Happy Leap Year Day!

Tobin got a pic of me eating my morning cereal before school. You'll have to ignore the serious mess on my scrapbook table. Also, I had straightened my hair for something new and different. It cannot be a normal routine as it takes longer since I don't have a straightener!
Baby note: I really think I am starting to feel the baby move around. About two weeks ago, I could feel some fluttering that was a tad abnormal. I really had to concentrate. Now, it is way more obvious, but Tobin still can't feel much. It sorta feels like he is doing summersaults in there. His time of day is between 5-8 pm. That is when he is the most active.
Tobin and I went to Children's Orchard after work today. We went there because Kodi had spotted a hiking-backpack-baby-carrier there and called to tell us. It is not just the lighter-weight one for going to the store or cleaning house. For outdoor activities, our baby will ride on Tobin's back and will have his own lil' backpack! LOL!! It has some serious underneath braces that will rest on Tobin's back. Tobin thoroughly checked it out and was happy with it. It is EvenFlo brand and was $29.99 barely used, so not too bad! Thanks for the tip, Kodi!! I was so glad that he didn't mind going with me and actually searched through some infant clothing and picked out a shirt! It was a baby golf shirt, naturally. We also found a little jogging outfit for a 3-6 mo. He had VERY definite opinions on what was acceptable for his son to wear and what was not. Nothing too cutesy, pastel, or anything that might look like a girl could wear it! Who knew he had baby clothing opinions???
We had dinner out and then he waited on me to pick out 121 pieces of scrapbook paper on sale at Hobby Lobby! Tomorrow we will attend the Baby Affair. He has a fatherhood class, but I kinda want him to see the stages of labor, breastfeeding, relaxation during childbirth, and infant massage classes, just so he knows what all will go on in a few months! He had to rearrange his schedule to attend and will have to go to work in the middle of the afternoon and work late. Long day... What a guy!!

Baby plans moving right along!

Tobin and I experienced the lil' zapper gun at Target last night. He uses something similar to that at work, so I never touched it. All in all, we were pretty disappointed with the selection at Target and decided to register at Walmart also. I had already registered online with Target for things we really need for the nursery (bedding and decor), but they have to be purchased online only. While in the store, some lady stopped us and said, "I hope your shower is soon because Target is known for selling out of things you register for and your guests won't be able to find anything on your list!" Great. However, I did actually know that having been on the "guest" end of showers my whole life. Another reason to register at two places.

My 3 sisters and a couple of good friends are currently planning an April baby shower. Making a list of invitees is easy at first, then you get to the point where you don't want to obligate people to feel like they have to buy a gift or attend. Many of my friends are work friends too, so that creates another issue with asking them to go to both showers. Oh well, I'll figure it out! I think they're going with a jungle babies theme, like the nursery. That is so cool and weird for me at the same time. I have been to soooo many over the years. Obviously, I've never been the one being showered!

Tobin's cabin fever got to him and he planned a hiking trip for today. Should get up to 50 degrees. He is picking up a friend this a.m. and heading to Arkansas. I have much scrapbooking to do because I would like to have the baby's one year scrapbok finished before he gets here. Maybe a layout per week? Then, all I will have to do is fill in the journaling and add the pics!


Not a great pic, but this may possibly be our last splurge on a nice dinner alone. We are committed to saving our money and trying to be more frugal from here on.

Thanks Hollie!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! Click on this picture! Our friend, Hollie, totally surprised us with a gift for the baby! It arrived on our doorstep, but we're not exactly sure when since we don't use our front door during the winter. If this isn't a gift for Tobin's son, I don't know what is!!!!!! Tobin was so impressed that it was RealTree brand and had the little stuff sack! The lil' booties and hat are toooo cute! PERFECT, Hollie!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Awesome!

Tobin's 1st purchase for the baby

Just to update since last week, we had a very nice dinner on Valentine's Day. Tobin had made a reservation over 3 weeks ago. That was a very good thing because they turned away many people while we were waiting to be seated. The wait was 2 hours!!! We enjoyed crab cakes, salad bar, prime rib, lobster tail, garlic mashed potatoes, and French silk pie! YUM!!

