31 weeks (8 months!)

HOW FAR ALONG?    

31 weeks, 2 days

HELLO 8^th month!!!!

What does 8 months look like? 

Baby

Me

 

I mean, really!  How cute is that tank top!  Thanks again, Betty, for such a super cute gift!!! It was a hit.

It’s a shame Nicole and I didn’t run into each other on campus that day-she was wearing the SAME tank top as a way to announce she and Tony are expecting Baby Landry this Spring.  {To think in college, we were mistaken as either twins or sisters 99% of the time and that earned us many many many free shots!  Talk about a missed oppty to really look like twinkies!}  Congrats, Nurse Nicole! You are going to be the sweetest, cutest mommy and the world!!!  

DEVELOPMENTS

The baby should weight between 3.5-4 pounds and measure crown-to-rump anywhere between 11-12’’ long.

This week is a big one for the baby's lung development. Before now, the air sacs and branches in the lungs were present but not functional (the lungs were not able to inflate properly.)  However, there is now stuff being produced by the lungs that are going to make its amphibian-like transformation possible (to be able to go from breathing in amniotic fluid to air after birth).

The fingernails have grown to the end of her/his fingers and she/he may scratch her/himself while in the womb.

HOW AM I FEELING?

Still about the same. 

Positive = sustained energy throughout the day. Still able to do my workouts, stuff around the house, tailgate;), etc.

Negative = still coping with that horrendous middle back pain that hits me the worst after sitting up for a long time. (walking around doing whatever activity I want, it’s fine. The trouble comes from sitting...with the worst being my desk at work or riding in a car for more than about 30 minutes at a time.)

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK?

We went to our first tailgate and game of the season together. As Michael pointed out, our last season of it just being the two of us.  Gettin’ a little nostalgic up in here!

The baby, being it’s shy self, didn’t move a muscle all day. (It’s as if it knows when people are around wanting to feel it move or something.)  BUT let me tell ya, JUST as soon as we were in our seats in the stadium, it started moving and didn’t stop until I left the game.  Teehee. Of course it did!  It made my day. Little sucker!   I’m sure it was logistically just responding to my elevated adrenalin and heart rate, but I tend to think it was moving because it was pissed it couldn’t see the game from the womb. Worst seat in the house!   

 

This one is getting framed for the nursery! 
 

LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Yet another productive next couple weeks of house projects.  I’m ashamed to say that we are behind schedule.  Granted, most of the reasons are things out of our control, but behind schedule we remain.  Gurrrrr.  NOT a happy camper.  In the words of Forrest Gump, “that’s all I have to say about that!”

29 WEEKS

HOW FAR ALONG?    
29 weeks, 2 days (in the 7^th month).

DEVELOPMENTS

The baby should weight about 2.5-3 pounds and measure somewhere around 15-17 inches long.

Here's what ole Macaroni looks like this week:

Cool factoid:  the baby’s sense of light is strong enough to where it may be able to see silhouettes of objects or even people in the right amount of light.  Fun!

It also got the hiccups for the first time this week – twice. Both times after eating my Bolognese.  

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN?

19 pounds. 

I’m very happy with that number, because at this point, I should be between 19-25 pounds gained, so feelin good about this despite having a poor past week nutritionally and fitness- wise! 

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

Baby learnin’, that’s what!

Last week was my first visit to the new hospital. I graced that place with my presence, not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4…BUT 5 TIMES in one week!  I had a normal check up appointment, blood work to check blood sugar (passed! whew!), a shot (forgot the name-since my blood type is O- and Michael’s is A+), and we both attended 2 educational classes.  The ed classes were on ‘the ABCs of child care’ and were very informative! I think we have a total of about 8 pages of notes!  ;)

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK?
Two, actually:

1) Watching the ravishing Courtney A. walk down the aisle this past Saturday in NOLA. What a beautiful, happy and relaxed bride!  Oh, and indulging in the most delicious wedding cake EVER!  

