Baby Clymer: 32 Weeks Old

The end is near! Less than two months to go before baby Clymer is here with us. Pregnancy has been a smooth ride so far but I'm not quite as comfortable as the first two trimesters. The baby has wedged his/herself into my right rib cage so that it is daily pain. It's not unbearable, but definitely uncomfortable. I remember the early pregnancy days when I would wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and be surprised at my belly and have the "oh yeah, I'm pregnant" realization. Now it feels like I've been pregnant forever! It has been a fun time and mostly stress and pain free, so I feel blessed for that.

I am afraid for childbirth, which I hear all kinds of horrible stories about. I think just the physics of childbirth scares me. I know it's the unknown that's scary, really. I know everything will be fine though.. women have been having babies since the world began, so I can do it, right? :) Tim and I are taking a childbirth class on Saturday, so hopefully that will relieve a lot of fears too. I keep reminding myself that it will only be (hopefully) one painful day, and then it will be over, and we will have a baby!

All of the getting ready for the baby has helped me to stay upbeat and excited. I love the baby room! It is two shades of green with a beautiful tree on the wall. I feel so good every time I'm in there - I'd like to move in! I hope it is cheerful for the baby too. Who knows, maybe his/her favorite color will be green like mine :). I am really grateful for how much my family has helped us get ready. My mom has done all of the painting and crafty detail-work to make the nursery so cute. Tim has been indispensable with picking up the slack for me since I'm tired more often and can't do all that I could before the pregnancy. He rolled all of the baby walls twice and has done all the yard work for 6+ months! This is also impressive because it's been his first Texas summer with several weeks above 100 degrees and no rain. He is a trooper and I am lucky. The rest of the family has been great with feeding us and helping get other parts of the house in order. At the end of this month, I will be starting my "housewife/stay-at-home mom" duties. This should give me one month to get the house whipped into shape :). I don't know, I'm beginning to think that never really happens in life! Surely it won't after kids :)

Well, just wanted to update everyone on my/our current state of mind and excitement. Next week I should have a great post because it will be our final ultrasound and last view of the baby on the inside - I can't wait!

Baby Clymer: 18 Weeks Old

Baby is the size of a: Mango

We had our second ultrasound this afternoon. It was so exciting! We got to see our developed baby for the first time. It was very magical seeing arms and legs, fingers, toes, even a yawn! It is so amazing how a baby grows. Ours is healthy and active, never staying still! The baby is 9 ounces, which is the exact weight it should be. We are 18 weeks, 3 days today and so happy to have seen our baby :) (and we're not finding out the sex, so you can be surprised with us :) )

Baby Clymer: 15 Weeks Old

Baby is the size of: Navel Orange

Well it's time to pick up the ol' blog again because so much is happening and we want to keep all of our friends and family up to date. In the past six months, we have moved to Houston, bought a house in Waller, TX, 35 miles north of Houston, and now we're expecting a baby! We like to squeeze all of the major life events into a year if possible:). The past five months have been filled with lots of house and yard work. The house we bought was a spec house and did not have any landscaping done. With the help of our friends Summer and Kirby, we hydroseeded (blue spray-on grass you see on the highway) our lawn and got a sprinkler system in. With the help of my mom, we got flowerbeds put in all around the house. It still looks a little bare, but everything is in place to be beautiful some day.

OK, but the big news is the BABY! We started trying to get pregnant at the beginning of the year and by the end of February, found out it worked! We actually found out the weekend Tim's parents were in town to visit. I took a pee test and got two lines instead of one, which is positive! We decided to hold off on telling anyone until after our first doctor's appointment to make sure and to get further along too. OK, we did share the secret with our friends Corrie and John because Corrie is also pregnant, due in October. I decided that if it was going to be a secret, I at least had to talk to one person to go through this with me. And no offense to Tim, but knowing I have a baby in me is such a crazy, weird thing to me.. and I needed a like mind to bounce things off of:).

The first doctor's appointment was amazing! I was so sad Tim was out of town because I got to do an ultrasound, which I had no idea about. They do it early on to measure the baby. By doing this, they can determine the date of conception, and therefore, the most accurate date of delivery. When I went to the doctor, I wasn't sure what I would hear from them because I had zero symptoms of being pregnant, aside from missing my period. I have been so lucky to not have any sickness at all, even until week 14 where I am now.

