First Ticket and the Totem Pole

So I'm pretty confident that there is a hormone named "cry" and lots of it is released during pregnancy. Apparently my body was lacking in it until several months ago, considering I hardly ever cried, and now I just might cry over an episode of Seinfield. Case in point... I received my first speeding ticket on Saturday night (gasp!). And I bawled. The officer probably thought that I was either nuts or trying to squeeze out of the ticket, but quite honestly, I just couldn't help it. I didn't even really care about the ticket. It was more about wounded pride and the fact that I was less than a mile from my house, and that I never (rarely) speed, and that I'd never been pulled over, and didn't the officer know that I was pregnant and that I drove on that road every day without speeding and that I was listening to Christian music?! Doesn't that matter for anything?! Well, of course none of that mattered, and even if I wanted to tell him all of that, he wouldn't have been able to translate amongst the sobs (nor cared). I would tell you more about the experience, but I really want it to be out of memory close to soon.

Getting Bigger! Me at 19 weeks.

I went to Charlotte last Friday to spend the day with my friend Molly. We went to Body World, which is an exhibit that shows real human bodies that have been "plastinated" so that people, like me, can walk through and look at what goes on in our bodies. Just in case you're wondering, plastinated muscles look like beef jerky, and therefore, I have renamed the exhibit "Beef Jerky World." It was really cool, though. And I really enjoyed my day with Molly! It's not very often that I can hang out with a good friend all day and just do whatever!

On Saturday, some friends from work came over for a Christmas Movie Extravaganza. We watched three movies, made and decorated cookies, made homemade hot chocolate and then taco soup and played "Name that Christmas Tune." So yes, it was most definitely an extravaganza.


Donald and John cut down a tree in our backyard on Sunday. It was a cedar that has slowly died over the last year or so. It now stands in the form of a totem pole...ready to be carved. We are so grateful for John's help. I was a nervous wreck. For some reason chainsaws and ladders scare me when used at the same time.

No, seriously... this 15 foot topless tree is really standing in our backyard (the chainsaw wasn't thick enough). Any ideas, Paul Bunyan?

I Feel the Baby

I began to feel the baby moving last week. It feels like a muscle spasm or a heart flutter. That's the best way I know how to describe it. All last week at work, I felt the movements to the south-left of my belly button every day... especially after I ate. And sure enough, when I went to the doctor on Friday, that's where she found the heartbeat-- to the south-left of my belly button. I didn't really feel any movements over the weekend, but started feeling it again yesterday, due south of my belly button. Either the baby has moved, or that's the twin. At least 15 people, without any encouragement from each other, have randomly claimed that we are having twins. It's quite strange, and I'm starting to get a "am-I-that-big? complex." (not really). I'm pretty confident that there is just one in there. That's what our first ultrasound shows, so that's what I'm sticking with. However, my neighbor claims that two couples at their church found out they were having twins just two weeks before delivering (even after having all of the ultrasounds/sonograms/etc). Unbelievable! SO- we will put all of the speculations to rest next week when we ask the ultrasound tech to look good and hard for baby number two. In the meantime, praise God for baby number one! What a relief it was to hear his or her heartbeat. It was in the 150's, and we were so happy to hear it!
We went to Charleston last weekend for Jeremy and Sam's wedding. It was a very fun weekend, filled with T-Bonz and spending time with friends. Sam and Jeremy:Andrea, the groom's sister and my bestest friend who is 9 weeks away from delivering, looked wonderful. Here is a picture of the four of us. The wedding was beautiful! It was on a tidal creek in Mount Pleasant, and it was a wonderful 70 degrees... a beautiful December day in Charleston. And I have 39 bug bites to prove it!! (no exaggeration! I counted this morning). The bites just started itching Monday night... I didn't even realize I was being mauled during the ceremony, but apparently I satisfied a band of mosquitoes that day! I do not have any pictures to share at this moment... I will post some soon. maybe.