2) Spending the entire day Sunday in my PJs and not leaving the house once!  Granted I still tackled a majorly overdue project-cleaning out my closet! Yikes! Took about 4 hours and totaled 6 bags of stuff donated to Good Will.

The best part of day, though, was all the progress made despite my butt sitting on the sofa!  Michael and his Dad were working on project after project – painting our shutters, taping the nursery for painting, hanging a new light fixture, etc. etc.  I gotta tell y’all…Michael has been dominating his run for the Husband of the Year award. He has been taking initiative on so much house stuff especially when it comes to stuff for the baby. He’s been awesome!

He’s even taken it upon himself to decide to paint the nursery, pick the color and start taping the room…..hah….and hounds me daily about picking a name. I even got on his iPad the other day to mess around and noticed he had beaucoup pregnancy and baby apps on there (even a workout one for me). It’s the cutest thing ever!

(sorry, Michael. You’re probably embarrassed now!)

LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Another productive weekend of house projects. We’ve only got 2 left until the much awaited football season begins!!!!

We’re also taking our pre-natal visit to the Pediatrician’s office to visit the one and only Dr. Laura Boudreaux! Watch out, Laura – the Guillot’s are coming!!!

Week 27

SOMBER NEWS

A post has been overdue, thanks to an atypical past 2 weeks.  It has been a somber one. 

I bid farewell to one of my best friends (Sarah Folse) last week.  She moved to New York, which is great news for her – she’s been wanting to move there her entire life – but a lil sad for her friends back home to say the least!  We’ll miss you and love you Sarah!!! 

Also, while at the beach on a girl's trip (mentioned in my last post) I received the call saying it was “that time” for my MawMaw.  She had been set up with hospice at the house (and you know what that means). I left the beach early to drive to see her…fearing that once the week started, I wouldn’t be able to head that way.  I could not be more grateful for being able to spend that Sunday with her, as she passed away a few days later on Friday, 7/27. My PawPaw called me when I was on the way to work…I basically got to my office, packed up my stuff and hit the road to Bunkie to be with him and help with the logistics.  Luckily, they had pretty much taken care of everything back in 1987 (lol – yes, planning ahead is apparently genetic!), but nonetheless, there were still a couple things to work out and I was pleasantly surprised he actually accepted my help. 

To say the least, it is incredibly sad to lose her – but especially before the baby is born.  She was the next best thing to my Mom and it breaks my heart that she will never get to meet Baby Guillot.  When I visited with her the previous weekend, she told me she had asked the doctor if she were going to make it until November…she started crying telling me that she wasn’t going to. L  Crushed my soul.  I assured her that Baby Guillot will hear all too often about his/her MawMaw Gauthier!

(P.S.  She was convinced it’s a girl!)

The bright side here is that she got to do what most all of us hope to do – live a full life and grow old with your lifelong partner.  She was able to pass away an old lady, in her living room with her dog by her side, looking into my PawPaw’s eyes, holding his hand.  What a beautiful way to go!   We should all be so lucky! 

I hope you all don’t mind me sharing that with you…but, hey, I’ve gotta update with you about the good/bad/ugly/sad on this blog thing!

On to a lighter notes…

HOW FAR ALONG?    

Today, I am 27 weeks, 0 days.  Mathematically that’s the start of the 7^th month and 3^rd Trimester, but medically the 7^th month doesn’t officially begin until 28 weeks.  The way I see it….why rush?!  I’ll gladly take another week for month #6.

91 days to go!  Ahhhh.

DEVELOPMENTS

The baby is around 2 pounds and 15 inches long.

This week, he/she can not only hear the sound of my voice, but it can recognize it! How cool is that?!!

It’s also opening and closing its eyes and sleeping and waking at regular intervals.

Cool fact: there is an 85% survival rate of babies born pre-mature at week 27. 

