Posin' with the BUMP sign....

If there is one constant in Michigan during the summer, it's there will undoubtedly be road construction everywhere! You often hear Michiganders say that there are 2 seasons in Michigan.... winter & construction! It is so very true.

Jason & I pass this bump sign each day when we leave our house, so I decided it was time to pose for a picture with the sign. I got a bit of grumbling from Jason, my trusty photographer, since we had to block the flow of traffic. But it's worth it - after all, I thought this would make a great pic for the blog & scrapbook! Here is my "bump" with the BUMP sign :-)

Posin' with the BUMP sign, 17 wks & 4 days

17 weeks pregnant & making room for Baby Jones!

Here's my 17 week picture - you may notice something a bit different about me. My hair was growing SO FAST and it was becoming impossible to keep up with highlight maintenance. So today I decided to go back to my natural color.... looks different, right? :-)

Jason and I (OK, mostly Jason) did a lot of work this past weekend to make room for Baby Jones. We moved our office to the basement, moved the guest room to the former office & began setting up the nursery in the old guest room. The office transition went smoothly - the only mishap occurred when I attempted to help Jason carry a VERY LIGHTWEIGHT desk down the steps, and more or less dropped it on the 3rd stair. Having learned the lesson that I have no business picking up anything heavier than a toothpick, Jason called in some help for the rest of the moving. Our landlord's son, Brent & Jason's co-worker, Rob helped with the rest (thanks, guys!!)

When we moved the guest room into the old office, we quickly realized that the room was a bit smaller. So apologies in advance, guests - your quarters will not be very roomy, but baby comes first! :-) With the former guest room empty, we, I mean Jason, was able to start putting the baby furniture together. He started with the glider/ottoman, which only took a few minutes. The crib was a different story..... 2 hours later, and a bit of grumbling & throwing things around, we had a beautiful cherry crib. And the final piece was the changing table, which compared to the crib was a breeze.

What was I doing all of this time? After organizing the new office area, I decided to document the nursery building process with pictures. Now Baby Jones can one day see just how much work his/her Daddy went through for his/her nursery. I took a lot of pictures, but below are the highlights. Enjoy! :-)

Jason said the crib instructions read like "Chinese Algebra" :-)

Putting the finishing touches on the crib

Posin' with the final product :-)

Now time to work on the changing table....

And again with the finished product ... not smiling though

Someone was EXHAUSTED!!!

Jason worked hard for MANY hours & made sure that all of the pieces and parts were secure and safe. We now have the furniture in place, so once we find out if Baby Jones is a boy or girl we can begin the fun part....... decorating! Thanks for your hard work, sweetie, but I'll take it from here :-)

We have a boy name, but what if Baby Jones is a girl???

Jason and I have selected a boy name, but we need some help in case Baby Jones is a girl. Please visit our poll and vote for your favorites (you can also choose a "thumbs down" for any name you dislike). Thanks in advance for helping us out - I'll be sure to post the "winners" soon!

You can find the poll at: http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9713351

16 weeks pregnant...

Here's a pic of me at 16 weeks:

August Monthly Prenatal Check-up

Jason & I visited my doctor this morning for our monthly prenatal check-up. I am 16 weeks pregnant today & still have not gained any weight... I've actually lost 1/2 pound! I guess I should be enjoying this because the pounds will surely start to pack on later in the pregnancy. My doctor said she was not concerned at all by the lack of weight gain and still attributes it to my eating better/less.

We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was strong and the doctor said it was beating at 140-150 beats/minute. I also did some blood work to test for down's syndrome, spina bifida and cystic fibrosis. We won't get the results of those tests for at least a week - please say a prayer that everything comes back fine.

In more exciting news, we scheduled our ultrasound to determine whether the baby is a BOY or a GIRL!!! We are going back to the doctor on Friday August 28th at 8:00am .... as long as "Baby Jones" cooperates we should have some big news to report in a little over 2 weeks!

Do you think Baby Jones is a BOY or a GIRL???

I am DYING to know the sex of our baby, so I thought I'd put together a little game to pass the time until we find out (which should be in a few more weeks - CAN'T WAIT!!!)

Post a comment below, and let me know if you think Baby Jones is a boy or a girl..... for those that believe in the Old Wive tales, I've answered a few questions below that may (or may not) help you make a choice.

I am carrying all of my weight out front
I had morning sickness during my 1st trimester
When I have a craving, it's usually for something sweet, like fruit or ice cream
My pillow faces south
I don't like the heel of the bread, but I am loving some orange juice
The month of our conception was even (April)
My feet are no colder than before (if anything, they are hotter)
My hair is growing A LOT faster (my roots needed retouching at 3 weeks, aaahhh!)

Let the guessing begin!!!

15 week update

Other than my ever-expanding belly, there's not much else to report on the pregnancy scene. My appetite has improved dramatically & I seem to be getting some of my energy back. I've had some back pain, especially after standing on my feet teaching. But I've always had some back issues (thanks to 7 1/2 years of hauling trays at Red Lobster!) so I'm not too concerned. I am also still peeing constantly, which can be frustrating when I am teaching math class or trying to sleep. All in all, the second trimester seems to be running smoothly. Let's hope it continues this way!

We have our next doctor's appointment on Monday, August 10th at 9am and are excited to get an update on how Baby Jones is doing. We should also be able to schedule the "sex determination" ultrasound at our next appointment....within the next few weeks we should know if Baby Jones is a BOY or GIRL!! We can't wait to find out, and are anxious to share the news with all of our family & friends.




Here's a shot of me at 15 weeks: