The Creeper

Have I confessed yet to the Blogging World that we now allow Brinkley to sleep in the bed with us? It's SO bad of us to start this 3 weeks ago now. He was so well trained to sleep in his doggie bed NEXT to our bed. Now, he sleeps at the foot of the (queen) bed while Beau, Shelby and I work our way around him. We are nuts, I know. But I love having all my babies together!

Please note, I said that he sleeps at the foot of the bed. However, this is what things are starting to look like in the morning.....

He is such a little creeper! He does this little army crawl when he thinks we aren't looking - it's so funny. I promise I won't keep posting pictures of Beau asleep. But that's what I do when he's asleep and I'm not in the mornings. I play with my camera phone ;-)

9 Weeks

I know for most people, these updates are old since so many people before me have posted the exact same thing...but just remember, this is for my mom as much as it is for you ;-) Also, I enjoy looking back on my blog from time to time and see where I was and what I was doing at any given point and I have no doubt that I will continue to do this post-prego. And who knows, perhaps Baby ReyRey will do the same....

Every Saturday morning, I wake Beau up with "Happy Xth Week!", which would totally be sweet if it was after 7am. ;-) My earlier-than-ever bedtime has me waking up at the earliest hours ready to conquer the day. The sweetest part of my morning updates is that no matter how early it is, Beau always kisses me and says, "Happy 9th Week, baby...zzzzz....."

Fruit Time!! This week, we're a grape.

 New this week: Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

12 short hours

Last night on my way home, Beau called to tell me he had a surprise for me. What could it be?! Did he train the dogs to cook me my 3 dinners an evening?! An invention to speed up pregnancy?! Did he go grocery shopping on his own?! ...... Alas, so much better than any of this....he started our very first fire in our new home! Isn't it pretty? :-) Love him. xoxo

And 12 very short, very sleepy hours later, this is what I awake to....my husband and my Shelby just devastated that I have to get up for work. Their sadness was almost too much to bear. But seriously, do you know how hard it is to drag myself out of bed away from this coziness?! Shelby is such a snuggler, she likes to spoon :-)

8 Weeks (or My baby is losing its tail!)

A little update on the little somethin' I've got cookin'.....I'm doing better with my energy level but am still eating crazy amounts of food! Eating isn't even fun anymore b/c I'm ALWAYS hungry so it seems like more of a chore than anything. I'm having daily headaches, which I can't believe I forgot to talk to my doctor about when I was there this past week. I'm assuming that it's b/c I need to drink more water, which I'm beginning to work on. Other than that, I'm having fun with it all!

New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby - about the size of a kidney bean - is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

Wiggin' Out

But not for the reason you may think! Last night, I went to my first-ever Wig Party in honor of our friend Trish's 30th Birthday party! I had so much fun and I'm so glad I went! Beau was in Austin this weekend so (while he was greatly missed and I was asked 100x where he was) it was great to be with my girls!

I went over to Nikki's house early and hung out with her and Thea, which I haven't done with girlfriends in so long! It was nice to lay around and chat...well, I "lay", they were buzzing around being productive. :)

We soon headed to Madison Ave., this month's hottest bar/club in Uptown, which will no doubt quickly be replaced by some other new place before Christmas. Ha! I'm so cynical. But seriously, you should have seen the traffic to get into that place when I was leaving! McKinney Ave. was practically shut down. Sorry, back to the story...

We had such a great time dancing and being stared at by all the non-wig-wearers. Their sad looks wishing they could be friends with us was almost too much to take. Ok, I'll stop. But seriously, a great night and thanks to Thea for the fun pictures and my awesome virgin cocktails! I think I was drunk on O.J. ;-) Happy 30th Birthday, Trishy!!

I don't think we ever successfully got the whole group together. It's like herding cats.

Life might just be better as a readhead! ;-)

WTF will never be the same!

My company has a Work Time Fun (WTF) event about once a quarter and they vary from Cinco de Mayo parties in the park to the occasional big event like everyone heading out to Sneakie Pete's on Lake Lewisville. They bring everyone together outside of the office and are always a good time. This past week, we had our first ever "mystery" WTF event where they simply told everyone to meet outside in front of our building at 1pm and to dress comfortably. I'm still in amazement at how they kept this a surprise from everyone!.....

Three charter buses awaited us, each with snacks and a keg of beer. For about an hour, they drove us past everything from a putt putt place, to top golf, to Dave & Busters...Finally, we pulled into the parking lot of North Park mall. The surprise? A big "Thank You" from RAZOR to the employees for our hard work - each one of us received $200 in North Park Gold and about 4 hours to play. What a treat!! It was fun (and very different) to shop with co-workers. I bought sweaters but my favorite story of North Park Gold being well-spent was a group that headed to the patio of Kona Grill for drinks. :-) That probably would have been a part of my plan too about 2 or 3 months ago!

Everyone had a great time and I will never forget that day! Truly special! Philip, a co-worker and friend, and I joked that we could hear Oprah in our heads, "YOU GET $200! YOU GET $200! YOU GET $200!". hehe...

