Cravings and Hormones

I'm choosing to share the better news first.

So, I've come to realize in this last week or so I LOVE Chick-fil-A. I've always enjoyed a chicken sandwich on occasion, or chicken nuggets when I'm in a hurry, but due to my current "condition" as Cager refers to it, I can't get enough of it. I'm fully aware of the fried selection of the menu, because that's the only side I order from, and you may be concerned of the potential of excess weight gain. Luckily, I've enjoyed the pleasure of morning sickness in a ratio over food consumption, so I've only put on maybe 2 pounds so far. Frankly, until my doctor tells me to put down the chicken biscuit, I'll eat until I'm content, or find something else to crave!

So, now to hormones and pregnancy. I've done reading all along at the ever changing stages of my body, and little Baby Nichols. After my UN-enjoyable first trimester, most all of the reading and discussion with my doctor, I was looking forward to my hormone levels stabilizing. Granted, I no longer great each morning with my head over the toilet, but apparently my body didn't get the message of the leveling out part regarding hormone levels. I've never been one to have migraine headaches, in fact, I can't really remember ever having one. I've always had headaches, but chalked it up with sitting in front of a computer 9 hours a day. But this week, I've had at least 3 maybe 4 mornings where the alarm goes off, and the pressure in my head wants to explode. Granted, I've had 8-9 hours of sleep, to only wake up with a massive headache/migraine. Now, maybe I missed something, but from the majority of the reading, the second trimester is supposed to be relatively stable, enjoyable, pleasant. Yeah, those somehow bypassed my house, and all they left me was a new surge in hormone changes.

Luckily Chris is doing a fabulous job as a husband to this hormonal wife of his. I'm off to take one of my new prescription meds to relieve me of this throbbing pain. The pill bottle is right next to the drink cup from Chick-Fil-A he brought home for lunch!

Best Friends

We are fortunate to have wonderful neighbors, and to make this even better, they have a Cocker Spaniel, Chex, whom Millie is best friends with. I don't mean they occasionally run around in the back yard together. This duo requires daily visits with each other, and they each get depressed on Sunday afternoons if the other has been away travelling. They share toys, bones, doggie beds, and they are even on the same type of Science Diet food, so they can eat at the other's house and not worry about the change of food.

Chex has been under the weather this week due to a kidney infection. Millie has been checking on her throughout the week, but this picture of the two of them is priceless. Chex is sleeping off her pain medication, and Millie is right there just in case Chex needs anything! Too Cute!

Renovations Completed!!!

So we have finally gotten the biggest part finished, the wood floors are installed!!! The first few pictures are the before evidence.

We are now the trashy neighbors!

Our kitchen had so much furniture in it, we were walking through a maze. The couch hadn't made it into the kitchen for this photo. I was ready to pull my hair out!

All the wood and glue Chris picked up in the bare dining room.

Finally!!! Looking from the kitchen down the hall at the new flooring. We previously had other wood floor here that they had to remove.

Master Bedroom

Living room

Millie getting used to the new look!

Dining room

Living room and new mounted tv.

Home Projects Update

You need to skip down 2 entries to have a full appreciation of this entry. We have successfully removed the monstrosity piece of furniture that used to house our tv in the living room, and replaced it with a mounted flat screen, complete with Direct TV in HD, complete with the DVR capabilities. I feel like I've entered into a new era with the ability to record tv. See, I have a love for the Food Network, which Chris doesn't appreciate at all. (Well, it's more limited on the nausious days, but still.) So I'm now able to record Ace of Cakes, which I can catch up on while I'm home sick, or just laying around. I'm loving this new feature!!! Plus, I just discovered this week, I can schedule shows to record from the comfort of my cubical at work! The power of the internet!

So after checking off the TV mounting project, it was time for the new shower enclosure to get installed. I must say, it is so nice to have privacy while showering. I'll post pictures soon. Oh, Chris also installed the shoemolding/quarter-round in the bathroom. So, all that's left is for me to paint the remaining trim so it all matches, and we are good to go!

So thanks to April's aunt who works at a flooring supply warehouse company, we were able to get a wonderful price on our hardwood floors, which will be installed beginning Monday. I'm thrilled to get rid of the nasty carpet, and I'm sure my allergies will improve 100 fold overnight! Okay, maybe not overnight, but I'm expecting this next allergy season to go much better for me. So last night, Cager came over to lend his muscles, since my are out of commission until after delivery. We have furniture everywhere, except for it's natural home. We will spend this weekend pulling out the rest of the carpet, painting the trim prior to the floors being installed to prevent any major spills, and moving into our guest room upstairs. But, in a weeks time, it will all be back in place, and I'll have new floors!

13 week sonogram pictures

So we went yesterday for our PAPP-A test, which is a simple sonogram and blood work from me. Nothing invasive, but this tests for the probability of Downs Syndrome, Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18. We don't anticipate any problems, but will know test results within 7 days.

So the fun part of this visit is, of course, the sonogram. Baby Nichols weighs a whopping 2-3 ounces, and is a grand total of 6 cm long. Compare this to a peach, and you've got Baby Nichols!

This first picture is a side view, with the cursor pointing to a foot, and you can barely make out the 5 toes, but yes, we do have all our fingers and toes, even at this early stage of 13 weeks!

Next, we have a diva baby picture, with the hand right above the forehead, and a clear profile view.

And the last picture is our favorite. It's a straight on picture of the face, 2 eyes, a nose, and a mouth, the abdomen area and 2 hands on either side. The funny part is Baby Nichols resembles Achmed more than either of us! Alien Monkey Child as my bible study kids have already named it!