Heee Heee whoooooooo

I got our childbirth classes scheduled!!!! On one hand it's going to be a relief to have gone through everything that is listed that we will learn. On the other hand....will we REALLY use the breathing techniques we'll learn??? I've heard some people say it works and others say it doesn't.

I only know I don't want to be a whiny woman in labor. i don't want to be one of those women the nurses talk about years later, "Remember that one lady?"

So anyway, here is what the description of the class says on the website of our hospital:

"This series of five weekly classes helps you and your labor partner prepare for childbirth and parenting. Some classes also meet on the weekends. Topics include care and safety of your baby, birthing options, Cesarean birth, a tour of The Women's Hospital, pain management skills (including breathing and relaxation) and the role of the labor partner. Classes begin approximately eight weeks before your due date."

I have been informed that the role of the labor partner includes our instructor strapping on the sympathy belly on them and having them try to pick things up. ROFL. I have already asked our instructor if I can bring the camera that night. I've been given the green light. I can't wait to see Derek with that belly on.

We're fortunate in that our instructor is one of the parents of one of my 8th graders. It's rather comforting knowing I won't be going into a room filled with strangers (I always get a little nervous about that), and at least we'll know Cheryl. I felt like a celebrity today calling to make the appt because she had me call her asst who then said "Ok I'll get this info to the class schedulers and make sure we get you into Cheryl's class. Talk about service.

We've also heard 9and I suppose we will get confirmation on this) that the hospital provides mom and dad with a nice steak dinner after the birth of their baby. Does this mean I will be able to finally have a medium rare or medium steak??? God I hope so. I can't stand well done meat.

I still owe you all pics

I promose to get to them. Shoot I posted them on Micechat already. I'm just being lazy and don't want to resize...well screw it....I'm ghere now, I don't have any plans I need to rush off to, I'm no longer taking the in laws back to the airport, so I'll give you some of my faves:

We'll start off with Jake mmmkay?




JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!


How about some Steve Smith??? We got his autograph and everything!!!





Steve suited up and hanging with Keary Colbert (former USC Trojan)


Steve walking back to the players tunnel


John Kasay...Panther's kicker


In Action


Derek and Catman (Panther's #1 fan)


Panther's in action


Next up? Panther's vs Steelers Thursday...then Duke vs UConn on Sat :)

Are you ready for some football?

We are!!! We went to the Panthers/{patriots game last night!!!! It was fun. Yeah, the Panthers lost but I got to see some of the players up close and personal. Jake...yummy....drool.....

I'll post pics as soon as they are uploaded.

Someone tell me to knock it off

I love my sister and I am happy she is going to fulfill her dream of moving back to CA. Really I am, but I wish she would stop complaining about EVERYTHING...traffic, her husband not finding a place to live fast enough (HELLO you've been with this man for over 20 years, why is his procrastination surprising you?), smog, the house not selling fast enough.

I love her, but I guess I expected her to be a bit more cheerful about it all. I knwo she has 4 kids, and it's hard to get stuff together with them around, without Mike there to help her, but still. It gets old. I'm sure my whining about moving got old too.

Also I really wish she would stop hounding me about why won't Derek and I move back to CA? WE DON'T WANT TO. No joke, she ALWAYS has something to pester me about. When I dated Derek..."when are you getting married?" When we got married "So...Katie...uh.....when are you going to have kids?" (She asked me that 3 days after we got married. I know once Marisa is born it will be "When are you having another one?" Oh and when I do tell her I don't want to move back to CA because i want to be able to own a house.."So when are you guys buying a house?"

I should be a better, more understanding sister. Part of her attitude can be traced back to her aneurysm and she says things without thinking...but sometimes it hurts alot. She gripes and gripes about things. She gripes about my BIL getting on her about the house being clean....but I've seen her sit around and do nothing. No wonder why he complains sweetie....she gripes about her house not selling. Babe you put it on the marker during a crappy time. It's not going to sell in 1 day. Be patient. She gripes about having to fight traffic in CA....uh, welcome to CA....I should not complain...but where else can I go? If I go to her she will get all upset . I've tried and she gets all defensive and then I am looked upon as crass, sarcastic, and mean.