Here is a shot of Anna, Carissa and I coming off our bus. I'm sure we will be seeing this picture again in a staff meeting....

Finally, I will never forget the VP/Operations pumping the keg like it's something she does every day - too funny!

Is this really happening? (or First Sonogram)

I went to my first doctor's appointment this morning and I am pleased to report that Baby Reynolds has a strong heart beat of 143 and everything looks great! Dr. Jacoby was wonderful about everything - even caffeine and sushi and he says that he gives an epidural at 1 cm., all of which makes him the new man in my life! Just kidding. But he did say that one cup of coffee every once in a while and smoked salmon and tempura sushi rolls (not raw) are fine. They also gave me a fun little gift bag of pregnancy stuff. I was very disappointed not to have found a crib in there.

So, I guess this is really happening! I will feel much better after my 12th week when risks go down but until then, I will be preparing (and planning decorations) for this exciting time in our lives!

Here is the sonogram. Isn't he cute?! Just kidding. But Beau and I think it's a boy. Despite the fact that it doesn't have private parts yet. He/She is looking to the left, sitting upright with a little nub arm sticking out. The Monday after Thanksgiving I get to hear the heartbeat. Oh, and the due date is officially June 26, 2010. But who really delivers on their due date?! My Mom said I was 4 days late, which if this baby isn't headin' out the morning of the 26th, we're going to have words. More later! :)

Questions & Updates

I promise I won't always talk babies (yes, I will) but lots of changes going on now....

First, I get a lot of the same questions from people – here are some of my favorites:

When are you due?

            Around June 26^th, 2010

Do you have any symptoms?
            Yes, the typical 6. EXHAUSTION, frequent urination, crazy emotions, nausea, lots of saliva and sore boobs. I have a new respect for expecting women! I was going to be the fabulous prego chick in heels and skinny (maternity) jeans, dancing the night away with my girl friends (w/ a water in hand) proving that nothing has to change just b/c I’m with child. Ha! I’m still “fabulous”….if that means unbuttoned jeans under a baggy shirt, passed out by 8:30pm on the couch, saying ‘no’ to social events that begin after 8pm, but if I do make it out finding the nearest bathroom in case I need to hurl and the nearest chair  b/c I just want to SLEEP. All the time. If that isn’t fabulous, I don’t know what is ;-)


Do you miss wine?
            Yes. Do you know me? I also miss soft cheese. Sushi. Coffee. Crab & shrimp. Corona Lite. And I also miss anything else that I can’t have that I don’t even know about yet ;-)


Were you trying? / Was it an accident? / Were you surprised? / Did you mean to get pregnant?
            Really? Have some tact! I totally get the curiosity b/c a) everyone knew/thought I didn’t have baby fever and b) we never told anyone we were planning for this next step. It was very important to both Beau and I that we keep this between us in case we struggled with it. I just had this feeling that it would take us a long time and we didn’t want anyone (our parents) expecting a “Good News!” call every time the phone rang. So yes, we were “trying”.


Second, here are some things I have cried over that would NEVER have had me crying 2 months ago:

• The DMV closing at 5 when their website says 6 and me showing up at 5:15 - tears
• Almost getting mowed down in the parking lot of said DMV by a distracted motorist on his cell - hysterical
• Getting confused by the stupid Parker/75 pass over and ending up heading South when I was trying to go North on 75 - emotional breakdown
• (P.S. the top 3 all happened in the same afternoon - NOT a good day!)
• Biggest Loser voting off the girl that lost her husband and babies in a car accident - actually I would have cried at this anyway
• Beau not being "excited" enough about baby talk - was I expecting a ticker tape parade? Yes.

Last, here are some changes being made around the house:

• Beau and I are switching sides of the bed! He is closer to the bathroom and walking ALL the way around the bed to get there seems impossible at 2am. In fact, I just lay there debating whether I should climb over him and whether that would make him mad. ;-) Sooo, why do I have to pee so much when nothing is even pushing on my bladder yet??!
• We are keeping Brinkley outside during the day more so that he can use more energy and be calmer in the house. I’m still trying to figure out how we will have a baby crawling around with our two dogs – they lack any concept of personal space!
• We now have a baby-mobile! My parents so kindly traded us their Yukon for my Camry. I should have thrown out baby talk years ago! J

Graduating (or We're Having a Baby!)

Can you believe in less than a year I went from reading....

The Knot.....

to The Nest.....

to The Bump?!

 Beau and I have never really been ones to waste any time when we want something but really?! Wow! We couldn't be more excited to announce that we are expecting a baby in June 2010! It is very early (probably too early) to be telling people but we are just thrilled! I am 6 weeks and 2 days along (or Paw Caldwell would say "you're going into your 7th week" ;-) ). I don't really like to get all sappy in public but feel that it needs to be said....we are truly blessed to have God right there on board helping us make every decision we have made recently - with this last one really being something out of our control! It hasn't escaped me that this is such a blessing and completely out of my control and for that we are truly thankful.

Soooo, is this the part where I compare it to a fruit? Why not?! And so begins the blog subjects that I never anticipated writing about.....

This week we are a sweet pea!

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape! His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long.

How cool is that?