19 Weeks

Dear Lil Boop,

This week you are 19 Weeks along, about the size of a mango.

Your momma is up 15 pounds total, it feels a lot more than that!

Disregard the imprints from the bed on my side, I had just woken up and needed to snap a pic before I changed out of my "belly photo clothes " (AKA my MSU t-shirt and yoga pants).

Boop, you are about 6" long and weighing in at 8.5 ounces. At 19 weeks, you are developing your vernix caseosa (greasy, white, and gross looking - some babies come out with this protective coating still in tow on their skin and some don't. Basically, it helps protect your skin from your 9 month bath). Nerve cells in your brain are growing and working on your 5 senses  - smell, touch, taste, hearing, and sight.

This week I am feeling:

• Huge. I still don't look "pregnant" - people don't know when they are talking to me if I am pregnant or just fat, then when they find out I am almost halfway there they are surprised. HOWEVER, I notice the extra pounds, especially putting on clothes I used to wear to feel foxy. Now I look like I'm smuggling a small basketball and need to lay off the beer and Cheetos. And "foxy" is no longer a part of my vocabulary, "woolly mammoth" is the Word of the Day.
• Pissy, Irritable & Sensitive. My filter is definitely non-existent anymore ("Well aren't you a f**king moron?") and even though I still try to protect my feelings in a lockbox, I still get them hurt easily. While some people think the word-vomit that comes out of my mouth can be hilariously accurate, I still don't pride myself in being a bitch. I just have so much trouble shutting it off. Facebook helps, because instead of saying the first thing that comes out of my mouth - which is SO hard not to do anymore, I can take a minute, come back to it, and think to myself: Thank God you didn't post that! I cannot wait til the hormones go back to a reasonable level and I can allow myself to function in society again.
• Charlie Horses: The past couple weeks have been awful about these. Mostly they happen at night. I read that this happens a lot during pregnancy and that they don't know why. Nothing I can't live with, just annoying since they happen just about every night now.
• Abdominal Pain. Sometimes I think I feel you, Boop, then I realize it is probably a muscle pain from stretching and making room. Sometimes the abdominal pain feels like cramping, other times I can stand up too fast and keel over because it's such a sharp, shooting pain. Definitely different.

This has been a pretty big week. First of all, your daddy got on his first plane on Monday to go with Thomas to Las Vegas to go to SEMA. His first plane experience was uneventful - THANK GOD. Let me tell you what, Boop, your daddy has NEVER wanted to get on a plane, EVER. We drove to FLORIDA for our honeymoon, and then again this past year. That is about 14 hours in a car to get somewhere, and 14 hours back. But that doesn't even take the cake. When we were in college we road-tripped it all the way to Arizona. I believe that was a 24-hour drive. So I am not kidding you when I say that your daddy has never wanted to get on a plane. It finally took SEMA to get him to hop on a plane, which is awesome. Hopefully in the future we will be able to board one together and I will finally get to Cancun! :) Someday...

AJ sent me this pic when the plane finally landed.

He is coming back tomorrow and I am ready for him to be here.

My Grandpa, your Great-Grandpa, passed away on Saturday October 29th. He has been in declining health for a long time and was being taken care of in a nursing home when he passed around 1 AM Saturday morning. Saturday was a tense and stressful day for my family filled with planning and arrangements. AJ and I stayed the night at Dad's and were able to look through old photos of Grandpa. AJ wanted to stay to be here with me for the visitation and funeral, but I told him I wanted him to go on to Vegas.

The visitation was Monday and the funeral was yesterday on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day yesterday and they had a beautiful service for Grandpa. He is buried next to his wife, Imogene, who passed away 10 years ago on my birthday. After the funeral there was a lunch for family and friends and I got to catch up with my cousins who I never see.

Here is a copy of his obituary:

'
Herbert T. McKinney

July 24, 1930 - October 29, 2011

Mr. Herbert T. McKinney, age 81 years, of Holts Summit, Mo. passed away Saturday, October 29, 2011 at Oak Tree Villas.

Herb was born on July 24, 1930 in Marion, Mo. the son of Thurman P. and Velma Lister McKinney.  He was married on May 11, 1957 in Dallas, Texas to Imogene Lipskoch, who preceded him in death on February 4, 2001.

A lifelong resident of the central Missouri area, Herb was a 1949 graduate of Mokane High School. 

After high school, he served in the United States Air Force until 1956.

He was employed as a corrections officer for over 25 years at the Missouri State Penitentiary until his retirement in 1979.  Herb loved being a farmer and helped with numerous farms in the central Missouri area, especially his father’s farm.

He was baptized in the New Hope Baptist Church in Marion, Mo. but later became a member of Central United Church of Christ in Jefferson City.  He also was a member of the Cedar City Lions Club and was a past 4H Leader. 

  

Herb enjoyed collecting antiques, deer hunting, and spending time with his family.

Survivors include: two sons, Brad McKinney of Fulton, Mo. and Dwayne McKinney of Holts Summit, Mo.; two daughters, Catherine Goser and her husband Robert of Fulton, Mo. and Diane McKinney of Holts Summit, Mo.; his twin sister, Clare Frances Meyer of Tebbetts, Mo.; and seven grandchildren.

Visitation will be at Freeman Mortuary from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm Monday, October 31, 2011.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 am Tuesday, November 1, 2011 in the Freeman Chapel with the Reverend Dr. Stephen Buchholz officiating.  Graveside services and interment will be held at Summit Memorial Gardens in Holts Summit, Mo.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Cedar City Lions Club or the American Lung Association.

          

Much Love,