What a spring break...

I just realized this is the first spring break for me in I don't know how many years that I haven't gone anywhere...as I was huffing and puffing across weed-covered uneven terrain carrying a stinky, wet, dirty Westie today in the gray mist, that point hit home very hard.

Believe me when I say that walking two dogs that belong to you and two that don't on a country road dotted with fences they're not supposed to cross, horse manure piles they're not supposed to roll in, roads they're not supposed to cross, workers they're not supposed to bother, ponds they're not supposed to jump in, horses and cows they're not supposed to chase, a dog corpse they're not supposed to sniff in morbid curiosity, and a poor defenseless puppy they're not supposed to attack, in the aforementioned wet conditions, while so pregnant that a 10-minute walk fatigues you, is NOT a good idea.

Lucy was so covered in horse manure I didn't want to grab her (except i finally did when she came close enough), Ranger exhibited the worst behavior I've ever seen, while the aforementioned workers and one very helpful driving-by neighbor, looked on, and even Shadow--the good boy!--chased cows, all while Amiga, the local wandering dog, darted around and added to the chaos. By the time I got them all inside the fence again (even Amiga for a short time--she's fast!), all I could do was collapse into a chair on the porch and breathe. Three hours later, these dogs are still in the doghouse with me.

The new Queen!

Lucy snuggled into her favorite place: at the top.

Really, not much to report...

Well, like it says in the title, I don't have much to say, but I figured it's been a while since I posted, so we'll see what I come up with.

It's spring break here in overcast, muggy southeastern Oklahoma, and I'm having a swell time dog-sitting and keeping myself occupied while my hubby enjoys the spring spawn! We're keeping my sister's dog Lucy while my fam is in NYC for a glam spring break trip, so our house seems like a zoo right now. Little bit of tension between she and Ranger, since it seems to be Ranger's life's goal to sleep on the couch (he's always jumping up there when we're not looking, only to slink off as soon as one of us looks in his direction), and Lucy is quite used to sleeping on the back cushion of the couch.

NAME UPDATE: Ava, Susannah, and Caroline are tied for the lead favorite. You guys are not making this decision any easier! Good to know that our three faves have some support.

I bought a bunch of stuff for the nursery today at Hobby Lobby--Easter and garden stuff on sale means our little girl will have a nursery that looks like a spring garden tea party! I'm also going to try my hand at some flower and bird painting on the walls, so we'll see how that turns out!

It's really becoming ridiculous how many acquaintances, relatives, and complete strangers ask me if I'm having twins and/or if I'm due any day. Nope, still have six more weeks to go, people!

Stress level decreasing...

We made A LOT of progress on the nursery this weekend: instead of being a white room with only an elliptical in it, it is now a pink room with an assembled crib, dresser/changing table, and elliptical in it! Also, the closet is cleaned out, resulting in trips to Goodwill, the attic, and our brand-new storage closets in the garage. Jay lost a couple hundred brain cells on Saturday, what with helping his wonderful parents paint the nursery, and painting our new privacy fence. He didn't seem too worried about it.

Next up: moving the elliptical to our bedroom (which will require some rearranging) and buying a glider (thanks again, in-laws!) and a rug. Baby steps to a completed baby room!!

NAME UPDATE: Caroline is winning this one, folks! However, I've got a couple others on the horizon, so I'm changing up the poll again to get some feedback on my new current faves. We'll see if C.C. still emerges victorious. Funny thing: In Sunday's Durant paper, there were not one, but TWO little Ava baby pictures, including one Ava Claire!

Also, I need to send out some virtual love to our Southeastern Savage Storm men's basketball team, since Jay and I can't be in Missouri tonight to cheer them on to a South Central Regional championship, which would send them to the Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.!

32wks bump!

I'm a little past eight months now; I was waiting on Jay to get back from his fishing trip on the Texas/Mexico border to take the picture, and then we forgot last night, so I went ahead and took it myself today.

I'm starting to get a little nervous, as several people have surveyed my belly and said something to the effect of, "I bet you don't last eight more weeks," or they'll just give me that telltale look when I tell them my due date; the one where you can tell they're thinking, "Are you sure you're not due, like, tomorrow?" So I'm wondering how my belly can get any bigger, and also how in the world I will cope if Little Miss Mauck does decide to come a few weeks early. Her nursery is still waiting to be painted and filled with furniture, and I have only small baby gifts; no necessities like diapers, clothes, and a carseat! (Waiting on my showers to supply those items.) Ah well, spring break is week after next, so I should be able to get a lot done during that time.

As far as the ubiquitous question of how I'm doing, I'm doing great, except for normal pregnancy discomforts: heartburn/indigestion, shortness of breath, and trouble getting comfortable at night and the rest of the day. However, I'm too unprepared to be wishing this pregnancy away just yet! Weight gain is becoming more egregious: 30lbs; yikes! My staying within normal weight gain range is looking less and less likely (25-35lbs). Hmmm...perhaps my rationale for eating so many sweets these past few months (I want my daughter to be sweet!) is not going to hold up.

As you can see from our name poll, we've narrowed our choices to Ava and Caroline (that's with the hard "i"), with the middle name most likely being Claire. I'm trying to decide if I like the alliteration of Caroline Claire, but Jay likes the sporty, occasional nickname of C.C. I haven't succeeded in convincing Jay to like any of my crush names, Eliza, Emilia, or Charlotte, and he hasn't gotten me to liking Savannah, either. It's tough when we have fairly disparate tastes, to find a name we both love.

3-D video

This is only an average 3-D ultrasound, according to the doc. That mass of stuff in front of her chin and part of her face is umbilical cord, I think. Anyway, still very cool to see her features so clearly for brief moments!

3-D Ultrasound!

That's her, folks! Maybe now that we can kind of see her face, we'll know what we should call her. You know, when you get a new puppy, you get to hang out with it a little while and decide what name suits it, but not so with babies! I suppose some people do wait a little while though, including Jay's parents, who had a girl's name all picked out for him, but when he arrived, they couldn't very well call him that. So he was nameless for a few days. I've also heard stories of people having a name picked out, and then when they saw the baby, they changed their minds. So I'm really not too worried about having a name picked out and ready to go before we go to the hospital. Kyle and Audrey, on the other hand, have had a name picked out for years! Our little girl's younger cousin will be named Kerrigan Reese, such a unique, sophistocated name.

Anyway, I teased Jay that it looks like our daughter got his round cheeks! That means Claire will be a perfect middle name for her, because Me-Maw was always telling Jay how much his round cheeks reminded her of her husband Clarence.

Name Poll

Okay, I have yet another method to the madness of choosing a name--the poll you see in the sidebar. I change the poll as we change our minds, so please be sure to vote every time you visit the blog--you might see your favorite name every time, but it might be on a new poll, where I've taken off or modified certain names since the last time you voted. Thanks for your patience, and we appreciate your feedback.