Wierd'O's All the Way...

So I had told Joanna that when I got home we would run out and pick up the last items I needed for Christmas and then we would go and eat dinner. This is the first time in a very long time Joanna has gotten out of the house after 5pm.

First stop was to Pet Smart for Blitz's Christmas bone. No real drama could happen here, right? Well one thing I have to remind myself is there is always a long line, no matter the store. So there were 5 people in line and only one lane to check out was open. Of course by the time they open the other lanes we are in the middle of the line and cannot get out nor would we have improved our spot. All seemed to be going well when the couple in front of us went to pay for their "wireless electric dog fence" with a check. When your balance is more than $500.00 they are going to want to verify the payment. 5, 10, 15 min later they are still trying to verify the payment, and Joanna and I are still stuck in line. Finally the payment went through, but by the time it had Joanna and I had gotten out of line, into another line, and were in the car heading out as they were walking out.

Next stop was to pick up my mom something, and since she reads this I am not going to say were we went. So once inside the lady asked if she could help and I told her what I was looking for and she said what size. Before I could say anything, she said "Is she big". 

Now I need to describe this woman. She was about 5 feet maybe 3 inches tall, and about 195 lbs, with most of the weight in her quadruple double D's. She then points to her self and says "Is she big up here", AS SHE RUBS HER BOOBS!!!! I had several thoughts that ran through my mind, but luckily for her Joanna quickly answered on my behalf. It was a sight I wish I did not have to see.

Finally we were off to dinner. Let me first say it was a slow night at Mazzios and everyone from the server to the manager wanted to tell us this fact. I guess they did not think we would have figured it out on our own. At this point Joanna and I want to eat and get home but since it was so slow, the server wanted to talk to us, A LOT. Finally at the end of the meal she comes over and says "We are so retarded here, we're bored and its slow" she then follows it up with "Yall don't talk much" Yeah, ya think!!! It took all my energy not to cross my eyes, look at here and say "Who you calling retarded!!", but I did not. Joanna said if I would have she might have spewed her drink all over the place. I told Joanna to grab her purse and let's get out of here before anymore craziness occurs.

Wow what a night....

A little catch-up on our lives!

Well, I guess I should post now and again especially now that I am feeling much better! Yes, I thank all who thought of me through those first 17 weeks of pregnancy. They were very rough on me and Bryce but I am glad to say that they seem to be behind us! YAY!! Miss Ruth is doing good. I actually felt her have the hiccups for the first time this week, which is a very odd feeling. Every now and then I can feel a movement and I am sure it will only get more pronounced as time goes on. I am still very small and skinny according to everyone to sees me. They think I am kidding when I tell them I'm half way there at 20 weeks! Today I went to Old Navy and purchased some maternity jeans and leggings and the lady asked me if I wanted a gift receipt. I told her no that they were for me and she was like no way - you are too skinny!! I guess I should not complain too much because in about a month or so I will probably wish I was that skinny again!

Well the school year of 2010 ended well for my classroom. Although it seemed at the last minute everyone was getting sick in my class! I only had 13 kids out of 23 on Monday and I had several e-mails that informed me that their child was sick with the flu or strep or the stomach bug - ALL of which I don't want!!! I am just thankful that I am not sick!! However, our party was very good and the kids really had a good time which is all that really matters!

I really can't believe that Christmas is in like 3 days! It just seems like it came so quick this year. I know it didn't help that I had to work until the 21st! But i can honestly say that I finished my shopping and wrapping yesterday! The rest is up to Bryce and apparently we are getting out tonight to finish his list! (procrastinator!) I am looking forward to starting our time with family as well as the food. I couldn't enjoy it at Thanksgiving but Ruth and I are ready for it now! I just might put on some weight this weekend!

Well I wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Years!! Remember Jesus is the real reason for the season and try to carry his loving and giving spirit with you throughout the whole year!!

Teachers go all out

Well as all of you know by now we are having a little girl, and naming her Ruth Lily Hopkins. We will call her Ruth and apparently I have been told that girls are more fun than boys. Not sure about that statement. Anyway since we were both off on Tuesday it seemed to drag the rest of the week out. Well on Wednesday when Joanna went back to work she had A LOT of surprises to say the least. Below are the photos of what she had waiting for her once she got back.

