Cravings!!!

Oh my goodness! Cravings have set in full swing now! They are not necessarily consistent at all either. I was "wanting" things before...apples, strawberries, grapes. And I still do "crave" those things, but oh my goodness!!! Today I have been dying for refried beans, pumpkin cheesecake, and Philadelphia Sourdough Pretzels. Anyone wanna send a care package? Just kidding. Seriously though. We are having mexican food tonight, and I have recipes to try to pumpkin cheesecake, and I located a website that will ship me Philadelphia Sourdough Pretzels. And yes, they have to be THOSE pretzels. No regular Joe Shmoe pretzels for this pregnant lady! This may be a long and expensive road people. :)

Welcome Friend!

It is officially my favorite time of the year! It is Autumn!!!!! Happy first day of Autumn everyone! :) Although it may not feel like fall yet, it soon will and that makes me very happy. Apple desserts, fresh apples on the trees, fall foliage, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, pumpkin carving...the list of favorites goes on and on. I do miss a good northeastern fall, but I'll take what I can get here in Texas. Our leaves don't so much change color as they just turn brown and fall off, but hey...that's part of the "charm" of Texas right? Right! (I think.)

So, I got my Real Simple magazine the other day and they always have a part with interesting facts. This time they were about Halloween. I know it's not Halloween yet, but I just thought I'd share them with you as they seem fallish to me.

• Trick or treating harks back to the Middle Ages and All Souls' Day, when poor people in Britain would beg for soul cakes, a sweet-bread treat, and pray for dead relatives in return.
• When trick-or-treating first became popular in the United States in the 1800s, more children played mischievous pranks than asked for candy. By the 1950s, though, the focus had switched to good old family fun, with sugar-hyped children dressed in costumes.
• The candy-collecting tradition has spread from the United States to Canada, Australia, and Western Europe, where more and more little govlins now trick-or-treat. In parts of England, children carry lanterns called punkies (which look like jack-o'-lanterns) and parade through the town on the last Thursday of October. In Ireland, rural neighborhoods light bonfires, and children play snap apple, in which they try to take a bite from apples that are hung by strings from a tree or a door frame.
• Chocolate makes up about three-quarters of a trick-or-treater's loot, according to the National Confectioners Association.
• In the event that the spoils aren't scarfed down whole hog, seperate chocolate out and keep it in a cool, dark, dry place. Milk chocolate is good for no more than 8-10 months, while dark lasts up to two years. Hard candy will also keep in a cool, dry place for about a year. Store soft candies in a covered dish away from direct heat and light. Enjoy them within six months.

And my own personal tip...do not leave mints anywhere near chocolate...it makes all chocolate taste minty. Not so fun when you're looking forward to a really good Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. :)

Just a couple more and then I'll stop...

Yearbook Photos

So I found this hilarious website where you can upload a photo of yourself and place it in yearbook photos of years past. It goes from 1950-2000. Great fun! I'm working on a few more, but pictured above is myself in 1960. Below is Brian in 1964:

Here I am in 1972:

Brian in 1970:

I highly recommend that you go to: www.yearbookyourself.com and see what you look like. It really is great fun. I'm going to keep working on more people.

Pink or Blue...

It's been interesting to see the votes coming in on the boy/girl front.  There have been quite a few votes for boy in the last few days.  Brian is upset because there isn't any way to identify who voted for what.  I must say I am curious at times.  Not like it makes a difference...I just like to know what people think.  

It bothers me that I have no clue as to what it might be.  I don't know why it bothers me.  Maybe it's because every other day I am asked the following questions:

1)  Do you know what "it" is yet?  (I hate when people refer to my baby as an "it.")

2) What do you think "it" is?

3)  Do you have a preference?

I guess it makes me feel like I'm less of a good mom because I have no gut feeling.  If you want my off of the cuff guess I say it's a girl.  Brian thinks it's a girl.  He's always thought we would have 2 girls...so I guess that's why I am saying girl.  Matt told me that Angie didn't have that gut feeling Barrett was a boy until a few days or so before the ultrasound.  I'm hoping that's the case here.  But, I guess it doesn't matter if I have the feeling, because it will be so exciting no matter what the baby's gender is.  (And no...I don't have a preference.)

