Peanut Butter Please

I love peanut butter!

My biggest craving currently has been a peanut butter, chocolate chip cookie.


Best- Homemade!


But it's too dang hot to bake!

And if I make a batch of cookies, I'll eat all of them. No can do!


Okay- Bakery!



Too bad the bakery didn't have any. Apparently, not EVERYTHING is better.

Bad- Nabisco!



What's a girl to do? Do I eat these with a handful of chocolate chips?

What a bummer!

Old Person Purchase

Today I bought my first ever box of moth balls.

I always think of an attic when I smell those.

That and old people.

Well we needed to purchase because we have a rodent.

There is a possum under our deck.

True Story!

Mopac was just nuts about being outside on Sunday. I now know why. It wasn't the great weather. Austin broke a record on Sunday with it's 112 degree heat. (As one of my seventh graders told me today, it feels like a blow dryer is on when you are walking. Well said!)

She was doing her hunting tricks. She goes absolutely insane when she's on a smell lead. Well at night Randy got out the flashlight and shined through the cracks of our deck boards.

We think it's a possum. This animal had course grayish black hair...SICK!

Randy called my dad, and we ruled out a raccoon and a cat. He was poking it with a stick, and it barely was moving. It was playing possum. Ha!

My dad told us to get some moth balls and throw them under the deck. They apparently hate the smell (who knew?) and will leave.

Well of course, my mom's main concern was her baby. Not me, but Mopac. "Penny, you better not let Mopac outside. She'll crawl under that deck and get bitten. Larry, who can they call to get rid of it?"

My dad in the background, "Mary, it'll leave. It's cool and dark under the deck."

My mom: "Penny, call the fire department. They'll come out."

Umm maybe if I still lived in Weimar. The volunteer fire department would love to come out and help. I don't see them being as eager here though.

Mom: "Well shoot it."
Penny: "Mom, I'm pretty sure we can't shoot it. The neighbors will call the cops."
Mom to my dad: "Larry, is it going to get Mopac?"
Dad: "Mary, it's playing dead right now."
Mom: "Well, what if it plays alive?"

Hahaha! I love my crazy parents!

Well, I had a pregnancy brain moment tonight when I purchased them. We can't put moth balls under the deck. The possum apparently crawled under the deck, which Mopac can too as well. Moth balls are lethal for domestic pets. What a waste of 2 bucks!

Any other ideas?

Just What I Needed!

Can You take me by the hand?
Can You use me as I am?
Break me into who You want me to be.
When the time is finally right, will You open up my eyes?
Show me everything You want me to see.
This life is not my own.


To God alone be the glory.
To God alone be the praise.
Everything I say and do, let it be all for You.
The glory is Yours alone
Yours alone


Take the offering I bring.
You want more than what I sing.
Can I give You every part of me?
Turn these pennies into gold.
Take this life I call my own,
Until I’m running after Your heart.
I’m needing to let go.


We will rise and we will fall,
But You remain after all.
You’re glorious and beauti-ful.
You’re beautiful.
The glory is Yours alone, Yours alone, Yours alone.

This came on the radio on my way home from work today, and it totally made my day!

(That and my free Spicy Chicken Biscuit for breakfast from Chick Fil A. Check it out! There's a new breakfast item each day. I'm only allowing myself one pass through the most friendly drive through in America, and today I worked extra hard on the elliptical to make up for the best breakfast I'll have all week.)

But back to the post...

To God alone be the glory! Amen!
I think that every time I feel Little Lueders move. I shoot my "thank you Lord" prayer up each time I feel our love bug.

Not surprising

Penny: "Randy, how would you feel if our child doesn't want to go to UT for college? What would you do?"

Randy: "I don't know. I guess they could always get a loan."


bahahahaha

O' Happy Day

It happened!

It finally happened!

A complete stranger asked about the baby!

A stranger as in I've never seen her before.

It was incredible!!!!

I was standing in line at HEB checking out, and this sweet lady behind me asked, "So when is that baby due?"

