We Like Our Walks!

MARLEY and I went on a lovely, long walk this evening. As I type this, he's wiped out on the couch snoring. His snoring is so bad that a vet once offered a referral for "cosmetic" surgery to fix his nostrils...sometimes it's more than I can bear and I have to rustle him a bit. This is one of those nights!

What I like about walks:
When Shawn's with me--conversation uninterrupted by cell phones & TV
Ogling over masterfully tended yards (with a tinge of envy)
Smelling BBQ
Smelling laundry drying
See families being active
Seeing the geese land in the river

We saw some interest-piquing things:

24 Weeks! Woah!

How your baby's growing:Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when he was just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (like an ear of corn) that makes a pretty lean figure, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, his brain is growing rapidly, and his taste buds are developing. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Cool things:

~Baby kicked when I was making chocolate chip cookies!

We might be raising a chocolate fiend...hehe.

~Daddy told baby "bye" before leaving for San Diego,

and baby bumped back a "good bye."

Not so cool things:

~Heartburn

~The above picture (bad hair day & squishy cheeks!)

Roses are Red

...AND all kinds of pink!

Shawn knew I needed some encouragement (the hints were oh so subtle! ha!) so he had a dozen roses delivered to the office on Monday. My coworkers and I enjoyed them for a few days, then I just had to bring them home to show Shawn how good he did. The flowers were the highlight of my Monday, and it appears they're going to last awhile. My brightened outlook will, too.

Thank you so much, Shawn! I love you!

Pampered Chef Shower

THIS weekend I went to Chanute for my dear friend Hilary's Pampered Chef Wedding Shower; her wedding is May 31st! My sis-in-law, Andrea, once again did a phenominal job of showcasing PC's awesome products. It was lovely to get home and see my family, and go to the Bilby "farm" to see the doggies, eat grilled burgers, and "drool" over the array of Mary Kay inventory! On Sunday after church, my parents treated us to El Pueblito, the best Mexican restaurant in Chanute. I enjoyed catching up with everyone and sharing news about the baby!

Sissy & me at El Pueblito

The Dunning's minus Meg..:(

Ken & Barbie

Ryan with his labs

Sissy & me with Hil, the bride-to be!

Andrea & Hil making lemonade squares (so good!)

23 Weeks

My 2nd Trimester is well underway!

Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). His skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. He can swallow, but he normally won't pass his first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when he hears them outside the womb.

Speaking of noises he can detect--the baby really liked the music at my hometown church this weekend. My sister even saw a kick from the outside. Shawn is, of course, patiently waiting his turn to see this "phenomenon."

Yeah, I look tired in this pic, because I AM! It's right before work; I'm not a morning person. :)

Happy Birthday, Shawn!

Shawn turned 26 today. Crazy I've known this beautiful person for 13 years--back when we used to trip over our own feet and I wore black highwater jeans--oh, and I also cried over algebra and had an obsession with Jonathan Taylor Thomas on Home Improvement. Why didn't anyone tell me the extent of my dorkiness?

Anyway, Shawn had a sweet day of birthday wishes, with coworkers treating him to lunch at Il Vicino and presenting him with a gag gift of some "not quite our style" outdated baby clothes. I bought him a big bottle of Kenneth Cole Reaction so he'll smell lovely for work meetings and our hot dates! We kept the evening fairly low key by ordering a stuffed-crust pizza and enjoying frosting-free cupcakes...no frosting because I was too tired to make some or run to Dillon's for some Pillsbury.

I'm sleepy & rambly, so I'll close. G'night!

22 Weeks!

YOUR baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

I think I felt the baby kick for sure on Friday night, when we were dealing with Billy. Shawn said the baby was telling us everything was going to be ok. For those of you who've requested pictures of the whole family, including the dad-to-be, see below!

Tribute to Billy

OVER a year ago, we adopted Marley from the Mid-America Boston Terrier Rescue (MABTR) organization. Marley has been a delight in our lives ever since. MABTR is run solely by volunteers who provide transportation, foster care, and, eventually, forever homes for Bostons and Boston mixes in several mid-western states. We are proud we chose not to buy from a pet store as oftentimes pet stores obtain their animals from puppy mills.

When we got the call to help transport a Boston mix from Blackwell, OK, to Omaha, NE, we jumped at the chance. We were to be in charge of getting Billy from Wichita to Emporia today, just one of the transportation legs that would get him to foster care. We met up with Julie at the meeting place to pick him up last night. We were excited to take Billy and Marley on a walk--show both of the doggies off to the neighbors, then cozy up for the night. However, we could sense right away that Billy would not be up to a walk, or much of anything.

Billy arrived at our house around 5:30pm and passed away at around 8:30pm. We had no idea that he would be in the state that he was, health-wise. We are so happy Billy was with us the few hours before his death--in a warm home on cozy sheets in our living room.

Today we learned that Billy's elderly owner passed away recently. Billy's extended family didn't want him, and felt he was dying of a broken heart, as he wouldn't eat. I think losing his mom, partnered with a slew of routine vaccinations administered right after the other, robbed Billy of any life or strength he had left. How thankful we are he is at peace now.

While we would never expect anyone to understand or mirror our love for animals, we do thank you for listening to Billy's story. Human life is the most precious of all, but life of all kinds makes our days ones to be treasured and relished.

Click here if you would like to learn more about the Mid-American Boston Terrier Rescue Organization.

Rest in peace, little Billy.

Treasures In Our Backyard

WITH spring in the air and new life budding all around, I thought I'd capture our backyard's progress in this undertaking. *note* our backyard is not the most attractive of yards, as we haven't given it the tender care it deserves in the year+ that we've lived here. The interior of our home has demanded the bulk of our loyalty. While it may appear that I trekked to the junk yard, nay, I did not...

21 Weeks!

YOUR baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long--the length of a carrot. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night.

Still trying to differentiate if I'm indeed feeling my son move, or if it's gas :)...I'm pretty sure I have. Aside from having a mid-century clock bursting out of my head, I'm doing just swell!

Friends--What Would I Do Without You? Thinking of You Today!

To have a girlfriend is to have life's best.
It means you have someone on your side
Who laughs with you but never at you;
someone who never minds a midnight call;
someone who rejoices when your plans all work out
and feels sad when they don't.
You have access to a million laughs
with someone who loves to spend time with you;
someone who cares when you're hurting and hurts with you.

If you have a girlfriend, you have
a treasure worth more
than anything money can buy.
~Barbara J. Hall

Note for Baby

I discovered this incredible piece excerpted from the Miracle of Life devotional for expectant mothers. It's written by Julie Martin in her A Time to Be Born book of poetry and prose:

we are your everything
when your daddy cut the cord it was only the beginning of dependency
for from our hearts you will take all you need
and the best we can give you is Jesus

the best we can show you is His love
so that one day all you need will come from His heart and
He will be your everything.