We went to our second doctor's appointment at the end of April (on Allison's birthday actually) and I wasn't sure what to expect then because I didn't feel pregnant at all and wasn't showing at all. I was glad to find out I was still pregnant, and even cooler -- we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! I was pretty surprised because of where they used the doppler device. It was waaay lower than I expected the baby to be. But if I think about my uterus.. that is where it is located.. so I guess that makes sense. They say that in the next month or two, my uterus will begin to rotate to point out, I believe, and that is when I will start to show.

Well, just this week, I am starting to feel slightly bigger below the belly button. It is very minimal, but I read something that said your baby bump is firm feeling, not just pudgy fat. I had gotten a little pudge around the belly button (probably because I'm eating so much), but didn't look pregnant in my opinion. I know I've been at least a little bigger though because only three pairs of pants fit me still.

Another thing that's new: The doctor told me at my last appointment that I may get some sharp pains in my uterus as the ligaments around it are stretching to adjust to its growth and movement. I think I felt the first of those this morning when I was working out with my aunt. Something definitely felt sharp, but not unbearable. It felt like cramping in the area but with sharp pain too. It went away, like she said it would, and I've felt a few of these little pains throughout the day. This is exciting because it means the baby is getting bigger and I'm going to be showing soon! People say be grateful for not showing, it will come, etc, but it's hard for me to feel pregnant when I haven't been feeling physically different... so really I'm welcoming any changes right now. I know it will come with time, but I'm getting excited as I can feel things changing, and really this is the first change.

I'll keep you all posted on our progress and all the other things going on with us. Hopefully on a frequent basis again! We'd love to hear from everyone too, so please comment!

Uncle Dave and Aunt Christine Get Five Stars!!!

OK, for real. This is the last last blog on the road trip. Thank you to all that have followed us!

Uncle Dave has religiously followed our blog and I have done a poor job wrapping things up. He has been sitting on pins and needles waiting for his review... and the verdict is five stars! OK, it may not have been the absolute most amazing stop of our destination, but spending time with family (especially Aunt Christine and Uncle Dave) warrants the addition of more stars.

We arrived that afternoon in Stephenville, The Cowboy Capitol of Texas (and the home of Aunt Christine and Uncle Dave). After getting turned around one last time by Lori, we reached our destination. The ranch (their home) is situated on the top of a hill and overlooks a lot of the county. There is a train track down below where we used to deface pennies as kids, and there are cows that roam the property, and occasionally and emu (ok, that only happened once, and man was it fun to chase). I hadn't been to the ranch in probably five years, due to all of the "living out of state" stuff I was doing. Aunt Christine and Uncle Dave weren't living out there full-time yet, and I had heard that they put in a few upgrades. Well, the house looks totally different, and in a good way. There are beautiful hardwood floors, color on the walls, new countertops, and a state of the art "man shed" in the back for all of Uncle Dave's hobbies. After touring that, I think Tim has plans in mind for his own... It is a very nice home and I'm glad that Uncle Dave (and soon to be Aunt Christine) gets to enjoy his retirement out there. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, good conversation, and Roy Orbison on Uncle Dave's new HD TV. It was quite the treat.

We have really enjoyed the drives through the countryside. There is something very peaceful and simple about it. One of my favorite things about home is round hay bales in a field. I remember playing on them as a kid.. and all of the simple things that could keep us entertained for hours. I think Tim and I are hoping to have those simple joys when we settle into our next home.

Texas Our Texas.

Well, as most of you have guessed, we've been in Texas for quite some time now... not eternally stalled in New Orleans as our blog would suggest. This is the final post to wrap up our trip.