I was just standing there. I mean I did happen to maybe, sorta, kinda touch my stomach. Oops, that means there was an assist. I couldn't help it. I want someone to ask me!!! This lady looked like she just needed a little prodding.

So I did that annoying thing pregnant ladies do, I touched my stomach.

No worries, we're still counting this as THE first time I was asked even with the little hint I dropped.

After the question was posed, my face lit up! I turned to her and said, "You're the first person to ask me that!!" I left out the "congrats" part. But I did go on to tell her how she made my day, and how I couldn't wait to tell my husband when I got home.

She said "well I could tell you are pregnant with your cute little bump."

Oh stop it! Or else I might just offer to buy your groceries sweet little, new favorite person on the planet!

Yah, she thought I was a loon.

But who cares, I've been asked!

Texas Swagger and my boyfriend!

Wow! I love this video!

It makes me want to sing "The Eyes of Texas."

Is this video extremely cocky?
Yah, I'll give all the anti-longhorns that one. In fact, it's extremely arrogant.

See, you either love us or you hate us. No one is on the fence about UT.

But I absolutely love that Texas swagger.

Not a fan? Least we all got to hear the sexiest voice on the planet!

Hook'em! and you're welcome!

Registry Fun

Well we did it! We finally finished the baby registry. Wow, was that stressful!

The wedding registry was fun! I loved picking out dishes, soft towels, and serving platters.

But this registry was different. It wasn't that we thought it was un-fun. It was just so much more important. Put me in front of an aisle of Fiesta dishes any day over a 100 brands of bottles.

It was extremely overwhelming. Every beep of the hand held scanner (which Randy had way too much fun with by the way) made me gasp.

"Was that right?"
"Will we use that?"
"Is that brand durable? safe?"

Randy always asked, "Is there something cheaper?"

But the registries are done! Knock that off the list of things-to-do.
And we did have fun doing it. Especially because Randy was with me.


The Target Adventure:

Penny: "I think we need one of those little seat things. You know, there not bimbos, but kinda sound like it. What are those called?"

Randy: "Wait did you say bimbo? I think we missed that aisle! Maybe we should go back!"

hardy har har... it's a bumbo! And I just had a pregnancy brain moment.

Randy: "Hey this looks cool. I don't know what it does, but it looks cool!"

We also have a football toy and a blue bumbo on this registry. Hmmm...

The Babies R Us Adventure:

We get home from scanning, and I sign in online to review all the stuff that I have no idea if we need/will use/etc.

Wait, why are there skittles on our registry?

Penny: "Randy, did you scan skittles at the store?"
Randy: "What are you talking about?" (with a big grin on his face)
Penny: "Well we have a "concession" category on our registry with skittles under it."
Randy: "What, I like Skittles. They're good!"

I guess he thought he should get something too, since everything was for the baby."

We also have a set of boy bibs on the registry. Okay, okay, I know I should have put my foot down. But you should have seen Randy's face light up when he saw these.

Randy: "Look Penny! These bibs have concrete trucks, cranes, and bridges on them."
Penny: "Randy, those are for little boys."
Randy: in mid scan "I know plenty of girl civil engineers."

Well there you have it! You certainly don't want to discourage an engineering profession from solid foods and on, do you?

Happy Thoughts

*Today I only did 5 schedule changes. Things are starting to slow down!

*My birthday is one month away! I'm pumped about the b-day plans, a comedy show and dinner at my favorite Austin restaurant!

*UT football in 10 days!

*My fall Kraft and Family magazine came in the mail yesterday. I'm ready for some fall food...

*because that means cooler weather is in the future.

*Mopac is awesome. My dog, not the highway.

*Pay day is always a good day!

*Labor Day is a very fast approaching holiday!

Day of Exhaustion...#2

At 4:30 pm I feel like I've been beaten...with a baseball bat.

Work needs to slow down. I can't keep going a 100 mph. We are running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Today I noticed popped blood vessels in my ankles. It.is.gross.

