Pictures

Here is our little guy asleep in his car seat yesterday. He wore his bug outfit to church.

Here he is hanging out on daddy's lap. It is a comfortable place to hangout and watch Nascar.

Here he is hanging out with mommy after eating. He loves to be held on your chest.

James visited Dollywood and Curves today. He was very good. He had lunch with "Aunt" Cathy, Jeff, daddy, and mommy. It was good to get out and about. Have a great week everyone!

Church

We went to church today. It was great to see everyone. James did really well during the service. I was a little worried that he would scream during Randy's sermon. We had the pacifier in his mouth, and he really started to get agitated. I couldn't believe he was hungary, since he took 2 oz. right before we left. Barry fixed him a bottle, and he drank the entire 3 oz. during the sermon. Then off to sleep he drifted. He has been a sleep since a little before 10 A.M. He is starting to stir. Everyone was so surprised out how tiny he is at this point. It won't last for long the way he is eating.

He did okay yesterday at church during First Aid/CPR training. We think he got a little over stimulated though. They played the song "Staying Alive" for us to use as the beat for compressions during CPR. "Uncle" Adam danced around with him during this song, and he started to get a little cranky. Barry fed him and he did not go off to sleep like usual. Once we got home he was awake for 3 hours screaming. He finally settled down around 4:30 P.M. and still wouldn't go to sleep. He finally decided to rest but only in my arms. Which was okay but meant I got nothing done last night. Oh well! Some days are going to be like that.

Daddy did night duty again last night. It was wonderful. I never heard James, until I heard Barry at 3:00 A.M. calling for me on the monitor. James had lost his umbilical cord, and Barry needed help cleaning the belly button. He has a very cute belly button.

Well, our little one is stirring in his car seat (where he has been since we got home from church)...we didn't want to wake him. It is about time to eat again. Enjoy your Sunday everyone!

First Big Outing

We ventured out of the house for the afternoon yesterday. We didn't do anything really fun, but we did get some much needed shopping done. We have discovered that Babies R Us is cheaper for the formula we are using than anyone else. We were very shocked. So, since Babies R Us is in West Knoxville, we bought 4 cans at one time. We hope that it will last us a month. We seem to be going through 1 can a week. We were able to do a little grocery shopping as well.

It was nice to finally be out of the house. Of course, it made for a very long evening last night, because someone had slept all afternoon in his car seat. He was also a little warm...might have something to do with it being 90 degrees outside. Daddy did nighttime duty last night so that mommy could get some sleep. It was wonderful. James slept pretty good last night for daddy. We have to wake him up here very shortly to head off to church for First Aid/CPR training. Adam plans to babysit during the training...I'm sure he can't wait.

We hope to go to church tomorrow for services. I'm a little anxious to see how James does with the music. He doesn't mind loud noises, so we hope he does well. We plan to sit towards the back, so if he gets fussy I can leave with him and calm him down. He will probably sleep through the whole thing.

Well, we will post again soon with new pics. I am working on taking new pics to send to Angie for baby dedication Sunday. My hope is to get some good ones today to send...so, I will update you all soon as well.

Two Weeks Old

James is 2 weeks old today. He seems to be growing more and more every day. We are getting our eating schedule down. Some days (like yesterday) the feeding schedule is really thrown off. He is able to go about 3 hours at a time. Sometimes a little less or a little more than that. Last night was a little rough. He just didn't want to go to sleep. So, mommy was a little cranky this morning with daddy before he left for work. I was hoping to get a good nights sleep tonight, but daddy is still at work at 7:20 P.M. So, chances are he is going to be exhausted when he gets home since the temperature today was 93 without the heat index. I guess I can hope for tomorrow night....a whole nights sleep is something desperately wanted. I don't know how James's night schedule would be, since I still have to wake him up every 3-4 hours to eat. The pediatricians wanted me to keep doing that instead of letting him sleep until he wakes up. Hopefully soon we will be able to let him sleep until he wakes up.