So, for now you just have to fill in the blank for yourselves:  Baby Lipscomb is a (boy/girl)!  We'll know the answer soon, and until then...your guess is as good as mine.  After all, you have a 50% chance of being right!  ;)

Oh, and if you want to identify what gender you voted for...I think that would make Brian very happy!  :)

13 weeks 1 day

Well, miraculously my dr. was open in downtown Houston, so I made the hike up there for my latest check up.  :)  I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time today.  They found it in a couple of seconds and it was nice and strong around 150 bpm.  :)  My weight gain is "fantastic", blood pressure "great" and everything is on track.  Now it's only four weeks until we find out the sex (again, assuming the baby cooperates).  So, keep voting.  My mother's intuition hasn't kicked in yet so I have no clue.

yIKEs!!! Getting prepared...and helpful neighbors...

Just like three years ago we had to board up our house as Hurricane Ike was headed right at us. At this time we were in the dead center of the storm. As time progressed and landfall was made we were on the West side of the eye...usually the "clean" side of the storm. Which was great for us...no tornadoes. There was much devastation in our area though as Surfside Beach (just minutes from our house) lost many houses and large buildings collapsed. Still waiting for news on my school in Freeport.

After the storm passed through Joel and Becky (neighbors of Greg and Cherlyn's) were headed to Oklahoma. They loaned us their generator which we shared back and forth with the Montforts. It was a life saver as it was very hot and humid. No one likes to be uncomfortable, but the heat while trying to sleep last night (Saturday night) made this poor pregnant lady feel like vomiting. We had the generator off at night so as to conserve the gas it needed to run for the daytime hours.
We filled every cooler we could up with water and also had several cans of gasoline in the garage for the generator or cars.
The night it hit was very scarey. It sounded like injured cows were flying past your window from the strong wind howling. The trees were blown so hard they were touching the ground and there were great big flashes in the sky from transformers blowing. The power flickered for several hours and finally went off at 3 a.m. It was very weird to be in a big city and to feel so unconnected from the world.

No air, no modern conveniences

As the tail end of the storm came through the Montforts came over to Cherlyn and Greg's place and we all had a big breakfast cooked by gas stove and flashlights. :) It really heated up the house which would have been a problem but then a neighbor headed for Oklahoma loaned us their generator giving us the refrigerator and power to a fan. We spent most of the day listening to the radio, doing crossword puzzles, surveying the damage, and playing Uno.

Green Trails Town Homes in Houston/Katy

The morning after was definitely interesting. Once the high winds died down and the rain became a steady sprinkle we ventured out. A neighbor's townhome had some roof damage, but it was the only one we saw with that problem.

The west wind took out a huge line of fencing. But, they fire hydrant is still standing. :)
This is just a portion of the fence that was blown down. The area missing was huge.

My mother-in-law's tree is partially uprooted. There were other trees completely taken out of the ground. Back in Lake Jackson...there were many large trees snapped in half. We are just a few miles from Surfside...so if you have been watching the news you know how devastating this could have been!

The Aftermath...Clute, Lake Jackson

On our way into our house we stopped by a coworkers of Brians. His apartment was fine, but on the way we passed one of the local schools that had a lot of trees down. Early reports on Jane Long are that there was flooding at my school, but not sure if that's true or not yet.
Yea!!! Our house is safe and sound. Not a scratch on it, and we had power and water!!! :) There is a curfew for our area and we currently trying to decide whether or not to stay here. There are no grocery stores or fuel stations open yet, and we don't know when that will happen. (Power is sporadic though, so most of our neighboring areas do not have power.)
The damage...we had one board fly off of our fence and a broken fence lock. That's it! And a friend kindly placed it back for us. :) Other than that the giant pecan tree in the back yard lost one large branch in the middle of our yard. We are very lucky!!! Thanks be to, God!

Sept. 11th

I don't want anyone to think that I'm so caught up in my own drama today to forget the dramatic day my family experienced 7 years ago.  When I got up this morning, my first thought was not about the hurricane, but about how much I love my dad.  It takes a whole new meaning on this year as I prepare to become a mom.  

God has been good to my family, and just like we withstood the trials of 9/11, Brian, Grace, Baby Lipscomb, and I will withstand this hurricane no matter what comes our way.

I love you, Dad!

5...4...3..2..1...

Let the evacuation countdown begin.  A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for our area.  We will be headed to Katy sometime tomorrow hopefully.  That depends on the refinery.  So, keep your fingers crossed that everything survives the storm if it hits us, or if we're on the "dirty" side.  Also keep my students and their families in your prayers as my school is located on the coast itself.  

Birthday fun and some new furniture...

