Ten days! TENDAYSTENDAYSTENDAYS!!!! I am completely going out of my mind, I swear, I will just about lose it if the kid is turned around funny and we're unable to tell what it is. (I will jump up and down until I shake it into a better position is what I'll do!) Anyhow, I've been kind of wanting a girl rather than a boy this round but after seeing a commercial for "My Little Pony: Live!" today and realizing I have very little tolerance for some of the super-girly crap that I'd inevitably have to endure with a female child, I think I'd be just fine with a boy.. ;o)
Completely unrelated, this is a true story about something that happened today at school that completely cracked me up: I was walking down the hallway and one of my former students walked by and said, "Mrs. Haynor, I just heard about the baby!" Before either one of us could say anything else, a little sixth grade boy (I have never taught him but I know who he is) stopped dead in his tracks, looked at me with his eyes almost popping out and said, "YOU are pregnant?! Oh CRAP!" and took off down the hall. HA HA HA! I about fell down, I was laughing so much. This is why I love middle schoolers, they are completely mental.
...but this is still going to be a short post because I am exhausted right now! I've tried to talk Craig into posting every now and then but I don't see it happening. Oh well. Anyhow, the only baby news here (and it's good news!) is that it looks like we've found affordable and convenient child care, woohoo! Originally I wanted to try to find a person who just baby-sat a kid or two out of her home full time, but I need something reliable so that's out....what if one day they just decide they don't feel like doing it any more? My biggest problem with day care is that it is really expensive...I swear, it's extortion. People are desperate for child care so they charge ridiculous amounts of money (most places, I'd be forking over half of my paycheck....LITERALLY.) and they even charge for when the kid isn't there. I have 13 weeks of vacation a year and I would have to pay for all of those weeks. So anyways a few months ago, they started building a new center about five minutes from our house, directly on my route to work....I found out that the same group has a few more centers in the area so I went and picked up enrollment information and about died of happiness: only $800 a month for an INFANT! That is unheard of! They do charge for track-out, but only a half-price holding fee which, at their already affordable prices, is entirely reasonable. And something else I've never heard of--they allow you two vacation weeks that you don't have to pay for, which is really nice. I'm completely thrilled....the center by our house opens in another week so I'm going to go over and talk to the teachers/managers/whatever and take a tour of the place and if it looks good I only have to pay a $75 fee to hold a spot starting in April. Our baby is still a fetus of undetermined gender and it already has a day care center. This baby stuff is crazy.
That's it. I have a pretty good "rude and insensitive people who don't understand what it's like to actually have to work at it to get pregnant" rant saved up, but I'm too excited about day care to get properly worked up at this time. ;o)
...is Christie, for sending me my first-ever baby gift, which is THE CHICAGO BEARS BRIAN URLACHER ONESIE JERSEY!!!!!! :o) I'll post a picture in the near future....it's also the 24-month size, which ensures plenty of wearing time for the bean sprout. It's ridiculously adorable....so tiny! YAY! (I'm pretty sure when we heard the heart beat last week I also heard the sprout say, "GO BEARS!" Craig just thinks he heard submarine noises.)
Speaking of Craig, I have proof that I definitely married the right man: last week he randomly bought me the Discovery Channel Shark Week DVD collection. He can never seem to remember that I don't eat tomatoes, but he still knows me so well! I'm currently watching a Great White rip the guts out of an elephant seal....I did the same thing to a poor, defenseless pizza not too long ago (yes, I ate lots of healthy food today too)....in about the last week, I have developed a ravenous appetite. I am eating constantly....am I eating for two, or am I eating for me and a football team?! Jeez! At least I know now where those thirty pounds I'm supposed to gain will come from....
That's about it. As of tomorrow this will have been almost a 60-hour work week for me, so I'm ready for the weekend and some rest. (I do after school day care...supposed to be just two days a week but they are scrambling to hire more people so I'm by myself....I need the money though, that's what's going to help tide us over when I'm on maternity leave, and it's going to buy me my cute nursery too. I'm trying really hard not to get ridiculous with this baby stuff, but hey, it's our first one. I'll be practical next time.)
Aren't there enough dummies reproducing already? Is it really necessary to produce a manual to make it easier for them? COME ON!!
First, the most exciting news of all: I went the ENTIRE DAY with no anti-nausea medication! Woohoo! The morning sickness has left the building!
