Thanksgiving Weekend

Lee and I spent a lovely Thanksgiving with family in Oklahoma. We had the usual fixings and watched lots of football. We also had a doubles Wii tennis tournament. Kate and I came in second place!

I got to visit with my cousin-in-law who is expecting a baby in May. We talked about baby stuff almost the whole evening, from homemade baby food to new products to register for. She bought me a Snoogle, which is the most amazing pillow ever made! I've had a cold the last couple of days and have not been able to sleep lying down and this pillow helped me prop up to sleep. It is a huge blessing!

To keep with Thanksgiving tradition, I thought I would make a short list of things that I'm thankful for:

• Deven
• snoogle pillow
• maternity scrubs
• husband, parents, and in-laws who seek the Lord daily
• nasal irrigation (such a blessing when medication options are limited)

On Monday I will enter the third trimester! Some women like to volunteer information about how terrible the third trimester was for them. I am trying to be positive; however, I can't help but dread it a little because I am feeling more uncomfortable every day. I do get to wear maternity scrubs for 40 hours a week - awesome! I'm so glad I don't have to wear real clothes to work. Here is a picture of me in my maternity scrubs at 26 weeks. The above picture was taken at 27 weeks right before eating the Thanksgiving meal.

Countdowns

I am 25 weeks pregnant in this picture! I can hardly believe it. A few weeks ago, I was still having to talk myself into the reality of pregnancy. It is still hard to believe; however, it's a little easier when Deven constantly dances on my inner right ribs. Maybe not constantly, but he does it often.

The holidays are coming up and I usually like to get Christmas shopping done sooner rather than later. So, I was looking at the calendar to figure out a time when I could shop and realized something all too real. There are 6 weekends before Christmas. Four of them are already planned out. Basically, I have two weekends to register for baby stuff and do Christmas shopping. This would probably stress the type A person out. Thankfully, I'm not very Type A. I do have a plan: get it done before Christmas. How or when it happens will fall into place later. As Scarlet O'Hara says, "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Right now, I'm not really thinking beyond Christmas. However, I did realize that after Christmas, Deven will be here in about 8 or 9 weeks. Wow! Time is going to fly by. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy pregnancy and enjoy every moment that Lee and I have with just the two of us.

The Joys of Pregnancy

I am 23 weeks along now and still enjoying pregnancy for the most part. I'm feeling him move more every day. I've been feeling him move since week 20 and when he would start dancing, I'd put Lee's hand over my belly and Deven would stop. Finally, Lee barely felt him move last night! It was exciting. I'm starting to see my belly move especially after dinner. As usual, Deven stops moving once I get Lee's attention - little stinker.

I'm also enjoying all the special treatment I get because I'm pregnant. People give their seats to me, adjust their temperatures for me, help me carry things, get me glasses of water at 3 AM, etc. I really don't need all this special treatment but I'll take advantage of it while it's offered!
Often, when I walk in public, women see my belly and smile so tenderly at me. It warms my heart and I often wonder what they are thinking when they smile that way.

I'll continue to think of the positives of preganancy because they are much more enjoyable than the negatives!

ACU Homecoming

Lee and I went to ACU Homecoming a week ago and met up with family. It was a lovely time and I got to see a couple of old friends and spend great time with family. Here are a few photos of the weekend. I haven't taken a belly photo recently; however, I'm 21 weeks along in these photos.

Mom and I

My sisters and I at AKO homecoming breakfast

The fam (minus Lee and I) eating dinner

The Fam

After all the homecoming events in Abilene, Lee and I drove back to OKC in time for Deven's first concert. We went to see U2.

Our seats ended up being right next to Lee's former youth minister and his wife!

Opening band. They were really awesome!


Bono! We couldn't get a good picture of him unless he was on this huge screen. It was a really fun concert! U2 has so many songs to choose from. I didn't get to hear half of the songs I was looking forward to; however, they were still really good. It was a very memorable weekend!

We're having a boy!

We had an awesome ultrasound on Wednesday. We were taken back to a room with a huge comfy reclining chair. I got to sit in the comfy chair and look at a flat screen TV with the lights low. It was like a movie theatre. We sat and watched the baby on the ultrasound for probably half an hour. I could have watched him all day long. He kept one of his hands over his face through most of the hour so we didn't get a great look at his face, but he's still pretty cute in an alien sort of way. A couple of nights before the ultrasound, I had a dream that our baby had six toes on each foot. The doctor must have felt my concern because he counted the fingers and toes a couple of times. He said Deven looks very healthy on the ultrasound.

We are naming him Deven Lee. Lee's Dad's name is Dennis and my Dad's name is Steven. Dennis + Steven = Deven. Lee obviously comes from his daddy. He is named after the three most important men in his life! What a good beginning.