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN?
17 pounds.  I’m very happy with that number!  Not too much and not too little.   

HOW AM I FEELING?

Echoing every other pregnant person once hitting the 3^rd trimester – “getting a little more uncomfortable” as the days go by. Got a lil list of complaints going on that is typical to start at about this time.

Bending from the waist is getting dang near impossible, making putting on my shoes and painting my toenails interesting.   

Back pain!  Fair to say I’ve had significant middle back pain kickin’ in on any day where I sit down too long. Desk at work, riding in a car, etc.

Sleeping is also getting tricky. I STILL keep waking up on my back (which is a no-no). I’m borrowing a “pregnancy pillow” from Anne this weekend, which I’m excited to try (thanks again, Anne!!!).

Aside from all of that J on a positive note – my energy level is still up there.  As usual, I have been crashing for bed around 9~9:30, but still go non-stop until then with no problem. Grass mowing, working out and walking my girl Pep is still in my routine (did all 3 today in fact….included a morning and evening walk with Pep).

OPERATION DECO:

Repeat from the last update = Rain rain go away!  We have STILL not been about to pour the concrete for our new patio.

Great progress has been made in the nursery to the tune of starting on the dresser.  We bought an unfinished piece and are refinishing it to have a distressed look.  It’s a multiple step progress and earlier today we completed all but the final one (because the second to last step takes a long time to set).  Good timing, though, because after 4 hours I was ready for a break and Michael had to head out to Grand Isle to go catch some supper!   Hopefully we finish up tomorrow night and have a delicious fish dinner!!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO?
For one, the remainder of this weekend. The past 2 weeks were exhausting.

Also majorly looking forward to Baby Macaroni’s shower this coming Saturday!!!!

I don’t know what I’m more excited about – getting lots of fun baby stuff for ole Macaroni, or getting to visit with friends (looking forward to seeing you, Em!  Thanks in advance for taking the lead on the shower and flying in from Charleston to visit!!!) 

WEEK 23

HOW FAR ALONG?    

Today, I am 24 weeks, 1 day exactly! Only 111 days to go! YIKES! I never would have guessed how fast pregnancy would fly by.

This post will be a recap looking back on week 23.

DEVELOPMENTS

A couple days ago the coolest thing happened!  I not only felt the baby moving, but I SAW it!  Talk about nuts! Ever since that first day of seeing it move, it happens multiple times every day.   

In the next four weeks, the baby's weight should DOUBLE (and therefore I’m expecting a big hike on the scale as well.).  At this point, the skin is really saggy because it grows faster than fat develops. After these next four weeks, it will be a lil more plump. 

At this point, he/she is almost a foot long (about that of an ear of corn) with hearing that is getting stronger and stronger (I am still brainwashing on a daily basis introducing him/her to some of the greats: Janis, Otis, Skynyrd, Zeppelin, Wayne, etc. to name a few!)

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO

Wrapped up the baby registry for one. Geez ems. Talk about a nightmare. Thank goodness for the tips I got from everyone as well as for Michael being so helpful with this kind of stuff.

We also attended our first birth/parenting preparation class offered by the hospital.  The classes came highly recommended (some even attended these classes to prep for baby #2, that’s how good they are!).  This week’s class selection was “Special Delivery, Part 1.”  It was VERY beneficial.

Learned all sorts of things:
- knowing the signs of labor and when exactly to go to the hospital
- what a contraction feels like
- Hospital policies…step by step what is going to happen from the time we pull into the driveway, how many people can be in the room and when, food/water allowances, drug administration, the dad’s role (which basically was “this is when you go park the car, this is when you give mom a backrub, this is when you go get the car”).
- Lots of details about the progression of labor (from the science side, to the emotional side, to the “this is when the room is going to get really chaotic” side)
-Terms we'll probably overhear in the labor and delivery rooms and what they mean
- We even got to hold a 3-D chart showing the progression of the uterus. Michael wanted nothing to do with this one!  Hah!
- All the way to the…dundundunnn…a video of a vaginal birth.  WooHoo.  We were on the edges of our seats let me tell ya (to bring back an 80’s term..N O T!!!)