A Weekend in Pictures

Thanksgiving 2007 has come and gone. It's time to put away the turkey and put up the tree, turn off the football and trudge back to work. This year we went to Columbus, GA to hang out with Donald's family (below). What do you mean, "Who's that white girl?"
Aunt Myra and Uncle Kenny live in Columbus, so we all headed that way to spend the holiday with them (since they faithfully head to Charleston most holidays, it was our turn to head their way). Here is D with Aunt Myra:On Friday, we headed over to Auburn with the family to check out the school. It was the day before game day (ultra big game day: Auburn v Bama), and there were already TONS of tailgaters. Here is Dondie with the ultimate Auburn Hummer Jeep thingy:I just had to pose with Evan, Mylin's brother, donning the sweatshirt Mylin obviously bought him. It was also the day before OUR big game day (yeah yeah... I know we lost).
We spent the rest of the weekend back in Greenville. Mylin came back with us and helped us rake the yard, which had a thick carpet of pine needles on it. We collected a boat load as you can see here. People sell pinestraw like it's gold, but we're not interested in starting a business. If YOU'D like to come rake our pinestraw, remove it from our property, and sell it, let's talk. On Sunday afternoon, Donald and I went and picked out our tree. We've never put up a tree so early, but with busy upcoming weekends, it was our only opportunity. We made it official with Christmas music, hot chocolate, and Christmas cookies.

Meet our Japanese Retriever, Sadie. Isn't she precious?
Here's a fuzzy picture of our tree!Sadie found a comfy spot under the tree. I'm gonna keep my eye on her considering last year she ate an ornament that I made in 2nd grade.

That's it! We had a wonderful weekend. Baby update: Nothing new. We go to the doctor on Friday!

The Stomach Formerly Known as Flat

Before you accuse me of being vain, I just want you to know that I chose that title because I think it is just an absolutely great title. Knocking off Prince's name and combining it with a pregnant belly-- what could be better? I've already contacted my manager to make sure that the phrase is trademarked/copyrighted/or whatever so that People or USWeekly can't steal it. I've also submitted it for the "No Doubt the Best Blog Title in the Whole Entire World" award. If it will make you feel better, my next post will be "The Chest Formerly Known as Flat." ...You see-- I'm not vain. Vain people don't admit they have flat chests. :)

So the first pic is classic. This is me trying to clear the Oreos and doughnuts out of the picture. Little did I know, the timer was set on 2 seconds and not 10. Why my left leg looks broken, I'm not sure. I think I was doing the pivot move: Grab the junk food, pivot, dump it, and so and so forth. P.S. The oreos are for Donald.

Here is me with a pregnant looking shirt on. It's not a maternity shirt, but I have made it one, although the elastic armbands are starting to cut off my circulation.

Here is the full-frontal shot. My belly button isn't as deep as it used to be. We'll see if I can avoid the pregnant "outtie."Here is the side shot: Holy Basketball, Batman! (okay, maybe large grapefruit, and not basketball). P.S. all of these are me at 15 weeks (right now).


So there you have it. MB's stomach revealed. We continue to praise God for this ginormous miracle and continue to learn how to trust him with all of the unknowns. My dependence on him has the opportunity to deepen everyday despite my pull towards independence that has been tugging on me since I was in my mother's womb. "Jesus Christ is able to untangle all the snarls in my soul, to banish all my complexes, and to transform even my fixed habit patterns, no matter how deeply they are etched in my subconscious." Corrie ten Boom

Not a Good Title

I just made myself a broccoli casserole. I've been wanting some for about a week now, so I just went ahead and made it even though Donald isn't home tonight. I imagine I'll eat half of it considering I didn't make anything else to go with it. That sounds really strange. Who does that? Pregnant women, I guess. I'm sure I'll eat some cereal later.

So there are 43 days until Christmas. And I haven't bought a thing. Good thing Christmas isn't about buying "things" (riiiight). Although I also do reflect on the awesome goodness of Christ being born, I must admit, the traditions of Christmas do make me pretty happy. Christmasy smells like cinnamon, and pine, and cookies, and sausage balls (at least in my family), and Christmasy sounds like Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, and bells, and snow falling (ok, not really).

Random: Today I was adjusting the shower head (while taking a shower) and the whole entire piece came off into my hands. Like, the pipe that connects to the pipe in the wall. Seriously. So water is shooting out of the wall, and I scream, turn the water off, and just stand there like a moron. How come when things like that happen, I do just the opposite of the right thing to do? Before managing to cut the water off, I turned the faucet the complete wrong way, making the water come out harder, like mini-Niagra Falls shooting out of the wall at me. Just like in high school, when I backed into another car- instead of hitting the brakes, I hit the gas, and hit the car again. Just like in college when I was in an accident, I needed to speed up to avoid getting hit, but instead, I hit the brakes. I hope that's not a sign of a low IQ. :)
Anyways, so now we have to get the shower fixed (how annoying). Stuff like that makes me just want to move (and hopefully the new owners wouldn't notice the big hole in the wall and lack of shower head).

