Stay at Home Mommy and other things!

Well, it's official. I finally quit my job. My last day was last Thursday, however, since I have my CPA and want to keep it, I spent Monday and Tuesday at a boring CPE. Of course this happens when Cara is extremely sick. My mom was able to take off and watch her, we ended up taking her to the doctor yesterday because she has had a runny nose since last Thursday, coughing since Saturday and slept HORRIBLY with all her congestion. At first glance they thought it was RSV. But I took her back today for her 6 month well baby check and other things and it had started clearing up tremendously just since yesterday, so they think it's just a big cold, with some teething (no teeth yet!). She was 18 pounds 5 ounces (90%), 26.75 inches long (86%) and 16 inch head (small). She's growing big. She had been on cereal for a few weeks, but yesterday we started her on apple sauce (her throat was really sore, you should hear her cry, she sounds so pitiful because nothing really comes out, she's hoarse!) which is much more soothing for her throat. Then Friday we're going to start her on some of the Yo! Baby yogurt, which should also help. She's getting to be so big so fast, I can't believe almost 6 months have FLOWN by already.

Anyways, I have quit my job. I'm doing one client's bookkeeping still, and will continue to do some taxes in the spring (if I already do yours, get ready to start collecting all the info you need!), but besides that, I'm all Cara and Eric's. It was great today. I was able to run her to the doctor and run errands without having to worry about going to work tomorrow. This is all thanks to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book, and us buckling down. We sold both of our cars and are driving used cars, PAID FOR used cars. We paid off all our debt except our mortgage. Our house is on the market right now and we're looking to move into Katy ISD and 'downsize'. We want a 1 story 4 bedroom, so we keep looking. Anyways, that's all the news in our home right now. Eric has 2 days left before his 2 week vacation, he's very much looking forward to that! Well, I guess that's all the updates for now, hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season!
Love, Misty

Happy Thanksgiving week

We had a great time traveling to our "Gamble Family Christmas at Thanksgiving" in Georgetown at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house. We missed Ashley and Eddie this year! Cara's first Thanksgiving was a fun one, although traveling got her good sleeping thrown off. Now that we're home, she's doing well. Enjoy the new pictures and videos I uploaded. Hope everyone is doing well!

More Videos

I posted some short (and one long) videos last night of Cara being cute and smiley. On the side of my blog there is a link to the dropshots.com page where you can see the most recently posted videos. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

5 months old!!

Can you believe it? It has gone by so fast!!!! If I hadn't found my wonderful part time job, and I was going to go back to ConocoPhillips full time, today would be my first day! I can't imagine going back all day every day. Really, I seriously can't imagine it. She's getting big, I think she's about 18 pounds now. She's very talkative, and loves watching the puppies run around and play, they make her laugh. I have taken a lot of short little videos of her lately, I'll get around to posting those on dropshots.com soon. For the meantime, enjoy the new pictures and I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been awhile!

Well, I just realized there's lots going on and I haven't posted in awhile. First of all, Eric's football team made the playoffs :( so one more week of marching band. Pray that they lose (for his sanity's sake) this Friday. Also, his jazz band is gearing up and has their big Senior Prom (at one of the senior citizen's homes near his school) this Thursday night, so they've been rehearsing a lot. Also pray for Eric, he's taking a half day today, he's feeling horrible, his throat is very sore and swollen.

Cara is getting so big, she'll be 5 months old on Monday. I've taken lots of new pictures, I will upload those tonight when I get home from work. Work, that's a whole other issue. I feel really led that I need to be at home with her (and our future babies) full time. We are doing everything we can to get to that point. We have also discovered Dave Ramsey and are working our Total Money Makeover. We have started selling things, when you start going through your house, you'd be surprised at home much 'stuff' you have that you don't even use, or LIKE! We sold my car and I downgraded to an older used car. We are hoping to sell Eric's truck as well. We may try to go to a different house, possibly in Katy, possibly not, this summer. We want a 4 bedroom, one story, but it doesn't have to be as big as our house. Just pray for God's direction. It's really been a burden on my heart lately. That, and I definitely want to stay home by the time we have our next baby, which we hope to be May or June 2008.

Anyways, that's the update. Matt and Bailey are back from Paris; they had a great time. Next week is Thanksgiving and we can't wait to see all the family again! Keep in touch!

PS, Congrats to our Baylor friends Kevin and Crissy Dazey on the birth of their son Sunday, Drew Christopher Dazey! He's a cutie.

Happy 75th Birthday Pawpaw!!

We just got back from Georgetown celebrating Pawpaw's 75th birthday! We had a great time visiting with Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Aunt Gail, Uncle Rob, Uncle Gerry, Aunt Patti, and Yaya. Pawpaw, you've made it a great 75 years, we look forward to many more!!
Love, Eric, Misty & Cara

New pictures and video

I have posted new pictures to my flickr site. Also, here is a video of some of the sounds Cara has been making. She is a BIG talker, so she's definitely MINE! :) She still hasn't rolled over since that first day, but she gets so close! Anyway, enjoy!


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Bailey Marie Walkup....or BMW for short!

Well, the wedding has come and gone and it was gorgeous. I've uploaded the pictures to flickr so be sure to go check them out. Although, I didn't get one of Eric, Cara and I!!! Oh well, I think the photographer did. It was a long but fun weekend filled with tons of family and running around for Bailey. Yesterday we had Cara's 4 month pictures taken in her dress she wore to the wedding, they turned out cute. I'm at work today, then tomorrow Cara and I are going to go to Aunt Bailey's house to straighten up. On Sunday when the whole family was unloading everything, it all just got dumped around the house, so I figure, with my OCD sister she'll have a cow when she gets back from Paris and her house is a mess. Anyway, there's the update of the weekend, I'll post more later!

