the order of life?

Anyone who knows me, knows my obsession with the order of life.

You know what I am talking about... You go to college, meet a boy, marry him, buy a house, have a baby (or 3) and live happily ever after.

For the most part we have done just that... with the added step of moving 3000 miles away (and back) as well a K-9 addition.

So all of a sudden, I am pregnant and we aren't anywhere near buying a house! I swore up and down when we moved into this tiny 1-bedroom apartment that this would be our last lease before a mortgage. The next time we moved would be to a permanent address.

It took lots of spiritual reflection and talks with my parents to realize A LOT of people have babies before buying a house. It took even more spiritual reflection for me to except that we too would be one of those couples.

Although it was all quite frustrating, I eventually let go. Let go of the control I was trying to hang on to and gave it to God. I figured, my trust in God had gotten me this far in life, why try to mess with his plan. It would all be okay. We would move into a 2-bedroom this summer to make room for Bebo and hope to buy before his first birthday.

Fast forward 4 months. Rick and I decide it would be a good idea to meet with a mortgage broker to see what we will need to do to qualify... save up more money, get a credit card to increase our credit, etc. Although we have a pretty good amount of money saved up, okay credit and a lot of people who can vouch for our reliability, we were sure he would come back with a list of things we needed to improve to qualify.

We were wrong! Instead, he came back saying we could buy now if we wanted!

Remember that pre-baby post about my house itch back in November? We all know how much I have wanted to buy a house then and now that we are expecting in August, even more so! So looks like instead of apartment hunting we will be HOUSE HUNTING!

I still can't believe this is really happening. Just when I finally let go and accept that the life order for I have for myself might not be the same life order God has planned for me and sure enough everything falls into place perfectly!

Life is GOOD.

domesticated? who me? no WAY!

Or am I?

It seems I have begun the transition to domestication. Yes, you read that correctly!

Brace yourself...

I did our weekly grocery shopping BY MYSELF! This is the first time in my life I have spent more than $30.oo at the grocery store by myself.

I have occasionally ventured to the grocery store to purchase the items for a recipe or to get a few things for my breakfasts. But never have I actually done our family shopping for a whole week. The best part of this being that I did the shopping like a champ. I wasn't going back and forth between the aisles, but very systematic. I was able to find each item on my list without much thought. (Thanks Shannon for helping me find the salad supreme via blackberry messenger!) I really enjoyed the thought of how much confidence I protrayed, the same confidence I see all these other ladies have and always wished I could find!

This probably sounds rediculous to most of you savvy grocery shoppers out there, but you have to understand the shopper I really am. I get anxiety thinking about having to go to the mall much less to the grocery store. I once had to bring my friend Brandy to the grocery store to find asparagus and a baster brush so I wouldn't have an anxiety attack. (Ask her it's true... or better yet Brandy, leave your side of the story in the comments!)

I wish I was exaggerating, but I am honestly not.

Fortunately now, (but unfornately during) Rick ALWAYS makes me go with him when he shops for us. Little did I know that I was learning while following him around like a frustrated toddler (Can we go home yet?!?).

And now I can do it alone!!!!!

I called my mom when I got home because she of all people would be the most proud. And she responded with something along the lines of, maybe your baby really will get to eat!

See, I really was that bad.

I even made pasta salad when I got home for my dinner tomorrow night since Rick has band practice all night.

Perhaps I will be one of those wives who cooks... but let's not get ahead of ourselves!

last ultrasounds!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today (even though today starts week 21) and we learned soo much about our little Bebo!

1. He is definitely a BOY! We saw more than enough proof of that!
2. He is defintiely stubborn (much like his daddy!). Our 30-minute ultrasound quickly turned into an hour long ultrasound because Bebo wouldn't move his arms from his chest to let the ultrasound tech take photos of his tiny heart!
3. He is definitely an acrobat. From somersaults to twists he has got all the moves to make his mommy feel like she is riding a roller coaster!
4. His name will be Cooper James Rice. But feel free to continue calling him Bebo as I sure do use them interchangablely still! (We have been calling him Cooper at home for about 8 weeks now just to test it out and make sure we liked how it sounds.)

The whole ultrasound experience was pretty amazing. We thought he looked detailed back at our 12week ultrasound but that did not nearly compare to what we saw. At one point, Cooper turned around and pointed toward out with just one finger and we could see all the individual digits of his finger.

While he was being stubborn and covering his chest, we could see his tiny mouth open and close. When he finally moved his arms away, we could see his tiny heart and all 4 chambers, each one pumping a little different just like I learned in biology class! It was truly amazing. Even 5 hours later, I am still in awe!

So now for the pictures! They are not the best, again because our little Coop is a bit on the stubborn side, but they are still amazing.

The first view is of his face, you can see both eye sockets and the top of his chest. And the second view is of his arms covering his head above his chest.

This picture is of his back and head as if he were looking down. In this one you can see all of his spinal cord!

So these are more than likely our last pictures of baby Coop before he enters this world on or around August 24th. We are both so excited we can barely contain it. I feel like he already is showing so much personality, I really CANNOT wait to meet him! :)

just to keep things interesting...