Baby Spicken is still growing, Lord willing. I have borrowed some maternity clothes from a woman at church, which is a huge huge blessing. I am now 15 weeks...our next appointment is in 2 and a half weeks, and then the "finding out" day is a week or two after that.

The video below is absolutely hilarious. Thanks to Dewa for sending this link. The first time I watched it, I cry-laughed. I don't know why. [Definition of cry-laugh= verb; laughing so hard that tears roll down your face; laughing hard does not necessarily mean "loud" if you are the type of person who laughs and no noise comes out.] Enjoy! (and don't forget to vote for boy or girl! We can't have a tie. That would be awkward).

Bob Wehadababyitsaboy... or Wehadababyitsagirl?

So what do you think? Are we having a boy or a girl? Vote over there using that fancy shmancy polling device. Unlike presidential elections, your vote doesn't count here. It's already happened. Baby Spann is already a boy or girl. (And we find out on December 14th...That's only 6 weeks away). This is more of an opinion poll like, "Will Nicole Richie be a good mom?" or "Will Brangelina ever stop fighting?" The number of "days left to vote" listed over there is also a countdown to Christmas, in case you are wondering. As of today, Christmas is only 57 days away. Wow. The poll will only let you vote once, and I have no way of tracking who voted for what, so I won't hold it against you if you're wrong. Anyways, Donald and I 100% want a boy OR a girl! We don't care!
I am now 13 weeks! We had an appointment last Friday and everything was good! We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was not only a relief, but absolutely fascinating. I am still amazed at the miracle of pregnancy. Sometimes when I'm in a crowd, I'll think, "Wow! All of these people were BORN!!" I realize that sounds like a pretty simpleminded thing to think...but it is kinda amazing.

The Upset and The Great Dog Switch

So, the Vanderbilt game didn't go as well as we hoped. Yeah, we lost. And it wasn't a nice loss. Not a "oh-what-a-close-game! We-should-have-won- loss" It was quite possibly the worst game I've ever witnessed, and we certainly didn't deserve to win. We were sacked 7 times, there were like an additional 15 almost-sacks, our offensive-line had 5 false starts, we threw 4 interceptions, and had multiple fumbles (some that we recovered, thank goodness). We had two things fall our way the entire game, and ironically, both happened when my sister, Stephanie, had gone to the bathroom. Vandy missed a field goal in her first bathroom stop, and then we intercepted the ball, preventing a touch down, in the second bathroom break. We joked that maybe she should go sit in the car for the rest of the game, but considering they drove 6 hours to see it, that wasn't going to happen. To make things even more wonderful for the Gamecock faithful, Clemson always has their biggest win of the year on the day we lose... Maybe we'll get to play Central Michigan High School next year. Anyways- it's just a game... I guess. Argggg. Should it make us feel good that Vanderbilt hasn't beaten a team ranked as highly as we were (#6) since 1937, or should that make us feel even worse?! Worse!

Ah! Tackled again! 4 on 1. That makes perfect sense!

We had to kennel Sadie while we were gone for the game. I went to pick her up Sunday morning and almost went home with the wrong dog. The girl went and got "Sadie" for me when I went to get my checkbook out of the car. I came back inside and this black dog was jumping all over me, going absolutely nuts. She was moving so crazylike that I couldn't get a good look, but she seemed too fat to be Sadie. Her ears looked too short. She was too much of a spaz. So the girl was like, "She's so happy to see you! Do you need help getting her to the car?" After hesitating for a second, I was like, "Umm. This isn't Sadie." The girl looked at me like I was absolutely crazy, which made me doubt myself for a second, and then I was like, "Yeah, this definitely isn't Sadie." So the chick, who looked absolutely mortified, took faux-Sadie away and went to fetch the real one. The guy sitting at the desk was very apologetic, like I was going to sue them or something. I explained that it wasn't a big deal at all.... He continued apologizing saying the girl who fetched Sadie was new, and that perhaps he had made the mistake and not her...He told the girl to try looking for Sadie in Maggie's crate. So the girl came back with our real Sadie, and she and I went on our merry way. But... then I realized. If they switched Maggie and Sadie the previous night in their crates, that meant that Maggie, the spazo dog who originally greeted me, received Sadie's heart medication, not once, but twice. Yikes. No wonder she was going so crazy... "Get me out of this d$#@ place! They're forcing pills down my throat against my will!!"

"How could they possibly mistake fatso Maggie for cute little me?!"