Nursery pics!

Pretty much since the pregnancy test came back positive, James has been hard at work getting the nursery ready. Our back bedroom has been occupied by both my friend Aimee and my sister Erin. We had it recently painted but we knew we wanted something different for a nursery. James and I looked high and low for a nursery theme that we both loved. We stumbled upon a Behr website and were lucky enough to find a cute theme we both adored. So we went with Classic Pooh. James painted the bottom half of the room in a pale green and the top with a baby blue with a chair rail in the middle and a Winnie-the-Pooh border. He even hand painted some clouds on the walls and ceiling! So cute! Once that was done we began searching for furniture. Thanks to a tip from my baby mama friend Anabelle, we found a nursery in a box from, of all places, Wal-mart! It was good quality and a great price. James got it and put it together in one day! He is going to be such a fantastic dad!!! :) So here are some pics of our nursery for now. We still have a few things we need to get but I think we're doing pretty good!

Here's the crib, we already have a mattress too!

A little dresser with matching Winnie-the-Pooh lamp.

Changing table, complete with an Eeyore from one of my students. The space to the left of the changing table will soon be filled with a glider.

One of the hand-painted clouds my talented husband did.

Close-up of the lamp. I love that everything matches!!

"Fakesgiving"

James has a very unpredictable work schedule. We were hoping that he would be off for Thanksgiving this year but unfortunately, he had to work. Somebody has to print all those Black Friday ads! Since he would not be able to join my family and me for Thanksgiving, we decided to do our own Thanksgiving on Sunday. I am sooooo not a good cook and James is not picky so we did a quick and easy version on Thanksgiving foods. We got a turkey breast (I was not about to stick my hand inside a frozen turkey's ass!), mashed potatoes in a box, stuffing in a box, corn in a can, Pilsbury rolls and that jelly cranberry sauce stuff. All stuff my mom would NEVER allow in her house, much less let any of us eat! Anyway, James and I slaved away and prepared all the fixings for our dinner which we ate in front of the TV. James enjoyed it and I didn't even have to do the dishes ;) I was telling my family about this so-called Thanksgiving and my sister Erin came up with a name for it... "Fakesgiving" I thought it was great and funny and totally appropriate for our fake Thanksgiving dinner. No offense to anyone who does Thanksgiving this way, it was just not the way I was raised. My mom had even trusted me to make the rolls for our real Thanksgiving. I was telling a few friends about how nervous I was to make the rolls and they looked very confused and asked... how do you MAKE rolls, don't you just buy them in a bag or make them from a tube? Ha! Not at my house! I made them from scratch and they were great! Since I have no pictures from our real Thanksgiving, please enjoy the pictures from James and my 'Fakesgiving."

Turkey breast and Pilsbury rolls, behind that mashed potatoes from a box and gravy from a pouch.

Stovetop stuffing, jelly cranberry sauce and corn from a can.

Ta-da!!! Fakesgiving 2009 :)

Belly pics!

So I'm posting two weeks worth of belly pics since I've finally figured out how to put more than one picture up at a time (thanks Ami!) I'm slightly embarrassed to be posting pictures of my bare belly and wearing sweatpants but I figure I better get over that real quick! There will be much more embarrassing situations coming up in the future for me so here we go!

These first two were taken 11/15/09. I am about 13 weeks and 3 days here.

White belly!!!

These two were taken on 11/28/09. Right after Thanksgiving. I am about 15 weeks an 2 days here.

I ate a lot of yummy Thanksgiving food :)

I hope all my friends who were telling me they couldn't wait for me to get big enjoy these pics! I was telling James the other day that I can't look straight down and see past my belly anymore! I can't wait for it to get bigger though :)

Third prenatal visit and dropping the bomb at school

It's a small world after all. A nurse at my Dr.'s office is also a mom of a student in my class. She is a wonderful nurse and very professional. It was because of something she told me during my third visit that prompted me to finally tell my students about my pregnancy...