Second, here's evidence that I'm getting bigger! Yeah, I'm not *that* big yet, but I really don't have any normal pants that fit, even when I rig them with the rubber-band-through-the-buttonhole thing. I'm loving maternity pants, they are soooo comfortable! No buttons or zippers, just a giant stretchy band across the top! I may never be able to go back to real pants after this. The jeans in the picture are Old Navy maternity, and when I have the shirt down like it's supposed to be, they're actually pretty cute.
(Yes, I am severely lacking a butt. I don't want to talk about it.)
And this next thing is for Anna.....it's the creepy developing fetus ticker! ;o)
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This post is a day late, but yesterday was our four year anniversary! Sadly, I spent the evening wearing my happy teacher smile for open house, greeting this year's batch of spawn and their parents, but Craig and I celebrated tonight with a long, decadent meal at The Melting Pot. Luckily, our anniversary happened just as I'm exiting the first trimester, so I have been feeling almost normal again and could actually enjoy it.
I can't believe it's been four years...as I was clicking through a file of pictures, I came across wedding shower photos, including one of the cake at my Illinois wedding shower, which bore the message, "God's Blessings on Craig and Melissa." We certainly have been blessed. :o)
Exhausted after the ceremony...and we still have the reception ahead of us!
Just your typical wedding picture.
Cutting cake #1 at the little cake-and-punch reception at the church right after the ceremony. Big dinner and dancing reception was later that night. (Yes, I know that my cake is covered in hideous pastel flowers. There's a story there, believe me....)
This weekend I'll post a photo of the 14-week belly. I've just about blown up in the past week, totally out of the blue. It's actually pretty funny, because I'll glance at myself in the mirror and for a split second think, "Holy crap, I have GOT to do something about that gut!" Then I remember why it's there in the first place and I'm like, "Woohoo! Nevermind! No crunches for me!" It's going to be quite the wake-up call come January when the kid is out and the gut remains, and I have to attempt to tone it up again. UGH.
We did not get that ultrasound today, but we DID get to hear the heartbeat on the little monitor (I want one for home!), so that was good. In exactly four weeks, we go in for another appointment and we get to see the sprout on a high-resolution ultrasound machine and find out the gender. :o)
Also, I gained back the weight I lost, my blood work from last time was normal (and guess what? Because they liked my blood so much, I get to give them MORE next month! Golly, that sounds fun!), and my blood pressure was good. So....woohoo!
Emily made me do it! I guess the object of the game is to post eight random facts about yourself and then "tag" other people who have blogs, thus making them post about themselves. Since this is the Haynor family blog, I'll try to post a few facts about Craig, the bean sprout, and the cats as well. ;o)
1.) I went to Australia for three weeks at the tender age of 14 with a student group called People to People. I can't believe my parents let me go to the other side of the planet with a bunch of lunatic middle schoolers and only three chaperones, but I'm glad they did...it was an awesome experience.
2.) The first meal Craig ever cooked for me was salmon with Old Bay seasoning, bow tie pasta with tomato pesto, and broccoli. He had no furniture in his apartment so we ate it sitting in the middle of the living room. He even put on some classical music. :o)
3.) We made the decision to have kids last August, when we were trying to figure out what to do with our spare room. It was a guest room and Craig wanted to make it nicer, I said we should just leave it for future offspring, he asked when that would be, and then we started negotiating a time to have kids (he wanted sooner, I wanted later). Finally we said the heck with it, we'd just start immediately.
4.) I hate open doors. There's nothing symbolic there, I mean it very literally. I can't stand being in a room that has the doors open. Even open drawers and cabinets bother me. I can't go to sleep at night unless the bedroom door, closet door, and bathroom door are all closed. Can't teach if there are doors open in my classroom, either.
5.) We got our first cat, Jack, because one of my students found him wandering in the street when he was 4 1/2 weeks old. We got our second cat, Toby, when we went into a pet store to get food for the first cat..he was so sweet I couldn't resist! Plus, Jack was cranky since we were always working and he needed a friend.
6.) I got in trouble at church as a child for dropping little ripped up pieces of paper off of the balcony and onto the people below. Craig got in trouble at a hotel as a child for throwing hot dogs out the window at people.
7.) Craig and I got married two times...our actual wedding was July 12th in Illinois but because we were living in Florida at the time and didn't want to deal with the IL marriage license/paperwork, we just went down to the courthouse in FL on June 30th and got legally married.
8.) We have chosen names for the bean sprout! We'll probably tell people shortly after finding out the gender. (If you are one of the few people I've run the name by already, please don't say anything....)
