Heart's A- Pounding!! :)

This morning I went in for my third doctor's appointment - and this one was the first appointment where I was able to hear the heartbeat!!! It is always so awesome to get reassurance that our little baby is doing well!! The heartbeat was around 150 - and supposedly there is a wives' tale that if it is above 140, it's a girl (I had thought it was when it was above 160 - oops!) so it very well might be a girl! I still feel like it's a boy - so it will just be a surprise at the end!! It was just so much fun to hear that the baby is happy in there - hard to believe in 6 months we will get to meet him/her!!

I also was able to stop by the hospital where I'm planning to have the baby - they were so nice and gave me a tour and explained how it would work! What a peace of mind! I've been 'fixating' lately on some different pregnancy stuff - so it was nice to have a preview of where I will be during this huge life event! I was also able to pre-register - so when I'm ready, we can just walk/waddle/roll right on in!!!

Let's see - recent cravings I've been having (just for fun!) - tomatoes with salt, vegetable soup, guacamole, and grape juice - so random!!!

I hope everyone is doing well! It always makes my day when I hear news about our baby - so I'm a happy girl!

Love
Laura

Just past 3 months :)

Good morning! It's been a while since I've written on this! Ian and I went to the suburbs for Christmas, and it was great! It was so nice to be with family and catch up with everyone!!

Plus, we went to the Christmas Eve service where Ian and I were married - and saw Pastor Paul, our officiant, so that was awesome as well :)

I am just past three months now - yay! - and at 9:00am this morning have another doctor's appointment - so I will update you later today!

Hope everyone enjoys this week! Happy New Year!
Love
Laura

Home for the Holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ian and I are braving the snow, and heading up to the suburbs for Christmas :)

Happy Christmas Eve!
Love
Laura and Ian

2 days!!

Until Christmas AND the end of Cletus's first trimester :) Our baby is just growing up so fast!! hehe Cletus already gave his Dad a present and then wrapped a present for his Mom under the tree! (The gift tags don't lie!) :)

Things are going pretty well lately - I've been battling with a cough - so that's no fun! I've taken some tiny doses of a doctor approved cough syrup. But I still worry so much! If I didn't take it though, I would not sleep - and just cough for hours straight - so I hope the doctor is right!!!

We'll be traveling up to the suburbs for Christmas, which I am really looking forward to! Other than the fact that every time I check the weather channel for up there, you guys are getting pounded by snow! Crazy! Although we're getting ice on top of dangerous ice - so I think I'd rather have the snow! There are people about 20 minutes away who have been out of power for 4 days! And on these cold, cold days too!!!

I remember being about 6 weeks pregnant and thinking that the end of the first trimester seemed so far away! But it's almost here :) I know it's not a huge deal, but little baby landmarks are good things to look forward too!

After Christmas, I'll look forward to the next doctor's appointment (the 29th) and then I'm just so excited for when I start looking pregnant!

Happy few days before Christmas!
Love
Laura

Baby, it's icy outside!!

So, I am pretty much ready to go to my institute day - already checked for school closings this morning, sat down to eat breakfast - only to find out that our school was delayed for 2 hours because of the ice. Not bad, I'll still go in early, but I just thought I would have time for another post then! :)

Even though the ice is dangerous to drivers, walkers, and power lines, I think it is one of the most beautiful winter scenes!

I'm starting to tell more and more kids at school that I'm pregnant - mostly after conversations that go like this:
"Mrs. Bally, do you have any kids?"
-"Not Yet"
"Mrs. Bally, do you have any nieces or nephews?"
-"Nope...."
"Mrs. Bally, you really don't have any kids yet? How old are you?"
-28... Actually, I do have some news for you guys - I'm three months pregnant!

Then, the kids usually freak out, which is just so cute - and already want to touch my belly - which is also really funny! I can only imagine when I actually GET a belly how my students will just be mystified - One girl just kept saying excitedly, "I just can't believe it! I just can't believe it!!" Such sweet kids - I love them!

We have an institute day today which means short meeting and then I get to work in my room - so, I'll be bringing in some Christmas movies to watch while I clean :) Not so bad, I suppose!

Have a great day everyone - Family, I'm really looking forward to seeing you over Christmas!!
Love
Laura

Finally a new post!!

