Tummy Flutters

For the first time today I felt what I am sure was the baby moving. It began before I got out of bed this morning. I, ever the lady, thought I just had gas. Nope, it continued after I got sat down and started working on school stuff after breakfast. After several minutes of "Is it?", "No, surely not.", and "Maybe" he gave me one good kick. Then I knew. Those flutters in my tummy are not gas bubbles, they are little William making his presence known. I couldn't be more excited.

His imminent arrival has been becoming more and more real over the past few weeks. I have pre-registered at the hospital. A friend of mine brought me a box full of little boy clothes. Ben and I registered at Target for all kinds of fun baby stuff. My friend Jenny and my Mom are planning a baby shower. Even though I was doing all of those things, nothing made me more aware of the fact that he really is coming than the flutters he's making.

Neighbor Update

Well, it seems she finally decided that she would put the dog in his kennel. He's been there the last few days. I feel bad because he has no shade and because of all the tall grass I can't tell if she's even bothered to give him water. Yikes. Well, atleast he won't be biting either of us. We'll see how long this lasts.

Marvelous Morning

It's raining. The dogs are in the house and asleep. Everything is peaceful. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. . .

Nettlesome Neighbor

What do you do with a neighbor who just doesn't get it? Okay, most of you who read this have been to our house. We don't live in the greatest neighborhood but it could be worse right? Right. Well, I've lived in this house for 5 years, Ben for a little over 2 years and we've always gotten along well with anyone in the neighborhood we've come in contact with. We've never really made buddies with anyone, but hey, we don't cause trouble, we keep our place neat, and that's pretty much all we expect from our neighbors. Apparently, we're expecting tooooooooooo much!

The lady who lives in the house to the south of us seems to have some difficulty meeting our two requirements of not causing trouble and keeping her place neat. First of all, up until last week she had not mowed her yard once this year. Johnson grass in her back yard taller than me, (Not saying much, I know.), trash piled up beside her house that's been there since who knows when, various rubbish strewn about. (This past winter she finally got rid of the couch that was in her front yard.) This, while not devastating, is very aggravating. Especially when hubby works so hard to keep our yard looking nice.

She recently added to our frustration with her when we started noticing cockroaches in our shed that borders her yard. I'm sure they were having a hay day in that trash and tall grass. And, they started making their way into our house. WE ARE NOT DIRTY PEOPLE! Our house might be messy from time to time, it's definitely cluttered, but there is NO reason for us to have cockroaches in our house. Luckily, we haven't seen any lately. But again, very aggravating.

Now, here's the kicker. She has this dog. About the same size as our dogs. The dog is allowed to run loose where ever it wants. It doesn't cause any trouble UNLESS neighbor lady or her grown son are outdoors at the same time we are. If the dog sees us outside while one of them are out doors it will charge, barking and snarling. It's never bitten either of us, but it would have several times if one of us hadn't been paying attention. We've spoken with her about it and asked her to keep him restrained. Well, she kept him on a chain for a while, but he kept getting loose. She finally bought a chain link kennel to keep him in. Well, that lasted for about a day because he barked and barked.

Last night hubby was outside, spraying the yard for bugs when her son comes out to get in his car to go to work. The dog comes tearing across our yard going straight for hubby's leg. I was scared to death. I froze and didn't say anything in time, luckily hubby saw the dog just in time and sprayed it in the face with the hose and it backed off. Hubby got her son's attention, he got out of his car with this nasty attitude and asked "WHAT?!?" Hubby politely asked that he restrain his dog. I lost it! I don't know if it was pregnancy hormones, having the ever living snot scared out of me, or just total frustration with the whole never changing situation. I started yelling at her that she needed to do something about her dog. This is getting ridiculous. We've asked you and asked you to do something. If that dog bites one of us she's going to have trouble. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Well, she's got this real meek personality. She just kept saying "I know. I'm sorry. I know. I'm sorry." I finally got control of myself and said, "He's your responsibility, you need to do something." She hangs her head, says "Come on Bear." (The dog's name is Bear.) She and the dog go back in the house.

I feel like a total turd for loosing my temper. I was raised to be respectful of my elders so I'm feeling like a real turd for talking to this woman, close to my parents age, the way I did. Well she comes back out wanting to talk to me. She says that she didn't keep him penned up in his kennel because she was afraid he was keeping us up at night. Great, she's worried about our sleep but not the safety of our flesh! I told her that I'd rather him bark than bite. She agrees to keep him in his kennel.

Well, it's 4:30 pm. Where's the dog? Asleep in her front yard!!!!! Arghh! Logically, there should be some sort of law enforcement we could contact and have this taken care of. Well, though I haven't tried I'm doubtful that anything would be done even if we did contact someone. I've contacted the county before regarding my neighbor on the other side (who is gone) and her unkempt yard that had TARANTULAS crawling out of it and into my yard. The response I got was that there is only one environmental officer for the county and his time is consumed with illegal dumping. The sheriff's department couldn't help me. So, I call my county commissioner. After MONTHS of hounding the man something finally got done. I don't think he'd be pleased to hear from me again. And, regarding the dog, a good friend of mine who also lives in the county, outside the city limits, just like us, has had trouble with dogs attacking her horses. What she was told is that until the dog actually bites SOMEONE, there's nothing they can do about it.

So, I'm stuck between a crappy neighbor and a less than desirable situation with my county law enforcement. The question I have is. . . NOW WHAT?

It's a BOY!

Yep, hubby and I are having a baby boy. We went to the Dr. last Wednesday and had a sonogram. If you've read hubby's blog then you already know most of what I'm about to tell you. But, just in case you haven't I'm gonna say it anyway.

We had a 9:00am appointment thinking that the earlier we made the appointment the less time we would have to wait. Well, we sat in the waiting room for less than 10 minutes and they call my name. I walk back and the nurse asks me why I'm there, is something wrong. I tell her "no". I'm here for my 20 week appointment. She looks kind of confused and says, oh, you're supposed to have a sonogram. In my mind I'm thinking "Yeah, and that's what's creating all these butterflies in my stomach." So she tells me they put my folder in the wrong place and the sonogram lady isn't ready for me yet and to go back and sit down. So now I've had my heart up in my throat only to be shoved back to the pit of my stomach.

We sit about another 10 minutes. They call my name again. I go back with a nurse I've never seen before and I'm thinking that something is wierd. Again, I'm asked what I'm there for. Again I state that I'm there for my 20 week appointment. The nurse chuckles and says, sorry, wrong person. Same first name, different last name. UGHHHHHHH!

FINALLY! The lady that I know to be the sonogram lady calls my name and I FINALLY get to have nasty goo rubbed all over my belly. This lady, nice as she is, takes FOREVER telling us the baby's gender. We see heart; healthy. We see spine; healthy. We see bladder; healthy. Then she says "Well, it's got it's hands between it's legs, that usually means it's a little boy." Then she has the hardest time getting a good view of the genitals because my son won't quit playing with himself. Finally she gets just the right angle and says, "Yep, it's a boy." I was so sure I was having a little girl. I said "Is it really?" She says "Yep." and points out just what he had been playing with. Definitely a boy. William Gaston Stennett is on his way.

I was hoping for a little girl but as time goes by I'm getting more and more excited about having a son. First of all it means a lot to my hubby to be having a son. Then I think about my nephew and all of the fun little boy stuff, bugs, dinosaurs, trucks. Hubby wants to teach him to hunt. I want to teach him to ride horses. It's gonna be great.

Now comes the long, long, long list of preparations to be taken care of before William's arrival. So, I suppose I should shut up and go be productive. Wish us luck y'all!!!!