11/18/09
We had our third prenatal visit today. We knew that we would not be doing an ultrsound today since that will not be until about 20 weeks. I was hoping we’d get to hear the heartbeat though. Luckily, James had vacation this week so he was able to come again. We started off just like normal, my favorite nurse/student’s mom measured my weight (I’m up to 109!) and took my temperature while asking me if i had told my students yet. I had told her I wanted to wait a bit longer. She told me her daughter, had said to her the other day, it looks like Mrs. Stoner is getting a little belly! Ahhhhhh! My kids are noticing that I’m getting fat! I think that may have sent my heart rate sky high! After Holly took my blood pressure, she said it was a bit high. Whoops! Hopefully it was just due to the news Holly shared and not anything else. The Dr. didn’t seem too concerned. Then came the moment of truth. The Dr. squirted a blob of jelly on my belly and stuck the wand on there. I had thought I heard the heartbeat right away but then the Dr. started moving the wand around a lot. After a few seconds, she said that IS the heartbeat, but she was just trying to get a better sound for us. A few seconds later we heard a very strong heartbeat. I was so happy to hear it, I actually started laughing! It sounded like a herd of wild horses galloping in my belly!! James was there to hear it too, which I am thankful for. Looking over and seeing him while we heard our baby’s heartbeat was priceless. I’m glad he came. We also now have a date for our formal ultrasound. Wednesday, December 23rd at 11:00. Be ready to receive a very exciting text message that day :) What a fun Christmas gift! We get a sneak peek at our little peanut and we may even get to learn the gender! I’m so excited! :)

Well, after we heard the heartbeat, I felt even better about the way the pregnancy was progressing. So my friend Ami asked me if it was finally time to write it on the whiteboard in the workroom at school. I felt like I had kept it a secret for as long as necessary and a lot of people had heard through the grapevine so I told Ami to go ahead and drop the bomb at school. People were all so happy for me :) Now came the more difficult task of telling my students. Since my nurse had already told me that her daughter was noticing, I figured it was time for them to know. I'd MUCH rather have them know I'm pregnant than think I'm getting fat!! So at the end of the day, I hooked up my laptop to my projector to show the kids some pictures. I first showed them the pictures of the nursery and then the picture of the ultrasound. Most of them figured it out at that point. There were some very excited girls, which I figured on and most of the boys were like, whatever. Then I had the kids vote on whether they thought I’d have a boy or a girl and what I should name the baby. There were some very interesting names, my favorite... Michael Jackson Stoner. Jeez! I also had them give me some advice on being a mom. Most things were mundane, like feed the baby and stuff like that. But one was very sweet. It said something like, love the baby like it is the most important thing in the world to you. Awww :) Now EVERYONE at school knew. That day I went home and let the secret out to the rest of the world. I posted it on Facebook and Myspace. More very positive, happy responses from all my friends :) Now it’s out there... Hopefully I’l never have to keep this big of secret for such a long time ever again! It was so hard!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share some of the things I am thankful for. Enjoy! )

11/13/09
I saw this idea on a few blogs my friends are doing so I thought I’d steal it. It’s a list of 29 things you are thankful for. Not sure why 29 but hey, I’ll go for it!

