Perfect Saturday

Christine’s couples shower was Saturday night, so Saturday morning I ran around town getting gifts and food and running other errands.

*I went to BBB and had my 20% off coupons, so I saved lots on the gifts (i guess this is pretty ghetto to include since Christine will read this). That's alright, she likes to save money, too.

*While they were getting wraped, walked over to shoe carnival to see if I could find some pink flip flops to match my dress and they had a sidewalk sale. I found some for $8!!! With the same colors as my dress-if you saw these you wouldn’t believe it-like hot pink, red, orange (probably why they were on sale).

*On the way back to BBB I saw old navy was selling flip flops for $1! Yes, $1…apparently all the big feet people had already been there, though, but I did get a pair of brown. Paid cash, $1.09…fancy. So far, it’s a great day!

*I head to party city to pick up some chafing dish ½ pans for my food. 50 cents…perfect. *Steven calls me while in the store-great news-the guy who won the ebay auction for the durango we were bidding on went to pick it up and saw a newer model and bought that one instead. We have 24 hrs to decide if we still want it! YAY! He calls him immediately to make the deal. The plan is to go Sunday to Gulfport, MS to pick it up.
*Head to Verizon-switch out my booty phone to steven’s old phone…and she doesn’t even charge me the $20 fee (good, because little did I know I’d soon be super-broke). H

*Head to walmart for last minute stuff and home to cook. Steven is great-he helps me cook and with the couples shower “game.” Like the newlywed game…he typed up and printed the answers.

*The shower was pretty cool-nina’s aunts house is beautiful. Oh, it’s a “Mexican fiests” theme and so steven and clyde dress as mexiCAN’Ts…khaki dickies with black dickies shirts, bandanas and sunglasses…fricken’ hilarious. (Steven is so much better at ghetto than clyde by the way). Clyde chickened out when we got there because everyone was dressed pretty nice but steven stayed in costume ALL night-sunglasses and all. One of shaun’s aunts thought he was blind:) Said, "awww that poor boy…but he gets around so good." HA! Pics below. I got so many complements on how good I looked, it was nice..i mean, I know that means, “you look good for being prego—i.e. wow, you’re not getting fat all over” but I’ll take it anyway. Christine’s mom was weirded out that I wasn’t drinking. She’s used to me being the “party girl.” I kind of like that reputation. But I did good…we even went out after and I drove all the drunk sleeping people back to BR at 2am. Got praised on how I didn’t complain. Love it.

Me and Ally

Ally and Ktay

Ktay and Shrek, er-Sam

Add a little Nina!

Chillin'

Ever seen such a blue-eyed Mexican?

How many times can you say, "Vato" and "Holmes" in one night?

At least I didn't kick him.

Some bridesmaids

Dora & Diego all grown up!

Practicing for the wedding day. Awwwww!

Big Tease

Had a great, fun and exciting weekend! So much to write about and show you, but I'm so tired:( And tomorrow, i'll be at work and can't access blogger! ARG! Oh, plus I'll be busy with the bank finalizing my new car financing. That's right!

Election Time (Fixed it)

Dear Boo Boo,

Daddy always kisses me in the morning before he leaves for work. Well, yesterday, he kissed you too! It was the sweetest thing :@) I was wondering when he'd start loving on you. Men are just more visual creatures I guess, and since my belly is growing, you are getting more and more real.
I was hoping this would start a tradition, so (being the sneaky girl that i am) this morning I turned on my back so he could reach, but no dice! Oh well, there's always tomorrow. I'd kiss you, but I can't bend that way:)

Oh and last Saturday after we went to the baby store we ate chinese. Daddy's fortune said, "A beautiful, smart and loving person will be coming into you life." Pretty fitting, huh? (And yes, it said "you" life, not your...comical, i know.)

It may look like a boy...

But buyers beware...better stick to the green, yellow and white. I've heard MANY stories about people thinking it's one thing and being another. Steven is one just one example-Doctors said he was a girl and look how that turned out:) That could be umbillical cord or swollen girl parts or the fluid making a funny shadow.

Either way, I'll be happy!

Finally going to say it...