Rolling over

She finally did it. From her belly to her back, yesterday afternoon. Although she only did it once, so it'll probably be awhile before she does it again. If you haven't watched the below video, understand that you'll probably hear me and my mom laughing more than Cara ;) And Riley growling because he thinks we're hurting her. She has NEVER laughed like that before, and we couldn't get her to do it again! Hopefully it'll start coming more often. Bailey's wedding is 5 days away, so we're in the home stretch. Please pray that she gets through this week, for all of us :) Today is my big deadline at work....tax are due, people are pissed, the IRS gets money, woo hoo :(

Trial Video

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Here is her chuckling, if anyone knows how to make it turn, let me know!!

4 month check up etc

Hi

Cara wasn't due for her 4 month visit until next Friday, but she had a little cold so we went in on Thursday. Here are the stats:

15 pounds, 10 ounces (90%) - exactly twice her birth weight
Height: 25 inches (90%)
Head: 16 inches

Of course, the cold went away by the time she was at the doctor....I think she has just inherited my allergies. I have more news, but will post more later. Also, I have the cutest video from our digital camera of her laughing, although it's sideways. Shannon/Jen Barnes--I uploaded it through dropshots, but how do I get it on my blog??? :)

Big Changes

Well....now it's official and I can post about it. My tenure at ConocoPhillips is over. I loved working there, it was a great company--with even better people that I worked with, but I couldn't stand the thought of going back full time. I have found a CPA firm (very small, just one guy) that wanted someone flexible. It truly was God's hand working in our lives. I prayed about it from the moment she was born, I didn't think I would ever want to be a stay at home mom, but something came over me, and it's all I could think about. We couldn't afford for me to stay home with no income, but I didn't have to go back full time. I have always had my resume on monster.com (which is how I got on at Conoco, actually), but I always delete the emails about jobs. One day in late August, I just happened to read one of the emails, which are usually just headhunters. However, I saw an add that looked like a real company. I checked out what they were looking for, and it was a flexible CPA. So, I emailed Bill my resume. He emailed me back the next morning and asked for me to call. I talked to him that afternoon and went in the next morning and interviewed. He had talked to my references by that the next morning and offered me the job!!!! I actually also found great child care. One of my dear friends from church, who has a 22 month old, was looking to make some part time income, and I just happened to ask her about it at the right moment I think. She has been watching Cara for a few weeks, and it's been great. My boss is so flexible, he says she can come in with me whenever I need her to, which she did the first day, and this past Tuesday when Sterling was sick. I really am blessed, couldn't have asked for a better deal!

PS, one of Eric's band kids hit his truck today in the parking lot!!!! Goodness, one more thing to do!

Baby Dedication and First Astros Game

Well, it's been another busy weekend. Friday night Cara made her debut at the Mustangs football game. All the band kids, and band parents were excited to see her. She fell asleep right before halftime and slept through BOTH bands. Living with 2 dogs that like to bark has made her be able to sleep through most things. Saturday we made a day trip down to Santa Fe for another shower for Aunt Bailey. She was not her best at this shower, but she took a good long nap after we got back to Ya-Ya and Papa's house. Then Yaya came to spend the night Saturday night because we had parent/baby dedication at church at 8:15 am today. She slept SO good last night. From 9-4, then had food and went right back to sleep until 7 ish. Finally. Weeks ago she was sleeping that good, but then the past 2 weeks she's been HORRIBLE at sleeping. Waking up hour after hour. I think it has something to do with all the traveling we've been doing (Last weekend we went to Georgetown all weekend and I helped my grandparents do a garage sale). Anyway, Tues/Wed she was going through her 3 month growth spurt a little early, so hopefully that has settled down and will settle back into a good sleep pattern. We for sure need it, we were spoiled in the beginning.

Today at 8:15 Cara Leigh was dedicated at church. It was a nice service, and since we went to the early service, she was the only baby being dedicated! Then, we came home for an early lunch and headed out to the Astros game that started at 1:05. They ended up losing, but she did great, we had a lot of fun. Anyways, that's all for now, I will post pictures of this weekend soon.

Lots of new pictures added to flickr

Be sure to check out all the sets, I added about 5 or 6. Had fun this weekend in Georgetown. I'm behind on my birthday wishes:
Happy Birthday Darrell (8/25)
Happy Birthday Uncle Tom (8/25)
Happy Birthday Mom (8/26)
Happy Birthday Greg (8/27)
Happy Birthday Jodie (8/27)
HappyBirthday Eva (8/29)
Man it's a busy month! :)

Prayers

All -- Please keep our family in your prayers. With the wedding coming up, and Eric and I having to travel the next 2 weekends, and his band schedule, we just need your prayers for upcoming decisions, etc. Thanks!!

Busy Busy 2 month old

Ok, straight to business.....today was her 2 month checkup, and man is she a big girl.

12 pounds 8 ounces (84th percentile)
24.25 inches (95th percentile)
15 inches (head) 31st percentile

The pediatrician was amazed at how strong she was when she sat her in her lap, she was holding her head up so well.