I can't win. Forgive me...I'm a bit hormonal right now.


I'm hormonal...so if this pisses anyone off and makes you think I am trashing my sister...I'm sorry. I'm sure she could tell you numerous stories about how disappointed she's been in my life's decisions in the last 7 yrs. If not her...then ask my BIL.

Where are your pictures dang it?

Honestly? They are on my photobucket acct. They are there. If you want to see them, let me know. Right now I just have little patience for uploading them. I don't think people realize what a pain it can be to upload such large pictures and spend the dang time to resize them.

Uploading pictures takes time. So if I am not doing things fast enough, please do not get mad at me. Well, ok I'll give you a few, but for all the nitty gritty details of our trip, my love Derek has done an amazing job recapping it on his blog: http://dkst0426-2.blogspot.com/ Seriously, what s the point of repeating what he has already stated. I mean I WAS right there with him. Not to say i am just a puppet to his thoughts, but hes hit the nail on the head and really brought up feelings about each of the memorials/museums that I could not put down into words.

This, however, is my fave picture of the two of us. We'll title this one Le Anniversary picture:



Ah yes, in case you are wondering...in keeping with the tradition of paper being the gift for the 1st anniversary....Derek presented me with a roll of toilet paper on Sunday morning. That's true "Klass" right there. Hey, I've got to say...he keeps things funny and interesting. Whose husband would have thought of that??? Now a TP rose would have been the be all end all of gifts I tell you!!!!

In other news, now that I am walking and driving, I have been playing catch up BIG time at work. Which has left me less than thrilled to be online and emailing the people I should be emailing (friends in CA, my mom, Friend in MI, etc). No joke I did so much computer work on Thurs, my eyes hurt. Between a mailing to 61 parents about a Confirmation meeting to updating every little event /service project on my 2007-2008 calendar (read: Aug 07-July08), I was wiped. Then I had to update files, write an article for the church newsletter (it should be available online soon www.olgchurch.org ), upload pictures for that, get service project schedules set, which meant emailing and faxing. Let me tell you. It was nuts. Some of that meant going up and down the stairs, and with my foot not fully feeling great that took time and energy as well.

Please bear with me my friends. This is a slow catching up process when you have been out of work...sorta, for the better part of 6 weeks.

Yesterday, I had two of my rising 8th graders come help me clean up my office. It really truly friggin amazes me how people throw things into boxes when it's not their crap they have to worry about. Seriously the craft supplies were a mess, the decorations and general supplies were in 4 different boxes.....I mean really???? I was so irritated. You don't even know. How hard is it? i mean I had everything nice and neat for all of them to get to and access easily.....All they did was throw things in a box and put them in my office. OMG I was so mad. Thankfully S and E were excited to help, and I gave them service hours and bought them ice cream...ok E got lemonade and fries from Chik-Fil-A, but still. We got some stuff that's been lingering in my office for a couple months back to the storage room. It was fun. S even made some art for my wall. I love these kids.

When I got home, I rested my sore foot for a bit and then Derek and i headed to Burlington coat factory to look and see how much their crib mattresses were selling for. Not a bad price (thankfully my MIL gave us money to go towards that), and of course we looked at clothes for us and Marisa. i was hoping to find a cute Christmas dress for her, and we did, but it was the wrong size. Seriously...CUTE DRESS, it was on sale for $10.99, but i KNOW she will not be able to fit in a 6-9 month dress by December. No no, I will have my petite girl in a 0-3 dress thank you. Dang it, have to keep looking.

