Happy Halloween!

John and I decorated the front porch and yard yesterday for Halloween. We have another thing or two we may add, but if I don't post pictures now they won't get posted before Halloween. It looks very cool at night with the lights on, strobe light going, and scary music we have playing. Thank goodness we both love Halloween so much or we might think the other person was weird!

We also carved our pumpkins while we watched college football. John's pumpkin is on the left and mine is on the right. Today I'm roasting the pumpkin seeds so we can snack on them this week. Yum Yum!!

Guess who's feeling better?

Oakley had a pretty rough week last week dealing with his stomach "bug". He started off taking 14 pills a day and within a day or two we started to see our happy dog again. But for those first few days...there was NOTHING to smile about.

Thankfully we've just got 2 days left of antibiotic (down to 2 pills a day) and we've got our happy, smiling Oakley back. We love you little guy!

Week 17 Update

Here's the update on what is going on with Baby McGowan now that we're 17 weeks along!

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Baby McGowan visits the doctor again

I went to the doctor again on Thursday to have Baby McGowan checked on. The doctor said things are looking great and we are right on schedule. The heartbeat was nice and strong again and still a speedy 162 beats per minute. The nurse said if the old wives tale stands true we'll have a little girl joining our family in April. They took some blood from me to run a QUAD screen to measure the levels of four substances produced by the fetus and passed into my bloodstream. It is routine procedure and the results will let us know if the baby is at higher risk for any type of birth defects. The doctor said my blood pressure was great (110/70), I was measuring just right, and weight gain is great (no weight gain so far!!). I go for my next appointment on November 18th and then we go to the hospital for the ultrasound on the 20th. And in between those two appointments on the 19th John and I will celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary! Lots to celebrate this year!!

4 Months Down.....5 To Go!!

We had an eventful weekend here at the McGowan house. Saturday John and I drove up to College Station to watch the Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech football game. After a very fun and exciting first quarter...the Aggies decided to stop playing and let Tech kill them 43-25. It's sad to see my Aggies playing the way they are this season, but I'm excited for John that the Raiders are having their first undefeated season since 1976. We had great seats, we were up high, but were able to see everything.

Sunday we had plans to go to the Renaissance Festival with some friends, but Oakley got very sick and we spent the morning at the Animal Hospital instead. Diagnosis.....a parasite in his small intestine. Needless to say, things got pretty gross around here on Sunday...and I'll just leave it at that. $300.00 later and with enough pills to open our own pharmacy we were headed home with our boy. He's doing much better now and on the road to recovery. Hopefully he'll be back to himself soon!

Also.....we are now 16 weeks pregnant!! Here is what is going on with Baby McGowan:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

I go back to the doctor again this Thursday. I'll post how it goes...can't wait to hear that little heartbeat again!

We are SO proud of Oakley!!

Oakley had his last "Puppy Training" class at PetSmart Thursday night. Our trainer took him through all of his exercises and annouced that he was going to graduate! He's nowhere near trained (sorry Oakley) but we're on our way. We need to practice his puppy skills through December and then look at enrolling him in an intermediate class in January. Hopefully we can get him through that class before he baby comes in April. He's got a lot of growing up to still do, but we couldn't be prouder of our little man! Congrats Oakley!!!

15 Weeks and going strong!

I receive weekly updates from www.babycenter.com and thought it would be fun to add them to the blog. Here is my 15 week update!

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

I can't belive how quickly this little one is growing! Hopefully he/she won't be shy on November 20th and we'll be able to find out who this little person is going to be!

BIG shopping day!

My mom raised me well....my whole life I'm always looking for a deal. I love sales, coupons, half-off, it just makes my pulse quicken. Some people may call it being frugal, some people would call it cheap, I think it is smart!

Today was The Woodlands Flea Market in Town Center. Because garage sales aren't allowed in The Woodlands, twice a year they have a community flea market where people can buy spots to sell their items. For years mom and I have been going to the flea market together. We've never really gone in search of anything in particular, mostly just deals or things we can use in our classrooms. But we've always said that when I have a baby we have to go because so many people are selling amazing baby gear at LOW prices. There is just SO much to buy for the baby, if people are selling gently used things for less than the store is, I'd have to be crazy to pay full price.

We got there right at 7:00am this morning when they opened the gates. All I can say is I'm exhausted, but we did GREAT!!! Check out the great deals we got!

Fisher Price Bouncer

Retail Price: $54.99 I bought it today for: $25.00

Fisher Price Floor Mat

Retail Price: $65.99 I bought it today for: $30.00

Fisher Price Jumparoo

Retail Price: $89.99 I bought today for $45.00

Fisher Price Swing

Retail Price $139.99 I bought today for $50.00

Total retail value of today's purchases: $350.96

Total amount we spent today: $150.00

That is a savings of $200.96!!!!

