Shelby's Crib is Ready

We finally have put together Shelby's crib. I was so excited. The day I received it I washed everything and put it on her crib.


We also received car seats from one of my best friends, JoLynn along with a lot of fun toys and other useful baby things. Oh my, kids do require a lot don't they?


Cubby Bear had to make sure the car seat was safe and comfortable for Shelby to sleep in. I thought it was too cute and had to share. :)


Oh, I almost forgot...I got the results from my 3 hour glucose test. I past and do not have gestational diabetes! YES YES YES is all I can say since I crave sugar and chocolate whether I'm pregnant or not pregnant. My blood pressure is holding very well too! It has been in the 110/77 range which is good. My only concern is my heart rate seems to rise quickly. At rest it is around 77 (which is good since it goes up 10-15 pts when you are pregnant) but it rises to 95ish when I walk around or do minor physical work. So, I'll ask the dr. about that next week and see what he has to say.

I have switched doctors again as well. With Dr. Giammarco still being out I decided it would be best to switch to a different doctor than the one assigned to me when Dr. G went on medical leave. I have heard good things about this doctor so I am hopeful he will meet our needs as an OBGYN. I'll meet with him for the first time next Tuesday.

Hurricane Dolly Update

As you have probably seen on the news Dolly ended up being a little stronger than we had planned down here. She made land fall yesterday around noon near Brownsville as a Category 2 (100 MPH winds). She did quite a bit of damage down there with the strong winds and 15 inches of rain.

As for us, 6+ hours North of where she hit we did get some rain too. Yes! Not too much either. So, we are looking forward to greener pastures. What a blessing for us as our pastures were looking pretty bad.

It was interesting watching the clouds and how they move in relation to a hurricane. The last couple have hit at night so we weren't able to watch them. Yesterday Ryan and I went up to "The Ranch" as we call it, which is a big ranch our close friend, Eloy, works for so Ryan could shoe a couple of his stud horses. Anyhow, we were able to watch the clouds move in their circular motion as they dumped the rain on us, rotate to just cloud cover , and then an hour or so later more rain. It was pretty cool watching them move just like you see on the news casts.

Watching what a category 2 can do really made me realize how strong these hurricanes are and how much damage they can do. We are only about 45 min. from the Gulf Coast so we could really get hit hard if a hurricane were to come our direction. It was a reality check for me as to what we would need to do to protect our house and barns as best we could if one were to come our way. What is scary is sometimes the only thing you can do is make sure you have enough insurance.

I was going to take pictures to share with y'all but it just looks like a dark, rainy day so I didn't think it was worth taking pictures.

Well, time for me to sign off. My cats are looking outside right now as if to say "You promised you'd take us out today!!!" They love being outside, but can only go out when supervised because Cubby Bear (the big, long haired cat) jumps the fence and sneaks off. We live on a busy road so that makes me nervous that he might wonder in the wrong direction.

Hurricane Dolly

Well, we have our first minor threat of a hurricane for this season. Like last year, it has been quiet. That is good. However, it has been EXTREMELY dry here in Boling. So, that is not good. Damon, about 12 miles from us has gotten plenty of rain. Our friends are working on their 2nd cutting of hay this season and we have yet to cut our first. We got 3 days of rain last month, but it was not very much. We haven't seen any rain since then! So, everything is beginning to die. (Sorry, for some reason my computer is not letting me put in paragraphs...very annoying!)...anyhow...Hurricane Dolly is going to come to shore south of us later this week which means we should get some of the rain. So, are fingers are crossed! We hope to get lots of rain on Wed. and Thurs. Hopefully we'll get the rain and the Hurricane will continue to be fairly harmless!!! Well since this computer is not cooperating I'm going to sign off early...I'll share more another day.

Sexy Tractor & Sexy Belly

I have added new pictures of Cowgirl and Bobalou. I put them at the beginning so they should be easy to find. They are under pictures "Rocking RS Horses."

Here are some fun pictures of Ryan and his new tractor.

Here are the updates of my belly. Shelby is growing everyday and enjoys making me feel uncomfortable. God bless those Moms out there that have several children. I miss my mobility, my normal body, and riding. Anyhow, here are my 7 month pictures. I'll be 7 months officially on Friday. The end is near! I'm in the last trimester!

Fun at the Hospital

(NOTE: This was written yesterday. )

Today I am sitting at the hospital to have a 3 hour test done to check my glucose levels. I did the 1 hr a couple of weeks ago and my numbers were slightly elevated. So, I get the pleasure of sitting here and getting my blood drawn every hour for three hours. So far it is not going all that well. The nurse that was supposed to have my paperwork done didn’t have it done and she was running late for work. So I had to wait on her. Now, I’m sitting in the office where my blood will be drawn and just waiting. I’m praying that I will not lose it from annoyance of having to sit here 3 hours and not eating or drinking anything til Noon.

(Note: Got my blood drawn (1 down 2 to go) and now I’m going to visit my friends who work in the hospital.)