Sea Ray laid a 48 people off at Barry's plant today. He called this morning and said he was safe. According, to the news reports they are planning to close 4 plants very soon. We are pretty positive it won't be Barry's plant since his sits on corporate grounds. We just hope he continues to survive the rounds of layoffs. Brunswick is now waiting to see how many people don't return after the month long furlough to determine if anymore layoffs will be necessary. Please pray that they won't lay him off until after I go back to school and am collecting a paycheck, if they do at all.

Well, we will update again soon. Until then enjoy this beautiful summer heat.

Back from Daddy Doctor

We are back from the doctor with daddy. He has a really bad ear infection in the left ear. The doctor was very surprised that he didn't have a lot of pain. So, he is now on an antibiotic and a medicine for the nausea and dizzyness. He is going back to work tomorrow. He's enjoying some time with James as we speak.

We will update again soon.

Sick Daddy

Boy, it's fun having two babies to take care of. Just kidding!

Barry called me from work this morning at 6:30 A.M. asking if I was feeling okay. I told him yes, but I hadn't been out of bed but to feed James. Apparently, he woke up this morning not feeling well. He said he was very wobbly and almost fell off the toilet. He decided to eat something and go to work. He made it to work...not real sure how, but he didn't feel any better. Luckily, he was finished when he left work yesterday, so he was just waiting on the boats to roll. He laid down and felt even worse, so he went to the nurse they have on staff. He called me at 7:00 A.M. and asked me to come pick him up, because he knew he couldn't drive home. So, daddy is now in bed sleeping, and we are trying to keep James away from him. We don't want James to get anything. Barry says he feels like he has the flu. The nurse at Sea Ray told him there is a strain of flu going around right now even though it isn't flu season. Great....that's all we need with a newborn. Daddy goes to the doctor at 2:00 P.M. I guess I will have to take him, since his truck is still at Sea Ray. We are hoping that he feels better later to go get his truck, or I will have to take him to work at 5:00 A.M. tomorrow morning...won't that be fun with an infant that is usually sleeping at that time. Oh well...the things you do for the people you love.

James is doing well on formula. We have had a little spit up after some feedings...just a few drops. He is extremely fussy in the evenings, so Dr. Hodge suggested Mylacon drops in his formula during the afternoon feedings to help with the fussy evenings. Barry stopped on his way home yesterday and picked some up, so we will try that today. Otherwise he seems to be doing okay. He is sleeping pretty regularly now. I am still waking him up in the middle of the night for a feeding, because that is what Dr. Harsh and Dr. Hodge want me to do so he doesn't lose anymore weight. I didn't mention it the other day, but he was up to 8 lbs. 14 oz. on Monday when we were at the pediatrician for the projectile puking. Yeah! Above birth weight finally.

Well, I guess that's all from here in our neck of the world. I will keep you posted. Off to check on Barry while James sleeps. Barry's been sleeping for 2 hours now...must be nice.

Back to the Doctor

We went back to the pediatrician today unexpectedly this afternoon. Baby James projectile pucked all over me this morning. So, I was a little worried. We saw Dr. Hodge today. He seems to think that James just had gotten to much to eat considering we don't know exactly how much breastmilk he is getting. He told us to watch for more projectile pucking, but he seems to be doing okay now that we are home. I talked to Dr. Hodge about switching to completely formula fed, because the lactation consultant says that I am one of the 5% of women who do not produce breast milk. Dr. Hodge said because he has been getting the formula supplement to just cut out the breastfeeding. So, when we got home he got a 2 oz. bottle of formula and seems to be doing okay with it. For the first time since about 9:00 A.M. he is sleeping.