She has had a busy couple of weeks. Tuesday August 8th we went to her first birthday party. My best friend Trayce's girl Julianne turned 3, so we went to a party at the park in Galveston. Then Thursday was her aunt Amanda's 12th birthday, so we went to the Newsome's for dinner. Then, Saturday August 12th, all of Bailey's bridesmaids threw her a bridal shower in Santa Fe, so Cara attended her first shower. Then, we had 2 showers this weekend thrown by Matt's aunts (saturday) and his mom's best friend (sunday). You can see all the pictures on flickr to the left. During last week she went to visit daddy and YaYa at work (before the kids started back to school). This weekend we are all going to Georgetown to visit my grandparents, and have a "Come meet Cara" party at mom's friend's house. Then next weekend we are going to Corpus to visit Eric's family. Anyway, there are recent pics on our flickr site, so go check them out. And don't make fun of how many there are, I get bored sometimes :)

New Pictures

Hi!
I just added 2 new sets of pictures on flickr, so go check them out. Mawmaw and Pawpaw (my mom's parents) came to visit last Sunday and so I have pictures of them. Today, Eric's parents came and baby-sat and Eric and I went to see Talladega Nights. It was funny (and of course I like Nascar), but it could have been better. I like Anchorman better :) She's still sleeping good. After the 2 good nights we had 2 nights when she didn't want to go to sleep, but since then she's been sleeping good. Eric's back at work full time with summer band, and we miss him! Keep us and my sister Bailey in your prayers, we all have things we need prayer for!

Sleeping through the night

We had hoped, we had prayed, that it would come soon, and man were we excited when it did!! She had been sleeping about 5 hours at the most, up until this last Saturday night. We put her to bed around 10:45, and I woke up at 5. I went in and checked on her and she was fine, still asleep. Of course, I couldn't go back to sleep. So I got in the shower and read a little bit. She finally woke up at 6:15!!! I was so happy. We went to church, and kept her in her carrier, and she slept through it (the early 8:15 service). Then, mawmaw and pawpaw came down Sunday and mom brought Pug, their dog she was keeping. We had a nice visit; we took them to see Bailey and Matt's house down in Pearland, then we ordered pizza for dinner, and every one spent the night. I was hoping she'd be good again since the room they were going to sleep in is closest to the baby. Again, I nursed her and laid her down around 10:30. This time she woke up at 5:20 ish. I thought she was hungry, so I tried to feed her, but as soon as I started I could tell she was still half asleep. I fed her a little, changed her diaper, and laid her back down. I went and got her around 7am so mawmaw and pawpaw could hold her again before they left. She didn't really wake up until around 7:45!!! If this is how it's gonna be for awhile, I am so happy. I think she just went through a major growth spurt before the long sleep, because she was feeding like crazy Friday and Saturday, and didn't sleep very long Thursday and Friday nights. Hallelujia! :)

Update

Sorry I've been horrible at posting, and at downloading pictures lately. It's so easy to let the card get full, even with as many pictures as I take, that hasn't happened yet. We've had a busy week. Last Thursday, some friends from work came by for a pizza lunch and to see the baby. We had a good time. Then, Friday was our anniversary, filled with Cara's doctor appt, Eric's doctor appt, a trip to marble slab and babies r us, and home. We ended up having chick fil a for our anniversary dinner :) Saturday Cara and I made our debut back into society. We went to a baby shower for my friend Erin Lane from church. She had a great turnout and we got to see a lot of ladies from our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class at church. Sunday, we went over to Eric's parents house and spent most of the day. Cara had her first pool experience. Eric, Amanda, Cara and I jumped in for a quick 10 minute or so dip on Sunday. I think she had fun and we took tons of pictures. Monday, Eric went into work for a little bit and Cara and I went to get my allergy shots. Then we waited around for daddy to get home and headed off to Cingular to get our new razr phones for our anniversary present to each other. We then headed off to JC Penney to pick up the portraits, then to Santa Fe. Mom's friend Tommy was gracious enough to fix Eric's truck (they had to replace the tension pullley--or something like that), so we went to SF, mom made her good enchiladas and went spent the evening with Aunt Bailey, YaYa, Papa, and their friends Kristal, Hailee and Tommy. Carolyn Adams (my friend Miranda's mom) also came over and cuddled baby Cara for awhile while we caught up. Tuesday morning came and we waited for the weather to subside a little and then headed home. Eric ended up not going into to work because it rained all day.

Today was a fun filled day. Eric got up and went to work....it only took him an hour and a half because of the downpour he was caught in. Cara and I got up and spent a leisurely morning. Then, after the 11 am feeding, I had her sitting on my legs, while she looked around (she loves ceiling fans and windows). I felt a big rumble (I have been blessed with a baby that only poops about once every 4-6 days!). It had been since Saturday that she had a dirty diaper, so I thought this was probably the start of one. We have learned however, to give her a good 10 minutes to finish her business, or she will finish while you're changing her diaper. So I called Eric and told him about the crazy sound and rumble I felt and gave her a couple of minutes. In those couple of minutes, she had managed to fill her diaper so much that it came out the top. The only reason I knew this was because it started coming through her onsie. Needless to say it was the biggest poop she has ever had, and I got stuck changing it. That onsie got tossed!! :) After that, Eric came home and we headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond to look at my sister Bailey's registry. She has quite a few showers coming up. Then we headed to Kroger for groceries. I am happy to say I saved $30 in coupons/kroger plus card member stuff! I always save coupons sent to me (put them in an envelope), but I rarely use them (or ever look at them again) before they expire. Today I decided if I'm going to be home another 3 months, the least I can do I try to save us some money on groceries. Today I succeeded and it was fun :) Until she started getting hungry towards the end and I told Eric to just keep her moving while I threw items in the cart. Right now we are watching the astros game, getting ready for her last feeding. She has been great since our anniversary. I usually feed her around 9:30, she lays down at 10 and sleeps for 5 glorious hours!! It has been awesome. The first time she did it, Eric couldn't go back to sleep, he said he wasn't used to that much sleep all at one time. :) I say that was her anniversary present to us!

