27 Weeks!!!!!

A few pregnancy highlights....

How far along: 27 weeks. Nixie, again, in the photo. She's such a mess!

Size of baby: Head of cauliflower: 16 in., 2.5 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 17.5 lbs.

Gender: It's a surprise!!!!! Names: Girl: Cameron Elizabeth Boy: Pierce Ballard

Movement: Little Red is VERY active - especially after I eat. It likes food like it's parents!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping really good! This body pillow is a God send!

What I miss: my memory, my mary&guido jeans, being able to walk up a flight of stairs without sounding like I just ran a marathon, wine, my heels, iced tea, being able to paint my toes comfortably, sushi, and lime Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic.

Cravings: These are still the same as last week with the exception of fruit. I LOVE me some fruit right now! Nectarines especially. Jimmy Dean griddle cakes. Yes, I know. They sound like such the 'pregnant-lady-food', and they totally are, but I am loving them for breakfast in the mornings. They are like McDonalds' McGriddles, except with fewer calories. Yep, a whole whopping 70 calories fewer. And I am sooooo letting that justify my thinking these are 'healthy' for me knowing they are better than hitting the drive-thru each morning. I am still all about sweet things so the maple syrup pancakes satisfy that craving and then having it paired w/ the salty sausage just makes for the perfect combo. Kindof like my PB&J-sandwiches-with-potato-chips-inside crush. I have serious issues, I know. I am still loving hot dogs, Honey Graham Oh's cereal, & again, anything sweet!

Symptoms: I am hungry ALL THE TIME and having heart burn. Tums are my new best friend.

Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone.

Cheers, Lindley

A few Herring Happenings...

Last weekend was very low key for us, which was awesome! Saturday morning, Brian started refinishing Little Red's dresser that I got in Canton as well as finished cleaning and organizing the garage. I helped where I could, but the fumes were pretty bad out in the hot garage. I will post before and after photos once it's done. It's going to look great! He is so talented...I really am one lucky girl to have such a handy man around the house! He stripped off all the old stain, then he sanded it twice with this fancy little electric sander thing , then he put the primer on. Next, he'll paint it this dark/reddish brown color we got at Lowe's, then once that dries, we'll paint it a creme color. The reason we put the dark color underneath is b/c we're antiquing it so he'll sand the edges so that dark color will show through. Again, who knew how to go about this and that all these steps were involved?? My husband! He has refinished several pieces in his lifetime, all of which turned out great so I'm looking forward to the finished product.

I just found out tonight that another friend of mine, Cassie Schulte, is expecting. So exciting! I love babies....they are all around and I love it! We ran into Donna Bailey tonight, another friend of our's who lives a few streets behind us and is about 10 weeks behind us, while we were on the bikes and she told us they went to find out the sex today and instead of them telling her and Chad the sex, they had the sonographer write it down on a card for them. Donna said she's gonna take the card to a local bakery, have them bake a blue or pink cake, and then slice it this weekend at their family reunion. How fun is that?!?? So excited for them. They had a tough time getting pregnant and there's just no better blessing than to hear wonderful news like this. I do have friends who are trying to have a baby and experiencing complications, of which is so heartbreaking to hear. I would give everything in my 0power for God to bring them a little bundle of joy. Please know His plan is the only plan and He will see them through this, but please know friends, I think and pray for you all every.single.day. Hang in there.....

Lastly, this weekend is going to be so fun! Our friends, Mike and Lindsay Hale, have friends coming into town and we have friends coming into town so that means an action-packed 4th of July weekend full of good times! Mandie and Chris (friends of our's) and Trent and Kelly (Brian's brother and wife) are staying with us and I can't wait to see them! Our big 4th of July party is on Sunday so stay tuned for pics.

I hope everyone has a great rest of your week....
Cheers, Lindley

3 posts in one day!