29 things I am thankful for:
1. God. Yes, I’m starting out like a rapper accepting a Grammy but I feel it is appropriate. If it were not for God and all his amazing gifts, nothing else would be possible.
2. My husband. James is absolutely amazing! He is sweet, caring, funny, smart, cute, generous, talented, loving, protective... I could go on and on. He is my match and I am so lucky I found him. Ever since I’ve found out I was pregnant, he has been so attentive to my every need! :)
3. My pregnancy. Fifteen weeks and going strong. I’m so happy that we were able to get pregnant so relatively easy and that it is has been pretty uneventful thus far. I’m thankful for everyday that I stay healthy during this pregnancy. We love you orange!
4. My mom. Yes, I am doing each family member separately because they each deserve a spot on my list. My mom is the best mom. She is still the one person I can call when I’m not feeling well and she can make me feel better. She makes holidays fun and shopping an adventure. Since she found out I was pregnant, she’s been scoping out maternity clothing sales and making sure I rest and eat well. She’s a mom to me even when I’m trying to become a mom myself.
5. My dad. My dad is an amazing dad. He told me EVERY night before I went to bed that I was beautiful. That is a great thing for a young girl to hear. My dad has a special place in my heart because he is also my pastor. He has counseled me through some very though times in my life and always helps me see God’s plan for me. He will be a fantastic grandpa!
6. My little sister. Lizzie has the ability to make me laugh by uttering a single line from ATHF! She has the best sense of humor and is so passionate about her job. She loves her kids and people are lucky to have her watch their babies. She also loves animals. She would have a house full if she could. Erin and I can watch ridiculous tv shows and have a blast doing it. Erin is beautiful too. We’ve always told her she looks like Drew Barrymore :)
7. My baby sister. Emily is my baby. When we were younger, I would always tell people that I was her mom. She cracks me up on a daily basis. I can say absolutely anything to her and she can find a line from a tv show or movie that will fit and be hilarious. Emily also has a passion for sports! I’m happy to have someone to share this with since guys talk about stats and crap while Emily and I can talk about how stupid we think the uniforms look. Emily is gorgeous too! Cutie pie supreme!
8. My sisters. Yes I’m putting them together now. When all three of us get together, it’s like a sideshow. One of my very favorite things to do in the entire world is watch the Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve with my two sisters. We know every line and every song and just have so much fun watching it together. It never gets old!
9. My brothers and sisters in law. I was never close to either of my brothers. We played G.I. Joe, Transformers, Star Wars and Legos when we were little but that is where it ended. I feel like I have a better relationship with them now than I did back then and I’m thankful they brought my two sisters-in-law into my life. I have two people to share being pregnant with! I’m happy that my baby will have little cousins to play with!
10. My friends. I have amazing friends! They pick me up when I’m down, they help even when I don’t ask, they make me laugh, give me advice etc... I don’t know what I would do without them. I told some friends even before I told my family about my pregnancy because I knew they would understand what I was going through. So thank you for all your help and support, Anabelle, Ami, Mary, Nicole, Jenn! They also help me do crafts even when I am no good at it :)
11. My dog. Daisy is a wonderful dog. She may not be the smartest or best behaved dog but she sure is the most loving. We joke sometimes that she is part cat because she just loves to rub against your legs and be petted. She gets so excited whenever we come home and you should see her when we pick up the leash! It’s like she’s just won the lottery. I love having that kind of joy in my life!
12. My job. I love teaching! It gives me the opportunity to influence so many young lives, hopefully for the better. And what other job do you get pictures, presents and hugs on a daily basis? I also get a pretty nice schedule which should allow me some time with my little one :)
13. My house. I’m very thankful that we found a wonderful house in Rita Ranch, five minutes from work, in a great neighborhood.
14. Home improvements. Yes I love my house but I am also thankful that James was able to fix it up a bit for me. Tile floors, new paint, a beautiful walk-in shower!
15. Books. Informative or entertainment, books help me find what I need.
16. TV/Movies. For the endless joy they provide.
17. My Computer. What I can’t find in books or moves, I can find online :)
18. My car. Sometimes it can be so soothing to jump in the car and go for a drive with the windows down and music blaring.
19. Music. To get me out of a bad mood or to keep me in a happy mood.
20. Dancing. I have always loved to dance ever since I was little. I have a new reason to love it now. If it weren’t for dancing, I would never have met my husband.
21. Rock Band. Silly, I know. Thanks to Amy and Ashley and James my family is now obsessed with it. It is hilarious to witness my family playing Rock Band!
22. Date nights. I know they are limited and I treasure every one of them now. I love going out to eat these days too! Food is great!
23. Stretchy pants. So comfortable these days when not much is.
24. Flip flops. I love living in a place where I can wear flip flops ten months out of the year.
25. Vacations. I am so thankful to work in a year round district. Just when I think I can’t handle one more day of my lovely job, I get a break! I love being able to go to the beach for the summer, visit my grandma in the spring and spend some time in SV in the fall.
26. Holidays. Family traditions make each and every holiday enjoyable and something to look forward to every year. I love knowing what to expect for each holiday and loving the special time we spend as a family.
27. My Dr. I went to a horrible Dr. for five years. I finally got fed up when she insulted me and my husband. Thankfully I found a better Dr. before I got pregnant. She is great and her office staff is so helpful. I can’t count the number of times I’ve called, being a scared first time mom, and they have taken the time to answer my questions and help me out. I know I will be in good hands.
28. My ability to bake. Maybe I can’t cook but I sure can bake! Cookies are my specialty and I love being able to make people happy just by baking a few cookies :) The cookie dough is pretty good while I’m baking too!
29. My grandparents. I didn’t get a chance to know my mom’s parents very well but I am thankful for the time I did get with them. My dad’s mom is the definition of tenacity! She tells it how it is and is fun to dish with. My dad’s dad... was amazing. He always told me I was number one. He made me feel special every time I saw him. He’d always pass along a half-dollar for the juke box or a fifty dollar bill for “fun.” It was his presence, his confidence, his love that drew people to him. He was loved by everyone and missed terribly. If we have a little girl, I want to name her Spencer. Not only for me but also for him. He was everything that anyone would ever want to be and I’d love to pass along his legacy to another generation.