Well, for my birthday on Friday Brian gave me the wonderful gift of painting the baby room. You have no idea how great this is if: 1) You know that Brian doesn't paint rooms, or 2) You are a pregnant woman who isn't allowed on ladders and you desperately want your baby room painted. :) So, it was a wonderful gift and a HUGE surprise. Grace and my parents were very good to me as all of my scrapbook supplies now has a home...it is being displaced from it's original home in the "Gary Sinise Memorial Craft Room" (as my mom has termed it). Although, Gary Sinise is not dead...so it's just kind of an inside joke. :)

Anywho...I digress. Along with fun birthday happenings we have gotten some new furniture recently, so keep scrolling down.
This is our new bookshelf...for those of you who have been to our house it is between the hallway to the guestroom and the door to the backyard. Our DVD collection was overflowing onto Brian's hideous game chair (which will be finding a new home either at someone else's house or the local trash heap very soon). So, we got this nice bookshelf and I think it looks beautiful. I can also display my ever growing number of scrapbooks on the bottom shelf.
In the baby's room we got a nice "smart" desk from Pottery Barn. Brian wanted to keep his laptop in this room, so I found the perfect solution. The desk has a center compartment in which to hide the laptop. See...


It has a beautiful mirror and will make a great desk for our kid someday. :) How great is that?! Mom, I know I still need to do the picture of the bureau in the master, but it's a little dusty at the moment. :) You'll be happy to know that my energy level has returned and I got a lot of cleaning accomplished this weekend. Woohoo!!!

Early Birthday Weekend

Brian, Grace, and I headed to Houston to spend the weekend with Cherlyn and Greg. We had a great time! We celebrated my birthday a weekend early since it would be a nice long one with Labor Day. Cherlyn and Greg got me all kinds of wonderful maternity clothes as my birthday present (and some yummy candy). I love my clothes!!! And I finally have a bra that fits!!!!! You have no idea how good that feels. I had quite the "growth spurt." lol The clothes are too cute and I will be dressed to impress no matter what stage of pregnancy I'm in. :) We also had dinner at a restaurant called The Wall. Brooke joined us for shopping and dinner (Greg and Brian went to shoot their hand guns), and the Montforts joined us as well! A good time was had be all...although they could stand to turn the music down a little.

On Sunday evening the townhome community had a little Hurricane Gustav pool party. Luckily the hurricane is not headed our way. But, it's been our second close call this summer! Fingers crossed that we stay lucky. So, anyway...Brian and I bought some new swim suits. It was hard to find one that fit...especially after swimsuit season is really over. But, I found a decent two piece and some sporty shorts. I am finally starting to have a little pregnant belly. Mostly it just feels fatty now, but at least I have a better chance of people thinking of pregnant now rather than just putting on weight. Cute, picture here...but you can't really tell anything at this angle. But, you can in the second picture. The extra-large shorts make my butt look huge, but you have to get what you can to fit over the belly! :) We just finished up 11 weeks, and all is well. Next dr. appt. is in 2 weeks. :)

9 Weeks 2 Days!!!

Well, time does fly doesn't it? Only two weeks ago our little baby was the size of a blueberry and now it is the size of a grape!!! Baby Lipscomb is 2.71 cm long with a good strong heartbeat. They tried to pick it up with the doppler, but baby is still a little too tiny for that...so I will hear the heartbeat at the next appointment. But, baby is very strong and healthy...consistently measuring in 2 days bigger than the projected due date at each appointment! (My due date has been unofficially moved to March 20th. I say unofficially because we do actually know the exact date of ovulation so officially forty weeks is March 22. But, if baby stays 2 days big then the hopes are that I deliver a couple of days earlier. Although I know that is not up to me. ;) )

You can now see distinct arms, legs, hands, and feet. And...yea!...our baby no longer has a tail! Yes, as an embryo your spine actually does stick out like a tail, but by the 9th week the body is big enough to "absorb" the tail, if you will. So, good news...we will not be having a monkey come March. :)

So, what comes next. Well...the next appointment is in four weeks. Yes, I said four...not two! :) Dr. Wilson feels very confident in the babies health. (She always makes first time mommies come in every 2 weeks for the first trimester.) Like I said...at the next appointment we will hear the heartbeat. Then I will have another appointment 4 weeks after that (For those that are math challenged that is 8 weeks from now, which is in mid-October) and we will have the BIG ultrasound to look at all of the anatomy and we will find out if it is a boy or girl! :) Yes, we will find out. No surprises here if I can help it. ;) I was surprised that we could find out so early, but Dr. Wilson said that the technology is so good now it shouldn't be a problem...as long as the baby cooperates. :) She waited a little bit to see if the baby would flip around for us, alas, Baby Lipscomb is a little shy at the moment.

