Half Way Done!

Tomorrow marks my 20th week, I am posting a picture below. I have definitely grown these last few weeks. I can't feel her yet, but am so excited to soon. Thank you Catherine for the maternity clothes, you and Nichole have helped so much! I am so lucky to have awesome friends!

Amanda, Catherine and I had a great time in Fredricksburg last weekend. Read all about it here http://utmandaj.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html Here are some pictures of us and the cottage we stayed in. I also couldn't resist the cute tutu below.

The last picture is a swimsuit from my rep, Kelley. I love it, although I don't want it get wet so it will be an indoor swimsuit! I think Mike is starting to get concerned about all the pink tulle he is seeing!

Tomorrow Mike and I are headed to Vegas! Mike's brother Jeff is getting married to sweet Heather, we are so excited. I will have plenty of pictures when we get back.

Have a great week!

THINK PINK

That is right, we are expecting a sweet baby girl! I can finally start shopping and stop calling the baby "he/she" or "it". It seems to make it more real, since I am not really feeling the baby yet. I can't wait to decorate the nursery, buy girly things etc!

Our appointment went well today, they checked all the organs and they all look great. She is weighing 10oz right now and that is on track for the due date of 8/19. She was twisting and moving all around today (probably all caffeinated after my 1 drink a day of caffeine). I can't wait until I feel it! The doctor says that everything looks great. I am about half way there to meeting her!

Thank you SOOO much for your prayers, we are so blessed. I will post ultrasound pictures once I get them back from Mike, who wanted to show off his daughter to his work.

Mt. Pleasant Birthday Party

The Birthday Girl



Mom & Dad

We had a great weekend in Mt. Pleasant celebrating my Mom's birthday and relaxing. It is so pretty this time of year there with all the trees and flowers blooming. I love spring! Dodger is in pure heaven in the country, I wish I could capture the pure joy on his face once we cross the cattle guards and he knows he can run and play.

I drove down with Dodger on Thursday so he could see the vet there. As you all know from my previous posts, we have decided to make MP vet our go-to for any non emergency needs :) Dodger survived his mole removal and we will have to wait until pathology gets back to find out what it is, I will keep you posted.

Friday, Mom and I went shopping in Longview. We had a great time looking at baby stuff and just browsing. We also had lunch at Papacitas, yum! Mike drove up after work on Friday and we all just relaxed.

Saturday was my Mom's birthday and we all went to Jefferson to the Stillwater Inn for dinner to celebrate. It was a fabulous dinner and great company. We tried to go by and see Nanny twice but missed her both times, we did get to see Poppa. We came home and had a game of scrabble and cake. On a side note, scrabble sucks I hate it but Mom and Mike love it and are competitive trash talkers. My Mom wins every time and is not afraid to rub it in! This time I beat Mike (although probably only because he had had some cocktails, yet another advantage to not drinking).

We had a great weekend and loved celebrating Mom's birthday with her. She is an amazing mother and takes care of her parents and all of us so well and so unselfishly. I am so blessed to have a great mom and friend, Happy Birthday! Thanks also for letting me raid your freezer for the homemade goodies!

A Case of the Mondays

Yesterday was one of those days that make you not really love Mondays! It started with massive amounts of text messages at 7am from my friends and colleagues alerting me to the fact that my company was acquired by another one. While this is good news for the company it brings about some uncertainty (like we all face given the economy) about my job in a few months. I am not worried yet, it is out of my control and I have already been through this type of thing before. HE always provides and it always works out, I might have a longer maternity leave :) It just adds some stress.

After that call and the subsequent time it took to talk everyone off a ledge, I had a doctors appointment. I saw a different Doctor than my usual one and I really liked him. It went good, the heart beat was strong and everything seems to be progressing just fine, what a blessing. The doctor didn't know what the rash was, but didn't seem concerned. Then he said, Oh you are RH negative you need to make sure to get the shot at 28 wks. I guess my blood could attack a future baby or something, I need to get further clarification. I was just like WHAT??? My other doctor didn't tell me that. It is not a huge deal, but annoying anyway getting an "Oh by the way."

Then after a long day and lots of questions about the company, I came home took the dog for a walk (always a good stress reliever and Dodger loves it) and about an hour later after I had started to unwind and relax I get a call from Mike. He was playing basketball with friends and has injured his neck. Yes, it was one of those "I am not 21 anymore" situations for him, although I couldn't say that :). So he is on his way to the Urgent Care to get it checked out because he "can't feel his neck or upper back".