So there’s my list. It may be a bit out of order but I wrote as I thought of things. I’m sure there’s more than 29 things I’m thankful for but this is a good dent! :)

Second prenatal visit

You only had to wait a day or two to hear how things ended up. I had to wait two weeks! It was sooooo hard to wait that long. Thank goodness everything turned out the way it did.

10/21/09
So we went back to the Dr today for a check up and to review the results of all the blood they took. I was nervous again today because of the way the last visit ended up. I didn’t sleep well last night thinking about how today would go. When we got in to see the Dr, she told us that all the test results looked great and everything was going well. She was about to walk out the door without doing another ultrasound like she had said the last time she would do. I stopped her and told her of my fears and what she had said last time so she agreed to do a quickie for us. Right away you could see the little peanut was much larger than last time. She pointed out the heartbeat and then showed us the head, torso and even little hands and feet! She said everything was measuring right for the timing and the heartbeat looked perfect! WHEW! I felt a million times better after that. Now I feel like I can enjoy my pregnancy and embrace this new adventure with a more positive attitude :)

The 1st prenatal Dr visit

Everything turned out ok so I thought I'd share my thoughts about our first visit to my wonderful Dr.

10/7/09 Today I had my first prenatal Dr visit. I had heard that this would be the first time they’d do an ultrasound to try to find the baby’s heartbeat. I was petrified the night before that they would not be able to find a heartbeat. I had known a few close friends that had been pregnant and then lost the baby so I was totally freaked out. I even had nightmares that the little screen would be blank. So thankfully James was able to come with me. Good news or bad news, I needed him there. I waited nervously as the Dr explained everything to me, waiting for the machine in the corner to be turned on so I could see if I could celebrate or cry. The moment of truth arrived. As the Dr searched for the tiny baby, my heart raced. She said, well it looks like you’re not quite 8 weeks. My stomach sank, the baby is too small. This isn’t good. Then she asked, have you had any spotting or bleeding. Oh no, she thinks I may have miscarried already. I started tearing up. Then she started looking more and pointed out the yolk sac and... some cardiac activity. There’s a heartbeat! James was very excited to see it. I was slightly relieved but still not entirely sure. The Dr said she wanted to do another ultrasound in two weeks. I thought this might mean she was concerned about the baby’s growth and faint heartbeat. She also didn’t give us the pictures of the ultrasound. Yes, she did say everything looked good and that I should think positive but it was the way she said things and what she didn’t say that made me worry. So I’m waiting two more weeks. Full of worry for this little life growing inside me. All I can do is hope that the Dr will see growth and that I’ll see a better and stronger heartbeat next time. In the meantime, I pray.

Morning, afternoon and evening....

I don't know who named it "morning sickness" because for me it was pretty much an all day event. Luckily for me, the worst of my morning sickness happened over fall break. Here's a look back at some feelings I hope have gone for good...

10/2/09
The last two days have been pretty miserable. I woke up early Wednesday with an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could barely brush my teeth without gagging. I tried to put something in my stomach to help settle it but I couldn’t get anything down. There was only one thing I could think of that sounded good to me at the time, bagels. Brueggars bagels to be exact. As I curled up on the couch and tried not to toss my cookies, James ran out and got me a bagel. I ate it and felt a little better. The rest of the day was ok. The next day was even worse. I sent James out for a bagel again and this time he brought back a dozen. Thank goodness, because for the next few days, bagels were all I could stomach eating. Morning sickness was not at all like I thought it would be. The only way I can think to describe it is that it feels like I’m constantly hung over. You know that feeling after you’ve been throwing up all night after drinking and you wake up the next day dizzy, tired, nauseous and just plain yucky. I could barely stand upright it was so bad. That night I decided I had enough of trying to deal with morning sickness on my own. My Dr. had told me that if I had bad morning sickness I could try a combination of vitamin B6 and Unisom to help. I was very skeptical that Unisom would help morning sickness but after doing some research online I found that a lot of Dr’s recommend it. It turns out, that particular medication was originally marketed for nausea but after it made people fall asleep so easily, they changed it to a sleep aide. So after three days of awful morning sickness I tried it out. Believe it or not, I woke up this morning feeling so much better! Here's hoping morning sickness will take a hike soon!! ;)

Here we go...