Well now that I've written a book, I will close. I will download the pictures tomorrow and upload them, check flickr tomorrow evening :)

Happy Birthday Ashley!! Hope you got our card yesterday!

1 month dr. appt

Here are the stats:

9 pounds 13 ounces (gained 2 pounds since birth), in the 88th percentile.
22.5 inches long (gained 3 inches)....67th percentile.
14.25 inches around her head (from 13.5 at birth)...31st percentile.

Everything looks great, we go back 8/21 for her 2 month checkup and her first shots :(

Happy 5th Anniversary baby!

Today is our 5th anniversary. God has blessed both of us with each other for 5 great years. We've done lots of things, gotten degrees, moved cross country and back, built a house and had a beautiful baby girl. Can't ask for anything better than that. Love you Eric!

JC Penney Pictures and my birthday

If you go click on our flickr site to the left, you can finally see the pictures we had taken on Friday July 7th. They turned out too cute!!

Yesterday was my birthday. Mom came and spent the night the night before, and me, her and Bailey went to the Nature's Way spa for a package that she bought for us at the bridal extravaganza a few months ago. I got an hour massage, mom got color, and Bailey had a facial, we had fun! Eric rode with us, and he took Cara to have lunch with his mom, who works a block from the spa. We also got to go see Ali and her new baby Joel, born 10 days after Cara because they live in the area. It was a fun outing, especially since we forgot the diaper bag at home and had to stop at a CVS to buy a pack in the pouring down rain, but man were we tired when we got home!! We also had a dinner/lunch at like 4 at macaroni grill, yum yum!

The weeks are going by so fast. Next week is the drum camp at eric's school, so he'll probably be up there a few days next week. Then July 31st starts summer band and he'll be gone all day :( We will miss him, it's been so nice to have him here the whole first month with Cara. Friday is her 1 month check up, we'll put the vitals online when we have them. But for now, enjoy the new pictures!! :)

Another update

We've been real 'busy' lately. On Thursday, Cara had her 2 week check up at the doctor. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Up one pound since her last appointment on June 26th. And, she was up to 21 inches long. She's a growing girl that's for sure. She's starting to get some chunk on her thighs!! The next day we went to JC Penney's and took some awesome pictures! We'll get them emailed to us probably on Monday, and then I can download them to show everyone. We also took her to the outpatient at the hospital and got her 2nd newborn screening, where they prick her heel and take some blood samples, she did NOT like that. Saturday was busy, Eric's grandma (MeeMee), Aunt Patti and cousin Amy came into town from Corpus to meet Cara and we spent the day together. We spent a lot of time at home and we went to Chili's to eat lunch. Yesterday Eric, Cara and I spent the day at home, besides a short trip to Krogers and Blockbuster. We have been renting a lot of movies, some good, some bad! :) Today, my mom came through from visiting my grandparents in Georgetown, and right now they are both napping on the couch. Eric is downloading the most recent pics to the computer, so check out our flickr site soon!

Happy 4th of July (a little late)

We had Cara's first bbq at our house yesterday. Grandad and Nana (the Newsome's) and Papa and Yaya (the Kearley's) and Uncle Greg, Aunt Amanda and Aunt Bailey all came over yesterday for some good chicken, burgers, hot dogs and sausage. Eric is an excellent griller. It was mostly rainy, so we stayed inside most of the day. Go see flickr for all the pictures, but here is a good one of her with mommy and daddy in her red, white and blue :)

1 week old

Our precious baby girl is one week old today! We are so lucky to be a part of this blessing called parenthood. She had an outing, we went to the church where her aunt Bailey is getting married and helped pick out music for the processional/recessional. Of course Cara slept the whole time :) We did go to Applebee's after that, and I had my first nursing in public experience. We requested a back corner booth, so it wasn't that big a deal. This is a picture from yesterday of her semi-smiling. She is very expressive in her face! I also uploaded more pics to Flickr, so be sure to check them out!

Pictures, Pictures, and more Pictures

I finally joined the wave of people on flickr and opened an account. Now you can all see the newest pictures by clicking on the little badge to the left. We will probably be updating every day or two for awhile, she is just too cute right now! Enjoy!!

She's Here!

You probably have already seen it, but
Cara Leigh Newsome, was born at 2:55 pm on 6/20/06 at Memorial City Hospital. She weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 19.5 inches long---purely perfect.

We haven't downloaded all the pictures yet, we are going to later (we just got home about an hour ago), but you can go to this website: http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/
type in June 20, 2006, new for my last name and texas. Then click Cara N. If they ask for a password, it is newsome. Will update more later....check back often.

On our way....

