Went for a check up a while ago- baby is 29 cm at 29 weeks...right where it should be. I only gained 2 pounds...but this baby feels like 10 in there. Blood pressure and heart rate is fine, and the baby's heartbeat was good too. I will go sooner this next visit. I go again July 3rd, and then again in 2 week intervals for a bit then down to the weekly visits. We will have an ultra sound again, but the doctor will not give me a date. So, yes when we get to have that we will find out the sex. Trying to start getting some of the things we will need right away here and done. I just still seem so tired at night, I don't feel like doing too much. Humidity found northern Iowa hard the last few days- and man, that has really drained me. So, I will have to try to work hard this coming weekend to get stuff done. Kent has been home each night, working over at the s Dakota border, but now working over at Hinton starting this week. He got to feel the baby with the hiccups the other night, he thought that was cool.

John got his L-SAT test taken just before his 21st birthday. Wow that was a long test, and he is relieved to have it done. And happy to be a 'legal". I wish I could have been with him to celebrate. He will find out his score on the test at the end of the month. Long wait for him. I will pass that on later when we find out. I can feel it in my heart, that he did just fine!

Kent has some new farm equipment- and I will share pictures of that later....it is late and hotter than you know what up here in this room. Time to put Bullet to bed and then me and the BUG!

Mother's Day

Geez- I almost forgot! For Mother's Day Jess and I went to Denison and meet Mom, Trisa and Shyann. We had lunch and then went over to Bomgaar's shopping. I forgot to take a pic outside the restaurant, so we took over at Bomgaars in the parking lot. It was funny. So, we used the timer on the camera for the shot. That was so funny. People I am sure thought we were nuts, especially the people who wanted in their car while we used it for the backdrop! ha ha We all wish that Lisa could have made it...but she had important things to attend at church that day. So, hopefully we can all get together this month at the reunion for the Bain family. I plan to go unless something comes up. I want to see lots of people! Can just make a weekend out of it all.

BUG Update

I don't have any pictures, just info for the Bug in the oven. I saw the doctor on the 20th of May and did the glucose tolerance test. I passed with flying colors! My visit was during the 26th week of pregnancy and my belly measured 28 cm. So baby is slightly larger than the week count. Everything checked out well- blood pressure was good, I had not gained any weight and the baby's heartbeat was strong. I still have very little to no swelling, which is so surprising to me. I am starting to feel pressure in the rib cage and sides. I feel huge, but most say I look great. I think everyone is just being kind. The baby still does not enjoy my sitting down. It just kicks and moves all day while I am at work, sitting at my desk. It kicks while driving in the truck. I tried to set the seat back further, but I feel sorta stupid- like I am cruisin' the hood, and should be blastin' some rap music. Ha I am usually still worn out by 5pm, but still truck to the lake and do a lap or two for exercise during good weather. I really hate getting up in the morning. Seems like even early bedtimes do not help. I am forcing the water still, and eating lots of cool fruits and trying my hand at making smoothies here at home. I can not eat much at one time....not much room in there anymore. Jesselyn and I made it to the prenatal classes last month. She swears she is never going to have children after that first night. (birth videos!!) I was over come shortly before class with the thought of being the 'old woman' in the group- let alone being the only person who brings their 19 year child with them to class as a partner, rather than my husband! Well, I was the oldest for sure, I swear there was a 12 year old there! And I was the only "repeat offender" tagged by the teacher. I had more fun watching Jesselyn and hearing her reactions to the info presented to us. Most of it started to come back to me.....so I have been mentally preparing myself to know that I have done this before and I CAN DO IT AGAIN! I hope that maybe Kent will be close enough in July to attend at least the first night of class.....I can make it through again, he needs to learn about what will be taking place during labor, and what I will be needing of him. Well see how his schedule goes. He is working close by over at Westfield, which is an hour from the house, on the S Dakota border. He is actually be home each night, but plans on spending the rest of this week over there. So, just will be me and Jess here at the house. We can do mac and cheese and fruit for supper!!! yippee!

Me & My Men!

May 15th we went to Winnevegas again with Rick, Karma, Pandora and Dana to see Jake Owen in concert. That was fun, and afterward he did an autograph photo session. So, here I am with Jake, he is just too cute. Then May 23rd we went to Sanborn to Geoff Klump's graduation party and Aunt Ruby snapped a "pregnant" pic for us.... and well, Jake is cute, but check out daddy to be, now that is my man!!

A Little Weekend Fun

Well, this weekend was loaded with some more fun.....we had the Rodeo in Cherokee we went to on Friday, followed by a concert by Iowa native Shawn Mayer. She was the 3rd place winner on Nashville Star.

Sunday was full of sunshine and
fun over at Jerry and Carolyn's house. Barb,
Jeff and Jack were here along with Zach & Kristi, oh and we got to meet Edgar the dog this trip too. So, the whole family was there. Including the cutie pie above, Morgan. We celebrated some birthdays too with some ymmy ice cream cake. The kids played in the pool, it was in the 90's that day, but the wind was fierce! I was not going in that is for sure! It was fun to see the part of the family that lives so far away, but it was just one day on their way to more vacationing. Bullet needs to take some tips from Edgar, he knows lots of tricks, compared to Bullets 3!

I took advantage of time spent with Morgan and took a turn at a diaper! I did okay! Kent played with Morgan some, but won't hold her....afraid he might break her or she will spit on him. What a dope! What are we going to do with him!

Bullet Blog Time

Bullet has been doing good. He is pretty shaggy from the winter still. He has a favorite new toy from G-Ma Judy. He loves that thing and we have to play each night when I get home. I throw he retrieves...sorta. He also has discovered the 'sewer' outlet out in the back of acreage. Oh my, he loves to dig, and he loves to play in water. So, you can about imagine what he looks like when he 'digs' in that water! Oh.. brother! Out in front of his shed, I think he is trying to dig to China. And, he is quite the bird dog. He can chase them down like crazy. So far, he has not tried to kill himself off since Christmas. He is just a goofball, but we love him.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

I was taking my daily walk around Spring Lake Park today and there was some new little ducklings. Aren't they just the cutest! Spring has Sprung!

Come to think of it, I think that I am starting to look like them waddling around!

Meeting Morgan

Meeting Morgan at Easter was just the hightlight of our weekend. Jesselyn was home for awhile and joined us. Morgan is the newest baby in the family. She is just as beautiful as the day is long. Just so beautiful. Morgan is Nicole's first child, Nicole is LaRae's first child and LaRae is the first born to Carolyn. Now that is a chain of beautiful ladies.
This is Paulette, Carolyn's sister with Morgan. Easter was just full of beautiful ladies!

While at Ed and Patty's house on Sunday, Morgan and I had a lovely little snooze, right after her Easter Lunch and just before mine! She snuggled in so much that I could not help myself but to fall asleep too. It was absolutely wonderful.

ZZZZZZ

BUG in my Belly

Help- I have a BUG in my belly!!! A Baby of Unknown Gender that is!

This week marks the sixth month! Can you believe it! My last doc visit in April, my belly measured 22 cm at 22 weeks, right on target. The baby's heartbeat was about 150, and I only gained about 3 pounds, for a total of about 6 thus far. Not bad for an old woman. I have a few 'growing aches' here and there, but nothing drastic. I have heartburn most everyday. BUG is quite the mover and shaker. BUG is less that fond of my sitting position- which is required about 85% of my day at work. I am not sure if my bladder and other vital organs will last thru a few more months of constant kicking during the day! Better an active baby than not I am sure...and I welcome the movement. Kent has felt it, and he just grins. I can see it when it jumps around, but Kent is way too impatient to watch that long to see it. He can only see my breathing movements...he is too funny.

I apologize for these terrible pics. I took them of me by myself! That would have made the top 10 of America's Funniest Home Videos! Trust me! I will see about getting someone else to take the others from now on.

Baby's First Photos !

This shot is from the side, head to the left, belly to the right (kinda looks like mine now!) and you can see the spine along the bottom there. The round-ish area in the middle of all that, that is darkish, that is the baby's heart! So it looks like we have all the main parts!

Like I said, I see doctor tomorrow, so we'll see about that due date....moving it closer will not hurt my feelings at all, but that is closer to Jesselyn's birthday, and at this point she did not really want to share her one big day. Places it closer to Tyler Burns birthday though. That would be fun!

First Baby Photo

Well, here it is....the first photo of baby Smith! As you can see, it already found it's thumb! We had the ultra sound on the 19th. It weighs around 8 oz already, which according to the tech, means it is 5 days older than thought. I guess I will get official word from the doctor on that tomorrow when I go see Dr Harrison.

Kent went with me, you should have seen his face when he was watching the screen from behind the tech! It was fun just to watch him, 'cuz I could not see the screen. His head would slant to one side, then squint his eyes, then his head would move another direction, and he would move closer. It was like he was looking at an alien or something. Ha The tech, Mary who is Liz's mom, asked if we wanted to know the sex, and Kent shook his head no, so I told her no, not now anyhow. So for all the curious if we found out, we did not. We may later on, but for now it is any body's guess. So, boy or girl, which ever it is, it was moving in there and sucking on it's thumb....and I did not feel a thing!

Hip Business

Harrison's office called and asked me to come in to see her...in regard to hip. I swear I must look like a Weeble Wobble walking around! I walked around the plant today while the guys were at lunch- that helps keeping it mobile- which is rather hard at my job! Sit Sit Sit.

Still Some Sort of Hip

Well- I had to go see the Chiropractor again today- and my left hip is still out and seems to be as stubborn as I am and just won't go back in place. So, I get to ice it 4 times a day, use BioFreeze and try to walk as much as I can. Going to call doc tomorrow for suggestions as to what we might do to make this better. I can not sit too long, stand too long or lay down too long. Rather bothersome! Not sure at all how it came to be out of place, who could know. All I do know, it that I want to fix it as soon as we can, it hurts.

City Lights...Women's Night Feb 28th

RJ Thomas girls had a table reserved for the Ladies Night Out at Witt- we had 8 places, so I asked my friends Karma and Lisa to come. The speaker for the night was Pat McGill, "Where is my Tiara"- so yea, those are flashing tiaras on our heads! They were a hoot! There was a marketplace with local vendors, a fabulous supper and then the speaker. She was great. Christy Batien from KTIV news was the emcee for the evening. We had a great time and brought home a lot of information and new attitudes with us that night. I encourage anyone to go see this gal if she is anywhere close to you. She is a good self esteem builder. I am a princess!!!!!

Front row is Karma, Donna and Brenda Back row is Paula, me, Lisa and Karen. You can't see my tummy there very much I guess, but it is stickin' out some.

No Baby Pictures !

Sorry ya'll- but no picture of baby- cuz there was not al ultra sound today- mis communication between me and doc i guess. have to wait for 3 weeks. everything else is good. hip feels better by end of day- we'll see what tomorrow brings- Kent was there and heard the heart beat- that was good, but I wasted his time, being wrong. best make some brownies!!!

Getting Excited

Well, gettin excited for tommorrow. Should be cool! Kent is going to be there. I will rush home and make copies and scan a pic to here- should it all turn out well.

I somehow put my hip out over weekend (think it was the vacuuming) and had to see Tiffany C to get it back where it should be. Ouch it hurt- was really tender and sore today too. I think it feels better already though tonight.

John thought I should remove the addresses of himand Jesselyn from blog. Safety reasons. True. I had a friend that wanted them, and wanted to welcome anyone to send them a Hello whenever they wanted. So, if you she want the address, just let me know and I will be happy to share.

Off to bed, lots of rest for another big day tommorrow. Been very busy at work, wears me out. Lynn Rochell should be back in another day- that will help.

Jesselyn Paige Racine

Jesselyn Racine
cell: 712-229-6975

Birthday: Aug 21, 1989

racine_26@hotmail.com

Family Update

Kent is working again, and is working in Aurelia. So he is home every night. He says he should be working there until summer. It is great having him home, but odd and unusual for us for this length of time. It has severly turn my habits upside down! He likes a meal each night! Salad or popcorn just does not make him happy like it does me. I guess that is ok- I need to eat well rounded heathly meals. He goes to bed early after being in the cold all day- this is good for me health wise and bad for me getting chores done. I have to find a happy medium. I dont think he will make it to Wyoming again this winter for snowmobiling. He wanted to go again this month, but this month is about to run out!

I started working out a Curves to build some strength and burn some of that middle roll that I dont need. Things are picking up at work. This week & most of next Lynn Rochelle is gone to Hawaii, so little more load to cover, but not so intense. Good to have business. I will get an office picture and post after she is back. You can see my co workers.

John and Jesse are good. Jesse came here last weekend to hang out and see us- and laundry! It was good to see her. I sent Valentine's packages to both kids before that, full of treats and sugar! I love to send things to them. Both have good grades, lots of friends and full schedules. John is still working at Barnes and Noble and really busy. His room mate is studying in Mexico, so he has the run of the place for a little while longer. I wish we could just jet back and forth to see ea other more, but it is so far to drive. We keep up via phone and face book. He is hoping to study abroad sometime soon too- scary for me, great for him- gotta make it thru. Jess is "looking" for a job in Ft Dodge, but at this point, why bother. She is already lining up summer work here. She is still considered an employee of Hy Vee, but she would rather not work there. She is going to work the pool again and has inquired about my office, RJ Thomas.

All seems well with family back home. Mom is excited, she gets internet hooked up this coming Wednesday. She is just as happy as a pig in mud! She learned to text just recently and is just too cute with it. I am sending her via mail- all the addresses for us and my blog.

Everyone up here is good. Carolyn keeps tabs on my too. It's good to have a mom in law just around the bend, she knows if the truck is home....something must be up. Soon, Ken't niece Nichole will have her baby. That will be fun, the first great grandchild in the family. She is having a girl. That will be sweet!

Bullet the wonder dog has not tried to kill himself for 2 months now!!! He is tearing the crap out of his shed. Silly thing! I have had to not let him visit with us in the house more. He does not like that. Poor fella, we dont want to go outside to play cuz it's cold. Those nice days we had on the weekends- Kent did play with him outside, and "let" him chase him around the yard on the snow mobile.

Life is good, cold but good. Wishing for spring.

Random Sunday Morning Thoughts

Good Morning All- even though it was another night out on the town for us last night and getting home late- I found myself awake this morning- so I got up started laundry , coffee and the computer. Interesting combo don't ya think. Many of you have suggested belly shots to me.....well, the belly I am unwillingly sporting right now is not so much baby as it is ME! I have to say that inactivity, beer and holidays had taken a toll on me and I had developed that middle roll. HA I suppose just a little bit in there maybe baby underneath it all, but never the less.....no belly shots! I am already wearing maternity pants, it is much more comfortable (even if they are too big). Low rise jeans just aren't the thing to wear for me right now....I found some baby doll style shirts in the reg selection at Kohls- they work well to cover up the maternity panel. Kent says in his too cute redneck style, just wear my bib jeans Momma, they are not so tight in the middle! So, ea and every day I fold up something from the closet or dresser that go into the "won't be wearing that for a while"pile- and off they go to the basement. UG My side of the closet has now become significantly smaller than Kent's side. That stinks. Currently I just need things longer to cover.

With that, I am eating my veggie Ma. As a matter of fact it is the prefered choice of food for me. If Kent was not here for supper each night, I would just have salad and bread, but he prefers lots of protein so I cook and therefore eat some. Nothing makes me sick. I have milk 3 times a day, try my best at healthy choices and keep something on the tummy every 2 or 3 hours. I enjoy lots of fruit too, taking in much needed water, cuz I am still not good at drinking lots of water. I do not see much soda, although i might have a small one here and there, doc says one a day is fine. I seems to have small bouts of heartburn each day, mild nothing horrible. Other than that I feel good, some tired. Try not to stay up late & wear down.

We are going to the doc on Wed (25th) for the ultra sound. It will be too early for the sex identification. Kent is making that choice- and he has not decided yet. I think he might be leaning toward finding out- we'll see, just when I think I figured him out, he surprises me and does just he opposite. No names yet either. He says we have plenty of time....yeah right. Let's review- found out in Dec that we are gonna have a baby and it will be the end of Feb any time soon....my how time flys.

Which that reminds me of how much I have to do b4 little one arrives. The list is endless.

Baby Update

On January 28th I visited the doctor, Pat Harrison, and I had my first prenatal visit. It went well, she said I am doing fine. We did all the fun stuff, back ground, weight, blood pressure and they took 5 tubes of blood. Hoping they would leave me some!

Doing well, and seems that the dates are still good. Due date at Aug 26th. We talked about everything under the sun, and I asked several questions. My age is a small factor, but my good health is a bigger factor. Since I have been "out of the business" of birthing babies, as doc put it, what happened before with John and Jesse, is really not all that relevant. It has been 19 years since I did this, it is up for grabs what will be. My body is older, that is what will determine what will happen. And me of course. I have been good. Lots of rest, water and milk. I eat the best I can, giving in to cravings here and there, but in moderation.

At the end of the visit we did find the baby's heart beat. That was cool! Sounds weird of course. Fast swooshie noise. I was right at 10 weeks the next day, and that is when they start to hear the heartbeat, but not always well. So, we were lucky and there it was. Made everything very real suddenly. When there is nothing to see or feel, it seems like it could be all wrong. But, it was all right at the moment. Kent was not with me, I found out after my appt that he was home with the flu. That I gave him. Poor guy.

I go back on Feb 25th for another appt, and on that day we will do an ultra sound to see the baby. That will be fun! Kent will be there.