Why isn't it Friday yet?

Throbbing Feet

I'm pretty sure I'm about to fall asleep. It's 8:34, and I think I'm headed to bed.

The only thing on my mind is the following question, "Did today even happen?"

What a whirlwind! I got to work at 7:45, and the next thing I knew it was 1:30.

I might have changed around a gabillion schedules today. I think every time I turned around, I was putting out another fire.

And those poor sixth graders. Oh you need an extra dose of patience walking down their hallways. Those locker combinations are downright dangerous. I forgot how much time those things took to figure out. But I had flashbacks to my teaching days and helping kids pass the 0 three times clockwise, land on the number, turn counterclockwise, etc. It's just too much for them on that first day. We're glad if they find their way inside the school. And then we slam them with locker combinations.

The schedule today was a little funny due to the registration rooms this morning. So, we had to get back on a lunch schedule to accommodate the cafeteria and transitions time, which means it went registration period, 1st period, 2nd period, 4th period, etc. Third period actually happened after 6th period. I know, complete confusion.

I actually had a sixth grader argue with me.

"But I just left second period. 3rd comes after second!!!!"

Poor little bugger. He had such a death grip on his schedule. I thought he was going to poke a hole through his paper as he was jamming his finger on his third period class to show me he knew how to count.

That kid won't want to come back tomorrow.

Poor little bugger.

But the good news is tomorrow we will have a regular bell schedule.
And hopefully my feet won't be pulsing at the end of the day. I bet I walked 5 miles within the school today.

Goodnight!

green or yellow

Randy and I are considered heroes.

It's true.

We've been told we are "strong."

The reason?

We're waiting to find out the gender of our baby.

People have very, VERY strong opinions about finding out the gender. We usually get the look of disappointment or confusion.

"Why do you want to wait?" It's a common question, and for the longest time I've always wanted to be surprise. I don't want to plan. I don't want to call the baby by its name yet. I don't want it written on the wall. I don't want everything revolving around pink or blue, just yet. Right now, we're just in love with Little Lueders and ducks and frogs;) And I'm in love with the idea of Randy running into the waiting room and announcing, "It's a (insert gender here)!!!!"

Don't get me wrong, some people think it's fabulous we're waiting. "Just like the old days," so I hear.

If we are blessed with a second child, I might find out. It does have some advantageous. But for now, I'm happy to hear what everyone's guesses are.

At the end of my first trimester and very beginnings of the second one, people were convinced that I was having a girl. Probably for every boy vote, there would be ten girl votes. I was starting to really jump on the pink bandwagon. The more you hear, the more you start to believe. I even started calling the baby "her."

Well now that I'm showing more, the votes have done a 180. I'm "CLEARLY" having a boy. The votes are based on how I'm carrying the baby. The baby is straight out. It looks like I sat a bowling ball under my shirt. If you are having a girl, apparently you carry the baby from hip to hip and are wider. I'm more pointy.

Is this a bunch of hocus pocus?

Who knows? It's fun to hear all the different opinions and why. Some peoples reasons are the exact opposite of someone else's view.

We'll find out in a couple of months. Maybe if I get brave, I'll post a baby bump picture.

Wanted...

Is this not the coolest Ipad cover?







Small detail, I don't own an Ipad.
And probably never will:( But if you do, buy this one because it is rad. That is all.

CrAvInGs!

Everyone says pregnant women have weird cravings. I'm still waiting for something weird to pop up, but so far I'm only wanting the following things...

1) soup! It's only 108 degrees in Texas, but hey, I want soup all the time! I order it at restaurants; I made a big pot of chicken noodle and tomato bisque soup a couple weeks ago; I get my hand slapped when I reach for the Ramen in our pantry. (Ramen soup made the "top ten things to avoid in pregnancy" list and Randy caught wind of this...dang it! I love me some Ramen, but I know it's junk, and I don't need all the sodium).

I've eaten three cans of Campbell's Vegetable soup in the last week. But not all at once.

