be trying to get the key to open it. Oh man, this day didn't start off so good and not to mention we have a four hour car ride a head of us when I get off work. Not gonna be fun. Okay, well I am gonna go work now or at least try to. Talk to ya later.

Here comes another wave

Okay. Just got another wave of sickness splash on in. Man, these feelings hit really quick. No sign that it was coming. I can't wait for this day to be over! Then I can go home and try and relax for a bit, make dinner, wash clothes, and pack for this weekend.

Dunkin Donuts!!!!

I finally found a Dunkin Donuts in this crazy city. Okay, you know what is the worst feeling is that when you are pregnant and get cravings you can't fulfill because you can only get your cravings from the other side of the country. Everyone knows that I am a Jersey girl and I love my good ol' New Jersey food. I have had cravings for an everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese from Dunkin Donuts forever and I haven't been able to find one anywhere. Well, I finally got smart and looked it up on the internet. There is one that is about 20 minutes from our house. I can't wait to go there and get an everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese and a coffee coolata!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yum. Now, all I need is a slice of good ol' Italian pizza from Anthony's and my favorite sandwich from Broadway Grill. This sandwich is to die for. It is roasted bell peppers, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, and some kind of meat that I forget the name of topped with Balsamic vinegar on French bread. Oh man what I would do for that sandwich. I would fly up to NJ just to get that food and then come back. NJ has the best Seafood and Italian food. They don't have all these Mexican restaurants but you kinda forget about Mexican food when you have all that other stuff. Okay, well now that I am starving and it is only 10:00am, I guess I am gonna get back to work.

Awww

Too many of these pics are coming to me and I can't go without posting them. They are soooo cute. That is so cute the little baby fawn and the big dog taking care of it.

This is too cute to pass up!

I thought I would share this with everyone. It was an image in an email that I got this morning. So cute.

Ticker Addiction

I think I am addicted to tickers. I could go on and on!

Only Tuesday!

Good grief. This week is going very slow. It is because I am excited about this weekend and the following weekend. I get to see all my in-laws this weekend at a beach house that they rented in Galveston and then the following weekend I get to see my parents. This weekend Josh has asked if he could have Sunday off! Yeah, to that. So, we will be leaving Friday when I get out of work and then won't be getting back until Sunday night. We are going to a place called Crystal Cove. All I know is it is somewhere down by Galveston. That should be nice to go and relax by the ocean. We are gonna go fishing too. How exciting! I love fishing. I love eating them! Yum. It's gonna be fun with all the girls there Lacey, Jenny, Jill, Lindsey, Hannah, Melissa, Danielle, Aunt Janet, Aunt Pam, and Me me. Me me is Josh's grandmother. It doesn't stand for me, but I will be there too. Ha ha. Then after we leave on Sunday, Lacey is coming back with us to visit for a couple of days. She will be able to go to the doctor's with us on Tuesday. That is the day that we get to hear the first heart beat. It's gonna be so exciting. I hope we will be able to see some of the features too from the baby. It's probably gonna still be too small to see that kind of stuff. Anyways, that will be fun. Onto the next weekend. My parents are flying into the DFW airport and I will be picking them up. Yeah! I haven't seen my family since December before Christmas! That is just way too long. I talk to them everyday but still it just isn't the same. So, Sunday we are going to my Aunt Dora and Uncle George's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Wow, that is such a long time. Josh and I have only been married for 7 months. Compare that to FIFTY Years. There is no comparison. I hope we live that long to see 50 years. After the party on Monday, Josh is flying in and then we are all gonna drive to Waxahachie. My parents want to check out some property up there. They really like that area and would like to eventually move there. So, that will be fun. Then Tuesday Josh and I have to leave to drive back. BOOOOO. I have to be at work on Wednesday and so does he. The next couple of weekends are going to be packed with fun-filled stuff to do! Got to go to work now but talk to ya later.

Josh went to go to the bathroom and this little lizard was running around in there. So, guess who had to come and get it out because someone else is a little chicken? Me, alicia. My husband is afraid so I have to do the removing of bugs and animals in our house.  

Back to Work

What a nice weekend it was. Josh and I went to Olive Garden on Friday night. It was so yummy. I couldn't stop eating the salad. Our waitress was really nice too. She was really excited for us. It was cute. When we first sat down she offered us a glass of wine. I politely said "no thanks, I'm pregnant". It was funny cause I guess she didn't hear me say that I was pregnant. She continued to tell us about all the other drinks. Josh finally said it again louder that I was pregnant. The girl was sorry. She was really cute. She made sure that everything was going good for us. The food, service, and atmosphere were all excellent. It was a new Olive Garden. The location was great. Saturday, we stayed in bed for a good portion of the morning. Then I made breakfast for the both of us in bed. I made omlettes and waffles and we had juice to drink. It was great. Then we got up and did a bunch of nothing around the house. Then later that evening we went to Lowe's and bought ourselves a ceiling fan with a light fixture. It feels great to have a ceiling fan now. Sidney was cute. She kept trying to follow it with her eyes so her head was going around and around. It's cute how dogs notice things. Then we watched the rest of Live 8. Pink Floyd played all together. David Gilmore sounded just like he did when they first released their album. They are amazing. They played "Wish you were here", "Comfortably numb", and couple of others. It was great. I loved being able to watch them. Coldplay was great too as always. I hope they put it on DVD. Sunday we had a celebrate America service. It was pretty good. They played a couple of videos. The one thing that I would have liked to have seen added that they didn't really emphasize was 9/11. It's like they almost forgot it. I know that day made a huge impact in my life especially since I am from that area. It just kinda bothered me that they didn't include much of that. Anyways, afterwards they had a BBQ with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, and lemonade. It was pretty good. The clean up was hot having to break down everything in that heat. I thought I was going to hurl and die. After churh we went home and laid under our new ceiling fan and fell asleep. Then we woke up and went to blockbuster and rented a movie. Monday morning Josh left for camp again but this time with all the kids in youth. The rest of the day I went shopping. I can totally tell that I am moving up on the size chart. My hips have expanded a lot. I guess they are getting themselves prepared for pushing a baby out. Oh yeah and my belly is a little bit more noticeable. I have decided that my body is different than those around me that have been pregnant. They keep telling me you aren't suppose to show until the 3rd or 4th month well guess what it is starting to show in the second. What can I do! I haven't changed my eating habits, it is just happening. Anyways, after shopping I came home and collapsed. I felt like my back had been through a twister. It hurt so bad. I made myself some dinner and shared it with my furbabies, watched a little tv, and then went to bed. I didn't want to get up this morning at all and neither did Sidney. She slept with me all night and she herself was a little restless too. Bailey was out and then ready to go this morning. I love my dogs. They are great companions. Well, I must proceed to work and get ready for the rest of this week. Pray that I can get through this next week without having Josh around. I mean I know I can do it on my own but I miss having him around. It gets lonely here in San Antonio with no friends or family to hang out. Talk to ya soon again.