The conversation with the lactation consultant was lengthy this morning. We didn't end up having to go down to the hospital to see her after our conversation. She did a history with me and through the conversation and various questions/answers she determined that I am probably in that 3-5% of women that do not produce breast milk. She said there is a device that I can attach to the breast that formula is fed through that he could nurse that way for as long as I was up to it. I told her that since he was already being supplemented it would just be easier for us and less expensive (device isn't cheap) to do the bottle feeding. She was very supportive and said that he had gotten a good bit of my anitbodies from the colustrum before it changed over to the transitional milk. Her concern is that when pumping for 20 minutes I am getting nothing but a few drops. She said that tells her that he isn't getting anything either. She wants me to try pumping when he has not nursed to see what I get. This will be a good indicator of what he was getting. She was very concerned that I never had the heavy feeling or engorgement. This is another sign that I do not produce milk. So, we are now formula feeding James. He seems to be doing okay with it. I am glad that we tried the breastfeeding, but I think it is for the better that we switch to just formula. This way we know exactly what he is getting and won't go through what happened this morning.

Well, I have a little one beckoning. I will keep you all posted. Thanks Megan for hanging out with us today and going to the doctor. We enjoyed it. Enjoy your Monday everyone!

First Outing

James with his cousin Quinlin. Boy what a 4 month difference can make. The boys are 3 month and 3 weeks apart to the date. They were mesmerized by each other last night at the campground. James didn't know whether to touch him or not, and Quinlin kept reaching for James's head.


We ventured out of the house yesterday for the first time. We had to go downtown to Fort Sanders to rent a breast pump. It doesn't seem to be helping that much. I'm still only getting very little milk out with it. When I talked to the lactation consultant on Friday, she said she had never run into a woman that just didn't produce milk. Well, it would seem I'm not producing milk. We aren't giving up yet. She said it could just be delayed. So, for now we are nursing, pumping and supplementing. It should be interesting when Barry returns to work tomorrow. I have to call and go in to see the lactation consultant tomorrow. They want to watch James nurse to see if there are any suggestions they can give us, because he seems very uninterested in nursing at times. We'll keep you posted.





After our adventure to Fort Sanders, we came home and rested for a little while. Then we ventured out again to visit Uncle Arthur, Aunt Gwen, cousin Egan, and cousin Quinlin at the KOA in Pigeon Forge. They had pulled their camper up there for the weekend, so we went to visit for dinner. James slept through dinner and then woke up to nurse after dinner. We took a walk down to the Dollywood Marketing building to see the train. Egan enjoyed the walk. James screamed through most of it. We're not sure if he was still hungary or just hot. It was a little muggy outside. We then walked back to the campground and decided to come home after watching Egan roast marshmallows and finally eat his dinner off a stick (chicken on a stick). Whatever works! We enjoyed our outing.





Today, we are just hanging out at home. Grandma and Grandpa left Friday evening to stop over at Aunt Wendy and Uncle Kevin's before going home to Pennsylvania. We enjoyed their visit and all the help. We hope to see them again real soon. Daddy's working on laundry before going back to work tomorrow and watching Nascar on TV with his new little buddy.





We will update again later this week after our visit with the lactation consultant and the peditrician on Tuesday for a weight check. Enjoy your Sunday!

Good visit

We just returned from the pediatrician. Dr. Harsh was very pleased with James's skin color, so he did not order the jaundice levels to be checked. James has only gained an ounce since Tuesday. He was a little bit more worried about this. We go back on Tuesday to have his weight checked again by Dr. Hodge. Dr. Harsh said that James's circumcision looks really good, and we can begin cleaning it with wipes when he goes to the bathroom. I was a little concerned because yet again we are not having bowel movements. He had three on Wednesday, but he hasn't had any since then. Dr. Harsh said to wait until tomorrow and if he doesn't have one try the thermometer again. His stomach is still soft. Dr. Harsh assured us that we are doing the right thing with supplementing. He asked again if my milk had come in, and I told him I didn't think completely. He said to continue doing what we are doing and hopefully it will come in soon. The key he said is to make my body think I need it to come in faster. We'll see how that goes.