2) fruit! green apples, kiwis, strawberries, rasberries, peaches, plumcots, oranges, grapes, mangoes, oh my I love fruit!

My new favorite snack is a green apple with a slice of gouda cheese or those handy dandy individual Jiffy peanut butter snack cups. That Jiffy man is a genius!

So far I know you're impressed with my good eating habits, but wait for it, wait for it...

3) MEXICAN FOOD!!! Chips and salsa are always on my mind! This is by far the biggest craving. I want it three times a day! I could eat queso, guacamole, enchiladas, fajitas, flautas, and rice/beans nonstop. I don't really know if this is a PREGNANCY craving per say. As Randy says, "How is that different than from before?" True story!

It's downright dangerous. I'm limiting myself to Mexican food only twice a week.

Well, I'm going to start...


So nothing too strange yet. I'll keep you posted if I start eating buttermilk with crushed fritos. Does that not sound disgusting? A lady at work told me when she was pregnant she would eat that all the time. Oh and she would hollow out a pickle and fill it with A-1 sauce.

I'll stick to Mexican food, thankyouverymuch!

Hectic

Is it Monday yet?

I'm sooooo ready to have school start!

I'm tired of talking about it. I just want it to happen. It's the anticipation that brings dread. If it's here and happening, it's not that bad. It's the thinking about it that stinks. Ready or not, here comes all 991 of them!

Now I have the day to clean my messy house. Whoa, the house looks perfect on Monday morning, but come Friday afternoon it looks like a tornado hit it. There's very little picking up and organizing all week long. Thursday night is always softball, so dishes just get stacked as we race out the door for the games. These dishes wait for me until Saturday.


So I need to get some stuff done...laundry, cooking for next week, and cleaning!
I did manage to go to the gym this morning. No worries, I'm not doing heavy workouts. Just getting in some exercise since it's so hot to walk at night. And I do have doctor permission to use the elliptical machine. He wants me to stay away from the treadmill because my balance will continue to be a little off as I keep growing. And since I'm prone to falling with all my balance in check, I figured this was a good idea.

I feel great! There's something about listening to the Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind that makes me go a little faster.

I have steaks thawing for dinner tonight, cookies to bake, and an afternoon cat nap with some popcorn, peach tea, and "Beauty and the Beast."

Things I know... (part 2)

Sleeping at night is a thing of the past.

Maternity clothes are ugly. No matter what people say about how much better looking they are these days. They're still ugly.

But the pants, my friends, are amazing! I might never wear regular pants again!

Mopac is going to have a hard time adjusting. She is such a momma's girl. I'm really starting to worry about her. I hope she takes well to the baby. My mom has eagerly and a little too early if you ask me has volunteered to take Mopac if she becomes a bother. SHE WILL NOT BE A BOTHER! We will all have to adjust, but she's not moving!
Mopac does like to lay her head on my belly currently though (which is precious btw). I wonder if she can hear the baby?

My face looks like I wiped it with a piece of pepperoni pizza. Hello pimples!

Speaking of pizza, mmmm that sounds delicious right now!

People still are scared to ask if I'm pregnant. I'm not quite at the "Whoa, she's going to have a baby!" stage. I'm getting there, but it's still a "well, she might be pregnant." Come on people ask me. Randy wants me to pull the shocked face when I get asked for the first time and reply with "How rude!" I might just give that lucky person a hug for being the first brave one to ask!

Even my baggy t-shirts are becoming tight. I'm stealing some of Randy's shirts.

My lower back feels like I have a 10 lb. barbell attached to it. That uterus must be
heavy because the baby is only 11 oz.

Being pregnant gets you out of so many things you don't want to do. (carrying boxes, picking up heavy things, basically everything but walking) This is also fab!

Being pregnant also allows you to get seconds at dinner!

People love touching pregnant bellies. Why am I not offended? I love it.

Now, just ask me if I'm pregnant, and I'll let you touch my belly!

daycare sucks

I don't know how people do it. Really, really? The average is about 1100 a month for daycare for babies.