This first entry is a bit long. It tells the story of how James and I met, fell in love, got married and decided to start a family. I wrote this when I first found out I was pregnant. I hope you enjoy our story...

9/24/09
James and I met in 2004. He was a friend of a friend and I had seen him many time when I had gone out on Saturdays to my favorite place, the Cactus Moon. I was a bit surprised when he came up to me out of the blue one day and asked me to dance. I was slightly intimidated by him since I’d seen him dance and he was GOOD. I was holding a drink in my hand so I said, No I’m busy drinking! He walked away and I thought that was that. However, as soon as I finished my drink, Mr. Persistent came back and said now that I was done with my drink, we could dance. I think I tried to get out of it again but he would not take no for an answer. He took me out on the dance floor and it was the most fun! After that we became regular dance partners. Eventually we became close friends. One night after a few slow dances that were quite close, he walked me out to my car. I was driving my friend Nicole home that night and as she got in the car, James kissed me. We then began dating. It was right near Christmas when we began talking abut our family lives. I told him all about my big, fun, family Christmases and he told me that he had NEVER celebrated Christmas!!! WHAT?!? So being the family person I was, I decided to invite him to Christmas with my family that year. My family was more than willing to share our craziness with my new friend. He came to Christmas and fit it perfectly well with my family. We’re all a bit crazy and it turned out, so was he! A short time later, I told him about an awesome New Year’s Eve party that was happening at my friend Mary’s house. So he fit in with the family, would he get along with my friends? We had a blast! He even took care of me the day after since Mary and I had partied a bit hard that night! Everything was going great! We had celebrated two holidays together in our short time together, he got along with both my friends and family, things were moving along. Then we hit a few snags. We weren’t sure how to move forward with so many differences between us. Politics, religion, hobbies, etc... We both have very strong personalities and didn’t want to give up anything. We broke up and got back together half a dozen times or so. Every time finding our way back to each other. The last time we broke up after New Years 2006 I thought we could never resolve our issues and we were done. I talked to my dad about it. Being a pastor, he always seemed to be able to help me through not only my religious problems but my personal ones too. I knew my dad would tell me the truth and help me make the right choice. He told me that God kept bringing James into my life for a reason. He obviously made me happy (most of the time!) and I was unhappy without him. That Valentine’s Day, I got a sign. James showed up at my house out of the blue first thing in the morning with roses. He had apparently been doing the same type of soul searching I had been doing over the last few months. He asked me if I could look past all our previous issues and give us another try. I was still so unsure. Could this finally work after so many failed attempts? I didn’t want to continue hurting myself so I told him if he came with me to talk to me dad and if we could work through our problems, I could consider a future with him. I had thought James would have an issue with this but it seemed he was willing to do whatever it took to get me back. I was glad to hear that. So we went together to see my dad. After some work with him, some advice from my mom and some more talking with James, we got back together for good. That summer, James came with my family to the beach. The beach has been a very special place for me since I was little. Apparently, James knew this, as he was conspiring with my mom to plan something special for me. Once we got to the beach we spent a fun day swimming, building sand castles with my sisters, laying in the sun, etc... It was a great day. We went back to our little apartment to clean up and relax. I had always loved walking on the beach at sunset. I had mentioned this to James and off we went. James and I were talking as we walked. He had done a little math and it turned out we had been together for exactly 555 days. Nice round number, I thought. Since James and I had always loved dancing, it came as no surprise when he started dancing with me on the beach. As he spun me around, I turned back to face him and he was down on one knee. I was shocked! He asked me marry him and of course, I said yes! We celebrated with my family and I called everyone I knew to tell them I was finally getting married!! Then begun the year-long wedding plans. We needed some time to save some money and plan for the happiest day of our lives. My mom, bless her heart, wanted to give me the perfect wedding. She wanted to make sure we had everything we wanted. My dad was going to marry us so my mom wanted to make sure she contributed. And boy did she ever! She went out and got a job to help pay the wedding bills. With my mom’s help, we planned a beautiful wedding on June 23, 2007. Everything went perfectly and we were so happy to finally be starting our lives together. We honeymooned at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland and had soooo much fun! I had been many times in my childhood and was so happy to be sharing it with my new husband. James had never been much of a planner. That all changed when he met me. I introduced him to the Spencer way. We have plans for EVERYTHING, including