Barry goes back to work on Monday instead of taking the second week of FMLA. Sea Ray is doing a month furlough of all production workers to try and avoid layoffs. He will work next week and then be off until July 28, 2008. We are a little nervous, but we know God has a plan for all this. The good thing is Sea Ray is paying all medical and dental insurance for the month, so we will not loose our medical coverage. He will be able to collect unemployment, but his unemployment won't be any where near what he brings home every two weeks.

I am feeling okay. We had to call the doctor on call last night. Luckily, it was Dr. Broady. I have been bleeding more and more. He wants us to watch the bleeding today and if it doesn't slow down to call the office and come in before the weekend. He said the amount I have is not normal. I didn't think it was normal, and Barry didn't like the amount. I have been a little more active than I was at the beginning of the week. I am beginning to get cabin fever. I'm not used to being in the house all day long every day. Thank goodness we have been able to get out of the house to visit the pediatrician.

Well, I guess that's all for this morning in our little world. We will update again soon.

Almost one week old

James with Grandma Hooker


Adam and Megan came to visit James after they returned home from their honeymoon. James enjoyed the visit.

James is almost a week old and doing well. We were beginning to worry about him not having a bowel movement. The pediatrician told us yesterday that if he didn't have one by this morning to call. So, I called. They advised us to try using a rectal thermometer or a pediatric supository. I didn't want to even attempt the supository, so we went the thermometer route. It worked. So, we did not have to visit Dr. Harsh today.

James is eating well and beginning to be awake for longer periods. We were actually able to get 4 hours of sleep last night at one time. I couldn't believe it. I woke up once in the middle of the 4 hours, because we hadn't heard from him. He was sound asleep. We are still having to supplement every once in awhile. The pediatrician told us to stop, but he still isn't getting completely satisfied. The nurse this morning said it was okay, because my milk is probably just now starting to come in. As long as he is getting something she said not to worry. If he starts not having wet diapers to call. We have to go back to the doctors by the end of the week to have his jaundice levels checked, so we will talk to the pediatrician more at that time. Until then we are only supplementing when he takes for 10 minutes on each side and then is still hungry.

Well, I am going to attempt to put some pictures with this post. Please bare with me. If they don't make it into this post, I will try again.

Second Visit

We visited Dr. Harsh again this morning. James is back to his discharge weight. Yeah! His jaundice level has come down a little. The new concern is he has not had a bowel movement since yesterday morning. Dr. Harsh didn't seem to concerned. He wants us to keep track and if he doesn't have one by tomorrow to call and come in. We have to go back by the end of the week to have his jaundice level and weighed checked. Dr. Harsh told us to stop supplementing with formula today. He believes my milk has come completely in based on James's feeding chart. The amount of time he is feeding on both sides has increased which means he is getting something from me. So, we are going to hold off on the supplement unless we start to see a decrease in wet diapers. Dr. Harsh was overall pleased with James's progress to this point.

I am feeling much better. The headache is completely gone for the most part and my neck has stopped bothering me. I am still taking the motrin on its regular schedule to prevent the pain from coming back. I hope to begin tapering it off towards the end of this week. At least I am not on any major pain medication, since I can't take the hydrocodone.

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes. Please visit with us when you can.

We will update again soon.

First Doctor Visit

We had our first doctor visit today. James is doing well. His jaundice level has gone up since Saturday when he was discharged. So, we must take him back tomorrow to see if it is coming back down. We noticed yesterday that the whites around his eyes were starting to yellow. We also noticed that he hadn't had but two wet diapers. So, we started supplementing at each feeding with formula. Not what we wanted to do really, but the pediatrician assured us this morning that that was the best thing we could have done for James. It may have helped the level to not be as high. We now have to feed at least 10 minutes on each side at each feeding and supplement with formula at each feeding until my milk comes completely in. The pediatrician feels that my milk should be coming in anytime now. I hope so. I had started pumping last night to stimulate the milk. He told me to quit doing that it would only tear my nipples up and make it harder on James to nurse because it would hurt me for him to nurse. James has also lost more weight. He is now down to 8lbs. 3 oz. The peditrician is not real concerned but still concerned. He weighed 140 oz. at birth. They do not want them to loose more than 10% of their birth weight. James so far has lost 9 oz. We still have 5 oz. to go before they get really concerned. Otherwise he thought James looked very healthy.