Hey all :)
Sorry that it's been more than the typical 3 days! (As my Dad pointed out! :) Since the kids at school are SO giving this time of year, it seems one or more of them gave me a really bad head cold so I'm feeling kind of out of it! Oh well... at least they share, right?

Anyhow - happy 12 weeks to our baby!! One more week, then it's the end of the first trimester! Now, there is a discrepancy between my count of weeks and the blogs, I believe... and I think the doctor agrees with me too... Anyhow, see if you can maybe figure it out. We count the first day of the pregnancy as September 25th - so haven't I gone through 12 weeks? Or am I just starting my 12th week like the blog says? I really hope I've gone through 12 weeks!!!!!

Today is our last day with the kids, so it should be a pretty fun day! Then I will get to enjoy Christmas break - definitely one of the perks of being a teacher! :)

I'm feeling much better, by the way. I only have to snack on pretzels once in a while, and I'm not nearly as nauseous anymore - yay!! :)

I can't wait until my next doctor's appt though - which is the 29th - to see how things are going!

One more thing - I found out that one of my friends who graduated with me through the art education program at U of I is also pregnant - due in April! So that's pretty exciting too :)

Okay - off to school for the day! Hopefully I will be able to pass out all of my presents to the kids before they send us home on account of ice!

Love
Laura

Like a little kid!!

I'm reminded of how SLOW Christmas arrived when I was little - and for this reason....

The end of my first trimester is on Christmas Day - so that is one thing that I am SO looking forward to! Also, my next doctor's appointment is the 29th - so in about two weeks. I'm anxious to hear the heartbeat again, and I can't believe it's still so far away! I go every month though - so it's not like the appointments are that spread out!

Anyhow, the days seem to go by slowly, and I'm just so looking forward to these days! Probably much like kids can't WAIT for Christmas morning!

It's still pretty amazing that there is a baby growing inside of me - I love it!

And to all of the family I'll see over the holidays - I don't really have a baby bump yet - just so you know :)

Love you!

Happy days! :)

To Ian, Happy Anniversary!! Today is our 4th anniversary, and I am just so blessed to have Ian as my husband! I could go into all sorts of mushy stuff, but I'll spare you the details :) Let's just say I love him a ton!

To our babe, Cletus, Happy 11 weeks! We're so blessed to have you growing inside me!! What a miracle! I told the teachers at school about you yesterday - they were excited! Which was fun!! A lot asked me how I was feeling, so I had to be honest babe, and let them know you're still making me tired and nauseous! But it's worth it - we already love you!

To all our family members and friends, thanks so much for your thoughts, emails, and for being excited for us too! We are happy to share this with you - We love you!

Have a great day, everyone :)

Baby... What do you like??

Hey all :)

I was reading today that sometime around this week the babe will start getting its nutrients from the umbilical cord - instead of the yolk sac. What a huge responsibility!! I feel like I should be eating whole grain everything and not even thinking about empty sugars!! :)

It is a mystery figuring out what to eat though - I'm in a stage where I'm hungry, but nothing really sounds good - not the most fun!!! I wish I was at the stage where EVERYTHING sounded good!

There is one food item that I am needing to have some self-control with though - and that is pineapple. I am LOVING pineapple! I think for the past 5 weeks I have been eating one whole pineapple a week... Anyhow! I would eat one whole one everyday, but I pace myself so it last for a few days... and then I go back to the grocery store and pick up another one!

So Dad and Linda... I was thinking... I would totally pay big bucks for some fresh pineapple from your Hawaii trip :) I bet that would be HEAVEN!! :)
Maybe it's not worth it though....

On a husband note, Ian has been such an awesome Dad-to-be lately! I honestly couldn't ask for a more supportive husband - Plus, he surprised me last Thursday on the way home from my grad class by putting Christmas candles in all of our windows - it looks beautiful!! It's nice to be pregnant when I can share it with my awesome husband! :)

Anyhow! Not too exciting of a post - if anyone has any ideas for food that might be good on a nauseous stomach, please feel free to let me know! I'm tiring of pretzels and crackers :(

Love you all!
Laura

Fun pictures

Hi everyone! :)
This morning my mom emailed some pictures of herself when she was pregnant, and I thought they were so much fun! How amazing that in this first picture, I'm the little baby, and now I'm having my own!

I'm feeling better lately - not as nauseous - just tired! Thank goodness for the weekends!!