I felt the baby! I think I did at the end of my 19th week, actually. Felt like my uterus just jumped or twitched. Then at 20 weeks I felt something else that I can't really explain. But today! Today was awesome! I was at walmart and felt my stomach and it was hard in this one spot so I kept pushing on it. Then it moved! Like it didn't want to be poked anymore:) Very cool. I still can't find whatever i was feeling-must be hiding out from the pokers.
~~~
Saturday was pretty unproductive at the baby store. I attempted to register at The Baby's Room in NO, but the carseat that I want is $170, when at cullens it is $100!?! So I got them to check on prices for the other stuff we found there and she really couldn’t do it. Apparently they were having “pricing issues.” Yeah, I called her on them and she was figuring out what she could do for me. Hmpf! She gave me ballpark figures and they were all about $20-30 more-which is reasonable since it would cost that in gas to get to BR. On the other hand, Steven found a “Twilight Turtle” that projected stars on the ceiling that he had to have-it was cute. I'm pretty sure he wants it for himself, though and not the baby. They were supposed to call me today with real prices then I would decide if I want to keep the registry there… It’s crappy, though, in order to get it in store for shower time I’d have to pay a deposit that’s non-refundable. It's only a few things there that I want anyway, so I think I'll just set it up at Cullens. My friends have assured me they'll help the NO people get me stuff:) Everything else I should be able to get at Babies R Us.

Before the baby shopping we met Christine at the bridal store, so our dresses are ordered. We also got to see hers-beautiful of course! Steven was waa-waa–ing until he found the audio/video store next store. But then he helped me pick out my dress color. He is really handy in all facets of life:)

Afterwards we all went to eat and it was great-Ally and Christine talked about my shower and Ally helped me see that I have a lot more friends (in BR) than I think i do. See, I was telling them to go ahead and have it in Covington so it’s easier on my mom and sis, and I only have like 3 girlfriends in BR, but that’s not really true-I just have about 3 close friends there. Ally reminded me about lots of people who would want to come celebrate with me…Very excited about it now. It might actually be a kick-a$$ party!

We also talked about the nursery-and get this: All i wanted to do was paint the office white. Right now it's blueish white and DIRTY. Steven says, "I am not painting a white room white." But when we started talking about decorating the walls instead he was much more receptive. WTH?! Men. Decorations would be much more work…we were getting crazy…like stripes on the bottom half of the wall and circles on top. CUTE!

10 fingers, 10 toes

Now that that's confirmed I can do more important things when Boo is born (mainly check out the genitalia).

The u/s was great. Growing like he should be…a whopping 12 ounces. I’ve gained almost 3 lbs since last month. Ok, so technically I've gained a total of about 11 if you could what i lost after surgery, but i prefer counting from my pre-preg starting weight:)

We got a lot of good pics-of the feet, profile, spine (which is creepy) and more I’m probably forgetting. I made sure they knew I didn’t want to know the sex and they obliged. The Dr actually said while he was checking some parts, “Ok, turn your head.” Steven and I both did. Dr. said, “Someone didn’t turn their head.” (Ally!) It was funny. She was like, “I thought he was kidding. I didn’t see anything.” Dr. said he didn’t even find out for himself. Steven doesn’t believe him because he said he looks like daddy. I said, “lumpy?” He said “no, handsome.” Then corrected himself, “Or pretty. Whichever it may be.” :)

I still think it’s a boy even though Dr. Peek said girl. She said it’s not medical, just because of the fast heartbeat (163). (Which several girls online de-bunked, by the way.) The nurses said that it was a girl too (when I was in the hospital after surgery). Because girls are tougher.

It was a sad day my last appt w/Dr Peek. She said she’d miss me and she will keep up with my progress. She said she's only got 4 more babies to deliver:( She also said that she'd just done her last circumcision and was so sad. This was VERY strange to me. Why would you be sad to stop inflicting pain on baby boys? She said she just likes dealing with babies. Whoa.

Oh, there was a tiny bit of disappointment when the baby didn't move like last time-i really wanted steven to see that. Also, I didn’t get a good 4d face shot. I was really expecting that, but between the fluids and the hands in the face, she was obviously done with her photo shoot:)

Here for your viewing pleasure: Most are labeled or obvious, but I need commentary.


My sweet baby blowing a bubble


"Ha, ha, hiding my face"



Feet shot is not too great, but...



Look at those TOES!


Here's my other one!


I think this looks too creepy. Almost didn't post it. I call it Skeletor.


And finally, the 4d. A cute little nose in the making. Look at that cord, too. Follow it down and see if you can see some junk. What do you think? Girl or Boy?

Working Woman

Me showing off my new maternity clothes:)

Pic was a rush job, but still pretty good, huh? Hopefully I stay this cute ;)


By the way, i never want to go back to regular pants again.

Halfway There!

20 weeks today! This Wednesday is the "Big" ultrasound. The one where they can tell you the sex. Only if you want to know, of course. I will be very sure to tell them before the jelly is on my belly that I do NOT want to know. So, wed night i'll have some awesome pics to post (hopefully). I know, some of you don't care because i won't be pointing out the girl or boy parts but if we get another 4D we should get some really good definition shots of other body pieces:) We'll also confirm that Baby Boo is a healthy one. I'm very excited. Not sure how i'll get through the afternoon at work without busting a gut. At least I won't have to keep it quiet...they already know i'm preggers!

Baby's about the length of a banana now. I get these pregnancy updates every week in my email and they have "Get Answers" section. This week's question was, "Is oral sex safe during pregnancy?" Love it! I won't subject everyone to some of the "answers" but here's the link if you want some funny reading... http://tinyurl.com/5zk5n5 Whew! :)