Don't get used to the 3 posts in one day. I have no idea what's come over me, but blogging seems to be my middle name today and I've actually been really busy! I woke up at 6 AM, did and folded a load of laundry, packed my lunch, unloaded the dishwasher, blogged, got ready, and headed to work. I got home at 6:15 from work to find my amazing husband cooking me dinner, which was a great end to my day. He made this herb crusted chicken over angel hair pasta that was to die for! Then, he just whooped up this cucumber/tomato/onion/basil salad tossed in his own homemade Italian dressing....I was in heaven! So good, babe! Thanks for a wonderful dinner! While he was preparing dinner, I blogged again, then cleaned up after him as he went along b/c sometimes it's like a 7 year old is in my kitchen making me dinner :o) After we ate I made mini cheesecakes for work tomorrow, then cleaned the kitchen, now I'm blogging again. Again, what is going on? No clue, but I'll go with it!

Brian brought home a package from Pottery Barn Kids today. It's the quilt that matches my bedding and boy was I surprised! Oh my goodness! Such a generous gift that has humbled us beyond belief. It's from my mom's dear friend, Fusan Yildiz and her family. So nice! Thank you Yildiz family.....Nemo can't wait to snuggle up with it!

And, lastly:

A few pregnancy highlights....
How far along: 26 weeks. Nixie does NOT like her Mommy taking pics without her, hence the reason she's been in the last couple belly shots. Oh Lord... she is in for a rude awakening when Little Red gets here! :)
Size of baby: Cucumber: 15 in., 2.2 lbs
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 17 lbs. YIKES!
Gender: It's a surprise!!!!!Names: Girl: Cameron Elizabeth Boy: Pierce Ballard
Movement: Little Red is VERY active - especially after I eat. It likes food like it's parents!
Sleep: I've been sleeping really good lately! This body pillow is a God send!
What I miss: my memory, my mary&guido jeans, being able to walk up a flight of stairs without sounding like I just ran a marathon, wine, my heels, iced tea, being able to paint my toes comfortably, sushi, and lime Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic.
Cravings: I have a new one folks: Jimmy Dean griddle cakes. Yes, I know. They sound like such the 'pregnant-lady-food', and they totally are, but I am loving them for breakfast in the mornings. They are like McDonalds' McGriddles, except with fewer calories. Yep, a whole whopping 70 calories fewer. And I am sooooo letting that justify my thinking these are 'healthy' for me knowing they are better than hitting the drive-thru each morning. I am still all about sweet things so the maple syrup pancakes satisfy that craving and then having it paired w/ the salty sausage just makes for the perfect combo. Kindof like my PB&J-sandwiches-with-potato-chips-inside crush. I have serious issues, I know. I am still loving hot dogs, Honey Graham Oh's cereal, & again, anything sweet!

Symptoms: I am hungry ALL THE TIME! I am going to have to be very careful with my diet these last 14 weeks or else I will be breastfeeding my child until he/she is 5! LOL!! Kidding. No, but it's bad. That weight I lost in the 1st trimester is back to haunt me now, I'm afraid. Also, I am having some pretty serious heartburn. It's very easily cured w/ a couple of Tums, but I carry them around in my purse and eat them like candy. Nice.

Girlfriends...part II. Pretty in Pink

My dear girlfriend, Debra Peck (She's the one in the light pink T-shirt in the 1st photo), was diagnosed with breast cancer in March of this year, and despite the fact that this is probably the hardest time of her life, she's battling through this with such courage and is quite the trooper. Debra and I work together and our company's team members across all locations (San Diego, Salt Lake City, & Irving) pulled together and all wore pink on her behalf . Fortunately, it is working! The tumor has already shown a significant decrease in size....God is good! We love you Deb and are right by your side. I believe she has 2 more rounds of chemo so please pray she's done after that!

Girlfriends

I love having later work hours! I get so much done in the mornings. I have gone into work at 7 AM for so long that I just never realized that I could be productive in the mornings.