We are leaving for the hospital shortly. We had a lazy day at home, tried to rest a lot, assuming we wouldn't get much sleep tonight once we are there. We got a new digital camera yesterday so Eric has been reading the manual and learning how to use it since yesterday. Here is a cute pic he took of Riley boy. We will have news soon, hopefully tomorrow (at 3:32 for Tracy, that's the time she has in the pool at work:) See you all soon!

just a little update

No baby yet. And I promise you will all be informed when it happens....I don't know if I can take any more calls! ;) I've been working from home the past few days since I haven't been sleeping well. I'm getting a lot done! And can work whenever I feel like it (like when I can't sleep!). Eric has been very attentive, getting me anything I need, and he has been watching a lot of movies :) His test went great the other day, he gets the official results back in 2 weeks. On his birthday, his parents, sister, brother, mom and bailey and I took him out to eat at Cheesecake Factory. We had a great time and ate some awesome food. Today I have been in more pain than usual, so Eric and I went for a long walk. I just got out of the shower....maybe something will happen tonight, but my fingers aren't crossed. We're gonna take it easy (like always) :) . Wish I had more to post.....

Still no baby girl

Here is a better picture of my new hair cut, if you can see past my big belly! Today was busy. Bailey's bridesmaids came over this morning and we went shopping for bridal shower stuff and had lunch. Then, I took a short nap and Eric and I went down to Needville to my friend Deanna's son Bryce's 2nd birthday party. We had a lot of fun, and some good food! Then we rushed back to Katy to go to Eric's cousin Taylor's little play at the Katy Visual Performing Arts Center. It was cute, then we headed to his aunt's house for pizza. I mistakenly left my phone on silent and missed bunches of calls about "are you at the hospital yet??" :) Not yet. But tonight at 3:01 am is the full moon. Eric and I have been walking a lot, but when we got home tonight, we went for 2 short walks and said a little prayer. We are both ready and I don't want to get too much more miserable, I like enjoying my pregnancy! We are ready for baby girl Newsome to come any time. Please keep Eric in your prayers as well. He has to take the PPR exam on Tuesday (his birthday!), which is the last test he has to take to be fully certified. He just hopes I either have already had the baby, or at the very least, am not in labor so he has to miss it. So we either need to have her now, or after Tuesday at 1pm :)

11 days left....

...if I don't go into labor this next week. Had my 37 week check up yesterday. I'm almost 2 cm....80 % effaced. If I don't have her earlier, I will go to the hospital at 6pm on 6/19. They will insert a cervagel (I forget the real name) thing that should start the thinning of my cervix and mild contractions, and may start a slow drip of pitocin. The Dr. said they could give me something to sleep so that when I wake up in the morning (How I'll actually SLEEP is beyond me), they can break my water and hopefully deliver that day (6/20). Everyone has their bets, but I'm thinking I'll never actually make it around to being induced. Of course now that I said it, it'll be 6/24 before I deliver! Eric and I went out to eat after the dr. appt yesterday, and as soon as we were done, I had about 4 contractions in an hour (mostly in the car on the way home). Once we got home, I basically laid on the couch. The astros game started at 7, I think I saw the first inning before I fell asleep. I couldn't get comfortable however, so Eric took me upstairs to bed at 8. I woke up about every hour and a half at first to go potty, then they got a lot closer together. At about 1 am I gave up and got up and sat in the glider and read for about an hour. I had 2 good contractions while I was up....but it's still nothing that really hurt. And since they weren't getting closer together, I went back to bed, waking up every hour. Since I had such a rough night, I am working from home this morning. Didn't want to get in the car and something happen. We will keep you posted.

Onto other news. I have put a picture of me, my belly and my new hair cut in here. And, a picture of the new living room. If you'd like to see more, let me know and I'll send them to you via snapfish. Enjoy!

P. S. Thanks Ashley!!

I know you check my blog. We got your package yesterday, and everything is too cute. We really appreciate it! :)

Fun Filled Weekend

Man, when I put my mind to something.....

The weekend started off easy enough. I got up and started checking things out online for work. It was going pretty well, so I went upstairs to get Eric up a little after 8. He came downstairs and we ate a quick breakfast. I was going to be on the computer for awhile, so I said, why don't you go pull those weeds out in the back yard flower bed (that we started last year and pretty much let go the past few months). So he did. It started to look really good, and after getting bored with some work, I said, let's go up to Home Depot or the Garden Center and pick out some flowers for it. So we went to the depot, and the soil/mulch we wanted was more expensive, so we went to the garden center, which was having a sale! On the way we stopped at Sherwin Williams to compare a paint color we had picked out for our living room/breakfast nook/kitchen with a color we had picked at home depot...just to see what we liked better. So we get to the garden center and picked out some great plants, most of which were half off. We came home, ate a quick bite, and I put Eric to work. Eric laid all the new soil, I potted a plant, and laid out the plants how I wanted them in the flower bed, and he planted them all and then put all the new mulch down. I was impressed. The picture does it no justice, but it looks good!

So then, I come back in, we shower, check work stuff online, lay around and eat dinner and watch the Astros game. Then, I'm like, why don't we paint these rooms? We have a color, we want to do it, let's do it this next week slowly (Eric can work during the day) so that it'll be done and paint smell free before the baby comes. So of course before you can paint, you can to clean the whole house head to toe right? I vacuumed the entire downstairs, including the laundry, all the tile corners, moved everything in the living room and really cleaned. Then, Eric ran up to home depot as Kerry Duty called, so I took a rest on the couch and he went to get the paint (this is almost 9pm now). Kerry and I had a great talk, for almost an hour!! She was rocking little Joshua and it was great to catch up. When Eric finally got back home, I got off the phone and still wasn't tired. I decided to tape off the living room. Then I finished it and taped off the breakfast nook. Then I finished it and taped off most of the kitchen! Eric (and most of you) thought I was crazy. Finally I got tired and decided to go to bed.