~~~
We had a great weekend! Went tubin' on Saturday (glad you came Chris) and BBQ'd at the Summerhouse on sunday. Father's Day was really nice this year. Usually it's a very sad day for me, but this year I was more excited for Steven than sad for me. I even got him a little gift. A onesie for Boo! I'll post a pic later. Ohhhh, speaking of, i finally ordered a new camera! Should get it next week. Also, i ordered some washcloths that match the crib bedding i picked out and got those today. I just wanted to make sure I liked the colors and I do! Also, now i can show everyone else what i like:)

Bye-Bye Blogger :(

Now maybe you can see why I loaded you up on posts last Thursday. I figured I'd be too tired/busy to get online after working all day and boy am i ever. No, i'm not cancelling my account, but man, work is keeping me constantly busy and all the good websites are blocked: hotmail, blogger...won't even bother trying myspace or facebook. I did learn today that my favorite Nestie site is allowed. Boo-Yah!

Of course i'll keep posting as often as i can (i actually got to come home for lunch today), but I won't make any promises except for a definite lull in excitement.
~~~
The job is great so far. Just data entry-piece of cake. Small office, so i don't have to meet alot of people that i'll miss in November. We have our own kitchen and my desk is the closest to it:) They hooked up the prego.

F***in' Rain

Yeah, yeah, so i asked for it to cool my car down, but shit! Did it have to start right after I left Cullens with my brand new crib hanging out of my trunk? Of course, it did. Maybe it's not just Boo who doesn't like it:(

I'm sure Boo-Boo is used to Mommy's potty-mouth already, but I don't think (s)he's heard me curse that loud for that long. I even cursed when the rain stopped-when i was about 100 ft away from the safety of my carport!?! At least I'm still me and not crazy hormonal preggie lelie...I didn't cry. I'd rather scream. Hopefully Baby Boo doesn't think I was talking to Daddy:) She'll have years of that to tell her therapist about-no need to start in the womb.

A little bit more French when i was trying to get it in the house. I know, i probably shouldn't be doing that, but no way was i leaving it on the carport and/or being trapped here without use of my car. I gotta go.

I did open the box and it is safely wrapped in plastic like i tried to convince myself of in the car (in the rain at my 4th consecutive red light). The water didn't even really go through the box. Ahhhhhh.

What the Hell!

So i just said that i'm glad the morning sickness is over and i just threw up! I know, not what you wanted to read, but this is more for me, not you. This is my pregnancy journal and i want to remember that i threw up at 19 weeks!

***Hopefully some curious teenager sees my blog and decides to wait for a few more months or get on birth control. PLEASE!

I took my temp just to be sure and i'm not sick. I had toast and jelly for breakfast. I just don't get it. Unless it was leftover from last night. Confession time: Monday I got a turkey and brie panini from whole foods and last night i ate the leftovers. Remember, my nurse said brie was ok, although the cautious prego world says no. Guess I'll stay away from leftover soft cheese:)

Ok, one more confession while i'm at it. Monday I made some dynamite shrimp pasta and it called for white wine, so i had to taste it. It was low-down too, i poured the glass (again probably not more than 1 oz) and then told Steven i was having a taste. We had company, so i knew he wouldn't yell at me:) Well, turns out i didn't even like it, so i only had about 2 sips.

Only Symptom I Haven't Had

Peeing all the time.
::Knocking on wood::
From what I've heard-even from the beginning-pregos have to pee all the time. Well, so far, not me. I know this cannot continue, especially when Boo gets bigger and starts sitting on my bladder, but for now, I'm good.

Early this morning I was grateful that the morning sickness is gone. When i headed to the bathroom i got dizzy, had cold sweats and got a bad wave of nausea:( I hurried back to bed and was fine, but started thinking how i used to be like that everyday. So glad that's over.
~~~
Yesterday was great. I bought a bunch of new clothes for my new job:) I love spending money. Why does it feel so good? Anyway, the maternity store was fun, but took forever to check out. They want you to sign up for coupons, free stuff, magazines, your kid's college fund...WTH?