I am feeling some better today. We discovered last night that I am allergic to hydrocodone. Which is the pain medication they prescribed for me to take when I got home. I had every side affect listed on the paperwork from the pharmacy. So, I called the doctor, and he told me to quit taking it immediately and take a benedryl to counteract the affects it was having on me. So, I am now just down to the motrin. My neck is feeling better. I still have a slight headache, but they said that could last up to a week. I think some of the headache is pure exhaustion. I am only getting a handful of hours of sleep each day and didn't sleep but a few hours the whole time we were in the hospital. Barry is doing okay. He is exhausted as well, but we are getting through it. His parents arrived yesterday afternoon to help us out for the week. We appreciate it greatly. He and his mom have headed out to Sea Ray to drop off important paperwork for James to be added to our insurance and then to Krogers to get some food. We had pretty much nothing in the house to eat. Grandpa is sleeping in the recliner while James sleeps on me. We have worn Grandma and Grandpa out since they arrived. Grandma is enjoying every bit of James. She loves to hold him. Grandpa is keeping Joey busy and therefore Joey isn't bothering Baby James at times when he shouldn't be.

Well, I guess that is all from our little neck of the woods for today. We are expecting some visitors later today. We will post new pictures later and an update tomorrow after the doctor.

We're home

Here he is ready to come home in his brand new car seat. We had to have the nurse come make sure we had him in it tight enough. We were finally able to leave the hospital around noon yesterday. It felt so good to be coming home.

I am still very sore. I let the pain medication wear off, because I thought it was making me feel funny. Only to find out that I have pinched a nerve in my neck that goes real well with the pulled muscles from delivery that we discovered yesterday morning once the spinal headache was gone. So, now I am trying to get the pain medication back on a normal schedule and into my body. There isn't much more we can do for the neck accept the medicine and heat. Dr. Shine said had we caught it on Friday we could have put ice on it to keep the swelling down., but we didn't know I was having problems due to the intense pain from the spinal headache. Go figure!

We had a very rough first night home. James fed every half hour to hour for almost 8 hours. Then he finally has gotten back on the schedule from the hospital. We hope that my milk is beginning to come in. We go to see the pediatrician for the first time tomorrow. Hopefully all will be well. We will keep you updated.

Barry's parents will be here this afternoon to spend the week with their first grandchild. We can't wait.

Master James has arrived

James arrived yesterday night at 10:16 P.M. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 12.2 ozs. He was 22 inches long. He is adorable. He has done really well with breastfeeding and the pediatrician was very pleased with him this morning. We are hoping to be able to go home tomorrow morning.

I only had to push for 1 hr. and 1 min. I was a little nervous, so it took some time for me to be able to finally get the hang of pushing. It took 3 attempts to get the epidural in, but Mark (the anestisiologist) was awesome and took his time to get it in. I was ever so greatful. I have ended up with what they believe is a spinal headache. I had to options have a blood patch (which involved going back into my back) or caffeine drip. I choose the caffeine drip. It seems to be helping. I hope tonight to get some rest which may make a huge difference as well.

Well, I guess that is all from here in the hospital. We will keep you all updated once we get home.