Anyways, now I'm up and at 'em (can't sleep too long, I get way to uncomfortable) and am checking work stuff again. I predict we get the ugly green wall that I painted about a year and a half ago in the living room primed today and everything out of the kitchen (from on top of the cabinets, etc). Maybe we'll even start painting the breakfast nook and other walls of the living room. Here are some befores...will post the afters if I don't go into labor first! :) Don't worry, I won't stay around the fumes. Besides, my doctor said when we were painting the nursery, as long as I keep it well ventilated and take lots of breaks, I'll be fine. :)

36 weeks

Today I had my 36 week ultrasound and doctors appointment. Everything went well. Baby girl's heart rate was 130. I've gained 25 pounds. Her estimated weight already is 6 pounds 14 ounces! Amniotic fluid levels and everything looked good. She is now in the 78th percentile. In February (after my surgery) she was only in the 21st percentile. Then 3 weeks ago at my last ultrasound she was in the 45th percentile, so she's been growing strong. I'm already dialated 1 cm. Basically I'm due 6/28, however my doctor is on vacation that week and wants to be here when I deliver, so if I haven't gone into labor on my own, I will be induced most likely 6/20. If that's the case, only 12 more work days, I'm SOOO excited! I am on call this weekend however, so add 2 to that. We are all ready for her to be here. Everything is ready in the nursery, we've filled out all the paperwork we can think of. Eric is enjoying his time off of school, but getting everything out of the way so we can have a full 5 1/2 weeks of pure family time until he goes back and starts summer band 7/31. My folks and Bailey will be at the Frio on vacation 6/4-6/10, so they are praying she doesn't come that week. The full moon is 6/11, so we'll see! Eric's birthday is 6/13 and Bailey's is 6/21, so we have LOTS of dates in between to try to get her here :) I think we are close to picking a name, but we won't tell anyone until she is here. I said I'd never post this, but here is a picture of my big ol' belly at 36 weeks and 1 day for those who want to see. If you don't, AVERT YOUR EYES! :)

Baby Duty is here!

Joshua Michael Duty was born at 1:24AM, May 25. He was 5lb, 10oz at birth. Both mother and baby are doing great. Go click on the link to Jon and Kerry's blog to see pictures. I talked to Kerry today, she said they induced yesterday because he was small, let her push for 4.5 hours, then decided she needed a c-section! They are doing well, but both mom and baby got a fever, so she expects to be in the hospital until at least Saturday. Congrats to the new family!!

Showers

The past two weekends have been a whirlwind of baby showers. I never thought my house would have this many baby items in it at one time! The first shower was thrown by Eric's mom, sister, and aunt, Clara, Amanda and Joanie. Our friends Shannon and Nathan came down for the weekend and brought baby Garrett. I can't believe he's 10 months old. I am due 4 days after his 1st birthday. We got Ninfa's take out Saturday night so I think we pleased them (no ninfa's in Dallas!). The shower was a hit with family from Corpus, friends from work and church, and Houston family all attending. We got a lot of nice things, including clothes, the bath tub, and enough money to go order the crib, which we did last Saturday.



The second shower was down in Santa Fe, hosted by Bailey, Trayce, Kendra, Kate, Kristal and Karen. I didn't get a picture of all the hostesses together, so here is one with Bailey and Mom. We had a great time at this one too, with friends from Dallas, work, church growing up and high school all attending. We got some great items including the diaper bag and diaper champ, the pack n play and our bedding from the hostesses. Justin and Ashley came down from Dallas for a visit and Eric and I had a great time with them as well. We took them to Lupe Tortilla's Saturday night and had some great fajitas. Besides that Eric and I have spent the past few weeks writing thank you cards, watching (and falling asleep to) the Astros games (one of which last Tuesday was in person via tickets from work--we left in the top of the 11th inning!) and organizing the nursery. Eric has been having rehearsals after school this week to get the kids ready for the last concert which is next Tuesday. Monday is our last week of 3 weeks of "Prepared Childbirth" classes at the hospital. We've actually enjoyed them, and learning about the different relaxation techniques.

Coming up we have a game night at our house next Friday with friends from church. Then on Saturday, Eric is going with the jazz band from church to play at a church in the 4th ward. I will be heading down to Santa Fe that day to have an early mother's day with mom and go to Hailee's 4th birthday party. On the 17th I'm going to the Astros game in the suite with everyone from work....woo hoo! The 18th I have a shower at work, which I'm looking forward to (and it's Eric's dad's birthday, as well as George Straits!), the 19th is Eric's band banquet and the next week is his last day of school. I can't believe how quickly this school year has passed. We are SO looking forward to Eric having the summer off with me and raising our infant. Then this fall we have my sister's wedding to look forward too.....lots of fun to come!!

Another update....

Hello again. Sorry it's been so long. Things have been fairly quiet...but busy. April 7-9th we attended the Memorial HS band trip down to the South Coast Music Festival in Corpus Christi. The band did ok, but we had a great time hanging out at the condos. We were able to go visit Mee Mee (Eric's grandma) and Grandma Betty (my grandma) who both live there. I also got to see my cousin Amy and her 2 kids (2.5 and 6 months), both of which I had never met. Also, Grandma Betty bought us our 'travel system,' which the stroller and infant carrier/car seat. We are super excited. We know it won't end up in the nursery, but we have all the baby stuff up there right now for storage and it's getting full....this without the crib! We are so grateful for all the friends and family that are so excited about this baby. Keep us in your prayers as we are diligently praying for a safe and smooth labor and delivery.