My dear, sweet husband is not the best patient and can be a bit of an over-reactor! Nonetheless, I was of course worried and sick about it until he came home (he wanted to go by himself to the doctor) to tell me he sprained his neck. Poor thing, he was not happy about not feeling well (as men rarely are). Good news is that there is no serious damage, other than to his ego about his lay-up abilities. It sucks to have those moments you realize you are not as young and agile as you used to be :).

So that was Monday!

As a side note today was much better, I came home to a candle light dinner cooked by my at home sick, sprained-neck husband. He set the table and cooked lasagna, bread and salad and used our wedding crystal for our water! He even had music on! Tuesdays are always a big night in the Zipser household due to American Idol (Mike is a fanatic and according to him should really be a judge), but a prepared dinner that is a treat! One of the many reasons I love him! If this is an indicator of the improvement as the week passes, I can't wait until Sunday! And he is already feeling better!

16 weeks

****Updated 3/7 by peer pressure! I will post the belly pic at the bottom of the page, LOL!***

Wednesday marked the end of my 16th week and I posted my first picture at the bottom of the page. I plan on posting pictures every few weeks or so, I always enjoy following all my friends when they were pregnant so I was so excited to document mine. I took the picture on Wednesday night but I must admit I have been debating if I should post it or not, I am a bit self conscious about it for the following reasons but am going to get over it because you are all trusted friends and I need to document this for the baby :). I also took a 12 week picture but you can't really see anything so I am starting with 16 weeks. I am feeling pretty well, although this week I have had a bit of a cold. I am excitedly following my progress on babycenter and the little one is about the size of an avacado now, hard to believe it is growing so quickly. We will find out the sex on the 23rd and I can't wait!


1. I am not really looking pregnant until the end of the day (after a meal) but can't button my pants. I mostly just look chubby :). Thank goodness for Nichole who sent me a box of maternity clothes! Also thanks for Catherine and Nichole's advice on Bella Bands, they have really extended my wardrobe.



2. The reason I am not showing my belly is due to the chub factor but also I have a rash that apparently affects (or is it effects I never can remember, where is Coach Hicks when I need him) 1 in 20. After benadryl (I suck at spelling) all week, it is still here and spreading. I am going to the doctor on Monday, but have tentatively diagnosed my self with Pregnancy PUP as per my fab google skills.



3. Please also pay no attention to my non-toned arms (I have always been envious of Jennifer Aniston) , the sad thing that is my "good" side and the left is worse! I guess I should start working out to prepare me for lifting the little one :)


4. Finally, you may notice my cute non matching PJs, it makes Mike laugh that for some reason I love to mix pink or printed pants and any random t-shirt I can find...so sexy! Thus another reason the 12 wk pic was vetoed! I love to get comfy as possible and I just grab anything when I get home.

Ok so that you have heard all the self-conscious vanity here goes the make-up free nasty pic!




I hope you all have a great weekend! Thank you all for your continued prayers.

The Shrinking Brain

Ok, so pre-pregnancy I saw a Dr. Oz segment on Oprah that said when you are pregnant your brain actually shrinks. Hold the comments, it apparently gets larger after baby is born. So I guess Mom's are smarter?? Must not apply to everyone, hello Octomom should be a genious then!

Anyway, I bring this up because today I have had some "small brain" mishaps.

When I got home this afternoon from shopping ( I got the cutest little "onesies" on sale at baby gap. This was my first purchase for the baby!), I noticed that Dodger's eyes were red and he had some eye gunk (very scientific term) so I went into my dog medicine cabinet (incidentally is quite a collection now per my last post) to get his drops. I put them in and he actually was behaving. After 1 drop he started tearing up and scratching his eye. So I put more in (sure makes total sense if the "solution" causes pain, add more) and within minutes his eye was swollen shut. UMMM, yeah, I put his anti fungal ear drops in his eye. Poor baby, he was crying and scratching and I just realized it after 2 doses. So I flushed his eye with water which didn't help. So then Mike and I took him to the emergency vet after I called and they said we should.

Sweet Dodge was in pain and still excited he got to go in the car, he thought we were going to walk or Whataburger (yes, I am obsessed and I take Dodger with me on Fridays to get lunch). The vet flushed his eye and checked it with some thing that makes any damage light up green. The whole eye was green so I flipped out and he said that it was the mucus and that he was just fine. The whole visit took 5 minutes and $110.

I felt so bad, but Dodger was not mad. He was happy and excited and just kissed my face. Amazing how we can learn lessons in forgiveness from Dogs. God always shows me things in funny ways. I pray that I can be as forgiving and loving as Dodger is, he is always happy and excited and forgets any scolding or attempted blindness!

Finally, as I was driving home with Mike and Dodger at a stoplight, I just took my foot off the brake. Mike had to stop me before I hit the car in front of me. I think I just got bored and forgot.

I am losing my mind!