We left Ruston around lunchtime, said goodbye to our friends, and made for the Texas border. We knew we were getting close when we saw the biggest tires ever (everything's bigger in Texas, remember?:)). Not on a truck, as some might think, but being carried by a semi. Seriously, two people could have lived in one of these tires and been perfectly cozy. Shortly after the tire spotting, we reached the Texas border. We had to get out for a picture (above) and some maps. It was a very big and nice visitor center. We expected the ladies at the counter to be the darned nicest people in Texas, but they weren't. They were nice enough I suppose, and gave us maps, and welcomed us to Texas. Maybe we were expecting a party?:)

Oh well, it was back to the road and on to Burleson to stay with my cousin Anna, her husband Steve, and boys Owen and Ben. We pulled in a little before dinner and got to meet my newest little cousin Ben. This kid has HUGE brown hair. He's only six months old, and they've had to cut his hair twice. He's got the biggest eyes and these little chubby cheeks - I dubbed him the Precious Moments doll. We spent the evening talking and playing with Owen, who loves his truck! He's very cute. I'm excited about being here to get to see my cousins and aunts and uncles more. Unfortunately when you live out of state and the extended family is spread out, you rarely get to see them. That's one thing that's nice about Tim's family, they all live close to each other, for the most part. After our enchilada dinner, we turned in for a night on the comfiest pull-out sofa I've ever slept on.

We began the next day with a nice breakfast and some play time outside with Owen. Around 11, we hit the road for Grandma's. We arrived at 11:30, just in time for lunch at "the home". Now when you think of a retirement home, I know cute doesn't come to mind, but my grandma's place is cute, seriously! It is a gated community with little red brick houses. Grandma lives there and has everything one person could need, and then some. She eats all of her meals up at "the building", which is a restaurant and community center type place. This is the place where I played bingo and went swimming as a kid. The food was tasty. We had a lot to choose from and it all was great. We visited a bit more with Grandma and then it was off to... Stephenville!

Almost there!

We deviated from the logical path to Houston to visit friends in Ruston, LA and family in Ft. Worth, TX. It was well worth it! From New Orleans, we headed north to Ruston where our friends Paul and Emily live. Tim and Paul grew up together and went on their first road trip together, where Tim and I met! So it was special to meet up with Paul near the end of our trip and the guys could compare stories. It think our trip was a little cushier than the guys first trip. Hey, I'm not complaining:).

Paul and Emily live in a cute little apartment close to where Paul is finishing up his doctorate. Emily is working for a church nearby and her friends there had been asking her to come to a high school football game for some time. This was the last of the season, so we all headed out to the last football game of the season for West Oachita High School. While the game was less-than-victorious, the fans were great, and I was quickly reminded of what a Southern accent should sound like. We rounded out our evening with a bite at Bennigan's and a great night's sleep.

New Orleans

After our day in Destin we packed up, assessed our sunburns, and headed towards New Orleans. It got cloudier as we got there, so we decided to stay in a hotel for the night. The problem was, our laptop had been acting up (read: randomly freezing), so we weren't sure if it'd behave long enough for us to get a room booked. Thankfully on our way we found some free wifi (thank you Mississippi rest stop!) and the laptop behaved for long enough for us to get a room booked for the evening. That secured, we made our way to the Bon Ton Cafe in downtown New Orleans for some dinner. Again, it was recommended by our Road Food book and marked as a deal with entrees under $10 (this is important for later). So we got there and parked downtown without much incident and made our way to the restaurant with me in shorts and a tshirt and Katherine in capris and a tank top. When we arrived at the restaurant, we noticed cloth napkins on the tables and a dark quiet atmosphere and a sign on the door that said "Proper dress required". Uh oh. So we went in anyways and were greeted by what we figured was the manager. Katherine asked, "So, what sort of dress is required?". "Oh, business casual", the manager answered, then stated, "I'd say you're casual, so come on in". The restaurant was fairly empty at this point, and the current patrons were mostly in khakis and button down shirt attire. We looked at the menu and found that while perhaps you could order an appetizer for under $10, there was no way that entrees were that inexpensive. I felt a bit uncomfortable in my blue tshirt with Texas logos and tried to scoot under the table to hide the fact that I was wearing shorts. I sat up extra straight and put on my best manners to try to pull off the "well cultured person who is too cool for dress codes" look. The staff was all very kind, though I did hear someone talk to the manager and heard something like him defending us saying "Well, the dress code is business casual and they are dressed casually", heh. Our waitress came and took our order, with Katherine ordering Red Fish Bon Ton and me ordering the Crawfish dinner. It was all excellent, and I got to try 4 new dishes in a night with my order. All dress-related awkwardness aside, I'd have to say it was the best restaurant-cooked meal of the trip. We finished dinner with their excellent bread pudding with whiskey sauce then conspicuously made our way out of the restaurant and to our car. With no ticket on the car, we were happy campers and made our way to the hotel for the night.