I added a poll! You can find it on the sidebar under "Look at Bebo now!"

Guess how much you think Bebo will weigh when he is born!

most frequently asked questions...

All those that have been pregnant before know these FAQ's that are so popular and usually in the same order from every person...

1. When are you due?
2. Do you know if it is a boy or a girl?
3. Have you picked out a name?
4. Do you have an weird cravings?

And when they get to #4, I am always a little unsure what to say. I have cravings all the time. My husband will tell you I crave ice cream constantly (which is probably true) and I often want something salty like popcorn or something meaty like a burger! But I had all those cravings prior to being pregnant.

Then, Rick went out of town. I was eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and I realized most things I was eating had cinnamon in them. From cinnamon in my ice cream (apple pie a la cold stone) to cinnamon in my toast (pepperidge farm cinnamon swirl bread). Then I realized this started when I got pregnant. I remember scouring the grocery stores to find cinnamon and sugar for my biscuits before school and I even made some cinnamon bread and cinnamon streutal muffins. (I bet you are craving cinnamon now!) Even back when I was going through some morning sickness, all my snacks were cinnamon related! (I should've realized my craze back then!)

So now I can answer all 4 FAQ's!

1. When are you due? August 24th
2. Do you know if it is a boy or a girl? We are having a boy!
3. Have you picked out a name? Yes! Cooper James Rice
4. Do you have any weird cravings? Yes! CINNAMON! I think about it and get excited when I find a new way to eat it. I wish I was joking but I am not.

I guess it could be worse, I could be craving something gross like pickles on ice cream!

bronchitis is the pits!

So Rick came home from his man-cation a day early. It was quite the pleasant surprise to come home on Thursday to my husband, but quite a different story when I found out how sick he was. He has bronchitis and those of you that have been reading a while know what a baby Rick can be when he is sick. In his defense, he was quite sick so I tried to be sympathetic. I was really just happy he was home and didn't really care why!

Fast forward 2 days, to this afternoon. My cough/wheezing had gotten so bad, I was having a difficult time getting a full breath in. Initially, I just thought it was my allergies acting up seeing as how the pollen is rediculous outside but decided after sleeping so poorly last night, I should go ahead and go to the doctor so I didn't have a miserable day at school tomorrow.

After lots of listening to my lungs, some blood work and LOTS of blowing in tubes... the doctor decided I too had bronchitis but thinks it is bacterial based on my high white blood cell count meaning I probably caught it from someone (perhaps Rick or one of the many kids at school).

So after a nebulizer treatment, a zpack and an inhaler I am starting to feel better. The nebulizer made me extremely nervous/anxious so I don't see myself settling down anytime soon so I might be taking the doctor's advice and taking a sick day tomorrow, especially considering I am contagious until 9pm tomorrow evening. But we will see how I feel in the morning.

We have our next (and probably last) ultrasound on Tuesday and Fletch goes to the vet on Friday for is annual check-up and 2-year Rabies shot, so by the end of this week this Rice family will have been to 4 different doctors appointments! YEESH! Thank God for insurance!

happy 20 weeks to bebo!

yep, that is right... we are halfway through! And the belly has only begun to get big!

Bebo is 10.5 ounces and about the length of a banana from head to bottom!!
Check out how much I have grow from my past weeks here.

happy easter..a day late!

I woke up at 5:30am to go to the sunrise Easter service at the Dogwood Dell Amphitheater next to the Carillon with my folks.

Thankfully, Fletch let me take a nap when I got back until about 9:30am.

Rick is on man-cation with his friend Matt. They are camping through Western NC? I am not exactly sure their itinerary but they seem to be having a grand ol' time. He doesn't get back until Friday. But the time to myself has been nice, mostly! I sure do miss him though.

I was Betty Crocker all weekend. I baked chocolate chip cookies from scratch... shocking I know. And I made cinnamon streudal muffins (that became my breakfast the last few days!)

Things are going wonderfully with little Bebo. My belly is getting big and he is definitely doing some movin' and groovin; now that I can actually feel his little feet, or hands, or whatever it is he uses to perfect his field goal kick. I will try to take some week 20 pictures tomorrow with our webcam since Rick has our camera, but I can't make any promises they will turn out decent!

My allergies are TERRIBLE. I have heard this is going to be the worst allergy season in 10 years. (Of course, I pick this one to be pregnant!) I will definitely do my best to plan to have the baby in March next time we plan on having a baby! Not being able to take the really strong allergy meds as been killing me (and my eyes!)

I bought myself an early birthday present today in the form of shoes. Shocking I know! It has recently been brought to my attention that we are allowed to wear sandals to school, even if they are open-toed, so long as they stay on your feet and are not considered flip flops. I have been eyeing some hiking sandals that I have heard are extremely comfortable which should help with lessening back aches as well as helping me to keep my ever growing center of gravity balanced. PLUS, they are considered amphibious shoes, so I can wear them in the river, at the beach, on water days at school as well as using them while hiking this summer (ie walking in the woods, seeing as how I have a baby in my belly!). So I bought them!

I have only worn them on walks with Fletch, but so far they feel wonderful! The real test will be on our class field trip to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on Thursday!