We both definitely learned some stuff we never knew before, so it was worth our time and are looking forward to Part II of the class.

As if I’m a 3 year old, my reward was a kids cheeseburger (mmmm Dempsey’s) and a hot fudge sundae afterward.  LOL!

OPERATION DECO:

Rain rain go away!  We have been trying to get the concrete poured for our new patio for a month now.  We had a nice dry run for about 2 weeks, but the guy was so backed up on other rain delayed jobs, he couldn’t fit us in.  We are on deck, waiting for at least a 5 day run of no rain. So far, it ain’t looking good.  It seriously rains every single day. It hasn’t even been dry enough to mow the grass.

We did get a couple pictures back on the wall (took down for the paint job, and hung them in a different location), the antique mirror mounted (chose to go the professional route to do this for us…this thing is a beast), and finally was able to hang the panels up in the living room (after having them hemmed).  Things are really moving along!

LOOKING FORWARD TO?
Me – A beach trip this Thursday-Sunday with a group of some of my favorite people in honor of Courtney getting hitched.  I am SO excited!!!!!!

Michael – probably enjoying a relaxing weekend without me posting weekend to-do list for us on the fridge ;). IF I had to guess, he’s going to play 1000 hours of tennis (because that is what he considers “relaxing”).

Speaking of, have you ever noticed the resemblance between Michael and Djokovic?!?  It’s uncanny. Especially their demeanor on the court.

Teehee.  

WEEK 22

I had another doctor’s visit today, which was was officially my last visit to the old hopistal.  WooHoo!   I mean, yeah, it would have been kinda cool to give birth in the same hospital I was born in, but considering the fact that they probably haven't upgraded anything in 30 years kinda makes that a mute point.

For those of you not up on Baton Rouge news, you may not be aware that a new Woman's Hospital is underway and is basically in my backyard. This is awesome for many reasons - mainly proximity to our house.  It is about 2 miles down the street and with only one redlight will take us 5 minutes MAX to get there! SO we are excited about this as you can imagine! Not only for getting there for the birth and all, but for my checkup appointments. As is, it takes about 30 minutes to make it to the old hospital (one way)...that is with average traffic patterns....this makes for a stressful lunch break, let me tell ya! Welp, I'm very happy to have my last hectic lunch break of fighting traffic over and done with! 

DEVELOPMENTS

He/she is about the length of a spaghetti squash and looks something like this:

The heartrate was a 147 today...which for those of you who believe in the old wives tale, indicates a girl (but the stats simply are not there to back this up.)

The organs are becoming more and more specialized (the liver is now busy ridding byproducts-the ones that lead to jaundice if too high).

Fine tuning its sense of touch is a cute one that’s underway this week and very rapid brain growth is happening as well – brain growth that will happen at warp speed from now through about 5 years of age (reminder to take prenatal vitamin!!!).

Tiny tooth buds are developing beneath the gums.

Eyes have formed, but irises (the colored part) still has not. Speaking of - Michael is holding out hope that he/she will have blue eyes – counting the number of people in our family with light eyes over and over. Sorry to tell him, I don’t think we stand a chance!

How far Along?    

22.5 weeks

Total weight gain?

11 pounds

How am I feeling?

Not bad. Still rockin out my workouts and staying on top of yard work. The heat of summer has reared its ugly face, so I have pushed every outside activity back another hour - or until the temp is under 90, which sometimes isn’t until 8pm. Pepper is trying to learn patience waiting for her afternoon walks.  She finds ways to occupy herself in the meantime. In fact, here she is now "helping me" do my laundry: 

Thanks, Pep!