Thanks for sharing these pictures, Mom!

Mom with Laura

Mom with Mary

Mom with John :) I also love how Mary and I look in this picture!

Double Digits!

Happy 10 weeks Baby Bally!! Three more weeks until the end of my 1st trimester - and I'm so happy!!! That day will officially be on Christmas - so what a nice present that will be! And wow - I can't believe that Christmas is in 3 weeks either!!

I've been reading that I'll get some energy back at that time, so that would be really nice as I'm so tired at about 7:30/8pm every night!

Last night was the first time I tried to suck in my stomach and just wasn't able to - nothing moved! Kind of a weird sensation, but I suppose that's just the way things go :)

Anyhow - 10 weeks! Yay!!! Hope everyone is doing well!
Love
Laura

First baby picture!

We saw a picture of our little baby today!!! It was amazing - so awesome!!! Ian and I were able to see the heart beating, and at first Cletus wasn't moving, but then Ian saw his foot move.... asked "Did the foot just move?" and then Cletus started moving and wiggling about like crazy! Definitely putting on a show with his/her arms and legs for Mom and Dad!!! The doctor said the baby looks great, and he put us at 9 weeks and 4 days - which means we're up for a July 2nd due date :)

To decode the picture a little bit - babe's head is at the top, then you can see an arm poking out, then the legs are near the bottom of the body :) Sounds silly, but it may help a little! Cletus is 2.84 cm long today - just over an inch tall :)

Just too exciting!!!!

One of the few....

Well... pretty much every district around us has canceled school - but Peoria 150 is still in session! At the time, I'm KIND of wishing we had a snow day, but really, I know I would much rather be going to school today than in June!!

Have a great day everyone!
Love
Laura

I think it's the Christmas songs...

Good morning!

In all of the retail shops - there are songs of 'Let It Snow' and 'White Christmas' and I THINK that just might be the reason that we are now under a 'Winter Storm Warning'! :) (not really - but we've had beautiful weather these past couple of days!)

Anyhow! We have 5-7 inches possible, and this is the first season where as a teacher, I'm hoping we do not have any snow days this year! A snow day during the school year means that we have a day added on before summer break... and I will be 8 months pregnant!!

So, I really hope that Peoria has their snow plows ready... they have had some problems in the past...

It is beautiful though!
Love
Laura

Thanksgiving weekend :)

Well... It's the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. What a lovely break so far! We've gotten so much done around the house - I should say Ian got a ton done! I helped out where I could :) Carol and Bob also came over and helped us out - with filling the cistern and cleaning our yucky basement, so that was VERY MUCH appreciated!!

We keep calling our baby 'Cletus' - so I think that's the name that's sticking! Our latest challenge is that I get a terrible cough at night - but I don't think that's affecting Cletus too much :)

First ultrasound Monday (I know I've said that 100 times!) and I'm telling my principal about the little babe Monday too - I think it's about time since I'm also bringing in a step stool to sit on when I get tired! I need something elevated so I can keep an eye on my wonderful students :) And I've been sitting on the whiteboard ledge - but I don't think that's meant to be a chair...

Ian's already appreciating little Cletus too - because I used to sing songs about Ian around the house (which he sometimes loved, sometimes didn't love, but always ended up whistling!) but now, he's let me know that I can turn my attentions to Cletus, hehe!

I can't believe Christmas is in 4 weeks! And I can't believe that was the last Thanksgiving without our little babe :)

Love
Laura

Attie's Song

*To the tune of "You Can't Hurry Love (No You Just Have To Wait!)"

Oh Attie Bally!
Oh, you just have to wait!
Cuz you're Att-i-cus Fe-tus and you're growing at a crazy rate!
In seven short months, you'll be in-n our home,
And we'll lo-ove you sooo much, because you will be our very own!
Oh Babe! :)

9 weeks!

Comments

I just double checked how to leave comments - and I think you need to be signed up for a Google or AIM account - so sorry for the inconvenience! But... maybe it's worth it to get a Google account for these nine months? (Plus, we will probably be putting pictures of Baby Bally on this website too someday!) Just a thought - but sorry for the need for another password and sign-in!

Okay... time to get ready for school :)

The tickers don't match!

Well...one ticker has turned to nine weeks while the other is still on 8 weeks - and I suppose officially little Cleat's birthday isn't till tomorrow - so we'll wait! :)
Birthday's every week - wow, as a kid I would LOVE that!!!

So an update on me I suppose.... I've been really tired, had a stuffy nose (which could be related to pregnancy) and just every time my stomach get empty I feel like I'm going to throw up! Terrible! I'm actually getting a little tired of saltines, and I loved them!! Moving on to pretzels, I hope the same thing doesn't happen with those! :)

Fav cravings: Lemon sherbet, mashed potatoes (yay for Thanksgiving!!!), baked potatoes with those awesome skins, and fruit....

Not the most exciting post - sorry! but that's what's happening over here! Today is my 'Friday' so I"m excited about that!

Love you all
Laura

Just some little tidbits :)

We've decided we're going to try out calling our baby 'Cletus' as in 'Cletus the fetus'... hehe... is that terrible? I could always give it a nickname like Lettie or something - which sounds equally ridiculous, but kind of fun :)
We'll keep you updated!

I love looking at the descriptions of our our little baby is doing! Here's a description of some 8 week activity - a few more days and our babe will be 9 weeks! :)

8 week description------
"This week of pregnancy your baby is a not even an inch in length, but about the size of a cherry.
Your baby's eye lids are beginning to form, but until their growth is complete; the eyes look open. The tip of the nose is present and the ears are forming internally and externally.
Your baby's heart has 140-150 fluttering beats per minute- about twice as many as yours!
Arms are growing, and wrists and elbows are evident. Your baby's hands and feet are shaped like paddles, while the fingers and toes are beginning to form. Muscle contractions are starting, but early movements aren't noticeable to you"

I LOVE that the heart is beating! So exciting!
My biggest pregnancy challenge this weekend was fatigue - I am SO tired. I tried to exercise, and I was able to exercise for 12 minutes, basically hanging on the elliptical during the last two.... my goal was 20 minutes!! Oh well - I went for a 20 minute walk yesterday, that was good! And the plan is to start maybe with 7 minute elliptical times and work my way up..... I read somewhere that after 13 weeks I'll feel a 'glorious burst of new energy' - won't that be nice? Because I'm just TIRED! :)

Thank goodness it's a 2 day work week for me this week - because of Thanksgiving!
Love
Laura

8 weeks!!

Hi everyone!
Tomorrow is 8 week baby bean!!! Hooray!! :) I was texting a little with Cory today, and she said that she could tell with both of her kids if it was going to be a boy or a girl... so far I can't tell, but I'll keep you updated!!

Carol and Bob gave us some baby name books today, which was so exciting! Carol is letting us borrow '10,000 Names for your baby' and then they also gave us 'Classical Biblical Baby Names'... I just am really partial to boys baby names from the Bible! :) so far, it's hard to find a girl's name that we like... We were leaning towards Emma, but now that's super popular, so some others are: Mara, Lily, Ella, or Emmeline.... any thoughts on those? I wish I knew who was growing inside me! But yet we're still probably going to wait and have it be a surprise! I did have a suggestion that Ian vetoed today - Along with Juan Jose Bally (an earlier suggestion by me) he has also vetoed Grover Big Bird Bally :) hehe... I laugh just typing it!

The doctor's appointment was fun on Friday - but I was expecting more I guess!! They confirmed that I was 7 weeks, 2 days at the time - and we met the doctor, so that was good :) The nurses were all super nice, and the main nurse was so excited for us! Which was pretty fun because you know she sees a ton of pregnant people, and it was just nice that it doesn't get old for her! Or at least she made us feel special :) Ian went to the doctor's with me, and I was really glad that he was there! Our first ultrasound is scheduled for the Monday after Thanksgiving - I'm hoping I'll have a picture to put up on the blog!!

I had my first true pregnant woman I-need-to-go-through-a-drivethrough-now! moment today... I was on my way from school to the grocery store, and honestly thought I was going to pass out/throw up/SO hungry all at the same time (that's my version of morning sickness I think) and so I just knew I needed to go to Taco Bell :) haha... looking back, ridiculous! but the Bean and Rice burrito, minus nacho cheese, plus lettuce and tomato was SOO good! Ian is now a little envious that I have an excuse to eat whatever I want over these next 7 1/2 months :) Glad to say that I've only gained a FEW pounds so far though! :)

I guess that's it for now - on the 'life' side of things, our transmission in the mini-van is quitting again, and we are 351 miles over our 12,000 mile/12month warranty - we had it replaced last May!! (grrr) So I am going to try to win them over tomorrow (weds) with my niceness... I hope it works!!!

Feel free to comment on this, family! I would love to hear from you!
Love you all :)

Can you say it in months, please?

So a question I always had was - why do pregnant women talk about their pregnancy in weeks instead of in months? I was always so confused when someone would say 'I'm 23 weeks' or '18 weeks'... I wanted to know in real-people terms!

Little did I know that I would count the weeks AND the days! So I'm not 'almost two months pregnant'... I'm 7 weeks, AND 2 DAYS pregnant!! :) I am totally counting the days - my mom was right, I have a feeling these 9 months are going to creep by! But I am always enjoying the fact that there's a little peanut growing inside of me! :)

Just thought it was funny how I'm all of a sudden obsessed with the weeks and days... when just a few months ago I would have thought, "Well, what is it in months??"

PS... My first doctor's appt is Friday!! (tomorrow!)

I love Granny Smith!

Sorry, I know that is none of our new 'Grandma' names! But my latest craving is Granny Smith apples - I think they've replaced my desserts. They are SOO good! I'm up to about 3 a day.... I hope that's okay!

We got some great news from our family down in Houston, TX - My cousin, Mary, is also pregnant and expecting her third child- due June 5th! So exciting!! I can't believe I still haven't met Dahlia or Daisy (her daughters) How is that even possible? (I guess it's possible if I haven't been down to visit...yikes!) And they still need to meet Ian - so hopefully that will happen sometime in the near future :)

Today school was good - we have Veteran's Day off tomorrow - hooray!! I did a little Veteran's Day art lesson with the kids, which was good because they had NO clue why we had tomorrow off... Here were some student answers to my question of "Does anyone know why we have tomorrow off of school?"

"Because tomorrow is the last day of school?" (my favorite)
"Tomorrow is Saturday?"
"Tomorrow is Halloween!!"
"It's Christmas?"

Ahhh.. gotta love those Kindergarten and 1st graders! At least they guessed!! Today was also the first time during the school year I've sat down during a lesson - The 1st graders were quietly coloring, cutting, and gluing their American flag... it was the end of the school day... and I was tired!! So I sat down at a table with them... I think they like that anyways :) And it sure felt good!

Another Irving (my school) tidbit...Today the assistant principal (who just came back from maternity leave) asked me if I had any kids... I wanted to jump up and down and say, "I'm pregnant!! So one will be here soon!!" But I'm not telling people at work yet, so I just had to say 'No.... not yet! Hopefully soon though!' which I guess wasn't that far from the truth....

Anyhow, that was my day in a nutshell - I had some waves of nausea, enjoyed the fine cuisine of Saltine crackers, and now am just thankful I can be at home and take it easy the rest of the night!

All the responses have been so much fun - It just once again reminds me how awesome family is!!

Take care :)

The most important people know :)

Welcome to the blog dedicated to our little baby!! I can still hardly believe it as I'm writing these words - How exciting! From everything that I've figured out, our due date is July 1st... so that gives us about 7 1/2 months until we meet the newest member of the family!

This weekend was so much fun because we were finally able to tell my family, and the weekend before we told all of Ian's immediate family - so all of our parents and brothers and sisters know! What a joy that we could share such great news with our families! Although keeping the secret from my family was a bummer, I'm happy I had the chance to tell them in person! Anyhow, families, I'm glad you all know!! I'm so excited for us all to meet the new Bally (who's also a little Van Geem at heart!)

There are two baby 'widgets' (weird word) on this website - one which shows a good picture of the little bean, and then one above, which gives a little description. It will be fun to see what our little guy/girl is up to!

Please pray, pray, pray that we have a healthy baby! The official safe date for us is a few days before Christmas - the end of the first trimester- so we will really be joyful on that day!!!

My first doctor's appointment is on Friday - so I will fill everyone in on that! Besides that - feeling nauseous and tired, drinking LOTS of fizzy water, and craving fruit!! Which I suppose isn't that bad :)

No pictures yet - but this will be the place where they will be! (The only pictures I have so far are of the pregnancy test - and I doubt you guys want to see that!)

Our families are the best! I'm thankful we have you guys!!!