I did find some black maternity pants that I can wear to work which are comfy as well as a nice top to go with it, and then....I found a shirt I never thought in a million years I would buy, let alone wear. You see, I am the type of person that LOATHES t-shirt with silly sayings like "BABY" (with an arrow pointing to my belly) or "Kicking zone" or silly things like that. Honestly I think they are LAME. However, i came upon a shirt that I could not pass up yesterday (besides, it was marked down to $7.99 with an additional 40% off). I told Derek my apprehension to buying it an he said "Well, it's so you, and too perfect to pass up. Just wear it around the house." Ok...I can do that. I give you...the cute, yet dorky shirt:



and a side view of my belly:



Cute...yes???? Well I think Marisa liked it. She kicked the heck out of me all night and this morning my little stretchy stretch girl (seriously she lays fully stretched out in my uterus), kicked me on my right and left side simultaneously. It was insanely exciting and weird. i was joking with a friend that she is going to give David Beckham a run for his money!!!!!!

Ok, so how's that for an update?????? I'm ending this here simply because my body is begging me for some toast!!!!!

Home

We got home last night
Stopped at Lake Gaston on the way
I slept like crap
Took a ton of pics which would take forever to upload

The trip was great

I'm tired.

The end. (I'll post a report of the trip soon. I promise)

In DC one year later

Tomorrow will be one year with my love...365 days of fun, laughter, minimal arguments, shopping, eating, traveling and loving and living life.

In the last yr we have:

Gone to NY
added to our family: 1 cat and soon.....a sweet baby girl
shopped at malls
bought a HUGE TV
gone to Charlotte for NYWC and met some awesome friends
been hurt terribly by friends
dealt with a broken ankle
found relief from the results of an MRI and echocardiogram
celebrated thanksmas
gone to Duke Bball and football games
Traveled to Washington DC

Small list just to start.........here's to many more years if fun.

I love you Derek!!!!!

24 hours from now

my sisters will be here. One I have not seen in a yr, the other not since November...Thanksmas!!!!!

Now we will embark on a new journey...Washington DC!!!!!!

Can't wait for them to get here.

For Bryan Luke

I'll Hold You in Heaven

From the very beginning I loved you,
As I made plans to hold you and rock you:
You were tiny and helpless as you lay in my womb,
But something went wrong and soon you were gone;
My young heart was broken, my tears fell like rain,
I'd never known such heartache and pain.

I wonder who you look like, me or your dad,
Do you have my smile and his eyes?
Would you have been big and tall or tiny and small?
We had dreams for you that reached to the skies.
It was long, long ago and I still miss you so,
Thanks to Jesus, I'll see you in heaven.

I'll hold you in heaven someday,
When my trials on earth pass away;
The angels have rocked you, the Father watches over you,
I know you're waiting for me;
I never could hold you or tell you "Goodbye",
But I'll hold you in heaven someday.

In loving memory of Bryan Luke- August 4, 2007

The Echo....explained

So here's the deal (and to help Angie better understand). In 2005 I was diagnosed with Raynaud's Phenomenon. In a nutshell:

Raynaud's phenomenon is a disorder that affects the blood vessels in the fingers, toes, ears, and nose. This disorder is characterized by episodic attacks, called vasospastic attacks, that cause the blood vessels in the digits (fingers and toes) to constrict (narrow).

Ok, so it's basically an auto-immune disorder which for me and pregnancy means there is an increased risk of blood clots and it could affect Marisa's heart (development) and growth and weight. As a result of one of the many tests they ran coming back positive, I was ordered to do the following:

Take 81mg of aspirin per day-Doi g that
See a perinatologist-done
He recommended an MRI and seeing a neurologist for my family history of aneurysms-done...all clear.
Have an echocardiogram done on marisa to make sure her heart is functioning/developing-doe details below
Have additional u/s to check Marisa's growth and weight....scheduled for Thurs.


The echo was basically the tech looking at her heart via u/s and us getting to see her heart for about 45 mins or so. The tech even showed us her foot, her face (and tried to get a good shot of her in 4-d, but she was turned to the side and had her arm in the way). We saw the blood flowing in and out of her heart and the Cardiologist said "everything looks great".

So she's good to go, has a healthy heart and is stubborn.....tee hee.

Echo Echo Echo Echo

We're off to lunch and then to Winston-Salem vor Marisa's echo cardiogram. I'll update when we get back (if I am not to tired)