Missing anything?
Still sushi! Adding SEAL POSE and "knees to chest" stretches to the list! 
I want nothing more than to give my core a nice big stretch.  Seal and knees to chest (probably has a better name than that, but that's what my pilates instructor calls it) is the best for that, but with the belly tighteness, it's impossible.  My muscles are very needy about stretching.  If I skip stretching after just a mile walk around the neighborhood, I will feel it the next day. Continuing to workout - focusing a lot of my back - has got me in need of a nice big core stretch that I'm unable to do. Instead, maybe I'll opt for a mommy massage!  Sounds like a fair trade! 

Craving anything? 

Not really. Michael has dramatically increased his consumption of pickles, though!  Sympathy symptoms???

Highlight of the week?

I'd have to say 4th of July celebrations.  Got in a lot of QT with the Daboval's and Liz also paid us a visit (welcome home, Liz!)  We went to the pool (baby bump was stylin'in my bikini...Macaroni was moving and grooving out there...must have been due to Megan's awesome playlist!). We managed to also swing by to pay a visit to some of Michael's tennis friends for a get together they were having. Later that night, Michael made ribs (DELish!) and I made grits and creamed spinach for sides and some nutella cheesecake swirl brownies for dessert. Ending the night with a "pop works" show but Michael, Ryan and Brandon. Let's just say we gave the neighboring Country Club a run for their money.  Ha. Or not.  
In a nut sheel, we fit an entire weekend worth of socializing into one very long day!  I am pooped, but it was fun and very well worth it!

OPERATION DECO – UPDATE

In the spirit of staying motivated to continue to scratch stuff off the list, I’m sending over an update.

Patio extension – size, design, vendor, press ‘go’, be patient waiting to furnish until next year (or later this Fall when Summer stuff goes on sale!). 

Landscaping – design decision, complete the job, plant final 3 trees after patio slab is poured

Breakfast nook - decide to refinish existing table and get new chairs OR do built-in seating – doing built-in seating, schedule to get ‘er done.

Keeping room – design, chairs…find and pick fabric, server table or hutch, deco accessories, panels, light fixture…purchase and hang, throw pillows, decorative accessories, coffee table, rug

Nursery – window covering decision and installation, crib, dresser (buy, refinish), bedding, glider, lamp (use existing need new shade), side table (use existing), decoration accessories, bedding, organization (after shower)

Living room – paint color selection (after two years of debate!), painting done, refinish antique mirror, buy panels, find hardware to hang, hang panels, throw pillows & blanket, decorative accessories, figure out what the heck to do with the gallery wall above the sofa, order ottoman for chair, new chairs for dining table, replace rug, media storage for right side of fireplace, piece for left side of fireplace (picking up today after work with Megan!), entrance light fixture*, foyer light fixture*, dining room light fixture* (*probably next year),

Gutters – Find a vendor, schedule to get ‘er done.

Garage – shelves and organization (thanks, Michael!), 2^nd freezer

UP NEXT?
- My company is participating in an annual fundraising softball tourney this weekend. (Michael will be representing the Guillots.) 
- A "fun" weekend to-do list of knocking out more house projects (this weekend is 1 of 4 available to finish up house stuff before our deadline. Ahhhhh).
- Hopefully we'll also squeeze in a little fun trip to the dog park with Pepper!
- Start to narrow down the BABY NAME list!  This is a not going to be easy. For the most part, there are 3-5 leading boy and girl names with the same ones we keep going back and forth with for each.  We just have to start really thinking seriously about it.  

Week 21

Week 21

After much ado, here is a bump pic for your viewing pleasure

This was taken day one of 21 weeks, and I swear in the 5 days that have passed since then, it has grown even more. 

WHAT’S NEW
Macaroni is on the move!  Although I had felt the ole butterbean making a few nudges here and there over the past couple weeks, this week it’s a different story. 