Last night, Ralna, Heather, and I had dinner at Patrizzio's. For the record, I did NOT have dessert! I think this is the first time I've gone out to eat and NOT ordered dessert! Big day for me :) Maybe I DO have some willpower afterall??? Ralna's in town for a conference so the 3 of us were able to meet up and we had such a good time. Ralna looks fabulous (When does she not???) and it was so good to see her. Her little girl, Landri, will be one next week I believe so they're having her birthday party this weekend. Time flies! I remember running into she and Jeff at Applebee's in Lubbock last October when she was 3 months old. She's precious and growing like a weed. Thanks for a fun night, girls!

Cheers, Lindley

Ian "Allstar" Jones

My almost 7 year old nephew, Ian, is such a little stud! He's doing so great on the allstar team this year and I couldn't be more proud of him. I had to brag on him with these awesome photos. No, I didn't take them, another lady did, but felt they were too good not to share. He successfully dodged the tag ....Go Iggy!

Hope everone's having a good week.

Cheers, Lindley

In-Laws to town

Amy and Fred (AKA Mamy and Slick once the baby comes) came to visit this past weekend and we had a great time. It was wonderful seeing them and I’m glad Fred got to come. His wells broke right around the time they were supposed to leave on Friday so he told Amy he didn't think he would be able to come. She left around 12:45, and, of course, about 2 hours into her drive, he and Nate got them fixed so he booked a flight and flew in at 7:30. We picked him up at the airport and hit one of their favs, Uncle Julio’s for dinner. Saturday morning we got donuts (Fred’s fav) and just drank coffee by the pool until about 10:30, then Amy and I went shopping (Chico’s, Soma, Williams Sonoma for Brian's father's day gift, the mall, Apple Store) and ran some errands while the guys did the same. I got Amy a massage at The Grand Spa in Addison for her b-day so we did that at 2. The guys didn’t play golf b/c it was just too hot so they drank beer by the pool all afternoon while we pampered ourselves. The spa we went to was amazing! It’s the largest spa in the state of TX so it was really neat. I had my first prenatal massage and loved it! OMG, I will for sure be getting a few more of those before Little Red gets here! We had brunch on Sunday at Mattito's for fathers day then I drug Amy to the laundromat w/ me b/c I’ve been putting off washing our comforters forever now so I asked her to go and sit w/ me while I washed them all at once in those big industrial-size machines, and she of course, did. Bless her heart... She loved that, let me tell ya. LOL! No, we had fun. We laughed a lot and got a big kick out of the whole experience. Laundromats in Dallas are interesting, to say the least! I hadn't been since college so I felt it was photo worthy. We made it out alive, but barely! THANKS Amy for going with me! I really appreciate it. She got me that cute little vest I have on and I love it. Plus, I've got growing room in it which is nice and absolutely necessary at this point considering I am growing more and more everyday. Good times! :) Stay tuned for my 26 week photo and update later this week.

Cheers, Lindley

25 weeks!!!!

We had our 24.5 week appt on Tuesday of this week and Brian was able to come. It's so fun when he meets me because all the nurses think he's kindof a big deal in his scrubs, plus, they like that they can talk 'medical lingo' with him since he's a Dr. Little Red is a mover and a shaker and doing well. Everything looked good at the appt…150 heartbeat. I do have placenta previa, which is a complication of pregnancy in which the placenta grows in the lowest part of the uterus and covers all or part of the opening to the cervix so I go back on July 12th for the glucose/gestational diabetes test as well as another sonogram to see if my placenta has moved out of that opening to the cervix. It’s not a big deal, or harmful to the baby, it just means that I will have to have a C-section if it doesn’t move. It normally does so my Doctor isn’t worried about it, but it’s something they are monitoring. Plus, I get another sonogram this way. Usually, the 20 week sonogram is the last one patients get because, usually, if everything looked good on that one, then chances are the baby will progress fine and have no complications from that point >>> so they don’t do another one, but since I have this placenta previa, they want to do another one at 28 weeks just to see where the placenta is sitting. I do love getting sonograms and it's so funny: the sonographer is VERY careful with where she puts that wand since we're not finding out the sex. Everyone is so excited in my Ob/Gyn's office and noone but my sonographer knows as they don't want to slip up. I don't blame them!

A few pregnancy highlights....

