Phew!

This weekend was a marathon. We ran from party to party and up to Charlottesville Sunday. It was over 95 degrees!! This is what a pregnant woman looks like after a long eventful weekend:

exhausted and swollen :)

ps I think the bump looks larger because of the shadow, but it is plenty big in real life too

Bragging Rights

Sunday the whole Cutchins clan is headed up to Charlottesville to cheer on Cliff as he gets recognized for being Phi Beta Kappa. Anyone who knows him knows what a huge feat this is, especially at such a prestigious university :) Cliff is never one to brag and usually takes all of these dorky honors in stride, it is one of the many reasons I love him so much, I bet none of his friends even know he is getting this. But that's fine, that is why he has an "outspoken" sister...I get to be the one to go out and brag about him....there goes Cliff Cutchins, the "problem child" who now has survived and excelled at one of the best public universities in the country and is going off to medical school there next year (not too shabby). So I will try to take lot's of good pictures and post them on Monday.

As a side note: I didn't even know that they had these sorts of honor societies when I was at UVA...I guess that says something about how good of a student I was. I wonder which of my friends from college got this, if any.

Baby Update

Baby Watson has really started moving! Earlier this week I felt her kick for the first time...such a weird feeling...kind of like a muscle spasms but much stronger. You can't feel it on the outside of my belly yet so I am the only one who gets to enjoy it but I am sure she will continue to get stronger. Anyway, she likes to kick about 4 times a day so far that I have noticed and it catches me off guard every time :)

Old Gray Beard

When John and I adopted Libbie they told us she was 2 years old. If that is true that would make her approximately 4 1/2 years old now. So, why on earth is she already going gray? At first we noticed just a few white hairs...now it seems to be growing exponentially and at this rate her whole head will be gray by the end of the summer...poor girl! Someone needs to hurry up and make a product for dogs like 'Just for Men' but for dogs.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter! Ours was great and full of family time. Yall would have been very proud of me, I went out Friday night and stayed out until 12 am! I know this doesn't sound like much of a feat but it is huge for me :)

Sunday we went to the early service for church and were so happy that Chip, Leslie, and baby Vaughan joined us! Vaughan was such a riot, he LOVED the singing and sang along (well maybe not along but sang). Apparently he and his sister, Cooper, sing together a lot. I find this hysterical because Chip and Leslie are not singers, makes me wonder what kind of odd traits our baby will have. Since I will probably have a boy I have decided it is a good thing that Vaughan is such a big man. They will be a year apart in school and knowing my luck he will want to do dance or the play instead of sports. He will need Vaughan to keep the other kids from beating him up.

Here are two pictures of Vaughan from lunch on Easter. He is the happiest man, especially if you give him a spoon and some puffs.

Here is my obligatory belly shot at 17 weeks. John says it isn't any good because I was wearing black and you can't see the bump....I think you can see it just fine! That baby is getting big!

I am finally starting to get less weird about food, yay! so I don't have to resort to eating cereal, thin crust pizza or mac and cheese every meal. But I have noticed I am having a VERY hard time working my wig...it is getting curlier (well probably more wavy) and more unruly everyday and I am not quite sure what to do with it. I go to the hairdresser tomorrow so I will see what she thinks. All I know is it is NOT cute!

Please Pray!

Please pray for my friends Meade and Mary Elizabeth and their sweet little boy, John. John looked like he was getting better but is now having multiple seizures again. Please pray for his complete healing and for knowledge for the doctors and nurses at CHKD treating him. Pray for peace for Meade and Mary Elizabeth during this very dark time. You can follow their story at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stonetwins

Baby's Still There!

Today I had my 16 week check up (that's 4 months for you non-pregnant people). Not much exciting to report. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, which is always reassuring, and the doctor said that the baby sounded really happy in there, so that is good too. The next visit is the really exciting one. At 20 weeks (5 months) I have a really in depth ultrasound, so I am very anxious to see the baby again and can't wait to see how big she is. Usually at the 20 week check up you find out what you are having. At first I thought I would definitely want to know but now I have decided not to find out. I mean, I really don't care one way or the other, I thought I would but I just don't. And I have a handful of family members who DID NOT want me to find out. John is laid back, and doesn't care one way or the other. Since we all know I am destined to have 5 crazy boys, most of the stuff I have been getting has been gender neutral or pushing towards boy. I figure I can always toss in a pink blanket if I need to.

Exciting news: I think I have been feeling the baby moving lately. Not very often, but every once in a while I feel a little tickle and I think that might be the baby moving around. Very neat stuff.

The Liberty Bell Monster

Like all mothers I think my baby, currently a 73 lb black lab mix monster named Libbie, is beautiful. She is very soft, one of her un-lab like qualities, and loves to snuggle. We got Libbie at an adoption drive in Alexandria a week after our honeymoon. She was very malnourished and had Lyme disease and heartworms, but she seemed very sweet and I instantly fell in love. Her name when we got her was Liberty, hence why we call her Liberty Bell, but we thought that wasn't a very feminine name so we call her Libbie. She is VERY high energy and loves people and loves to lick them. Libbie only has two main flaws: 1) she is very scared of thunderstorms and will bark and jump around all night during one and 2) she thinks that all small dogs are squirrels and she would really like to eat them. They are both problematic in their own way because if there is a thunderstorm, like there are most of spring and summer, we get very little sleep and when we take her for walks it is all we can do to keep her on the leash.

I have been learning about preparing your dog for a new baby. While I am concerned about the barking, I am not concerned that Libbie will try to eat or harm the baby in any way. We have been lucky because she has been exposed to my niece and nephew many times at many ages. She seems very interested in them and really likes to lick their faces. I have been working on making sure that she is gentle when she takes food from my hands, unlike John's parents dogs which bite your fingers, and I always mess with her when she is eating. John was bitten by the family dog when he was little and I wanted to make sure Libbie wouldn't act the same. The only thing I really think we need to watch is she did try to roll over the baby once when I had it on the bed...strange dog!

I think for a mix-breed dog she is very pretty and photogenic! I just got a new lens for my birthday so I am sure you will be seeing more of her :)