I just got back from visiting Rossy and Cheryl. Rossy works in the dentist office Ryan and I use. I love going there. It is such a friendly environment full of ladies. Haahaha…so they had fun seeing my belly and telling me how small I am. I must where Shelby well. Ha! Everyone is amazed that I am 7 months and the size I am. I guess you can decide for yourself. I took the pics on Sunday. I will be officially 7 months on Friday but you get the idea.

After Rossy’s office I went to see Cheryl. It was nice to see her too. It is always fun to see where people work and their environment. Most of my communication is through emails or phone calls.

Well, enough of that. I’m back in the office and waiting patiently for 10 AM so I can get blood draw #2 taken. Then, I’ll watch a movie Rossy loaned me (Seabiscuit…a classic for us horse lovers…). I tried to find wireless but couldn’t connect to it. So, I’m writing this in word and will transfer later.

Yesterday Ryan and I went to Yoakum, TX…home of Circle Y and Double J saddles….We learned that Circle Y (my favorite saddle brand) has their saddles made elsewhere and shipped to Yoakum or to the new owner. That was disappointing. The good news is Double J (Ryan’s favorite) still makes their saddles right there. So, we learned a little about their saddles. I like they custom make it to your needs. If we can ever afford to buy a new saddle (or two) we will probably go w/them. Ryan wants a working saddle for ranch work and breaking horses. I want an all around that I can use to barrel race and rope in. I like that they can custom design the saddle to your needs. I joked to Ryan that the saddle could be my ‘birthing’ gift. He gave me the “Ya Right” look…oh well… I tried.

Anyhow, with that said…the whole purpose to going to Yoakum was to buy a tractor. We have needed one since we bought this land but had to work out some financial details and find the right deal. We originally were going to buy a new tractor but the prices and the length of the loan made us change our mind. Anyhow, we have been searching for some time and found the perfect deal. We got the Ford 3000 Diesel with a 7 ft. Ford shredder, post hole digger, boom, and fork to lift round bales. The tractor was totally redone ~5 years ago and has had one owner. The guy was sad to see it leave and mentioned we better load it before he changes his mind. Anyhow, we are excited to get a tractor w/in our budget and does the work we need to do around our property. Yea! It will be so nice not to beg, plea, bower and pay to use a tractor. We wanted one with a front end loader, but just couldn’t find one w/in our budget. In the meantime this will do the jobs we need to get done.

Well, hunger is taking over and I have 2 more hours so I’m going to go so I can watch Seabiscuit and hopefully keep my mind off of the hunger and thirst. Oh, the joys of be being pregnant.
TTY

Crazy, Sexy Cancer

I watched an inspiring woman this morning talk about her life with cancer. She is my age and she has cancer throughout her liver as well as other organs. I believe 3 in all. Having cancer in your family changes you and anytime you find something inspiring you want to cling to it. Anyhow, I loved this woman's energy and zest for life.

I watched my Mom struggle with cancer and then my mother-in-law, Nancy struggle with cancer and the side effects of it and it hurts me. She is so full of life and the desire to live but at peace with who she is and where she is. Anyhow, I plan to share this blog with her and thought it was too good not to share with all of you. I hope you enjoy it. I have added it to my favorite web pages so you can find it easily. I hope you enjoy it! http://crazysexycancer.blogspot.com/

I also watched Operah (I know, I need to get out more...) about foods. I know the foods you eat really make a difference in your life and how you feel. However, I don't like cooking. So, We don't eat as well as we could. I do my vegetables and fruits throughout the day, but our meals are not always that solid when it comes to nutritional value. Also, Ryan is much like a kid when it comes to eating his fruits and veggies.

Anyhow, Jessica Seinfeld has a book called Deceptively Delicious. She gives you recipes that include pureed veggies that are put into everyday foods such as brownies, chicken nuggets, deviled eggs, etc. I plan to check this book out as well and thought I would share it with you as well incase you haven't heard about it. What a great way to insure you and your family are getting the vegetables they need to stay healthy and strong! HEre is the web page if you want to check it out... http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/

Have a great weekend!

Boredom

Ok, for all my working friends I know that is the last thing you want to hear from me. But I am sooooo bored. I feel trapped at our house and it sucks. With cost of fuel so high and demand for a shoer low it sure keeps this girl home and I hate it. I loved June cause it was busy and there were so many projects going on. It felt so good to get it done but now I'm just sitting here thinking there is no way I could be a stay at home mom....no way! I like work, I like the adult interaction, I like getting out of my house. So, I am trying to make the best of my boredom by coming up to the church so I can use their DSL. Ya, that is really the highlight of my day. So sad...

The time off is wonderful and I do appreciate it but I am not meant to be a house wife and I hate doing housewife duties...I sure do miss riding my horses too. We have all these horses and none of them get ridden. All I can do is sit and look at them. It sucks. Well, I work them in the round pen too if I know they'll behave. That is the highlight of my day. Oh what a thrill...I say with a lot of sarcasm. Good thing I'm almost into my 3rd trimester. I can do it...right??!!