We went shopping for golf shirts over the weekend (Tobin wanted to use some of his flower delivery money on the current passion at hand-GOLF). When we got to Penneys, I asked if we could check out the newborn area first. He laughed and said that he had better get used to that. We looked around together for about 3 mintues, then Tobin wandered off, in the newborn clothing, on his own. While I was looking for swaddling sleepers, he walked up to me with the pic you see on the right. The outfit couldn't have been more perfect unless it had camo on it somewhere. Anyone that knows Tobin at all, knows that his son will most likely be an outdoor person. At least the odds lean that way since Tobin will do all he can to introduce our child to the wonders of the great outdoors. He will most likely be in a canoe before he is two and have been camping several times prior to that. Tobin is already talking about being very involved in scouts when our son gets older!! Any guesses on how old he will be on his first trip to Bass Pro? Most likely, he'll still be so little that he won't be able to see farther than a foot in front of him when it does happen!!

Well, hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I must return to my laundry now....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tobin is delivering bouquets for some extra baby money on his day off. He has been all over town, already at 100 miles and it is only 1pm!! He'll get mileage and so much per delivery. He dislikes the balloons as they block his view in our car. He isn't given any directions to these places, so he has called me several times to look up addresses on the internet!

He made reservations for Steak n Ale for tonight, so that will be very nice.
I have been in online-shopping mode all day. Let me tell you how overwhelming it is when you don't have a clue what you want! At least we now know that it needs to be a boy theme!

Here are the ultrasound pics! In some of them, as usual with sonogram imaging, our baby looks like an alien. Nevertheless, it is still so neat to get a glimpse as to what he may look like. The 3D one is not the clearest, but if you focus, you can see a cute lil' face. I added arrows to help.
You may want to CLICK ON THE PICTURE and then back away from the monitor!

Parenting Quizzes

I took a "What kind of mum will you be?" test and apparently, I'll be an earth mother! LOL!!! Figures.
You're a born nurturer and relaxed about the idea of parenting. With your feet firmly on the ground, you understand that kids have a way of taking over your life and turning it upside down – and you're ready for that. Just don't get too relaxed – kids need boundaries to feel secure and a certain amount of routine and discipline to keep them on track. Also make sure that you don't get so wrapped up in your kids' world that you forget about yourself and your relationship with your partner. You need attention, too.
http://health.ninemsn.com.au/quiz.aspx?quizid=145

Tobin initially requested that I find him a quiz to take. But then stated, "Don't worry about it. I already know I'll be a good dad." heehee I found him one anyway and here are his results:
Diapers, baths, late-night feedings -- this dad will handle them all like a pro. You can count on him to administer the medicine for baby's first ear infection, and he'll probably want to take Junior to the doctor, as well. In fact, hands-on dads are so involved that they make great primary caregivers (this is the dad you want at home if you're planning to return to work). His parenting style will be based on nurturing, togetherness, and total involvement -- being there for his child will be his first priority.
http://www.parents.com/parents/quiz.jsp?quizId=/templatedata/ab/quiz/data/53.xml&catref=cat4620004&_requestid=354127
Tobin got a big kick out of the results of his quiz. We had a great time trying to agree, and laughing while we helped each other choose the best answers for each other's quiz!

A namesake for Tobin!!!

It's official! We had the ultrasound and actually saw our little baby blink its eyes and open its lil' mouth several times. All measurements and organs were fine! It truly is amazing what you can see on the ultrasounds these days! His lil' ankles were crossed and he was moving all about! She switched it to 3D several times to show us different parts and organs. She even gave us 5 pics, one being the 3D one, but it isn't super clear. She said that he weighs 9 oz and would fit in our hand, but a strong wind would blow him off! From rump to the tip of his crown, he would stretch from your fingertip to the butt of your hand. We could still kind of get an idea of what he will look like with the 3D image! A tear rolled out of my eye at one point and I think the miracle of it all just got to me. When she told Tobin that he was going to have a namesake, he just kind of stood there in amazement. I looked at him and smiled and she went on to point out the crucial parts and then the elation began! He threw both fists up in the air and yelled, "Alright! Good job, honey!" Then, leaned in to give me a kiss. It was such a funny moment! I informed him that technically, it was his doing, but it was a mute point at that juncture; he was simply thrilled beyond words. Many of his fears were put to rest and the fact that there is someone to carry on his bloodline just seems to make him the happiest man in the world right now! We couldn't get the grin off our faces for about an hour! Just knowing and being able to refer to it as something other than baby or "it" is wonderful! The due date changed by two days, so July 9th is the current day of arrival.
I will blog again tomorrow (since we are out of school AGAIN) and try to scan these images. I may have to edit with Photoshop so you can tell what is what!