How far along: 25 weeks

Size of baby: Eggplant, 9 in., 1.7 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 14 lbs.

Gender: It's a surprise!!!!!
Names: Girl: Cameron Elizabeth Boy: Pierce Ballard

Movement: Little Red is VERY active - especially after I eat. It likes food like it's parents!

Sleep: I've been sleeping really good lately! This body pillow is a God send!

What I miss: my memory, my mary&guido jeans, being able to walk up a flight of stairs without sounding like I just ran a marathon, wine, my heels, iced tea, being able to paint my toes comfortably, sushi, and lime Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic.

Cravings: still craving PB&J sandwiches with potato chips inside, hot dogs, any kind of cereal, and anything sweet!
Symptoms: I am hungry ALL THE TIME! I am going to have to be very careful with my diet these last 3.5 months or else I will be breastfeeding my child until he/she is 5 since I've heard it's a great way to lose baby weight! LOL!! Kidding. No, but it's bad. That weight I lost in the 1st trimester is back to haunt me now, I'm afraid. Also, did I mention my body is going through some super crazy changes???

Oh.my.goodness!

Brian's parents are coming to town this weekend. Fred and Amy's birthdays are are on the 10th and 11th of June so they're coming to celebrate their b-days as well as Father's day with us. Looking forward to it!

Have a nice night,

Cheers, Lindley

Chinese Birth Calendar--Predict Your Baby's Gender

So, one of my co-workers is a FIRM believer in these and ran 3 different ones the other day, all of which revealed we're having a boy!!!!!! You put in your age, the conception date, and a few other criteria and it predicts your baby's gender. She did this with both of her children, along with a few of her co-workers, and they were all accurate so who knows? We may have us a little Pierce Ballard running around! AAAHHH!!! Oh, the anticipation!!! I don't know how I am going to last another 15 weeks! :o)

Cheers, Lindley

veal chops and bike-riding

My hair colorist, Dorette Green, is an incredibly good cook and has been wanting to cook us and the baby a good hearty dinner before his/her appearance so tonight was the night and I had my very first veal chop. Brian didn't go so it was just me and Nemo and my oh my! Why haven't I ever had a veal chop before!??! So good! I know, I know...it's veal and some are weird about eating baby calf, but I can't lie--that was amazing! So good! Thank you for a lovely dinner, Dorette. Little Red loved every minute of it and is still kicking with sincere gratitude. She also served Caesar salad, asparagus, stuffed tomatoes and mushrooms, and bread. I made a cherry cream pie for dessert so needless to say, we ate like kings and I loved every minute! We had leftovers so Brian will get to enjoy it as well.

And, lastly: Bike-Riding! We have found a new love! Ever since I hurt my back, of which is fine now (go figure! It stopped bothering me before I even went to Physical Therapy last week! ??? Who knows... Now my hip hurts. Lord, I'm a hot pregnant mess but supposedly, all ths shifting and pain is normal during prenancy) and Brian's feet have been bothering him some, so we thought bike riding might be fun and a little easier on us. A few weeks ago we met at Richardson Bike Mart ater work and bought 2 bikes on the spot! ****Just a little trivia for you: Lance Armstrong started his bike racing career back in 1987 with this shop! We thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, we love riding and have a great little trail by our house that takes us all the way down and over to Beltline and Coit and all the way up to GBT and probably Midway.....in other words, FAR! It may go on even further than that, we just haven't tried it out yet. Brian got a mountain bike and I got more of a 'cruiser.' LOL! That sounds so 'old-lady' but it really is comfortable and just what I wanted. And, don't you worry that we did go ahead and buy those bike shorts with the padded butt and some pretty fly helmets. Yes, we're cool :)

Tomorrow is our 25 week OB Appt. YAY!