We went to the doctor

We just returned from the doctors office. I hadn't felt any movement this morning at all, so I called the doctor. They wanted me to come in, so I called Barry at work. Barry left work and took me to the doctor. We were there about 2 hours. They checked me, and I am still only dialated to 3 centimeters. So, they decided to do a nonstress test to see what James was up to. They had to wake him up first. He finally started moving. His heart rate was very strong at first. It kind of weened down when we were getting ready to leave. Dr. Moffet didn't seem to worried about it. She said he was probably in a deep sleep cycle again. So, she let us come home. She told me to eat and keep an eye on things and that Dr. Broady would see me first thing tomorrow morning. My blood pressure was low for me, but they really liked it (104/62). Plus I've lost another pound since Monday. Yeah! He has moved a little since I ate lunch. I had only had 2 pieces of toast this morning, because I wasn't feeling well. Dr. Moffet things that may have been why he wasn't moving. He was hungry, or it could be the party he threw till all of hours of the morning last night. So, we wait for tomorrow.

We'll blog when we return home.

Thought he would come last night

Well, we both thought he might be coming late last night. He was very active, but once I moved a little and laid on my right side he stopped. It was the strangest thing to watch. One side of my stomach would tense up and it would roll all the way across my stomach. We sat for ten minutes just watching this happen over and over. Then I got concerned when I laid down and it didn't stop, so I called Gwen (wonderful sister-in-law). She said that it could just be him moving and it felt that way because he is out of room. Or it could be the beginning of contractions. So, I let Barry sleep and moved to the living room to start timing. The change in position on the couch stopped all movement/contractions. I was finally able to go to sleep on the couch at about 11:30 P.M. I moved to the bedroom at 1:00 A.M. only to not be able to get comfortable still on my left side. So, I slept on my right side. We will see how today goes. Barry went to work, but he calls every chance he gets to check on the two/three of us (dog included).

Well, we will post again after James arrives. It probably won't be until the end of the weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to figure out how to put pictures on by that time.

We have a date

Well, it's official we have a date. If James Arthur does not make his presence on his own by Thursday morning at 7:30, Dr. Broady will be inducing my labor.

I went to see Dr. Broady this morning. The poor guy has been on vacation for the last week and was on call today. He was on call the last day he worked before vacation. Anyway, I had to wait a little while because he was over in the hospital doing rounds. When he finally got there he came to me first. He checked my cervix, and I am now dialated to 3 centimeters. Nothing else has changed his head is still where it was on Friday, and I have not thinned anymore. So, he asked how ready I was for this little guy to come into this world. I told him I was beyond ready. He looked at his handy dandy phone (which he keeps his on call schedule on) and decided that he would induce on Thursday morning (since he's on call again). He doesn't want to take the chance of Sir James growing any bigger than he already is at this point. So, the wonderful scheduler, Lori, called over to the hospital and scheduled us for the induction. Yeah! So, now we wait for Thursday morning. James may come on his own but at this point Dr. Broady is not so sure.

I am getting more and more excited as the days grow closer. Barry can't wait either. He will be a dad for Father's Day. Too bad we will just be coming home from the hospital, so I won't have time to get him a gift. I'm sure he will understand. So as of now on June 12th, Barry and I should be parents for the first time.

We will keep you all posted over the next few days.

Another week down

Thanks Angie for pointing out we haven't blogged about our weekend.

Barry spent yesterday morning working in the yard until it got to hot. He finished the one flower bed with new mulch. It only involved a second trip to Lowe's for more top soil and more mulch.

I rested up while he worked for the wedding that we attended in the afternoon. It was a very hot, outdoor wedding at the beautiful Case Farm right on the French Broad River. The wedding was for our friends, Adam and Megan. Adam is our children's minister at church, and since I sit on the Children's Ministry team I really wanted to be there for their nuptuals. I don't know how those guys stood the heat in their black suits, but they managed some how. Megan was a beautiful bride. We didn't get any pictures, because I forgot the camera. It's packed in the suitcase for the hospital, so we don't forget it. The reception was wonderful, since it was air conditioned. As I type Megan and Adam are off for their honeymoon. Megan has no idea where they are going, which I think is wonderful. She will love it when they get there.