I'll keep you posted on exciting baby happenings!

Summer is over

Bruce Plante, Chattanooga, TN

Sadly the last days of summer vacation are upon me again, and it's back to slaving away at school. This year I will be a fourth grade writing teacher...yep, I will teach only writing all day long to every fourth grader at Jane Long. So, I find the above cartoon very appropriate as I know how both people feel! I'm looking forward to the new challenge, and am SO ecstatic to be teaching fourth grade again. Next week it's just us teachers as we get ready for our ever eager students.

I'm sorry there hasn't been much news lately. Mostly I am tired. Making a human being sure takes a lot out of you! :) To answer the biggest question people seem to have of late...no, I do not have morning sickness. I get nauseous when I am hungry which is a great signal to scarf something down. The only trouble is there doesn't seem to be a pattern so you never know when the mood to eat will hit you...and you never know what you'll want. Usually I find it's not anything I have in the kitchen. :( And, no there are no crazy cravings. I did suffer from a migraine for two days this week, which was luckily over before my mother-in-law came to help me in the my classroom. (Shout out to Cherlyn for being so awesome with all of her help!)

Next doctor appt. is on Tuesday. There should be another ultrasound I believe. But, I guess we'll find out then. If there is, I will be sure to post it (with labels). ;)

Baby Lipscomb Ultrasound with Labels :)

Hope this helps with any ultrasound confusion. :)

Baby Lipscomb - 7 weeks 1 day

We had our second doctor appt. and ultrasound today. Baby Lipscomb is looking very healthy. Everything is developing right on target. We were able to see the brain, the spinal column, and very recently formed arms and legs (which are more like little paddles at this point). The heart was beating at a very healthy 170 bpm and the length was right on target at a half an inch. So our baby is about the size of a blueberry right now. :) Brian and I both found it to be a very exciting experience. There was some bleeding at the end of the ultrasound which is a first during this pregnancy. But, the dr. assured us that it wasn't due to any miscarriage risk. That basically we are homefree at this point (only a 4% chance of a miscarriage occuring at this point). She thinks that my cervix is just sensitive and so when the ultrasound wand touched it it irritated it. Apparently it is quite a common thing. Still a little freaky, but glad she is confident and it was really nice to have Brian with me so I didn't freak out.

Brian treated the baby and I to Olive Garden for lunch and then we bought some baby blankets and burp cloths at Carters. :) I have been told to keep my activity limited for the next two weeks though and not to lift anything heavy for the time being...my doctor likes to be cautious which I appreciate. Next appointment is August 19th. So, we'll see how little baby is doing then. :) I'm off to go and be lazy...doctor's orders ya know. ;)

Eastern State Penitentiary

During our visit with my parents in NJ we not only spent some time at Valley Forge (below), but we also saw Young Frankenstein on Broadway and visited the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Many people think of Alcatraz with they envision famous prisons, but E.S.P. holds quite a prominent place in prison history as well. They have a great self-guided audio tour done by the actor Steve Buscemi.


They have fixed up this portion of the prison to show you what the doors would have looked like to the cells when the prison was orginally built. They were only large enough to pass food through to the prisoners. Eventually the doors looked like these...

The doors had peep holes in them so you could see what things looked like inside. Unfortunately the prison is quite a state of decay and it used to be that you could only visit wearing a hard hat. However, they are slowly but surely renovating the prison for it's visitors. I highly recommend that you stop by and visit if you are in the Philadelphia area seeing the other historical sites. A cooler day is probably best though, as they were having a heat wave while we were there and there is certainly no air conditioning to be found.

The E.S.P. was the beginning of the "Pennsylvania Style" prisons. They were very popular world wide for quite some time, and are even used in some countries to this day. They are designed like a spoke and wheel. The idea was that a guard could stand in the center of the prison and see down all of the cell blocks.
Over time the idea for single story and solitary holdings needed to be abandoned. Not only were they running out of room, but they also began to realize that rehabilitation of prisoners was not going well when they were in solitary all of the time.
The common yard was small and quickly outgrown. This is part of the baseball diamond.
Originally all of the prisoners had their own private exercise "yards." This was how they were brought into and out of their cells. As the orginal doors from the inside were only large enough to fit food through. Prisoners were originally brought in with hoods over their heads so they could not get a feel for where they were in the prison and could not see any other prisoners.