21 Weeks!

After working Monday through Thursday this week to get my classroom ready for kids (they start on Tuesday), I took today off to enjoy the nice weather. I slept in and took Westin for a really long walk. Then I let him run through the park across from our house. While he rested, I went to a dentist appointment and picked up lots of great children's books at the public library for the start of school next week. After my dentist appointment, I picked up Westin and we went to Ottawa Lake for a swim. They have a dog beach area and he LOVED it. Usually there are several dogs there but today there was only one other dog for most of our visit. A few more came right as we were leaving. Westin and his new friend had fun chasing each other in and out of the water and fetching water toys. I took a few pics of our fun day :)

Yesterday, I pulled a 12-hour work day in my classroom to make sure things were totally ready. I was on my feet for pretty much the entire time and I regretted it later...I woke during the night with a really bad backache. I was uncomfortable in any position and regardless of how many pillows I had all around me. I guess I pushed myself a little too hard. Won't do that again!

I continue to feel the baby more and more each day. My baby book says that I should start to notice the baby's sleep/wake patterns now and that will be indicative of what we can expect after the birth. Maybe all of the movements just aren't strong enough to be felt yet, but I do notice long periods of no movement followed by brief periods of a ton of movement. Every little kick is just amazing to me. I love it!

We bought nursery furniture today :) Now Chad has to hurry up and finish the front porch project so we can get the nursery room ready. The furniture is scheduled to be delivered and assembled on October 1st, so we've got a month to empty out the office and paint the walls.

Lastly...a belly picture of me at 21 weeks pregnant. I managed to still fit into my favorite dog-walking outfit today. Here's my growing tummy:

We're headed to visit Chad's family in Indiana tomorrow morning. Looking forward to a fun Labor Day weekend! Have a safe and happy holiday :)

Love,
Mindy and Baby S.

Here's the baby!

Today's ultrasound went very well. My doctor said the baby is developing normally and looks very healthy. He looked closely at all the major organs and showed us how we could see all four chambers of the heart moving as it beats. It was truly amazing to see that. The baby was really active the whole time and the doctor laughed as he pointed out that the baby was using my bladder as a soccer ball! No wonder I have to go to the bathroom all the time!

Here he/she is:


Although I find the up-close face shots on ultrasounds to be a little creepy-looking, this is our baby looking right towards us.

An up-close shot of the spinal cord.

Daddy's little soccer player. Look at that long leg!

The baby extended it's arm and waved right at us!

And finally...something appropriate for Chad's firstborn child :)

Have a great night!

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

Hiccups?

Hi everybody! As the title of this message conveys, I *think* I may have felt the baby having hiccups yesterday and again today. It felt SO weird. Like a bubble popping deep inside me in a frequent and consistent pattern for an extended period of time. I can only figure it must be hiccups?? I know it's not kicks because I've started feeling those and they feel different from the hiccups. The kick is more of a sharp jab at random times- the hiccups are definitely patterned. It's so bizarre! I was sitting in a staff meeting this morning and started feeling them and I couldn't help but laugh. :)

I went back to work full-time today. My co-workers are all pretty excited for us and have begun making their gender predictions. One of my colleagues, whose daughter I had in class last year, said her daughter (7 years old) is making a list of possible baby names for me. How cute is that?

We have our big ultrasound on Wednesday morning so I should be able to post baby pictures that night! If we wanted to, we could definitely find out the baby's gender also but...we're going to try and wait~

After getting back from Florida on Saturday, Chad got right to work on the front porch project. He set up a work station in the garage and began sawing wood and assembling the railing. By Sunday night, the railing was complete and just needs to be painted. He also began spreading top soil on both sides of the steps. We also went last night and bought stone to mount and cover the cement wall under the steps--that should be delivered in 2-3 weeks. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

While I was taking pictures, Westin was being really goofy. He was jumping up and down and howling at me. It made for a few funny shots:

I think he's mid-howl here. Kinda creepy :)

Have a great night!

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

We're back!

Hi everybody! I hope all of you have had a great week. It seems like we missed a TON of rain in the Midwest while we were gone. Can't say we missed that :)

Our trip was wonderful. We had a great visit with Chad's grandma and great-grandma. His great-grandma just celebrated her 95th birthday and she's doing very well. She still lives on her own and we enjoyed visiting with both of them from Saturday until Tuesday morning.