Today, we went to first service at church, since I was already up early this morning. I have been up early the last two mornings. Arthur and Gwen are on their way over with the boys for the afternoon. It will be good to spend some time with them. Egan will get to play with his Thomas trains for the first time in a few weeks.

We are still playing the waiting game. I actually feel pretty good. James kicked a lot during service this morning. I'm not having very strong contractions. Well, let's put it this way if I am I haven't noticed. Dr. Kincaid said I would know when I was in active labor. I go back to see Dr. Broady first thing tomorrow morning. It should be interesting to see if I have progressed anymore. We will keep you all posted.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Doctor Says....

We are home from the doctor after a trip to Babies R Us.

Dr. Kincaid is a wonderful man. I am 1 1/2 centimeters dialated, 50% effaced, and stage -1. We like those numbers. I go back to see Dr. Broady on Monday morning at 8:45 A.M. Dr. Kincaid seems to believe that Dr. Broady will induce on Thursday, June 12th, but he didn't want to make that decision for Dr. Broady. He had already done that once this morning for another one of Dr. Broady's patients. Dr. Kincaid apologized for the pain when doing the check, because Mr. James's head is right there at the cervix which meant he was somewhat pushing on him. Dr. Kincaid is on-call this weekend, so he said if I go into labor this weekend it will be him delivering. We would be fine with that. Barry likes the sounds of a 6-7-08 baby.

We spent a good bit of yesterday evening tying up loose ends and making sure all the bills that we had were paid. We also cleaned up a little around the house. We didn't want anyone to have to come into the house for something while in the hospital and think we lived like pigs. It had gotten a little cluttered with all the new shower gifts and school stuff. Now, everything is back in its place and the house is tidy. As I type Barry is emptying and reloading the dishwasher. He also started a load of laundry. Which is a good thing, we may need some clothes to wear this coming week.

Well, that is our update for now. We will keep you posted.

Not so Bored!

Okay, so being home all day wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. I did manage to get some errands run and took Joey to the vet. He has all his vaccinations for the next year, so we are good to go on that front. We still have to work on getting him groomed and this winter fur gone, but I think that can wait until after James makes his presence.

I didn't get any scrapbooking done today, but I did get the rest of the school shower gifts put away for the time being and made a delicious dinner for Barry. Crock pots are a wonderful invention I have decided. I got some Girl Scout stuff done that has needed to be done for awhile and planned a little for next girl scout year.

Well, nothing has changed as far as we can tell with James. We go see Dr. Kincaid tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be dialated something.

We have a big Saturday planned. Our friends little boy is turning 8 and having his party at Dollywood's Splash Country. So, we will be attending that for a little while. Then our children's minister and fiance is getting married at 3:45 at the same place we had our outdoor wedding pictures taken. I'm sure it will be beautiful, but it is supposed to be 95 degrees on Saturday afternoon. I told Adam today that I didn't know if we would make the wedding, but we would definitely be at the reception depending on the heat. He understood completely.

Well, I will blog again tomrrow after our visit with the doctor.

Walking...walking...walking

So, Barry took the doctor literally when he said to get out and walk. So, we've been a walking. Well, it does actually feel good to be walking a lot more. I don't have as much discomfort as I did a few months and even weeks ago when I walk. We have tried the last couple of nights to get out and walk with Joey at least two laps around the small circle in our subdivision. At the beginning of this pregnancy I could walk the entire length of the subdivision, but not anymore. Hopefully very soon I will be back to walking the whole subdivision.