Also, good news, Eric's band played at UIL last Wednesday and they got a 1 on stage and a 2 in sightreading. This being Eric's first year teaching (and with the scores the band has got in the past), he was VERY excited and I was extremely proud of him. He did so well! I went and watched in support and was so proud!

This fun Easter weekend came and went so fast. I was on call for work so I was at my computer most of the day Friday/Saturday, but at least Sunday was better. Our church added a Saturday evening service for Easter weekend because of the number of people we had attend last Easter and Christmas Eve. We expected Saturday evening to be mostly members making room for the guests on Sunday, but it was packed! We had 2 overflow rooms that were full. After we played in the orchestra, we ended up going out in the hall and watching it on a screen and listening to the sermon piped in. We were unable to go Sunday morning because Eric played a gig at another church, and work called, but I'm anxious to see how many people were there!

Besides that, we had a fairly uneventful weekend at home. We rearranged the living room. I went crazy scrapbooking, trying to get as much done before the baby comes as possible. I have completely finished my 2005 album and I did my cruise album this weekend. Now if only I could finish my 2003 and 2004 albums (each have about 4 months done). I have also started my wedding album, just sorting those pictures yesterday brought back so many memories, I can't believe it's been almost 5 years. I can't believe the number of pictures we have either!!!! Also, in other news, my sister and her fiance, Matt, bought a house in Pearland this weekend. They still have papers to sign and the inspections, but they'll only be about 25 minutes away from us now! Anyways, that's now for all. I'll add a couple of pictures from the past few months so you can laugh :) To the right is Eric at one of his band concerts in February. The kids in top band were going to play an Elton John song, and they wanted their director to dress up. When he wouldn't, they put the garb on Eric and snapped some pictures. He looks too cute! :)
Here is a pictures of Eric and I at the George Strait concert on 2/28. It was a great concert, we had a good time. We went with Deanna and Chad Nesvadba. I also didn't take pictures of opening day for the Astros.....we had awesome seats. We went with Deanna and Chad, 2 of their friends-Stephanie and Kevin, and Bailey and Matt. The Astros are starting off much stronger than they did last year!!! Woo hoo!!

Pictures

I finally unloaded some of our recent digital pics onto our computer. Here they are with some updates. To the left is Eric and I at our church on the 2/12, the day he got baptized. That little heated pond behind us is where he was dunked. My family and his family came up for the day and we had lunch at our house afterwards. To the right is Eric, David Jackson and Damon Archer. Damon's HS band (7 Lake in Katy) put on a concert in February, and David came down to play 2 accompanied solos at the concert. We had a good talk after his performance and Eric went out to eat with David, and Steve Peterson and Mike Brown, fellow trombone players from UM that are down in Houston now. Damon is our orchestra director at church too, he's a great guy!

This is Eric and I at the Great Caruso, a cute little dinner theater in Houston. March 4th was his Uncle Lawrence (Sparky)'s 50th birthday, so all the family met there for a matinee showing of Doo Wop 2. It was fun and a really neat place to visit.



Here are pictures of us painting our nursery. My mom came up and did most of the painting, and Eric worked hard on the chair rail. It turned out great looking. We have the changing table in it now and it looks great against the green. We can't wait for baby girl Newsome to join us!!

Slow Update....again

Hi again! Sorry it's been awhile. I think about updating this all the time, then don't get around to it. Today I am 25 weeks....15 to go (or less hopefully!!) :) My last dr. appointment was 3/2, when I was 23 weeks, 1 day. I had gained 2 pounds so far. Baby girl Newsome's heartrate was a healthy 142. I was 26 cm (that measurement thing the dr. does, not dilated!!! haha). I go back on 4/4 to do the nasty sugar drink and blood tests. Since the surgery, it has been a pretty pleasant pregnancy. I was never sick during the 1st trimester (physically sick). Things would smell bad, and I didn't want to go out to eat, but I never got sick. At about 20 weeks I started feeling the baby kick, and she hasn't stopped since! Eric and I sit and watch her at night, it's entertaining (or we're just boring!).

Update about the tier 2 ultrasound we did, we got there and sure enough, the doctors office had sent in the blood work with the wrong due date, so were worried for a month for nothing. They said they sent it in with the right due date and we had no increased chance for a baby with down syndrome, so that's a blessing. We still got to do the ultrasound, which was about 35 minutes of just watching our baby move around (and be wound up in a ball so we kept having to move her to get some measurements). We LOVE ultrasounds, but now since everything's been going so good, I don't know if we'll get another one. My March 2nd appt was my first ever appointment without an ultrasound, and it was kinda sad because I like watching her move around (and it's even better without a large tumor to look at!). Oh yeah, the 10cm cyst turned out to be a benign tumor. The name of it has 3 long words (not a fybroid, something else). The doctor said they are never cancerous, but have a 10% chance of coming back on either ovary, so I'll probably have an ultrasound at every yearly exam from now on to make sure it doesn't.

Last week was Eric's spring break. We started out last Sunday/Monday by painting the baby's room. It has a pale green on top and one shade darker green on bottom, with a chairrail in the middle. It looks awesome; I will have to post pictures soon. My mom, being surrounded by teachers, has brought up 3 boxes of clothes (mostly 0-6 months, I don't think we'll need any more of those!) from friends at work. We ended up going and buying our changing table so that we had a place to put them all, and it's full already. If you add the few things we've bought and what the Newsome's have bought, the closet is almost full too! We are so excited for this little girl. On the one hand, I can't believe how fast it has gone so far, but on the other hand, I can't believe I still have 3 months to go!!!