Here's a few pics of the grandmas:

On Tuesday morning, we drove 2 hours south to Fort Myers Beach and stayed at a really nice resort right on the Gulf. Since it's hurricane-season, there was hardly anybody there! We felt like we had the beach and the resort to ourselves, which was nice. We spent all four days (Tuesday-Friday) on the beach and beside the pool. We stayed under beach umbrellas for the most part so I wouldn't get overheated and so we could avoid sunburns. We were amazed at how warm the Gulf water was--like bath water! At one point, we realized we were literally walking on top of sand dollars in the water. We pulled up 6 of them and they were perfectly formed, so we brought them home and they are currently drying out on our deck. I'm going to try to clean them and bleach them so I can bring them in to share with my students. They'd love them! Friday morning we saw dolphins out in the water playing around--that was fun to see.

Here are a few pictures of our resort and beach vacation~

Here's the main pool area at our resort- The Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa.

This was the view from our room- not too shabby :)

Our view from the beach umbrella we rented. This was actually taken Monday at Clearwater Beach by Chad's grandma's condo. But the view was the same at both beaches~

I'm off to Debbie's Bachelorette party in downtown Milwaukee tonight. I'll try to post a new belly picture tomorrow. Have a great night!

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

A quick pic~

This is what happens when you are scrambling to pack for a trip and decide to take a quick picture or two. Please excuse the messy mirror in the first picture and the cut-off head in the second picture. Oops :)

Have a great week! We get back next Saturday and I'll try to post an update that day.

Love,

Mindy and Baby S.

Headin' South!

Tomorrow is my last day teaching summer school. It went by really quickly! I designed the course to just be a two-week introduction to the kindergarten classroom routines and activities. So it was really just a small glimpse into the year for the students who will soon begin kindergarten. I think they've really had a blast and I've enjoyed getting to know them.

I'm feeling pretty good. I'm tired today because I was on my feet all day, with the exception of sitting for a haircut. The baby has been really active this afternoon and evening--I've felt a lot of motion. I can't say I've felt kicks, but rather just a lot of moving around. It's so hard to describe, but it's got to be the baby.

I forgot to take a picture today before I changed clothes for the night, so I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow. Chad and I are headed to Florida for a week's vacation starting early Saturday morning. We'll be in the Palm Harbor/Clearwater Beach area visiting his grandma and great-grandma from Saturday to Tuesday morning then we're headed to a resort on Fort Myers Beach from Tuesday-Saturday. Chances are I won't be able to make an update on this website while I'm gone but I'll definitely post when we return.

Have a great week! I'll try to put up a picture tomorrow, but if I forget...I'll be back in a week.
Love,
Mindy and Baby S.

Pregnancy headaches are horrible!

Hi everybody! Chad's been gone since Sunday night. He's really busy in Fort Wayne but says that things are moving forward. Also, he may be able to meet up with his folks for dinner one night since they only live a (somewhat) short distance away.

Things are okay here. As the title of this post alludes to, I've started getting headaches more frequently lately. My first really bad one was back on Saturday while I was in Rice Lake. Then I had another bad one last night and a minor one today. I've been drinking LOTS of water, so I know I'm not dehydrated. I'm scared to take any medication for it, although I'm pretty sure Tylenol is considered safe. Instead, I prefer a dark room and a cold washcloth on my forehead. That and a nap usually does the trick :)

Summer school is going well. I told the students that I have a "baby in my belly" and they are totally fascinated. The other day, I had a sneezing attack in class. (I get them every day now! Is that pregnancy-related?) After I finished sneezing a bunch of times, I noticed the kids were all giggling. Then one little girl said, "Mrs. Steighner, I know why you're sneezing. The baby is tickling you!" Then she thought for a second and added "Maybe it has feathers in there to tickle you with!" Isn't that adorable? I hope my baby doesn't have feathers :)

Westin and I went for a long walk tonight. We met another dog walker with a four-month old golden retriever puppy. It made me want another one! I just think they are the cutest puppies in the whole world. Westin agreed, as he tried to drag me across the road to play with the little guy. Westin may be two-years old already, but he sure hasn't lost his own puppy behavior!

I can tell that my stomach is growing this week. It's a really weird feeling. All of my stomach muscles feel really stretched and sore. Guess I'd better get used to that~

Have a great night!
Love,
Mindy and Baby S.