Thunder & Ice

Another snow/ice day. Mixed emotions here, but I sure didn't want to drive in it. In fact, I didn't sleep well because every time I woke up, I looked outside to see if the storm had hit yet. I kept praying that if we were going to get weather, that it would hit before drive time! We have a phone tree and I got the call right after I stepped into the shower! UGH!! However, I had better give her kudos for trying because she actually called me before they called her. She saw it on TV before she even rec'd the call. I had checked the local weather website and it wasn't on there.

The sounds and sights are similar to the first day of the bad ice storm from last year. You know, without the destruction and damage.

So, this is the current "bump." I am almost 19 weeks now and 20 weeks is halfway. I know I've mentioned it several times, but Wednesday is the BIG DAY!! We find out what we're having. I jsut hope that she can flip over to 3D, without charging us, to verify the gender in case it is hard to tell. I've heard so many horrible stories about people decorating and making large purchases only to find out that they had the opposite gender when born.

Well, I guess I'll use my time wisely and do some laundry and chores, just in case we lose power. They have cropped the whole town and trimmed about every tree possible, but we could still have temporary outages. Nothing like last year though! Of course, I'll do some scrappin' later on.
Here is a picture that Tobin took this weekend. We kept hearing noises like the mail lady had come and the dogs would just go crazy. Our little culprit would jump onto the mailbox, from the roof, and then jump onto the birdfeeder!!!! Just hanging out, looking for a snack, not unlike myself today!!

My Saturday~

Last night, Tobin and I rented a movie and then went to bed at 8:30, for some crazy reason. He had fixed a great meal and we were both pooped from the long work week. Therefore, Saturday came early! I had arranged to meet 20 of my science club kids for rat dissection @ 10am. That was fun! I didn't have to do anything because Wonders of Wildlife had the whole thing set up and ready to go. I just took pictures! I think the kids had a really good time, even though several of them grossed out. For every kid that grossed out, there were several others that totally got into it and proceeded to do crazy things to their white rat!

I was going to go have my taxes done, but I'm still waiting on one paper from the bank. So, what else was there to do other than go home and scrapbook? I finished a couple pages and then Tobin got home from work. We are deciding what we should do with our Saturday evening.

The page to the right was a Scrapbook Generation sketch. I decided to use pics from our mini-honeymoon a couple of years ago.

I am fighting the urge to begin buying things for the baby until after our appt. on Wednesday! It is VERY DIFFICULT! We keep talking about it and I don't think either of us know what to hope for, other than a healthy baby! I think he secretly wants a boy, but will not be disappointed at all with a girl. We'll see soon enough!!!!!

Adorable video of my nephews

I know several of you go to my sister's page occaasionally, but for those that don't, I want to share a video of her boys, my nephews!!! It is just so dang cute!!! The older boy, Koen, is playing a blanket game with his brother, Griffin, right before bed. Their giggles are contagious!:)

Finally, an appt,. with the doctor!

Tobin and I got to hear the heartbeat again today. It seemed slower than last month. Overall, the doctor was very happy with the heartbeat sound and my measurements. He also said that I am right on track for my weight, one pound per week. This was great news for both of us, and even surprised Tobin. haha He told us to start thinking about what our decision will be for genetic counseling. Also, they do not do the 3-D ultrasounds there yet. They have the equipment and have been trained in CA, but for some reason, they will not be ready in 10 weeks when the timing will be right for me. I will be 18 weeks tomorrow. So, the ultrasound for finding out the sex of our baby is next Wednesday (the day before Valentine's). We can't wait for that news!!!!!!

Last weekend became a 4-day weekend due to snow and a little ice. I was able to do some scrapbooking, but mostly just relaxed, went to the gym some, and shopped for a rocking chair or glider. Here are a couple layouts that I finished; the second one is an "Allison" design: