25 weeks

exactly 25 weeks along!

almost the same photo but with dogs!

the most beautiful thing in the world is.......
a jerry j's biscuit
what would i give to have a jerry j's in atlanta???

well i am not 25 weeks along. some websites are saying i am in the third trimester and some are saying i am still in the second trimester. i realized yesterday that we have less than 15 weeks until the baby comes....that means we have A LOT to do. everyone keeps asking me about the baby room and if we have found the bedding, etc. oh! and one of the first questions i always get is whether we have picked out names...it is so weird but bens and i talked more about baby names a year ago than we are right now. i used to think i wanted really original names but now i dont know.
my top names before we got pregnant were: bayard, sutpen and early. all of those have officially been axed now! 10 years ago, it was original to have very unusual baby names, but now it seems like it is more the norm. always interested in bucking a trend, i am starting to lean towards more classic names. who knows...bens is a lot more conservative with baby names than i am so it will be an interesting discussion when it finally happens :)

cassie's wedding weekend

cassie's cat buttermilk in his wedding attire

me and laura, all of the bridesmaids dresses but mine looked like hers....i was 24 1/2 weeks by the way!

besides whatever weird crotch hold i am doing in this photo....it is a good one of us! i tried to crop it to no avail!

the beautiful bride! her dress was incredible and perfect for the farm wedding
on another note, once again, i am striking a weird pose...

sorry i have been a bit negligent about blogging for the last week. on monday i spent all day cleaning and getting ready for the wards to come for dinner. then on tuesday i spent the day making fig jelly and running errands for the wedding. i went down to waycross on wednesday to help my mom start to get ready for the bridesmaids brunch for cassie's wedding. then i spent the next few days cleaning up for mom since she was working. everything looked great for the party so it was worth it. the best part was doing the flowers for the party. i love doing flower arrangements!
cassie's wedding was so beautiful! i had to order a different bridesmaids dress to accommodate little bean. as you can tell, even with alterations, the top was still a bit big! the day of the wedding was quite a long one. i had been up since 7 am cleaning for the shower and was on my feet all day... so i was a little nervous about standing for the outdoor wedding and pictures in heels! i didnt faint though---so no attention was taken from the bride :)

the wedding was so incredible...they used all kinds of plants from the farm like okra, sugar cane and corn stalks. on most of the tables they used pecans and they were in the boutonnieres. since it was an outside wedding, we were praying it was not going to rain like it did for mine. everything ended up going perfectly. it was one of the most beautiful weddings i've seen.

on the pregnancy front--things are going well. we finally saw our new doc, dr. tate. i am so so so happy that i decided to change! not only b/c of the insurance issues, but b/c he spent over an hour with us on our first visit getting to know us. he has one of the lowest c section rates in atlanta and is an advocate of natural birth. during the ultrasound we almost saw the sex of the baby b/c we forgot to tell him that we were keeping it a surprise! it was funny bc afterwards benson seemed to wish that we had seen it! i have been really tired for the past week because i was so busy...and i have been growing a lot. i feel like i really have a basketball up front and i have gained 14 pounds at 24 weeks. i love finally having a real bump though! the baby is moving all the time and has decided it likes to hang out really really low, right on my bladder. guess i better get used to it!

uga v arkansas

well, the dogs did not really show up to play until the very end...and then it was too late. however, we had a good time and in the end we were glad we made the trip to athens. all in all, there were some good and bad elements-

bad
-walking pregnant in the heat...at least it made me grateful i was not 9 months in the summertime
- we lost...and played badly most of the time
-north campus was a ghost town...does anyone tailgate there anymore?
-i missed the gram parsons tribute in waycross and really wanted to go!

good
-the saving grace was our seats-benson's rents are friends with coach dooley's daughter so we all sat in the box with them. now i am spoiled for life: a/c, free refreshments, comfy seats, and you don't have to stand!
-andrew (benson's brother) was in town from ny and i havent seen him in ages
-ate at 5 star day!
-the dogs rallied in the 4th and started to look good for a little while...not long enough though

it was funny....before the game we went to sigma chi for a little while, which just makes me feel old. while in the bathroom, there were all of these 18 year old girls in line and they were all silently staring at me in a bit of horror...i think pregnancy might be a little freaky to drunk college freshmen! dont worry girls, its not contagious!

here are some photos from the game-

merlin and bear did show up to play...excuse the demon eyes, i'm not sure how to eliminate that.
they could be extras for the dead marshes

he is so cute. look at that roman nose!

yeah, i'm making a weird face, but it was the only one of just us. notice the wall of glass that kept
the a/c in and the 91 degrees out. thankful for box seats :)

andrew, me and bens. they dont really look like brothers...what do you think?

photos for friday

22 weeks i think....before we went to see a terrible movie with flake...embarrassed to even admit it...
resident evil:afterlife in 3d.

23 weeks. how much have i grown in the past 2 weeks? crazy! i have an appt. tuesday and i am
really wondering how much weight i have gained...i have eaten banana pudding every day this week!

with the shirt on, still at 23 weeks! well, 23 weeks and 2 days....6 months here i come!

with this blog titled three dogs and a baby, i figure i need to include more pics of my sweet dogs.
sadie was not happy to have her photo taken here!

no shame

my trustee photographer, carrie was out of town for this week's belly pic...so here i am in all my barely out of bed glory.
bed unmade- check
face unwashed- check
towel hanging on corner of door- check
confused and sleepy look-check

aint no shame in my game!

merlin catching some rays

bear, my ward for the week, has taken to cruising around on top of buddy.
when buddy walks forward, bear walks side to side to keep up. i dont think buddy likes it!

i just realized i hadnt posted my 22 week pic this week, so i hurriedly took one this morning! so it is actually 22 1/2 weeks. the baby is supposedly the size of a papaya right now and weighs right over a pound. it hopefully is growing curly hair a la benson and a small nose a la betsy! its funny because i am hoping it looks like bens and he is hoping it looks like me! however, i like to remind him that when i married him it was with the understanding that we would have some curly haired babies...or else!

there hasnt been too much going on this week. i have been around the house because i am taking care of a 'baby', my neighbor's aussie, bear. it has been pretty entertaining! he quickly figured out the dog door and is trying to keep up with the big kids. i think his favorite activity is to take out every toy out of the toy box...right now there are (counting) 18 (!) dog toys on our main carpet! as soon as i put them up, he brings them all out again.

i had lunch today with my sweet friend hillary. i think the baby likes spicy food because i had a fiery green curry sauce at the thai place and the babe was jumping around wildly afterward.

i am super excited about bumming around this weekend with bens. we have been either out of town or entertaining most weekends recently and next weekend we are going to the arkansas game and the following tuesday i will be in waycross through the weekend for cassie's wedding. so if i could raise a glass, it would be to bumming it up this weekend!

so many dogs!

an angel? dont be fooled!

with the rents

mumsy

lovely backdrop for a photo! but cute boy...

we spent another wonderful weekend in the mountains. this time bens and i met my parents at my grandparents place at lake burton. we had a relaxing time and i discovered the power of a recliner for a pregnant gal. man, those things are awesome. they put you in perfect position to alleviate any aches and pains. the weather was wonderful and made me wish fall would hurry up and descend on atlanta. if i could find a locale that had fall weather year-round, i would buy a one way ticket today. i know some love spring....but spring is too wet and humid. fall is where its at!

it is always crowded when i go and visit my parents. not because of the extra humans, but because we have three dogs and my parents have two! of course all of them are inside dogs...and bed-sleepers for the most part. one of my dads favorite dissension topics is how we are going to treat our three dogs post-baby. he thinks it is borderline irresponsible to have dogs in the house with an infant. hygiene is the thesis of his argument and allergies are his coup de grace. i know that our fur kids are going to be taken down a notch on the love totem pole, but I dont envision us (especially benson) relegating them to the lowly status of yard dogs. i think benson is still planning on them sleeping in the room with us...i dont want to make any proclamations about how things will or wont change ( i've had too eat my words too many time for that) but i will say that i am hopeful!

right now i have four super shepherds at my house for the next week. besides our three, i am keeping my neighbor carrie's 12 week old australian shepherd. ahhhh! it is going to be a hectic week. the pup is potty trained for her house, but i do not think it extends to mine! wish me luck!

vegetarian and pregnant

i tend to make a lot of life choices that causes my family to shrug their shoulders and say, well... leave it to betsy. whether it is as innocuous as decorating my wedding with burlap, refusing a white diamond engagement ring, collecting comic books or something with more lasting power such as majoring in african history, acquiring three energetic dogs, or coloring my hair an interesting shade of eggplant...i have been the impetus of many a raised brow. mostly, my forays into nerd territory, scholarly oddities, hippie sensibilities, or dogmatic causes tends to simply amuse...possibly bewilder...but is generally not a cause for concern.

i think that holding my eccentricities at arms length tends to end in the minds of many friends, family, doctors, and bradley instructors when the subject of me persisting in my vegetarianism throughout the pregnancy is stated...or heaven forbid...i raise this poor unfortunate child as a vegetarian! i have been on the receiving end of some pretty severe or concerned reactions about this...i do understand...most people have not read enough about it to know the health benefits and ease of getting enough protein. some people think i am consciously doing something that is hurting the baby--like smoking or huffing glue. i guess it is difficult for me to explain because i am so passionate about vegetarianism, because i cannot look at meat without thinking of the being it came from...but there was never an option for me to "just add some chicken to [my] diet".

so, for anyone who is concerned, or maybe wants to know more about being pregnant and getting enough protein and other important nutrients without meat, i can answer any questions you might have! believe me, i am being very careful. i kept a food journal to waylay the fears of my doctor. i seek out certain foods known for bringing the big guns to the protein table (greek yogurt anyone?). all in all, i am doing fine, and the baby is growing on target. yes, my kid might be the butt of jokes at the cafeteria...but it will build character. i mean, this child will be the progeny of me and benson...it is almost guaranteed a seat at the geek lunch table anyways!

yes, this child will be blessed...with ultra cool parents

21 weeks

ignore the unwashed face and hair. carrie takes these before the morning walk!