 

The sign said: Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice!

 

The Christmas trees had words that all deal with little girls!! SO CUTE!!

And now we know!!

So today has been a great day, but I think we both need to take a day off to recover from our day off. We started the morning at the doctors office in anticipation of finding out what this baby actually is. Regardless Joanna was dressed for the occasion.

It will be a BULLDOG no matter what

 I was doing pretty good calling out the hands and feet and spinal cord, as well as the heart (We could actually see the 4 chambers, that was cool) but we never could tell the sex. After seeing the baby hiccup, yawn, as well as stretch we were still trying to answer the all important question, instead the baby showed us this.

Coming to a Christmas card near you

  Finally after a little pressing and talking to the baby, the baby finally moved the legs apart and there we could see.... nothing. At that point the nurse said it's a GIRL!! Joanna was like great I've been calling our baby a he for the past 4 months!! Oh well time to change pronouns!


It's pretty neat that the baby has a name and now that we can put the two together it is becoming a little more real. Coming May 8th, give or take a day, we will welcome Ruth Lily Hopkins to the world.

I would like to just give all the praise to God because without him none of this would be possible. He has blessed us so much more than we deserve! I am just glad that we serve a loving Father!!

AHHHHH Holiday food

Well what can you say. The holidays are always a great time for friends and family, and of course the holidays mean time off from work! Now those are all great reasons but one that is just as important is the FOOD. Now I have to say most of us have our "favorite" dishes and of course we all say our parents can cook the best. Now with that being said my grandmother had the best dressing known to man. In fact if Jesus could have chosen the food for the last supper he would of had her dressing. See I know that he has had it now because I am sure when she got there he had her fix it for him. SO with that being said it is sad that we only get to "typically" eat this wonderful dish during the holidays.

So of course we had this for Thanksgiving and I make sure that we can bring some home because Joanna always needs to have seconds. Well I thought I had brought enough home for the "two" of us, however this was not the case. The "two" of them ate it all before I could get anymore. So what do you do in a time like this??? Yep you have your pregnant wife call your mom and see if she can make some, and you know what... she did!!! Yep had it for supper tonight. Ahhhhhhhhh, I love this time of year.

Tis the season

Well with one day left until Thanksgiving, Joanna and I did something last night we had never done before, yep we put up our Christmas tree.

We also successfully were able to get all of the outside decorations up as well. Yes we were the first in the neighbor to do so but since we only get to put it out once a year we thought why not start a little sooner. We still have some inside decorations to do but no need to be in too big of a rush.

Also for you viewing pleasure we though we would include another video of Blitz. He really is a lab at heart, he loves water. I found this out a few years ago, he loves to attach the water bottle, or at least catch the spray as it comes out. So for the fun of it this morning we caught him on camera.

Make sure you lock your door

So Friday after work Joanna decided to go out and do a little shopping. In case you do not have any stock in Kolh's here is a tip for you, get some. I think Joanna is one of their top shoppers. Of course they keep sending her these 15-30% off your entire coupon so she does some serious damage during these shopping sprees.

Well today while shopping she found a lot of things that she needed. As her tummy gets larger her clothes are getting tighter. So she grabs her clothes and heads into the dressing room. As she approaches she passes a lady of the Indian descent and can hear her talking to her daughter in the dressing room. Joanna can see that the little girl is in the last dressing room so she went in the second one. Now she did do the proper thing first she knocked on the door, and then asked "any in here", in which no one replied so she went in.

Once she opened the door the GRANDMOTHER, who was well into her 70's had her top and her bra off!! Joanna quickly closed the door and said she was sorry and bolted into another dressing room. Once inside the dressing room she tried her best to rub the image out of her eyes. She quickly informed me that "gravity" had fully taken over and it was not a pretty sight. She has told me that this image is burned in her mind and we are trying to figure a way to get it out.

Everybody misses daddy when he is gone

Ok so I am on week three of my 4 week road trip with work. The good news is, next week is my last trip for the rest of the year. This week I had a chance to travel the east coast and we ended up on our last day in Buffalo, NY. Once our meeting was done for the day we went to Niagara Falls  and took in one of the 7 wonders of the world. Below are some videos that I took with my phone.

However to top it all off was Blitz's performance. Joanna and I have found out that when someone Blitz knows call the house and leaves a voice message he goes into the most pitiful howl. It is quite funny to say the very least. Well this time Joanna was able to catch it with her phone and below is his cry since I am away, it really is quite touching.

Week 14, here we go

So it has been a few weeks but I have been traveling and while Joanna is starting to get a little more energy, not a lot but a little she is still in bed by like 8:15pm. I have been gone since last Sunday and will leave again this Monday for the week, therefore I have to make sure she has everything we need. Her appetite is still on a roller coaster, one minute something sounds good, then moments later not so much. You name it and I have tried or have fixed it for her over the past two weeks.

Also what you have missed over the last two weeks, Joanna's pants really are not fitting anymore at all. It is bad when I see her putting on my wind pants because they are "loose" around her belly. I officially got introduced to maternity pants and I have to say they look like they feel pretty good. As long as she feels good in them, more power to her. It was interesting when she was trying them on. She and I were talking about how they feel and I simply said to make sure they were not too tight because she had a ways to go and would be growing a lot more. Well I guess I was not supposed to say anything because the "other" ladies in the dressing room decided they needed to tell Joanna everything about when they were pregnant, granted they were pregnant when the model T was built, but they felt they needed to share anyway. At that point I decided to go and sit and wait for Joanna to come out of the dressing room. All in all not a lot going on. Joanna does have a doctors appointment on Tuesday but all in all it is life as normal, or normal as normal can be right now... 

Surviving week 12

So week 12 gave us a glimpse of what life could soon be like. On Saturday Joanna woke up and felt good. Never felt like she was going to be sick and food actually sounded good. Of course it turned out to be short lived. When Sunday came she was back to not feeling well, and the ever-so-lovely dry heaving. They say that this will end in a week or so, that is what we are waiting on. Well week 12 has also brought us some good news. We found out on Sunday that another couple in our small group will be having their first child as well. We are so excited for Justin and Allison, and as Joanna said, "I have someone to go through this with me". Of course Allison is not sick so she and Joanna cannot relate on that end but they are only two weeks apart so the other great experiences of being pregnant they will get to share.

No longer ski bunnies, but expecting mom's

It never seems to amaze me about God's timing. Joanna and I have been praying for Justin and Allison for a long time and when we found out they were not only pregnant but only 2 weeks behind us, we could not stop talking about it. It just goes to show you God is in control and his plan has been and will always be better then we can fathom.

Family bonding time

Who does not like Friday's? Well for starters Friday's mean that the next day is Saturday and there is nothing better than a fall Saturday. Cool weather, no bugs, and of course FOOTBALL. Ok so the doctor tells Joanna that she can still exercise and that walking is a great thing. Therefore all week long we have been taking walks around the neighborhood, much to the delight of Blitz. Well last night we went out to dinner and did a little shopping so when we came home no need for the walk. Well Blitz was not too thrilled about this so we did the next best thing, we played with the laser. This is one of the funniest things to watch, and after about 10 min of this I decided to get some video for you all to enjoy.

Oh and the best quote of the night came from Joanna. After she gets out of the shower she says "I tried to suck in my belly and make it flat, but I can't anymore!" I laughed, I thought it was funny! Week 12 here we come!!

All ready for Halloween

So even though you don't get the day off for Halloween, we still have a good time decorating the house.

Ok so I have no idea why the picture of the pirate is sideways, but it is so turn your head. This time next year Bryce will have a reason to yet, once again, go out and get candy. Mostly he stays at the house and "scares" the kids. Actually the dog does a good job of that by himself. When you ring the doorbell there is a streak of black and white that runs to the door barking and then, with his nose, moves the blinds to see who it is. Of course this year Bryce will be in LA for Halloween. I found out today that he and a co-worker are going to go to Universal Studios "Fright Night". Bryce went back when he worked at Disney World and to this day he still says it is the scariest Halloween event he has even been to. Why he wants to do this I do not know, but I have a feeling there will be pictures as well as plenty of stories.

Good-bye week 10 hello week 11

Saturday's are typically a day where Joanna has been so tired all she wants to do is sleep. Well today that changed and we are hoping that we are on a road to some kind of normalcy. Joanna was able to meet up with a high school friend for some pampering, see below.

Ready for Halloween

Then the girls went and had lunch to top off the afternoon. I fully expected for Joanna to come home and crash but she did not. I on the other hand started preparing dinner so we could eat and watch the MSU vs FL game. We also had my mom stop by and drop off some food from a family gathering. It is now safe to say we have enough food in our fridge to last a week. Oh and not to mention below is what we had for dinner.

Well of course dinner was wonderful if I do say so myself. Then something happened that had never happen before Joanna and I were born. Mississippi State beat Florida in the "swamp" I think the day had finally caught up with Joanna because she was no where near as nervous or anxious as I was. Well now she has gone to bed and we will see what week 11 holds for us. Hoping the worse days are behind us and the better ones are a lot closer.

Some B&B

Well Joanna now has an "official" baby bump. So now you are thinking AHHHH I get the title, well you would be wrong. The second "B" actually is for Bryce's bravery for giving blood today. Ok so I am sure several of you have given or give blood all the time, but today was my first time and I don't like needles nor the site of my own blood.

See as a small child I would see the site of my own blood and then a few seconds later I would have passed out. So I really don't care to see my own blood. I also don't like needles and the ones they use to draw blood could be used as a "shank" in prison!! With all that being said I did it anyway, but not for me, I did it for Joanna and the baby. (Insert here thought from Joanna - What is my husband going to be like during labor??!!)

If my company had enough people to sign up then all of those that did would receive blood for free for a year as well as their immediate family members. So since I knew the baby would be coming next year I figured I would make sure they were covered. The good news is I did make it through the process. During the process I found out that the nurse is related to Fred Smoot. For those of you who do not know the great Fred Smoot, I am attaching a quick link for your enjoyment. To this day Bulldog Fans still call him by only his last name and it is actually said SMMOOOOOOOOOTTTTT.

Ok I better get going I have to get the cornbread out of the oven before Joanna eats my arm!! See the photo of the baby bump bellow.

Fred Smoot talkin Smack!!

Doctor appoitment number 2

Talk about wanting to make sure you are there with your wife for the doctor's appointment. Typically showing up with her for a doctor's appointment is no issue at all, this week however was a little more challenging. To be more specific I had to hop a plane from LAX at 11pm west coast time and fly into ATL, around 6am eastern time. From there the flight to Jackson left ATL at 7:45am and landed in Jackson at 7:50am central time. Then it was as simple as driving home to meet Joanna and then head out to the doctor's office for a 9:15 appointment. It really was not too hard, the hard part was the ride home, just staying awake.

Now some people drink coffee to stay awake, others simple drink a soda for that quick jolt. Well my quick jolt this morning came in a form of hearing the baby's heartbeat. As the doctor asked Joanna how she had been feeling, which is still bad by the way, he then found the heartbeat and promptly said "well there is the root of all your problems". At that moment it seemed as if everything went away, no feeling bad, and no lack of sleep for me. Then Joanna quickly said "he is taking all my energy" I reminded her she still calls the baby a he and she keeps saying well it feels like a he. Not sure if there is any truth to that but I have learned not to argue with a pregnant woman.

Week 9 behind and looking to week 10

As you all can tell last week was not a good week, however today has been fantastic. Joanna actually had energy and wanted to go out today, so we did. We did our traditional "let's go to Bath and Body Works and sniff the new fall candles" Of course they were on sale, so we bought some. After that a quick trip to Kroger and then lunch. Once we got home we put out our Halloween decorations. We went a little more over the top this year with the lights. Our little tree in the yard is now covered in orange lights! Joanna loves it!

After that it was nap time and I caught up on the laundry before I head out of town tomorrow. Then she woke up and the cravings hit. Joanna wanted crab cakes, fried shrimp, or any type of fishy seafood. Now I have been good on delivering on all of her cravings, but crab cakes and shrimp are a little harder to find around here. Well after about 10 min.of being indecisive and looking through the fridge and freezer for anything that sounded good to her, she settled on fried catfish. Thanks to the Penn's being located less than a mile away I was able to fulfill that request.

Learned something new tonight

Well I have just found out that every food commercial that has come on in the last 30 min, is making Joanna sick! Nothing sounds good other than green airheads and pink or red star-burst. I heated up some chicken Alfredo pasta and the smell almost made her gag. I have to say though it was yummy.

Also to top it off Joanna had never heard of St. Elmo's fire, (classic 80's song). In case you also have lived a sheltered life as well, attached is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXSmXthmkvo

Cashing in on a sick day

Well today was the first day Joanna had to take off of work. Let me rephrase that, she never made it out of the bed room. Now the good thing is she is not throwing up, the bad news is she is beyond tired and really nauseous as well as dizzy.  So I did what any good husband would do, I bought all of her favorite candies. Since Halloween is right around the corner it is not hard to find. She has already had a few pieces so I think she is doing better. The dog sure did not mind the fact that she had to stay home. He was able to sleep in with her while I was the one heading out the door this morning. Nothing like having to get up and go to work when everyone else is sleeping. Oh well, now that I am home, back to the chores of cooking, laundry, and cleaning my pistol.

Week 9, and we think we found a pattern

Now let me be clear here, I have no experience in this area but I did stay at a Hampton Inn this week.

It seems that that the baby, which I am told is now the size of an olive, likes to take all of Joanna's energy starting on Saturday afternoon and all day on Sunday. Of course this weekend has not been as bad as last but she is really tired and simple task, i.e. putting on shoes, is difficult. Of course the good news is all she wants to do is sleep and watch football. Maybe the sleep pattern will work on the kid as well. I mean how great would it be if the kid wants to only sleep and watch football on the weekends. I know I'm reaching here...

Well the good news is she is slowly starting to get her appetite back. I told her the good news is by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas gets here she is going to be able to eat like a champ. Heck I get hungry just thinking about it. I also know she is coming back to normal because today she wanted some peanut butter M&M's

First trip away

Well as most of you know I have to travel a good bit with my job. Well this is the first time I'm having to do so since we found out about the baby. I am grateful that we have family and friends that are close by and they can check on Joanna while I am gone. Joanna told me she did not need a baby sitter while I was gone but I quickly reminder her that she has not moved from the couch in two hours. I also reminder her that if making the bed took all of her energy how was she going to get dinner ready. She quit arguing with me after that. I reminded her to save all her energy and use it while at school and when she gets home to do nothing more than rest. Thank you to all who have called, emailed & sent text messages to check on her. I think I appreciate it more than she does.

Week 8 is here and it is not so pretty

Ok so I am a guy so I don't pretend to even understand what it happening with my wife. Just when we thought we were on the way up, week 8 appears and we come crashing down. Friday night came and Joanna hit a wall around 7ish. I figured it was the week and she needed to rest so off to bed I put her. Then came Saturday, and Sunday. The lack of energy and the feeling of constant not feeling well all came back, but this time it came twice as hard. Again I cannot even fathom what she is going through but I sure do admire her. I am most grateful for friends to whom she can speak with. Let me rephrase that, I am most grateful for honest friends. Not that people are dishonest but for those that she can talk to and say "Yeah these first 13 weeks, STINK". God has put some AMAZING people in our life and I cannot tell you how glad I am for that.

We all go through things and sometime wonder why, but let me assure you the difficult time, the struggle, or whatever you are facing there is a purpose. The purpose may simply be to share your experience with someone else down the road, who is going through that same thing and they feel all alone. So again I say thank you!

Be careful what you say

So let me set this story up for you all first. Joanna and I have been learning how to balance our schedule. As many of you know we have 2 "kids" Blitz and Duchess. Anyway it was their day at the vet today for routine checks ups, visit, etc... Now most of you may know that our cat is, well rather large, lazy and eats a lot.

Well this afternoon the vet calls to give me the update, of course everything is normal, so no worries. He ask me how she is and I tell him "Well she is fat, lazy and sleeps a lot, what do you think."

Now I have to tell you in the office I work in, I live the life of the cubicles, and most of you know I'm loud. So imagine if you will you are my neighbor and you are minding your on business. Hold on, it get's better...

So I'm packing up my things for the day and a coworker comes over with this concerned look on his face. I ask him "what is going on" and he says," I think I need to call your wife". I asked why and he said "I overheard you on the phone say hey Doc..... ok...... Well she is fat, lazy, and sleeps a lot, what do you think!" He then said I am glad I heard the rest of the conversation or I would not know what to believe!!

Feeling good, and then not so good

So last night was the first time I actually felt like myself. I had an appetite/craving for Papa Johns cheese sticks, they were wonderful!! Bryce and I caught up on a few of our shows and then off to bed. Woke up this morning and still felt really good. We went to Pet Smart and then Best Buy to buy the second DVD of Glee, yeah!! After that it started heading down hill. So after a quick trip to the grocery store we headed back home. I have been sitting in the recliner, watching football and debating about taking a nap. Oh well now that I am drained I think I will rest for a few hours and then I will watch our Bulldogs play.

I hope I feel better in the morning and can make it to church. Oh, and Bryce is so great, he is doing all the cooking, and laundry, and is absolutely the best!

And now everyone knows...

So when Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook he opened another way for people not only to stay connected but also for the entire world to know what is going on in your life. Joanna posted on Facebook yesterday the news of the new addition and as you can imagine the response has been overwhelming. People you don't speak to in years all of a sudden are sending you messages. Craziness I tell ya.

We both told everyone we work with today so now everyone that we know, should know. I did a better job then Joanna, she let it "leak" to a few of her teacher friends, I on the other hand kept quite until today, well somewhat quite.

We are both blessed with the groups of people that we work with. I could tell that they were just excited as I was, some were shocked because I had kept a great poker face. Joanna has already started receiving gifts for the baby!! I told her she really has an amazing group of teacher friends and you can tell that they are so happy for her.

It is amazing how tired Joanna is, I cannot remember the last time she was in bed by 8:20pm. Well that is not entirely true. When she and I were in Big Sky MT last year we were both exhausted and did not feel well. We got into bed about 7:45pm mountain time and slept till 8am mountain time, so I guess that was not that long ago.

Anyway Blitz does not seem to mind, it is amazing how much energy that dog has and then it's like you hit a switch and he is sound asleep. Oh well, tomorrow is Friday so maybe we can stay up late, like say 9pm??

First look at baby

So we had our first doctors appointment today and were able to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. Everything checked out fine and our baby is the size of a blueberry. It is an active little thing and it was the most amazing thing we have ever seen. We could actually see the heart beat! Below is the first image of baby Hopkins.

The "Grandparents" Reactions

So we had this great plan all laid out to tell our parents but we could not wait. Instead we went and bought a blue and pink bib and asked them to choose which one they liked better. I guess you can say we kind of knew how they would react so we were not 100% surprised, but it was a great experience none the less. See the video evidence for yourself.

The world is not ready for a little Hopkins, is it??

Well on Monday September 6th, the most advance technology you can ever pee on told me we are pregnant! Holy Crap life as we know it is about to change. We have been saying this is what we want and we are ready, but we are still adjusting to the news of this. I can tell you that night neither Bryce or I got any sleep. Tuesday morning came and it felt as if we had just crawled in bed. We were both running purely on adrenaline.

I called the doctor to setup our first appointment, which of course was going to be another week away, but the sleep got better. Funny how I was not feeling bad and life was normal until Saturday morning, September 11th. I know what "morning sickness" is like, it should really be called all-day-feel-like-crap-sickness.   I am hoping the doctor can give me a magic pill and make this go away. I am tired of eating crackers that don't work. Oh well guess Monday morning is coming whether I like it or not...