Oh I want to cry...

Wait, I already did!

I wish my mom would quit her job and move to Austin! Life would be so much better.

Tomorrow we begin our daycare search! Blah!!!

There will be tears!

Favorite commercial

Oh I wish I could explain why this is so funny. But know that every time this comes on tv, Randy and I burst up laughing. Aww good stuff!

What do I do with my hands?

Okay, feeling the baby move is by far the coolest thing about being pregnant.

Every time it happens, I freeze. I actually whisper, "Do it again!" The baby usually responds. He/She digs me. I can tell.

The not so cool part is the lack of sleeping. I don't sleep anymore. This is where readers are saying, "That's God's way of preparing you for motherhood."

Yah, yah, I got it. But that's not for another 19 weeks.

Eek, I said 19 weeks! Time is flying!

I need help! I have always been a back sleeper. I sleep on my back the entire night, and I wake up in the same position. Well, now I can't sleep on my back because of the weight of the uterus on major arteries that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the baby. So, I am now a side sleeper.

Which means I toss and turn all night long. I can't get comfortable. My shoulder is the first thing that usually falls asleep. It's start hurting, and then it's rotation time. On to the left side! Usually at this point, my hands start tingling. Where do side sleepers put their hands? They just float around in open space. They need a spot! So putting them under my pillow is only successful for about 5 minutes. After that, they start burning and are officially asleep. At least something is asleep...hardy, har, har.

And next, I have to go to the restroom. I try the whole "It'll go away. Just try to fall back asleep." It's a rule. Everyone knows once you wake up to go to the bathroom, you might as well do it. Because you are NOT falling back asleep. No pep talk is going to fix that.

Sometimes, I want to wake up Randy, so he gets to share in these pregnancy moments with me. This could be crucial bonding time for us all!

TAKEN!

Randy and I watched this movie on Saturday night. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
You must rent it/redbox it/netflix it/catch it on FX. Whatever you do, you must watch it. I loved, loved it! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It's not scary. I don't do scary. Ever since that near almost peed in my pants in the theaters on that "I know what you did last summer" fiasco, I don't watch scary movies. I hate to be scared. This is just fast paced action with a little CSI twist. Watch the clip!




I hate to have this be an "I told you so" moment. But it so is!!! It's that great!

I've lost them!

The idea "I've lost them!" comes to mind about a gazillion times a day.

No, it's not my marbles. It's the fear of "it" being my wedding/engagement and UT ring. See, I have chunky monkey fingers now. Our school secretary instilled this horror in me by telling me she always thought that once her fingers swelled, she'd just use soap or lotion to get off tight rings.

Wrong! She had to go to the hospital and have her rings cut off her fingers! Soap, lotion, and anything in her medicine cabinet didn't work.

Yikes! So last Thursday was my first day without my rings. The moment I felt a little snug, off they went. Oh how I hate it too!

See, I love, love, love, love my rings. And every time, I wash my hands (which is about a gazillion due to the increasing pressure of my uterus on my bladder) I have this mild panic attack.

Where are my rings?
Where did I take them off?
Did somebody steal them?

Eeek! It always takes about 10 seconds to realize they are safely stored in my jewelry box.

ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness

I JUST FELT THE BABY MOVE!!!

I'm about 99.9 percent sure. It's not gas bubbles this time. I really think this is the beginning of the movements.

Oh my goodness! Somebody pinch me!

Baby Bag Bought

Check!

So it's a tad on the bright side :) I love it!

A Penny Day

Today has been amazing!!!

It was my last Friday off for the year:( But I was determined to make it the best one yet!

Randy and I had an appointment with a maternal fetal specialist today. My ob/gyn wanted me to have a "steak" ultrasound instead of a "hot dog" ultrasound. His words not mine.