My daily rhythm is to go non-stop, balls to the wall, then I finally hit the wall and crash for the night (typical me: it’s either 0 or 100%).   These days, I am crashing earlier than usual in that I call it quits and finally sit down for first time around 8:30~9pm. As soon as a do, macaroni jumps for joy.  Literally.  It moves for a good solid hour (feeling movement every 15~30 seconds within that hour).

For those of you who have been pregnant, you know the feeling.  There are no words to describe it. (Although sweet for now, soon to be painful as it runs out of room and is kicking at my ribs!).  Nonetheless, no matter how bad of a day I’ve had, I smile (and more times than none will giggle out loud) with every move I feel. 

To add to the excitement, Michael got to feel it for himself for the first time!   As well as sweet Lilly.  She and Pepper actually took a few breaks from each other this past weekend for her to feel my belly!

Side note: that Lilly and Pepper....friends for life, let me tell ya. I mean, just look at this sweetness. Pepper was so tired she literally couldn't hold her own head up. Hahaha. 

Great Danes truly are gentle giants!  

GROWING MACHINE

This week, the baby should be the size of a large banana and should weigh 11 ounces. Should  is the operative word here, as you can recall from my week 18 update, it was already weighing 10 ounces at that time, so who knows how big it is now!   

DEVELOPMENTS

It’s been practicing swallowing and digestion (via amniotic fluid) for the past couple weeks now and it’s taste buds are officially up and running!  I am consciously trying to make my diet more expansive than it already is – exposing the little booger to as many tastes as possible.  Hope it liked the salmon we had last night, because I sure did!

It also has eyebrows and eyelids now.  Those will come in handy for sure!!!

Other than that, it supposedly sleeps for about 12-14 hours a day. I wonder what the heck it’s doing the rest of the time in there (my mind instantly goes to scenes from the movie, Look Who’s Talking!).

HOW AM I FEELING?

Physically - pretty fantastic. I’ve had a good string of really good workouts lately. You know how sometimes you work out and you just kinda make it through the work out, then other days you feel like Rocky climbing to the top of the steps in his training to fight Apollo?  The latter is the kind I’ve been having lately and to me, there’s hardly anything that compares to that feeling!   This is something that brings me great pride. I put a ton of work into organizing my pregnancy workout plan (weeks of work in fact!) and I am thoroughly enjoying executing that plan!  Geaux me!

Emotionally – different story.  I have been more and more worried about the whole giving birth process. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a person who likes to prep for things wayyyy in advance. So in my true fashion I am trying to emotionally prep as much as possible for the all too many things than can happen. Doing this puts me at ease - so thanks to all of you mommies out there who have given me advice. Chats with good friends (thanks Anne Neal!) make me feel all the more confident about the situation. 

In addition to that,  I am soooo over all of the house deco stuff. I mean, geez ‘ems. We put it off for 3 whole years and here we are at crunch time wanting to throw in the towel. What’s that a sign of? Dislike, that’s what.  And ya know Michael agrees! I’m telling you, neither of us can stand all of this crap. Not my forte to say the very least. I suppose this is how some people feel about cooking and baking.  Of all the friends we have across various professions, by golly, we need one in interior design because this girl needs help. I hate every bit of it – spending the money, making the decisions, coordinate the people to do their jobs and get the stuff done they say they’re gonna get done!, wasting so much time on it, etc, etc. etc. Oh why can’t I just win an HGTV makeover contest?!   Regardless, progress is being made. My next post will feature an update on that.

Until then....HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

WEEK 20

Appetite for Destruction!

This past week, I have wanted to eat any and every sugar loaded treat I came across.  This is NOT my norm.  I’m typically a big fat eater (cheese, olives, and lots and lots of chocolate). Because of that, I made a strict “no sugar in the house” policy for the week, which we adhered to pretty good. 

All of that will be blown out the water this weekend, though, as I get to baking away for a trip to Thibodaux Saturday. 