Tomorrow is the last official day of school. My grade cards are stuffed and in my mailbox awaiting my arrival at 7:00 A.M. for distribution. We'll see how many kids actually get up and come and get them in the morning. The ones that don't get picked up have to be mailed. So, I spent the morning addressing envelopes so as not to have to do it tomorrow. The sooner I can get out of there the better. They announced today unofficially who is our new principal. It is our current assistant principal. He seems to have lots of good ideas, but I don't think some people are going to be to happy with him trying to keep academic time as close to the state requirements as possible. I think it is a great start that has been needed for a long time. Not that my current principal hasn't done a great job, but things have been very lax this year when it came to academic time on task. I still have no idea what I'm teaching next year, but I have had a heart to heart with the new principal. He understands who I want to work with and what I want to teach. He and I discussed it yesterday. He agreed with my argument for a 2 hour language arts block to better teach the English, Reading and Spelling the way our new textbooks are set up to be taught. He has agreed at this point to allow me to have two 2 hour blocks of language arts next year and then teach my own homeroom Science. It should be interesting. He is going to attempt to go back to the team concept we have been in in sixth grade up until this school year.

My shower at school today was a great success. They have all decided that sixth grade knows how to throw a party. The food was great and Baby James recieved lots of great gifts to welcome him into this world. Daddy has already managed to put the swing together and gone through all the other gifts since he has been home this evening. I think he enjoys the gifts more than anybody.

So, as another school year wraps up I am reminded that Barry and I have been out of high school 15 years this year. Boy it doesn't seem like it has been that long. It also means Barry and I have known each other for 15 years. Someone commented today that it seems like just yesterday they were throwing us a wedding shower at school. When I commented that it had been almost two years since we were married, they were amazed that it had been that long. Boy how time flies when your having fun.

Well, enjoy the rest of the week. We will probably not blog again until after the doctors on Friday.

Three days and counting....

I'm sure that got you wondering. Well, there are three days left of the school year for teachers. One day for students. Tomorrow is the students last day. It should be a fairly easy day. We have awards in the morning, followed by a party, and then a watermelon smash in the afternoon. The watermelon is always the highlight of the year for the kids. They get to partake in watermelon and a seed spitting contest is usually involved to see how far they can spit their seeds. We hope the weather cooperates with us for this event each year. They say we can have some storms tomorrow afternoon with the heating of the day. I still have to work through Wednesday. Tuesday is an Administrative day, basically used to finish up loose ends and pack up classrooms. Mine will be spent socializing, having a baby shower and preplanning for next year. We are getting a new principal next year since ours is retiring. We know who it is but no official announcement has been made. Hopefully, by the time I leave school on Tuesday I will know what I am teaching next year. Wednesday is spent handing out grade cards for three hours and then a little more preplanning before we head home for summer vacation.

I dread Thursday home by myself. This is the first time in I don't know how long that I have no actual summer job to keep me busy at least until James arrives. My good friend, Angie, has graciously volunteered to come scrapbook with me if she doesn't have to work at the church. Barry doesn't want me venturing to far from home by myself in case I was to go into labor. That probably is a smart idea.

We have achieved a milestone that we never thought we'd see. I CAN ACTUALLY PARK IN THE GARAGE!!! It is so cool. I think this is the first time I have ever parked in a garage. I am looking forward to this winter when I won't have to scrape my windows or warm up the car before heading off to daycare and work. We still don't have Barry's truck in the garage and there is no telling when we will achieve that milestone, but he is okay with parking outside for now. With my car in the garage, he says it will be easier for him to back out now in the morning without taking out the new trees or hitting my car.

Speaking of new trees. Barry has been very busy this weekend working in our yard. He planted two new shade trees on the one side of the house to give us some shade and privacy from our neighbor. He also planted three bushes around Joey's kennel, so he will have some shade when the sun is out all day long. We noticed about a week ago that he only had one corner of his kennel that was shaded during the heat of the day. We also purchased new plants for the walkway flower bed along with mulch to go around them. Once that project is done, Barry plans to mulch the flower bed where my beautiful yellow rose bushes are growing. I will have to get out and take some pictures of the house to add to the blog. That is once I figure out how to post pictures.

Well, I am off to find something else to occupy my time this evening, plus I am getting kicked pretty hard at the moment in between braxton hicks. We will blog again soon. Have a great week everyone!