trips to Disneyland. After seeing how much more could be done with a plan, James came around to our way of thinking. Disneyland became another special place for us. We loved it so much we went back the next year, summer 2008, with my mom and sisters and had even more fun! We decided that three times was the charm and went AGAIN in summer 2009, just us. We didn’t tell anyone at the time but we went this third time just for us because we were planning on being very busy the next year and we knew we couldn’t make it back to Disneyland for several more years. Our 2009 trip was very memorable because it was to be our last trip as a family of two. Like I had said before, I plan for everything. As soon as James and I got serious that Spring of 2006, we began discussing our family. We decided that we wanted two solid years of marriage before we brought another person into our family. We wanted time to solidify our relationship so it was as strong as possible. The question was never IF we were going to have kids it was WHEN, which now we had decided, and the bigger question now, how many. James comes from a VERY big family. He had NINE brothers and sisters! I knew from the get-go he wanted a bunch of kids. I come from a pretty big family too, I have two brothers and two sisters. We had to come to a compromise though because he wanted a football team and I wanted, well not nearly that many! So finally we settled on two. Two kids in two years, sounds perfect! As my two year deadline fast approached, so many of my friends were beginning to have kids. I started getting what I referred to as “the question,” When are you guys going to have kids? I started to resent it. I knew what our plans were but I didn’t want to share my plans with others. I felt it was a private choice between me and James. So I kept quiet time after time the question was posed. The more it was asked the worse I felt. My confidence in my ability to be a good mother faded. After teaching for six years, I had seen far too many messed up kids, messed up parents and I began questioning whether I could do it at all. Then something happened that I still can’t quite explain. It may have had something to do with my friend Ami. After years of trying to have a baby, she ended up with three! I went to help her every so often and I just loved it! It reassured me of my ability and it made me feel like maybe I could do this after all. So on our two year anniversary, James and I revisited our original goal and felt like we were both ready to take the next step. Now that I was ready, I was READY! I didn’t want to wait a minute longer. Luckily, God liked my plans and helped us along. We only really had to “try” for two month before we got pregnant. I felt very blessed to have had no difficulty conceiving. So now here I am, 28 years old, married for two years and six weeks pregnant. I could not be happier! :) James and I have had a long difficult road getting here but it was all worth it. I feel like if we had not gone through some of our difficulties, we would not be as strong and as prepared as we are for this next big adventure. Of course, now we have to plan for a whole little person to join our family. From what I hear, it’s something you can’t really plan for! That will be a big step for me, but I think I’m ready! So far, things have been pretty smooth. We found out September 12th. I had a feeling that something big might be happening. So after dinner at my favorite place, P.F Chang’s, James and I went to Walgreens to get a good old HPT. I took it and within minutes, our lives had changed forever. One little word appeared on the screen... PREGNANT. James and I looked at disbelief at the little screen. Then we hugged and cried and laughed together. We are going to have a baby! We had gone home that weekend to celebrate my dad’s 55th birthday. James and I had decided we didn’t want to tell anyone until after we went to the Dr and were positive. So it was very difficult to see my family and NOT say anything. I am terrible at keeping secrets. But I was able to keep the biggest secret of my life! I had thought I’d only have wait a few days before going to the Dr for a positive test but when I called to make an appointment on Monday, they scheduled an appointment for me on October 7th, nearly four weeks later. They explained that this was because the Dr wanted to find a heartbeat. So the nurse gave me a list of do’s and don’ts, and told me congratulations because a positive HPT was very accurate! Nothing seemed real yet though. I felt fine. That next week was Parent/Teacher conference week. Late nights and lots of work. That Thursday, the 17th, while waiting for a late conference, I got so tired that I actually fell asleep on my desk in the classroom! That had never happened before and was one of my first symptoms, fatigue. It got worse that next week as I would come home from work and literally sit down to watch TV and fall asleep. Then the end of that week, the 25th, I got my first taste of the dreaded morning sickness. I had been feeling ok as long as I had plenty to snack on and keep my stomach full but that day nothing I would eat tasted good so I couldn’t eat anything to keep my stomach full. Strangely, my morning sickness seemed worse at night. That weekend, smells got to me in a big way. James cooked eggs for breakfast and I almost lost it. Then later that day we went shopping and we were looking at some of my favorite things, Yankee Candles. I smelled a few really bad ones and I totally thought I wold lose it right there in the store! Luckily, I have had nausea but no vomiting... yet. I’m in for a long road but I know I can do it!!!