Randon photos....

I don't have too much to say at the moment, so I thought I would show some pictures I have taken recently.

I work in an interesting community in Knoxville. We are a mixed residential/commercial neighborhood. I would venture to say this community is borderline ghetto....although there are days I forget how ghetto it is. Then...there are mornings like this one. This is what I saw first thing this morning.



I am not particularly fond of these neighbors. I don't think they take good care of their dogs and when their dogs had puppies, I called Animal Control on them because the pups kept getting loose and running in the road. This wouldn't necessarily bother me, except we have constant tracker trailer traffic on our road and it would be nearly impossible for any driver to spot a dog. Also...the pups were covered in fleas and looking sickly. I could go on and on, but I will stop there. I will say this, though, I would have paid good money to witness these neighbors climb this ladder (which was seriously high) and cut these limbs. I am SURE it was quite a show.

The following picture was taken in the bathroom at work. I have worked in this building for nearly 4 years. Today was the first time in 4 years I noticed the PHONE JACK in the bathroom. Why? Possible conference call, of course. I don't know why I find this so weird....but I do.



Brandon and I have really enjoyed the local Farmer's Market each week! Here are a couple of photos I took two weeks ago.









This Thursday morning Brandon and I will get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl! We are so excited we can barely wait. Brandon admitted last weekend that he is ready to buy some gender specific clothes for Baby Bice!

The dogs are excited to find out too......



Of course...they make this face every time I get the camera out (not really)! I love their sweet smiley faces!

Ummm....gross

Blogger has some really cool features in it's "stats" section. You can get a general idea of how some people stumbled upon your blog; did they google it, follow from your facebook page, etc.

Since I linked my blog to my facebook page today, I checked my stats. I was curious how many people followed the link from facebook.

At the bottom of my stats are possible searches that led someone (gross), somewhere (yuck), to my blog and picture of the baby bump. Under searches it said "Baby Bump Porn". Yack. Seriously? Who freaking searches baby bump porn.

I am just keeping my fingers crossed and praying they didn't find what they were looking for....and kept moving. I may need to consider taking this thing private. Gross.

Baby baby bump

This Friday I will be 4 months (or 16 weeks) pregnant. Slowly but surely my body is starting to change. I have a developing baby bump, but it's pretty small, so its more like a baby baby bump.



I find it very strange that my belly looks larger in clothing than naked (and no....there won't be any naked pictures). Last weekend I squeezed myself into a bikini, and although it probably wasn't a pretty sight, my belly looked less pregnant than when I came home with a tank top covering. How does that work? If it continues this way, I may be looking for skimpier clothing to wear to work REAL soon! In return, I may also be looking for new employment!

Weak Will.....

Sunday evening this sweet girl

had a little accident.

While we were outside playing "fetch" in the backyard, she managed to rip the top claw on her paw. I kept calling this her "dewclaw", but after doing some research, I am not convinced that is what it is. And basically now I am confused. It seems too high up on her leg to be a dewclaw, and in case you don't know what a dewclaw is, here is a picture......


Anywho...
We went to the vet (which is always an experience) and they said she basically did the equivalent of a human ripping their finger nail completely up off their finger and leaving the vulnerable meat (or fresh) exposed. Yum.

Here is Dixie at the vet. She loves it there and they love her.



So last night I come home armed with 4 very important items!
1. Pain Medicine (VERY important....to my sleep)
2. Antibiotics
3. Anti-inflammatory
4. An E-collar

As Brandon and I start preparing the nursery for Baby Bice we are cleaning out items and junk we haven't used in years. Less than a week ago we took a look at our old E-collar and could find no future use for it, so we threw it away. If only we had known. But NOOOO....we had to purchase a whole new one not even 5 days later (what are you gonna do?).

This afternoon when I went home for lunch I stuck poor Dixie in her E-collar. It was so sad and pathetic and I couldn't stand to see her "suffer". Poor girl. Enjoy!



Let's hope I have a stronger will with our children, because I took the silly thing off within moments. We will try again tonight, when we have Brandon around as backup.

Our poor child

It should not be a reflection of how much Brandon and I love our unborn child....but we completely forgot about going to visit our top choice for day cares today. We had an appointment at 9am and neither of us realized until nearly 11:30.
Brandon's words (and worry) "Our poor child".

Thankfully the lady at the daycare assured him that it happens a lot more often than one might think. Whew! I wonder how often parents actually forget their CHILDREN at daycare? Let's hope she has reassuring words for that, too! The visit is rescheduled for tomorrow morning, if we remember.

This picture below brings two major emotions to my mind.
1. Being a parent should be hilarious.
2. There is a part of me that is terrified to have a girl.

The second semester....

As of this Friday, I will officially be in the second trimester (or as I keep referring to it, the second semester). Here is our beautiful baby, as of last week!



In case you don't see what is happening here, this is a profile shot of Baby Bice, his/her little face is on the right side, with his/her body on the left! It amazes me to think that next month (6/16 to be exact) we will be finding out if the baby is a he or a she.

Things have been pretty good. I have been working hard to keep Crazy-Lauren in check and it seems to be helping. I recently read Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs. It's pretty freaking funny and made me feel so much better about Crazy-Lauren and some of the other "experiences" I have already had while pregnant. Which leads me to this....

Belly Bands...(I know it sounds like "buddy bands" from Saved By The Bell, but they are not nearly as cool)



These gorgeous looking things are often used during pregnancy. They are designed to provide belly support later in pregnancy (when the baby bump is more like a speed hump), but they can also be used in early pregnancy. These belly bands can be used to help women who aren't quite into maternity clothing and can still (sort of) fit into their pre-pregnancy clothing. Basically if you wear your regular pre-pregnancy pants, but can't quite get them buttoned, these bands come to your rescue. They allow you to wear your pants unbuttoned and possibly even half zipped, but they are tight enough to flatten the pants to looking normal and keep them secure at your waist. They help to prolong your pre-pregnancy pant wearing!

I have only worn the belly band a couple of times so far, but I am certain it is about to become a major fixture in my wardrobe. I am still able to wear about 85% of my pre-preggo pants, but I truly think that time is coming to a startlingly quick end. It's not that I can't fit into my clothing....it's just not comfortable (or attractive). Although, I must admit, these bands don't exactly scream "flattering"! But there is a part of me that is totally freaked out that my pants are going to fall and I won't even notice (It's like that dream where you go to school naked. How you got there without noticing some sort of draft is a mystery).

I have noticed while browsing maternity clothing that most pants/shorts have giant belly bands attached (sewn in) to the front panel of the garment. Unless you are seriously sporting a baby bump, these pants do you no good. There aren't many great options for those who are slightly uncomfortable in their regular clothes yet not ready for serious baby bump sewn in belly bands. I guess that's where these detached belly bands come into play. I guess I should be grateful that there is at least an option.

So...if you see me around town and it looks as if I have my pants unbuttoned and slightly unzipped, it's probably because I do. Please don't point and laugh...unless they actually hit the ground, in which case....I had it coming.

Who have I become?

Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed a "change" in myself. If I had to describe myself right now, it would be with a short-temper and a sharp-tongue. I don't necessarily like this "new me", the crabby (this is putting it nicely) version of Lauren. The weird thing is.....I can't seem to tame this new beast from within. I am having to literally bite my tongue to keep from unleashing my mouth. My courtesy filter is no longer existent....but I want it back.

The truth is I am freaking out that this new version is permanent. Someone please tell me this is normal in pregnancy....and my "filtered-self" will return in due time. I bet my husband would like that, too.