~Cami

Baby's sex

Cami and I went to the ultrasound clinic this week. I had not heard of these before; these clinics only do ultrasounds - nothing else. I was surprised that something so specialized could still be so busy. This particular one at Mercy Hospital has the best technology in the state.
We were called in about a half-hour after our appointment was scheduled and were led to a dark room with a comfy chair, 5 "spectator" chairs, and the ultrasound equipment. Cami laid down and the technician went to work. The whole experience was reproduced on the 46in plasma television in front of us. It took about 20 seconds to figure out what the sex was.
Did you vote in the sex poll? Most of you - me included - voted for girl, and with obvious reasons. Cami's family is nearly entirely female. All of her cousins (except Ben) are girls. She has 3 sisters. Many of their pets are female. The joke on Julie's side of the family is that you don't ask the sex of the child, you ask "What are you naming her?" Some of you thought of girl names and one of you even had a convincing dream that Cami would give birth to a daughter.
Then there were those of you who voted for boy. On what did you base this vote? Hope? The data simply does not support that hypothesis. But you were right! There was a clear protrusion on the ultrasound.
And Praise God. I wanted a boy. Is it wrong to have an opinion on that? I gave the classic answer "We'll take whatever God gives us" when asked which sex I prefered, but I was lying. So I apologize if I told that lie to any of you. Wait; I do not. I prayed fervently for a boy and God answered me! That should be celebrated! Any of you who attempted to cancel out my prayers with your girly prayers are now on my bad side. And it is likely that our son (Deven Lee Matthews) will be just as inflammatory as I am. Get ready!

Love,
Lee

Lee and I are faithful followers of The Office. We have watched every single episode thus far and the season premiere aired this past Thursday. If you follow the show you know that one of the main characters is pregnant and she was keeping it a secret from the rest of the office. I was guessing she was less than 12 weeks pregnant by the look of things. But no, she is four months pregnant, exactly the same as me. However, unlike me, she can still hide it. Only in Hollywood can a woman hide her preganancy up to four months.

Today, I went to the most amazing Mexican restaurant. I had pork tacos with lime juice, tomatillo sauce and red salsa. I also had chips with lime juice and salt. To finish it off, I had mandarin soda! (I really enjoy talking about food in great detail these days.) When you come visit me I will have to take you to this place.

The ladies at my church have all contributed to a batch of maternity clothes and I got a portion of it a couple of weeks ago. So far, I have not had to buy any maternity clothes. Here I am sporting some of the hand-me-downs at 16 weeks.

I blame the pregnancy for the random topics of this post :)

Indoctrination

Right now, the baby's ear drums and middle-ear are formed. Although it can't quite hear me shouting "BOOMER SOONER" on this glorious College Football filled weekend, it can feel the vibrations of me jumping up and down on the couch in exclamation. And I like to think it felt me groan when UT just ran that punt in for a touchdown. I'm teaching it "This is what makes daddy happy and sad." Other prenatal indoctrinations include:
-Vinegar aversion
-Phish enjoyment
-Mel Brooks affinity
-fear of Big Government

This is the environment in which we will raise our child.

-Lee

Laborless day

Today has been a very relaxing day for Lee and I. We had a mini cookout with his Grandma and ate burgers, tabouleh, grilled veggies, and corn on the cob. Yum! The rest of the day has been spent shopping, reading, playing video games, and watching TV. Entertainment wise, we've had a pretty productive day.


Lee and I have another Dr.'s appointment next Monday. At that visit we will schedule the visit that determines the gender! The gender voting poll is still open for anyone who has not voted. I have been looking at the wives tales that determine whether the baby is a boy or a girl. It looks like a bunch of hooey. At the end of the test it said I have a 50% chance of having a boy and 50% chance of having a girl. Here are some of the items.

• Since Lee has not gained any weight, we are having a girl.
• Since my mom doesn't have gray hair, we are having a girl.
• My nose hasn't changed, so we're having a girl.
• My headaches mean I'm having a boy.
• chinese calendar says a girl.
• The ring spun in circles over my stomach, therefore, boy.

Do people actually rely on this information? Hmmm. Here's a picture of me at the end of 14 weeks.

Simple Tradition

Lee and I have had a small tradition the last two and a half years of our marriage. Every Saturday morning I make my Great Granny's pancakes and Lee makes us each a cup of coffee. I like to eat my pancakes with chocolate chips. Lee likes to mar his chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter. We share our tradition with whoever is in town with us and this Saturday my very good friend, Valerie Kerby shared it with us. Today I was wondering what this tradition will look like in a couple of years. Will the baby like his/her pancakes with or without peanut butter? I will support them no matter what decision they make.

Doctor's appointment

Lee and I went to our second official dr.'s appointment on Thursday. We were very responsible and showed up 15 minutes early and I made sure I had a full bladder and was ready for tests. An hour and a half later, the nurse finally called us back! He is a wonderful doctor so I forgave him for making me wait with a full bladder.

We got to hear the heartbeat, which is pretty amazing. Our doctor has an old ultrasound machine so he lets us look whenever we want for free! We watched the baby swim around and do somersaults. He/she is a speedy little one. I could have watched him/her all day long. Very fascinating.

Our next appointment is in six weeks and that is when we find out the gender! Be sure to vote on which one you think we'll have!

Whirlwind Summer

I have no idea how to sum up the last three months in one blog entry. Lee and I have been in a crazy but wonderful whirlwind. Here are some of the highlights of the summer. Three months ago, I graduated from physical therapy school – FINALLY! Two months ago, I started my first real job at The Children’s Center. I work with children who have multiple disabilities and love it! I finally get to do what I love to do. Three weeks ago I took and passed my licensure exam, which was a huge answer to prayer. Lee has also had a lot of important and busy things going on at work, of which I am not qualified to explain since I have no IT knowledge.

In the midst of all that, Lee and I found out that we are expecting! We found out on Father’s Day. I think it’s going to be difficult to beat Lee’s first Father’s Day surprise. So far, we have had a hard time believing that we are pregnant because I have had little nausea and I don’t look that different (until recently). Lee and I are very excited about the blessing God has given us and we could use every prayer we can get.

Here is a picture of me at the end of the 11th week.