We've been to the rodeo twice so far this year. Once to see George Strait and once for my committee final party--I volunteered on the Carnival Ticket Sales Committee this year, and had a blast. I sold so many tickets I got my gold badge and a big 'ol Texas size belt buckle! We had a great time walking around looking at all the vendors and animals. Eric and I got new cowboy boots, they are too cute :) We also found a great vendor that sells collegiate kids wear, and now Baylor is even letting them sell. The website (for Jen Barnes) is www.westarcollegiate.com. We bought the little onsie, and then my mom came up Sunday for lunch and she had gotten us the overalls and socks and bib and blanket. They are all too cute.

Keep in touch, we enjoy reading everyone else's blogs!

Happy Birthday Ashley!!

Today is my cousin Ashley's 26th birthday. I hope you have a great day! Sorry about the bad picture, it's the only one I have of her from Thanksgiving this past year. Her husband Eddie is sitting next to her.

Also, big news last Thursday, I felt the baby kick for the first time. It was awesome. Eric tried to feel it all weekend but he couldn't yet. That's the cool part about being the mom ;) We put headphones on my belly and let her listen to classical music all weekend. It was awesome--after about 10 minutes she started jamming away. Either that or she didn't like the music. I feel her more and more now that I know what it feels like.

Also big news for today, Eric finally got baptized. We joined our long attended church, Kingsland Baptist Church back on 1/15. I transferred my letter and he, who has been a christian since July 2000 finally got to get baptized. My parents came up and his family attended and then we grilled at our house afterwards. It was a fun day. Hope you are enjoying the updates :)

Major Update

I know, I know, I'm not keeping this thing updated. I have pictures of Christmas and Thanksgiving online, email me if you'd like me to send you the link. I'm behind the times and not on Flikr yet either. Well, let's start with all the news of 2006. For New Year's Eve, we went up to Dallas to attend the KKY/TBS alumni party...however, we thought the party was Saturday and not Friday, so we missed it! :) We did have fun at Justin/Ashley's house visiting with Jamie/Curtis in from Nashville, and Shannon/Nathan/Garrett, and Ashley's sister and her friends.
It was my first time venturing into maternity clothes. They are still too big for me, but are much more comfortable than my normal clothes. After that, we came home and Gweny had to have surgery AGAIN! She had the bladder stones again. This time, a slightly different kind. But she healed fine and is her same perky self again (with the help of Riley of course!). That picture is of a Christmas joke, Bailey KNOWS our dogs don't wear clothes, but she bought them sweaters for Christmas and we just had to put them on. They were too funny. They wore them about 5 hours, and haven't since. After Gweny's surgery, Eric's truck had to have a new transmission and a new ignition switch (2 separate visits to the dealership). Thank goodness everything was under warranty still! On January 10th, I went in for my 16 week check up. Sure enough, that cyst was still there, so we scheduled my surgery for the 19th (last Thursday). I got 4 great pictures of the baby (total of 9 now), which someday I may put online. And, I begged the ultrasound tech to tell me what she thought it was, and as of right now, it's a "Possible Girl" :) As the ultrasound pic says! My next appointment is Feb 2nd, so maybe we'll find out a little more then, either way, we are thrilled. After, that, it was just waiting out the surgery. We had the quad screen test done, which I had said my whole pregnancy that I didn't want done, but the dr. talked me into it. Sure enough, we are at an 'increased risk' of having a baby with down syndrome. My normal chances should be 1 in 1,020, but we are 1 in 256. We are praying about that, but not really focusing on it much because of the false positives rate that is out there. On 1/19, I went in at 6am for my surgery. It only took an hour, but man was I nervous. I didn't realize I was nervous until I was in there waiting for the nurse to start my IV, etc and I realized I was wheezing. She sent Eric to get my inhaler out of my car and he and my mom got to come back there before the surgery with me to calm me down. I was glad they were there. After the surgery, I remember pain and saying ouch and crying a lot in the recovery room, which they made me stay in for an hour. When they told me I couldn't see Eric for an hour I got even more upset.....then I fell asleep and it went by very fast! :) After that they wheeled me to my room and Eric, mom and Eric's parents came in to see an emotional Misty. They were very good to me, Eric and Mom stayed pretty much all day with the Newsome's visiting in the morning and at night. Each day got a little better, and they let me go home Saturday afternoon 1/21. Mom, Bailey, and her fiance Matt came home with me and took care of me until Sunday afternoon. Eric took Monday off too to make sure I was ok. Tuesday was the hardest because I was bored and missed Eric, and had to move around on my own a lot. The puppies kept me company though and curled up at my feet to keep them warm. I also missed not being in the hospital and having them check the baby's heart beat every 6 hours or so. I think that's what got me so emotional this past week! Yesterday we went to get my staples out (yes, I took pictures of them, they're gross, not getting posted online--imagine a cut from my belly button, down 10 cm!), and man did that hurt, and sent me into another crying spell. I've had lots of weird/sad dreams lately, and I was telling my doctor about them and got upset. Eric has been so great through all of this, I am truly thankful to God that we found each other! The doctor told me the tests on the cyst came back. It's not a cyst, it was a benign tumor that has a 10% chance of coming back on one or both ovaries. They will just have to check every year by ultrasound to make sure nothing is there. That's about it now that you have the full update on my life. I'm really happy it's Friday. Eric should be home soon and my mom is coming up tomorrow to keep me company. Let us hear from you!