I also finally got a rug for my living room. I didn't need it yet, but eventually, i wanted to cover the skull-cracking concrete. It's sooooo soft and was pretty inexpensive. And it's already Jules and Natty approved (but Natty was pissed i wouldn't let her eat on it).

Steven got home early and helped a little in the office, er, nursery. Oh and MY CRIB CAME IN! Of course Steven didn't want to go get it because the office isn't ready and he hates traffic, so i was disappointed. Men! Some things just aren't as important to them. So, i'll go pick it up today:)
~~~
Since I start work tomorrow i'm considering today my last day of freedom and will try to enjoy it. Guess that means i won't get too much done around here:)
Well, off to go pee...

Real Names for Boo

I've been having a girl name for a while now - Gracie Mae.

Gracie because i love it and Mae was my grandma's middle name (Anna Mae). Having a name picked out was one of the reasons i was leaning towards wanting a girl. Others include cuter clothes and not having to make a circumcision decision. OUCH!

But, i do still want a boy. We are getting our name choices narrowed down and Steven decided for the knife. He said something like, "I did it..." I can't tell you how happy i was that he made a decision. He's way more helpful than most new dads (i think).

So, names: My top boy choices were Dante, Isaac, Wyatt and Brady James. I only had a middle for Brady thanks to LSU football. A week or so ago Steven threw a kink in my plans and said he'd like to incorporate his grandpa's name Nolan in the name and I decided that was a great idea. (After all he had NO input on the girl name) I showed him my long list of boy names and he said "What about Jaiden?" Well, it's on my long list so obviously i like it. I really like the fact that I can shorten it to Jay. I figured since this is probably our only chance, I like the idea of keeping my dad's name in there, too. So, for the poll, here are your choices:

Jaiden Nolan Castex
Nolan Jay Castex
Nolan Jaiden Castex

Steven already started saying Jaiden and people have to double take. Huh? It's not really that hard:( I told him to tell people Aiden with a J. (Jen, we are already feeling your pain)

***Disclaimer for the day***
I know most people love Gracie and that makes me happy. On the other hand Jaiden and Nolan are not what i would call "common." I'm a big girl and can handle most things, but if you don't like the names, feel free to talk amongst yourselves, but don't tell me (just vote). Yes, this is permission to talk about me behind my back:) Feel free to leave us other suggestions, too.

New Tiger Fan

I know Ally should be posting this, but i'm faster:)

Steven was getting Natty ready for the last game at Alex Box. Check it out:


If you can't tell she's saying, "Go Tigers. YAAAAAAY!"

I got the job!

The perfect job for me. It's a temp position that could easily turn permanent after baby comes. It's administrative assitant to the auditors at Postlethwaite & Netterville right by my house. (I'll have to learn how to spell that.) I'll work up until the baby is born. It's a several month project for one of their audits. I start on Friday.

Now I can rest easy and pay my bills. Ahhhhhhh.

Hooray my supporters!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your comments about the sex!