I had the most detailed ultrasound you could possibly get today. Since I'm high risk and have some hormone issues, my doctors watch me pretty closely. My endocrinologist in Houston treats me for a very low producing thyroid and some pituitary gland issues. He and my ob/gyn swap notes. However, my endocrinologist doesn't specialize in pregnancy other than monitoring blood levels. It's not his expertise. So today I saw a prenatal endocrinologist.

We had an amazing report! Praise the Lord!

It was so much fun to watch the baby move around for 40 minutes! I saw all the heart chambers. There are four! It was cool to trace the blood flow in and out of the chambers. We even saw the one artery and two veins in the umbilical cord that's attached to it's little stomach. Well, when I say "we" I mean the doctor. I was trying not to cry when I couldn't decipher things, and Randy is next to me going "Oh yah, I see it."

Show off!

The kidneys are present; the thalamus is the right size; and this momma feels a gazillion times better.

I sounded like a broken record the whole time.

"Does that look normal?"
"Is that the right size?"
"Is everything looking alright?"
"What is that?"
"Oh yah" (I just said this because Randy was saying it. I had no idea what I was looking at. And...I'd be a bad mom if I couldn't tell the difference between the thumb and the nose.)

Speaking of which, I think our baby sucks its thumb. It had it near it's mouth the entire time.

Needless to say, I felt 20 pounds lighter leaving the doctor's office. (Boy do I wish that was true.)

Next week I have another consult based on my thyroid history and pituitary trackings.

I'm always so worried about our little one. I asked my endocrinologist at our 6 week appointment, (Yes I have had several appts. All the way from 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 16, 18, 19.5 weeks. We could fill a baby book with just ultrasound pictures.)"When can I stop worrying about the health of the little one?" His response, "When they go to college, and even then you'll still worry."

It's great to know things look perfect as far as development and structures. And wow, what a blessing this little one is already:) I don't know how people can believe in crazy things like evolution. Watching our little one and all the little intricacies that make up a human being at 19.5 weeks just blows my mind. Babies have thumbs when they're the size of the top of a pencil eraser!!!! Take that Darwin!

God is so good! His creations are really breath taking. I'm glad I have Randy by my side to experience all of this. He keeps me laughing.

P.S. We are also going to have a tall baby. The arm and leg bones are above the 50 percentile. It doesn't surprise me since Randy and I are both fairly tall.

My granny's side is petite. I always thought, "Would our children be little and petite?"

I asked Randy in the car, "Were you hoping for a petite child?"

Randy: "Nope, short and petite people don't get athletic scholarships Penny."

Geez!!! :)

To continue my "Penny" day, we had lunch at Taco Deli. Later I went shopping, got a Starbucks drink, and a relaxing pedicure.

Good day I tell ya!

Things Remembered

I hate driving on our streets! The city has had crews out resurfacing all of the streets. I have to drive like 3mph to avoid getting tar on my car or a rock flying up. The city is also doing sidewalk repairs. We have a little section in the front of our house that is all coned up because they redid about a foot of sidewalk.

R: "Penny, you should go check out the sidewalk right outside the house."
P: "Why? Does it look bad?"
R: "I think it's going to be alright."

Okay this is weird. But I chalked it up to that nerdy engineering vibe. Engineers love concrete.

Well apparently mine REALLY loves concrete.

So much that, he did a little art work in it before it was completely dry.

P: "Randy!!!! What did you do?"
R: "Isn't it amazing?"

I'm sure we're going to get a fine.

He carved the word "Hook'em" on the edge of the wet concrete.

P: "Randy, we're going to get in trouble for messing with public property."

See, I follow ALL of the rules.

R: "They'll never know it's us who did it."

First off, there's no "us." It's Randy.
Secondly, we have a UT flag flying and Texas Exes stickers on the windows of both our vehicles. We might as well be Captain and Lieutenant Obvious.

R: "I'm going to take the flag down. Don't worry. I was real discreet out here. I looked like I was picking weeds whenever a car drove by. I'm even going to put dirt over it, so they won't notice it when they come get their orange cones."

Umm, I'm not paying any fine what so ever!

108 degrees

It's even too hot to blog:(