Since we were on such a roll, we went ahead and bought the crib and dresser/changing table today. John and I had finally found a set we loved, only to find out it was VERY hard to find in Houston. We found the crib at one store and the dresser at another. I swear, driving around town today my mom and I saw parts of the greater Houston area we didn't know existed. Here are the furniture pieces we bought today.

We had a VERY successful shopping day. After we bought everything we brought it home and took everything apart and cleaned and disenfected every single nook and cranny. All of the stuff looks BRAND NEW! Thanks for the help today mom....I'm exhausted and off to try to take a nap!

Oakley's Surgery Day

Poor baby, Oakley had to go under the knife last week. He's now only part of the man he used to be. He had his "little boy surgery" on Friday morning. When I got home from work on Friday it was so sad, he didn't even get off the couch to greet me at the door. He just laid on the couch all night and cried. It broke my heart, what am I going to do with a baby?!?!

He was pretty good all weekend while we were home about not messing with his stitches, but when he was home alone all day on Monday he must have really gone to town messing with it. So....back to the vet we went Monday night to get the dreaded....CONE!

The poor guy, he's had a rough few days. We don't make him wear the cone when we are home and can keep an eye on him, but he does have to wear it at night and when we are at work. His scar is healing so hopefully its just a day or two more until he can be cone-free again. Thankfully he can still give us lovin' with the cone on.....

Baby McGowan Dr. Appointment #2

We went back to see Dr. Brezeale on September 25th to check on the baby. This was a super quick appointment, I'm thinking most of them will be for a while now. The coolest part of the appointment was getting to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. The heartbeat has slowed down from the last appointment, but is still a quick one. At the first appointment the heartbeat was 188 beats per minute. This appointment it was 164 beats per minute. A lot of people are telling me that means it is a girl, others are telling me it means its a boy.

I go back to the doctor again for another regular check up at the end of this month. We have an appointment at the hospital on November 20th for our ultrasound to find out if we're having a girl or a boy. I can't wait to find out so we can start shopping!!

Hurricane IKE!!!

Oh hurricane season......

Actually, living in The Woodlands for as long as I have (22 years) you would think I'd been through more hurricanes. We have actually been very lucky, and living nearly 100 miles off the coast, haven't had to worry too much about storms.

And then there was IKE.

I knew we were in trouble when we got out of school a day early just to prepare for the storm. Then, when I went to the store....the shelves were bare. When I went to the gas station.....there was no gas. Then, I started to get a little nervous!

The storm came in during the night on Friday. I woke up around 2:30am to the sound of what I thought were bombs hitting our roof. Turns out it was tree limbs and pine cones. Our power went out at 6:00am and stayed out for 5 days. Then it was the wind and rain that started to scare me. I love living in The Woodlands....but that was the problem....the WOODS. Our house is surrounded by HUGE pine trees, and boy were those puppies swaying in the wind! I was sure our house was a gonner!

Because John works for The Woodlands he had to go into work at 9:00am Saturday, while the storm was still going full force. Thank God my parents know me well enough to know I was home alone crying and scared because my dad came to rescue me and take me to his house! If he had come any later, I would have been trapped. Our street completely flooded. Here's what our street looked like. Keep in mind, these were taken late Saturday afternoon.....after the storm had passed.

And the backyard......the first picture is what the drainage ditch behind our house USUALLY looks like, then the next pictures are what it looked like after IKE.

We've always talked about having waterfront property someday, we had no idea we could have a lake behind our house here! We ended up being very lucky. We did have some water come in the back doors so we have some wood floors that need to be redone, but compared to what happened to so many in our area, we are counting our lucky stars. The most we had was a lot of debris to clean up.

Thankfully we got power back, and a few more days later we got cable, then internet, and this week we finally got back all of our movie channels. Life is slowly getting back to normal around here. Hopefully hurricane season ends soon!

Bathroom Project----DONE!

Well this bathroom project showed me I am not one of those people that is ever going to "flip" a house. The two weeks that our bathroom was a disaster was enough to drive me crazy. The dust, the dirt, the wallpaper bits that Oakley kept eating.....was almost more than I could handle. I'm still not 100% in love with the bathroom, it looks so empty and bare now after looking at that psyco wallpaper for a year, but its growing on me.

Mom and I retextured the walls and painted them. John and I loved the color so much that we decided to go ahead and do our bedroom the same color....plus, we were never in love with the "dusty rose" our bedroom has been since we moved in. So mom and I added another room to the project and got it all finished up in one long weekend. The floor in the master bathroom, guest bathroom, and laundry room were all tiled as well. I can't believe we left that carpet there for so long. We are LOVING the tile! Below are the finished bathroom pictures...what do you think??