~~~

Closing out the overwhelming carseat poll today and tomorrow we'll have the Boy's name poll:) Hopefully I'll get to tell you that I have a job tomorrow, too!

It's NOT a boy...

well, maybe not, anyway. Just a clarification. See why i prefer the green...Oh and don't cheat like you did before and vote more than once...scoundrels.

I've been meaning to talk about this for a long time, too, so here it goes:
Some of my and steven's family were seriously stressing me out about finding out the sex. They said, "How will we know what to buy?" I say, "i'll have a registry. Also, what about green, bold colors, brown, etc..."
There are lots of things to buy (diapers!). BUT, i assume they mean clothes because they don't want pink on my boy or blue on my girl (not sure why though because i wear blue all the time). I understand the want to buy lots of cute stuff, but really the kid won't need that much clothes, right?

I appreciate you all wanting to buy the baby stuff, i really do, but for now, i guess i'm saving you money:)

Along with this goes the need for a theme...for example, Amanda's shower. Her theme was Pooh...very cute, but i don't want a character or animals. So, to this I say, CIRCLES and STRIPES. I love these. See crib bedding in earlier post.

More about Amanda's shower...i really felt beat up:( Like i was terrible because they had to know. Well, chances are, i'll never do this again and i want this to be the BEST surprise of my life!

**By the way, they are getting used to the idea...Aunt Chris even told me to not worry about everyone else and do what i want. Whew!

Poll Time

So i know you didn't want to wait until next week, so here's one for you. I found 2 patterns i like for the car seat/stroller. Which do you prefer?
Milan:
Darius:

I couldn't copy the pics of the seat, so if you need that to decide you can go to these sites:
http://tinyurl.com/6ru44t
http://tinyurl.com/5sqjj3

Oh, and just a tiny vent here...Why does Cullen's have everything i want and Target, BRU and Baby Depot do not? Oh, because their registry is crap and they are more expensive. Booooo!

Look what I got yesterday!

WHOA!


It looks even bigger with the shirt down.

Ok, so i know you asked for belly pics, but i promise i won't do this every week. I just thought yesterday was the day i "popped."
~~~
Thanks for interview wishes. It went really well, but there might be a little too much travel. But, even better, the staffing agency called me yesterday with a great 4-6 month job starting soon. I should hear back from both sometime next week.
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I think I'm going to order my crib this weekend! YAY! And finally get a camera. Oh, and stay tuned next week for more fun than you can handle--a Boy's Name Poll :)
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Steven's cousin (Matt's sister) had her baby yesterday. For pics, check out the link to Michelle's Blog. Christmas will be awesome this year with 4 new babies!

Baby Gifts

Look at all my loot!

Diapers, wipes, boppy, and LSU nuk and booties:) YAY! All on top of a blanket that GeeBee made for me! Pretty nice stash for not even being 20 weeks yet.

Annoyed

Why is it that everytime money comes in, something breaks? I guess I could look at this another way and say I'm lucky. I brake our lawnmower and we get the gov't check. But...1/2 of it is already gone and all we did was pay a bill and go out to eat this weekend. We were doing so well, too, ever since Steven figured out how broke we are we stopped spending cold turkey. Guess it's time to do it again:( Starting tomorrow:) Or Thursday.
~~~
The good news is i have another job interview tomorrow for an audit position. I'm not hopeful, though, because why would they hire a pregnant girl? And i'm going to tell them because i feel like i have to. I don't want to start a job off on the wrong foot. My only hope is they are a state agency, so maybe they'll be afraid of getting sued:) Of course, who successfully sues the state? And i love Bobby Jindal too much.
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I'm going to go take a walk before it's 94 degrees (shut up, B). I wanted to go shopping, but maybe i'll just pretend.
~~~
Another random thought. I'm turning into my mother. I love Kathie Lee. She used to be so annoying! She and Hoda Kotb (from NO tv back in the day) do their own thing on the Today show now and i love it. I'm old! :)