A coconut pie for the in-laws and chocolate, white chocolate chip cookies for Baby Brennan’s baptism party!  Mmmmm.  Those kind of treats are worth it. Not so much the sour gummies from Fresh Market!   

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This next part (Q&A style), I’m copying from a sorority sister of mine, Tara.  She is such a cute pregnant person with such a creative blog (she’s due with twins any day now!). I loved this idea of her of how to quickly divulge info to y’all, so here goes...

How far along?  21 weeks this Saturday.  Here's what our butterbean looks like:

Total weight gain?  7 pounds (which officially means I weigh more now than I've ever weighed in my life, but for good reason!)  Considering most of that is baby business, I’m very pleased at that number and know my metabolism must just be working in overdrive, because I have been eating non-stop!  The good news is that the baby is bigger than it should be (which means I am pumping plenty enough nutrients in my body).  At this point, I could have gained up to 11 to still be in the healthy zone.  Glad I’m got some wiggle room for that inevitable monster gainer week I’m bound to hit.  I like have cushion in the bank!

Maternity clothes?  Sitting here typing this, I am wearing my very first pair of maternity pants!  Ahhhh sweet relief!  While I have 2 pairs of work pants that technically still fit with the button extender, they are not nearly as comfortable as the maternity specific ones.  I’m still wearing the you-know-what outta every dress I own (and new ones purchased!) lately, but my office gets a little chilly sometimes so I needed some pants!  I could get used to this over the belly thing.  SO comfy!

Miss anything?  SUSHI SUSHI SUSHI!  Oh how I long for one of our 3 hour Sushi Yama trips – complete with a full jar of pineapple sake!  Luckily it is CRAB season and Sushi Yama has an unbelievable blue crab spring roll (that is completely cooked) and full of delicious lump crab meat that somewhat gives me my fix! 

Movement?  FINALLY starting to feel some bumps in the trunk….hah…or should I say bumps in the bump. Not very often, but I still feel them. Typically around 1 and 10pm and during my workouts.  I think the little sucker likes all the movement and music. Prolly getting in some of those crunches it was doing in the last sonogram. TeeHee.      

Symptoms? Just some round ligament pain that started happening around week 17~18 and will supposedly stick around until the end.  Nothing too bad, but nonetheless, any sort of discomfort in the belly reason can makes a girl nervous. 

I am careful to separate my heavy activity at least a day apart. For example, I had a very hard workout yesterday, so am going to take it easy today and just walk my girl Pep around the neighborhood and do some cooking and baking in the kitchen.  Taking it easy basically means that I am nixing mowing the grass and mopping the floors from my to-do list this afternoon.   I could do those things, but know the ligament pain will be felt much worse tomorrow…and I’d prefer to take the safe route.   As Leigh Anne (sister) and Shelby (brother) can attest, it’s in our genes to overwork ourselves by trying to do way too much in one day.  I’m trying to suppress that desire while pregnant as much as I can!

Belly button in or out? In, but creeping its way out.  I’m so nervous it’s going to stay out! 

Mood? This past week has been a grouchy one for me (sorry, Michael!).  For no good reason at all.  Ahhh hormones!  

Looking forward to? This weekend for our trip to Thibodaux Saturday to visit the family and give Brennan some kisses!  As well as next weekend…Michael is going to be out of town for work ALL week (returns Friday) and I know I’m gonna be ready to hang out with him this weekend. 

Highlight of the week? Getting a new vacuum cleaner.  (What has my life become?!)  This has been a long time coming….it's a dyson which means this puppy was expensive (but worth every penny), has a 5-year warranty and is a model specifically designed for pet hair. There are just some things in life that give truth to the saying “you get what you pay for.”   For the past 6 months, vacuuming in the Guillot house has been done on hands and knees using the tube of a shop vac!  Imagine that!  Freakin’ pitiful is what it is!  The shop vac works wonders, but talk about a back ache.  Well, back ache no more……hello new investment: