Belly Pics

The latest belly pics. 19 weeks (and 2 days). :)

What can I say, we did A LOT of driving over the holidays! (That's what you get when you live 2 hours away from family I guess). :) I get a little bored apparently and Travis did a nice job of multi-tasking while driving. We got caught in the lovely rain--scared the crap out of me (the picture - middle/left - is my face when we started getting closer to the rain! Thankfully Travis was driving!). I forgot my sunglasses so the #20 glasses are what Travis had as extras in the truck. I thought they completed my outfit quite nicely.

Christmas at my Mom's

Girls, Girls, Girls!! There are always lots of dolls, purses, bows, and clothes when my mom, sisters, and nieces get together for Christmas. Baby Cunningham got one of it's first Christmas gifts from Grandma Holtman (also some books from Aunt Tammy). Only gender neutral gifts so far. Only a week to see if it will be more dolls next year or if we'll finally have some cars and tractors in our future! :-) Of course, either way is fine!

Christmas at my Grandma's

Every year we do a gift exchange of some kind, usually the Dirty Santa game. To switch it up, this year we did the one where a story is read and you pass to the right or left any time those words are said. Travis got the Sham Wow! LOVE IT! I can't wait to actually use it. I figured that once the baby gets here, we'll probably find ourselves with a few more messes than we typically do now. :)

Christmas at Trav's Parents

Somehow I didn't get a picture of Rob and Abby - except the EXTREMELY close up one Travis took, which I chose not to include here. :)

Other Happenings This Week

Last Friday we had a snow day! (whohoo!). I was excited but ask me how I feel come May when I am still pregnant and still at school. Oh well! Friday also marked the 18 week mark. I started the 'beat belt' as we call it (aka: Baby Plus - www.babyplus.com) because the baby's ears are now fully developed and can hear!! Loud noises can even startle it!

I feel very lucky to have such great friends that let me borrow baby stuff! (Thanks Amy!). My friend Annie is the one that started using the beat belt and swears by it! From there several of our other teacher friends have used it and Amy was nice enough to let me borrow it. Here is a little blurb from their site. (Long story short, it it supposed to help baby be more alert, sleep longer faster and adjust to change easier, and reach milestones quicker).

"The BabyPlus curriculum is a series of 16 naturally derived sounds that resemble a mother's heartbeat. The rhythm of the sounds increases incrementally as the pregnancy progresses. The BabyPlus sonic pattern introduces your child to a sequential learning process, built upon the natural rhythms of their own environment.This "auditory exercise" strengthens learning ability during the developmental period when the advantages will be most significant and enduring for a child."

You wear the belt twice a day for an hour each time and at approx. the same time of day. Unfortunately for me the 18th week started over break when I can actually sleep in because I want to wear it before school typically so I have been setting my alarm for 5:45 am and putting it on. Luckily, though, so far I can still sleep through anything so I just go back to sleep. :) From what I've read online, some are skeptical about the beat belt, but I figure it can't hurt!

We also had another dr. appt. today to hear the heartbeat. Everything sounded great! There was a lot of noise on the monitor, which my dr. said was the baby moving around, though I haven't really felt it yet (or I just don't know what I'm feeling...). The heart rate was in the 150's this time (140's last time). According the to the old wives tale, anything above 140 is typically a girl (the Chinese Astrology thing also said girl). I don't believe all of that stuff though!! It's just fun to play around until we find out. I also read that the higher the heart rate, means the higher the brain activity (?) so the higher the better.

15 days until our 20 week ultrasound to find out the sex!!!!!! (Jan. 6).

Only Me!

...as Travis would say. I was driving down the road today (minding my own business) and all of the sudden I hear this loud thumping/scratching noise. I was on a street that had a lot of branches down from the ice on trees so I figured it was a stick but had no idea! I kept driving til I could get to a stopping place and continued hearing this noise, wondering exactly what in the heck was going on. Thankfully we have such advanced technology today that I could take a picture with my phone to share with you all. SOMEHOW, the stick actually got wedged in the tire well (??), making a hole mind you, and was pretty much parallel to the tire. I didn't think I was going to get it out at first but had to actually get on my knees in the parking lot at the Shirk Center (at least there was only one other person near--I'm sure they were amused) and pull as hard as I physically could (while on the phone to Travis). After a few hard pulls, it did come out. Like I said, only I could "pull this off!!!" :) It reminds me of the time in college when I decided to drive forward out of a parking space, forgetting that there was a cement divider--thus I got my car stuck on top if it. I just had to gun it to get it off, only tearing a few minor pieces off the bottom of my car. And YES I passed my drivers test on the first try (and in the middle of winter!).

Megan's Baby Shower - (with update)

Here are a few pictures from my cousin Megan's baby shower. (She is married to my cousin Nate). She's due Feb. 2! Her sister is due anytime now (I think) and my cousin Abi (Nate's sister) is due early April, hence the preggo girls picture.
This is little Dayton (Abi's son) and one of my beautiful nieces Olivia.

I forgot to mention (and since you asked Katie), my Grandma made the cute cake! She used to decorate cakes on the side. She also helped me decorate the wedding cake cookies for our wedding. Some of my favorite memories growing up are of the fun birthday cakes she would make all of the grandkids. I'll have to see if I can find some pictures. My sister and I always had the barbie cakes where the dress part was the cake and the barbie stuck out the top. (? not sure how to explain). I think she made my cousin one year a hamburger cake with twinkies as french fries. She is so creative - though she would never agree!! I think that is where my sister Bridgett and I get our artistic talent. :-)

Thanksgiving at Aunt Sheri's

Here are a few fun pics we took at my aunt's house on Thanksgiving. I thought they'd be cute for our Christmas cards. :) (Click on the collage to view the pictures larger.)

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

I have started telling my classes the exciting news by playing a game of hangman. The puzzle is "Mrs. Cunningham is having a baby." It is really funny to see their faces once they have figured out the answer! I plan to have the kids write down some funny advice, baby name suggestions, and if they think it's a boy or girl and save all of it in a book or something. My friend Annie gave me that idea! I have already gotten some great advice. One 3rd grade girl said that "if the baby is crying, peek-a-boo is best!" I will definitely keep that in mind. I have also gotten some great names, such as Bob, Fred, Football, Soccer, etc. I do need some more boy name ideas so we'll see!

So far, most of the kids have said, "You don't look pregnant!" So, THANK YOU!! but it is definitely sticking out there more and more.

I did have a 1st grader ask, "So, how did you know you were pregnant?" hmmmm. My 'quick thinking' came up with, "Well, my husband and I were wanting a baby, so we were expecting it." At least she bought that. Next time I'll use my friend Katie's answer, "The doctor told me."

There will definitely be MORE TO COME with these funny stories!

Also, look back soon for pictures from my school Christmas party and my cousin Megan's baby shower.

Week 15

What is going on with baby during week 15?

"Your baby is about 4 1/2 inches long and weighs just under 2 oz. Baby's skin is translucent and covered with downy hair called lanugo. While your baby is moving quite a bit you are not able to tell yet until a couple of weeks later. By this time your baby may be sucking its thumb. (How crazy is that!!) Eyes continue to move to the front of the face but are still widely spaced. Ears continue to develop externally. Bones that have already formed are hardening and ossifying (retaining calcium) rapidly. If an X-ray were done at this time, your baby's skeleton would be visible. Your baby looks more human with each passing day."

My weekly email also said "you might be too big for regular clothes but not quite ready for the tent-style maternity clothes." SO TRUE!! Most of my pants won't button. I guess I need to decide if I want to buy the bella band (elastic/spandex type band you put over your too tight pants to hold them up). I just went shopping and bought a few things--a size bigger. We'll see how long those last!! It also said not to fear--by the end of this trimester, you'll look like a true pregnant lady. We'll see how 'fabulous' I look! :-)

Busy Weekend

Well, it hasnt' been too long and I am already posting my 2nd blog! whohoo!! I am having fun playing around on here. :) Here are some pictures from our weekend. Travis' parents came up and helped us do a little demolishing in our bathroom. You may have heard me talk about how our bathroom had the most hideous cabinets above the shower and at the top of the wall on the other side (or maybe you had the pleasure of seeing them in person). Well, the ones above the shower prevented Travis from actually taking a shower standing straight up (fun huh?). Not to mention, having a cabinet above your head and a closed shower curtain, it made for taking a shower pretty interesting (in the dark!). So, the cabinets are GONE!! We have a few things to finish up as we found paneling behind the cabinets along the wall and a few other minor details. Here is the latest. :)

Let there be light!!

I also went to my friend Kim's daughter Lauren's 1st birthday party today. She was born 2 and a half months early at 2 1/2 pounds. She is going strong as you can see on her first birthday!! :)

I couldn't pass up taking some pictures at Miller Park (near our house) of the snowfall we got last night! I was losing daylight but they turned out pretty good I think. Hopefully I'll get some with Travis and I IN the pictures next time. :)

Finally!

OK, so here it is! My first official post!!! I have been contemplating and contemplating about what to name this darn blog! I think this is about the 3rd name I have actually used! (Thank you Katie A.!!) I didn't want to be too boring (no offense) but most of the ones I came up with were way too cheesy. I even looked on different websites for help brainstorming, etc. I did find a pretty cool band name generator but none that really suited our blog. Here are a few random names it came up with.

• Lake of the Cunningham Mold (??)
  
• Skimpy Cunningham (oh yeah, that's us!)
  
• Green of the Perfect Circle
  
• Green Yum
  
• Art Fish

Check it out!! http://www.bandnamemaker.com

So, anyway, I am excited to finally get this blog going so I can post pictures and updates with me and the little one, and Travis too! Here is our latest picture from our last sonogram. I think I was about 10 or 11 weeks then. I am now 15 weeks!! I can't believe I'm almost 4 months along already. I have started to show a little, though I don't think the belly pic I had Travis take really shows it. :)