Have a good night, all....Cheers, Lindley

My niece and nephew

My parents were in town last weekend. They stayed with Brian and I Thursday night, then they & I went to Aledo, where my sis lives, on Friday night for my nephew's tee ball game and niece's dance recital on Saturday. He made the All-Star team, of which is a HUGE deal and honor, so we're all very proud of him. He looks so precious in his little uniform! They lost, but he still played well and was glad his Aunt LiLi came to see him play. I got London dance lessons for Christmas so it was really fun to see her in 'action.' My sis needed to study on Saturday so she asked my mom and I if we would take London to her dress rehearsal Sat morning before the recital at 3 and we of course, gladly accepted. Uuumm.....dress rehearsals are serious affairs for dancers, if you didn't already know. We were thinking, we'll get there at 9 AM per her teacher's orders, London and her little class will go through their 2 routines and we'll be out of there. 30 minutes tops. Boy, were we wrong! Little did we know ALL groups/acts were there to go through the entire show, meaning we were there for 3.5 hours!!!!!!!!! Ages 2 - 18 were in this recital! Those poor little 3 year old girls! I can't believe they had to hang out in their dressing room that entire time. Thank goodness SUPER-pom-pom-dance-this isn't my first rodeo-MOM was there w/portable DVD Players, snacks, dolls, colors, etc or else we would have never made it. My mom and I were troopers and stuck it out, but we were exhausted! We wouldn't know as my sis and I were never the dancer-type so 'dress rehearsals' are foreign to us. We played sports, of which our little London wants to do now apparently. She's not so much into dance, and that's totally ok! She was still beautiful in her recital and we'll give her an A for effort. She's the 6th one on that bench with her class (can you tell they all look thrilled???! HA!) and on the far right in that stage photo. She watched her neighbor the entire time as she didn't quite have her routine memorized. Those little Asian outfits were precious! They did a dance routine to "Kung Fu Fighting" and it was too cute! Needless to say, she's ready for soccer. I love my niece and nephew more than words can describe. It's always fun to attend their activities as it seems my involvement with them has decreased ever since they moved out to Aledo, but I'm happy with any time I can get! My sis and bro-in-law are fabulous parents with fabulous kids. I am a proud Aunt who has wonderful role models to help me parent my kids one day.

Hope everyone has a great week....

Cheers, Lindley

Nursery Sneak Peak

My nursery is complete, but I haven't found the courage to put it all 'IN' the room just yet. It just kindof freaks me out so I'm holding out until...well, I don't really know what I'm holding out for, I just am! HA! Plus, we're still using our downstairs guest bedroom quite a bit for guests who come to visit since it has the queen bed so I am sure I'll put it together one of these days, I just haven't yet. Here are a few of the items in the nursery, and since we aren't finding out the sex, the walls will remain that same brown color as it matches the bedding really well. We have registered for some cute wall art and do have a crib and dresser, we're just repainting the dresser and the crib is not put together. The crib matches the changing table and the dresser came from Canton. It is going to be precious once its all put together, and even though my options were limited, I am very pleased with my bedding. I love it. It's from Pottery Barn and was actually on sale, so I was pleased with that. My parents bought our bedding and accessories and Brian's parents bought our glider of which we're VERY proud of both and couldn't be more thankful. Thanks ya'l! We love you guys! Speaking of parents: Mine are coming this weekend and B's are coming next weekend so we're excited to see them!

Baby Bump

Hi! Well, here it is! The famous bump! The 1st photo is of me at 12 weeks and the 2nd is of me at 24 weeks, which I am today! A lot of difference in those 2 bellies, eh? I clearly didn't look very cute on the 12 week one (I had horrible acne in the 1st trimester and this was late at night so I just had B take a belly shot) and well...let's be honest, I thought I looked pretty cute in the 24 week one so you get to see my face in that one! HA! I don't always feel cute pregnant so I thought I'd better take advantage of the days where I do feel 'cute' seeing how they are few and far between! Sorry, these were taken with my cell phone so the quality is pretty poor, but I promise to do better and use our fancy, or should I say, Brian's fancy camera, as it produces much better images. Those things are expensive, but so worth it. The quality is flawless!

Nursery sneak peak next!

Cheers,

Lindley

Joining the Blog World!