Oh, and my glucose test came back a little high so I get the pleasure of going to the hospital and drinking some juice and then sit there for three hours while they pull blood from me every hour...I'm dreading that as well cause I am an eater and the thought of not eating for nearly 12 hrs frightens me. Hopefully it will go well and I won't have to go on some stupid diet...

Everything else with Shelby is going well and moving along. She must be bored too, just sitting in there pounding on my belly all day. I feel her pain...instead of Mom's belly though I may start banging my head against the wall.

Tuesday

Nothing too exciting to share today, but thought I would write something anyhow. It was good to finish the fence this past weekend. All we need to do is purchase some gates and then our horses won't be able to access the road, which is GREAT since we live on a very busy road. We will then fence of the left side of our front yard so we can create another pasture there. For now, it will be electric fence until we can afford to put in the field fence. Needless to say, it may be a while with the arrival of Shelby in October. That is ok though.

Today I worked on the computer room. It has been a disaster for some time so it was good to get it organized. I had to move our coffee table and our couch table out of the room though to create some space for the toys and other baby accessories we will need in a few months. Not sure what Ryan will think of the change. We both don't like clutter, so we'll see what he thinks. I moved the tables to the living room . I believe the couch table will work, but I"m not sure about the coffee table. I may have to move that to another room. Small houses are easier to keep up on but they do limit what you by the lack of space. This is normally ok with me since I like to keep everything simple, but I really like these tables and like to use them.

Now...what will my next project be? I'm so enjoying having the summer off to get projects done I never have time or the energy to do. Normally I'm working or riding...so the house gets neglected. I guess the time I spend in here during the hot days pays off cause boy am I accomplishing a lot.

4th of July

It is hard to believe my summer is half over already. Wow, where does the time go? I'm also 26 weeks today. Again, where does the time go? I thought these 9 months would go by slowly since I'm not riding, but they really haven't. Shelby grows more and more and Ryan and I get more and more excited for her to arrive. Yesterday we registered at Target. We had already registered at Babies R Us so compared to that place Target was a easy. They don't have near the selection, but they have all the staples. While we were there we found two really cute Onsies we had to have. One says "Daddy's Girl" and the other one says something like "Treat me like the Queen I am" or something cute like that. So we had to buy them. Since I have 6 nephews I haven't really looked much at the girl's clothes. Now, I'm not a girly girl as you know but man do they have some REALLY cute girlie girl things for babies! Ryan gave me a hard time yesterday about how she was going to be with him and she can't wear all those dresses, etc. I told him they can get dirty, it doesn't matter. :)

We had plans to go to Sergeant this weekend for one night to hang with some friends by the beach but other plans arised so we are going to stay around here. Ryan had to work today, Eloy is supposed to come tomorrow to help us finish our fence in the front yard and Ryan has to work cows on Sunday.

We got the small lawn mower fixed so I worked on the lawn this morning. Part of it was too wet yet so I have to wait til this evening to finish it. It grows so fast it is hard for that little 1989 Murray to cut through the high grass when it is wet.

We also worked the horses last night. Bobalou is coming along so nicely. We saddled and bitted (sp?) him up last night. Ryan worked him to get the edge off then i worked on the slow ground work. I worked on flexing his neck to the side so he'll turn easily when Ryan gets on him. I also worked on using the bit to back him up from the ground. Finally, I worked on using the workng stick to cue him to go forward so he gets used to our legs being in that area. He was a champ. I was going to work with him using Ryan's team rope so he could adjust to that as well but he did so well I decided to let that go until another day. I'll probably work him 2-3 more times and then Ryan will begin putting weight in the saddle so he gets used to that. We hope to have him ready for Ryan to work cattle this fall. Then, barrels this winter when I can ride again! YAHOO!

I also worked Mito. Ryan wants to start working him on break away since we want to sell him as an all around. So, I introduced Ryan's rope to him. He was nervous, but trusted me and settled down once he realized the rope didn't have any teeth. :) I'm hoping a few more days of that and Ryan will be able to get on him and get him adjusted to the rope sounds, etc from atop.

Ryan also worked Cayce, his outside horse (he is not ours...we have him in for training). He did GREAT. Ryan loped him yesterday and Cayce did great. He looked very relaxed. So, the next step is to take him out of the round pen and into the pasture....then off to the arena to track cattle, etc.

It is a great feeling to see such success in your horses! We are so blessed!

Well, that is it for now. I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July! God Bless America and all our wonderful troops who protect us here and abroad.

Bigger Bump

Here is another picture to enjoy. I am slowly growing. Shelby stretches from one side of me to the other. This was taken yesterday. We had a funeral to go to and I was dressed up and looked half way decent so I thought I would take a picture to share with you all. I'm just about 6 months along now and Shelby gets more active each day. It is still so much fun to watch her grow and see her move.

Enjoy the pictures!

Editors Note: I hope I don't look this awkaward all the time! HA...I'm going to blame it on the design of the shirt...and I thought this shirt looked good on me...from this angle...not so much!