There you go. Eight facts. And since I only know one other person with a blog (that knows about mine)....Ando, consider yourself tagged. ;o)
Started taking my vitamins after breakfast instead of after dinner. No more throwing up. Excellent! (Don't know why they all of the sudden started making me sick since I've been taking them after dinner since, like, LAST AUGUST, but whatever! I'm just glad it's over!)
This Wednesday we go for the 13-week appointment. Thanks to the jerk who stole Craig's credit card number, he cannot go out of town for work (can't book hotels without a credit card) and will be present for the appointment...so some good has come from it after all. :o) Anyhow, I'm hoping that we get to have an ultrasound (not sure how many we get, some docs do a lot and some only do a few...I really want to see the sprout again!), but here's a little preview of what the kid looks like right now:
13-week-old fetus:
Ultrasound of a 13-week-old fetus:
...and it's probably more than anyone wants to know, but I've randomly started throwing up this week. I finally don't feel like crap 24/7, and now, in the middle of my 12th week, am randomly throwing up. WHY??? It's been two nights this week, right at bedtime. As I've said before, there is no dignity in this process. I've given Craig the login information to the site so hopefully he'll post a different perspective one of these days, because my perspective is very cranky and whiny right now.
Well, this is the second year in a row we did not go see fireworks (I'm glaring in Craig's general direction as I write this...) but next year, we will have a kid, and you know she/he will have to go see them (yes, 6 month old babies love fireworks, why do you ask?)... we have to think about the child, you know. ;o) More importantly, I'm going to make sure that this child understands why this is such an important day...today, on the way home from the movies, we caught part of a news report about an American soldier from North Carolina who died overseas recently, leaving behind his pregnant wife. If there's one thing I want my kid to know it's that he is allowed to live in freedom because other kids' parents have died to make sure that happens. That the men and women of our military deserve more honor and respect than we could ever give them. Somewhere in the this state, there's another woman who has to go to bed tonight without her husband, knowing she'll be raising her baby by herself. I complain about having a husband who travels for a living, and having to handle things by myself for a few days at a time, but let me tell you, hearing that news report tonight has really humbled me. My prayers are with that woman and her baby tonight. 
Did a little more shopping today...seemed more productive than sitting around and finding ridiculous things on the internet. I have to say, it's all about Motherhood Maternity. The clothes are very cute and very inexpensive. Yes, I already own about half of the store (thanks, mom!) but I invested in a couple of new pieces today...
Dressy top:
Pajamas (I swear, they do NOT look that racy/obscene in real life. I really just wanted something that didn't look like a big cotton sack...and is it just me, or is the model wearing a creepy fake belly?):
Something else I recommend...Preggie Pops. Maybe it's all in my head, but I swear, they seem to help. Even if the woman on the lid looks way too happy to be experiencing morning sickness, and is wearing a ridiculous hat.
Also, I have been looking for a pregnancy-related book for Craig that wasn't completely sappy and boring, and I've found it....behold, "Pregnancy Sucks: For Men!"
That's about it...I'm going to lay off the shopping for awhile, at least until the weather starts cooling down and it's time to work on the winter wardrobe. :o)
Coming soon: Amusing pictures loosely related to pregnancy, and pictures of the nursery I'm dying to put together. The excitement never ends....
First, a short letter to the jerk who stole Craig's credit card number and is responsible for us having to cancel the cards and get all new ones in 5-10 business days:
Dear Jerk,
Thanks to you, I was unable to bid on the Brian Urlacher Bears jersey onesie that I was watching on Ebay for two days. The jersey (6-9 month size, which would have made it PERFECT for the 2008 football season) sold for $12.50, plus $5.00 shipping. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT JERSEY SELLS FOR IN STORES?!?!??!!? $40, plus whatever they charge for shipping!!!! I would have saved roughly $25-30!!!! I hate you. And if I find you, I will hurt you.
That is all.
Sincerely,
Melissa
Now, the real post:
For some reason, I've been kind of freaked out lately about this baby...I went to the doctor about three weeks ago and saw the heartbeat, saw it kicking around in there, but now I'm freaked out that maybe something happened, and the heart isn't beating anymore. Or maybe it just vanished and there's no baby at all...it's really hard to believe that there's a tiny person (with a big head) down there, moving all over the place, and I can't feel a thing. I'm really getting anxious for next week's appointment, just so I can see it again, or at least hear the heart beating. I don't know why it's so hard to understand this whole thing...if I can believe that God is real and I can't see or feel Him, why not the baby? It's so weird, and makes no sense. Or maybe it does, I don't know. At any rate, it will be good to see and hear it again next week.
Hello, down there! Could you please kick me or something?