Hi all! Well, I decided to bite the bullet and create a blog. I can assure you, though, I will not be one of those who updates several times/day as I just don't have the time, but I do plan to update weekly, if not a few times/wk. I have several blogs I follow and LOVE them so I thought I would create one as well. I have been emailing my friends and family updates, funny things that happen to me, random questions, etc, for years and years, but thought a blog might be more convenient and a little less time consuming. Plus, my memory is seriously terrible, so I thought this might be a good way to keep up with my life as I'm clearly not getting any younger!

As most of you know, Brian and I are expecting our first child at the end of September and I can't wait for the day when I can sit at my computer and update my blog with pictures of our little nugget. I thought it would be fun to do a little weekly status update on the baby with the following criteria, but please know I can't take credit for this as Kelly Stamps over at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ is the one who gave me the idea. I thought it was really fun to read and remember, like it was yesterday, reading her blog several years ago wishing for the day when I would get to have a blog and update everyone on my pregnancy. I can't believe the time has come! Since we aren't finding out the sex baby H has been given the nicknames of "Little Red" & "Nemo" (Herring is a type of fish) which I think are fun so you'll see me reference it as one of those 2 names every now and then.

Pregnancy Highlights:
How far along: 23 weeks
Size of baby: Papaya, 8 in., 1.2 lbs
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10 lbs. I lost 6 in the 1st trimester
Maternity Clothes: I am full on in maternity clothes. I was wearing regular jeans up until a week ago, but the In 'N Out Double Double Animal Style burger I devoured earlier this week seemed to take those out of my wardrobe rather quickly!! Luckily, my beautiful sister saved her maternity clothes for me so I've been wearing those all this time, but I am starting to outgrow them so I guess I'll have to go maternity clothes shopping in the next 6 weeks or go. My mom took me shopping not too long ago and we got some stuff to wear later on, so that will be nice, but I think I'll need some more last me through week 40.
Gender: It's a surprise!!!!!

Names: Girl: Cameron Elizabeth

Boy: Pierce Ballard
Movement: Little Red is VERY active - especially at bedtime
Sleep: I am sleeping good for the most part! I got a body pillow and love it!
What I miss: My wine, coffee, well caffeine in general, sushi, and lime Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic.
Cravings: PB&J sandwiches with potato chips inside, (I know, sounds gross, but it's a little bit of heaven on a plate!) I was craving pickles but not anymore, cereal (Any kind...random!!), and anything sweet!

Symptoms: I am hungry ALL THE TIME, my body is going through changes I never thought possible, I do not require near as much sleep as I did in the first trimester, and I feel great, but my back is giving me some trouble. I bent down Tuesday morning to let our dog, Nixie, out of her kennel, and when I came back up it felt like someone had stabbed me with a knife in the lower back! I was able to straighten my back out entirely, and went onto work, but the pain persisted all day and became very annoying. I called my OB and she saw me the next morning. I have an inflamed SI joint, whatever that means?? She said it's very common with pregnant women to have this happen as everything from the waist down is loosening up substantially. So, I guess it was just my time. Had I not been pregnant, she would have prescribed me an anti-inflammatory and sent me on my merry way, but those sometimes pose a risk to the baby so I'm starting physical therapy next week. I am feeling better and the pain is not near as severe, but it's still there and again, very annoying!

So, there you have it. Other than that, pregnancy is going very well, I feel good, and am loving all the baby movement. It took a while for me to feel it as I have an anterior placenta, meaning my placenta is in front of the baby, which is totally fine, but it's just taken a little longer than normal with that being first in my belly vs the baby being first. Even our dog can sense something's up. She lays in my lap every night and in the past, she used to lay on my legs, but now she rests her head on my belly. It's crazy how she knows there is a live thing in there!

One other quick thing: my wonderful husband cleaned out our garage yesterday and it's really quite sad how happy that made me, but it did. It's been one of those things on 'the list' for over a year now, but it's finally done and mamma's happy! Thanks, Brian....I love you!

Ok, that's long enough for my very first post.... stay tuned for a 24 week picture of my belly coming soon!

Cheers,

Lindley