Dad is playing lots of ball now - it's that time of year - and he seems to really enjoy it! Can't wait until we can play together. He's gonna teach me ALOT, I can just feel it!! He had a tournament this weekend but Mom & I stayed home. Dad got home late, but it was worth it because they placed 3rd in the tournament!! GO DAD!!

It was just waaaay to hot to be outside. I mean, even going to the pool didn't sound good! Yep it was THAT hot! Saturday we just layed around and watched what Mom calls "trash tv" - reruns of 90210, Wife Swap, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Cake Boss- yep, Trash tv!!! Anything that doesn't require thought to watch and can make your brain mush, but you still get a good laugh out of it! That's mom's definition anyway. We slept through alot of it!! I wonder if Mom worries about the affects on me of watching these shows....hmmm...!!! Well if she didn't before, I'm sure she does now!! =o)

Dad likes to watch sports - SWEET - and shows where stuff blows up or cop shows - like Crime 360 or the First 48. But he likes funny stuff too, like Friends. We're all having fun just hanging out and getting to know each other! Like I said, I'm really starting to like them!!

Anyway, Mom is going to post another picture for me (still in the womb - remember!!) of how I'm growing at 11 weeks. I'm just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig. My hands open and close and my bones are starting to harden (Mom drinks ALOT of milk!). My diaphram is forming and I hiccup alot - but Mom can't feel it just yet. I'm sure she'll let EVERYONE know when she does!!

OK, gotta run. Time to watch as Mom gets the icks again!! That just "quacks" me up!!

I know, don't freak out - this is the second update in just one week!!! =o)

Mom here again!!! Just going to fill you in on Week 10. Week 10 was the start of some serious sickness for mom. It usually hits around 2:00 in the afternoon, but can linger for hours it feels like..... I'm soooo tired of peanut butter crackers, toast, saltines & almonds!! Oh goodness... but it seems that they're the only things that will make the icks go away at times.. Naps are fun to try and squeeze in a work too... I've crashed twice at my desk for about 10-15 minutes... Holy Cow - power naps really do work!! hahaha

Week 10 we found out that ice cream on an empty tummy is not good! hahaha... We had ice cream here at work for our June company anniversaries and Mom ate a brownie with ice cream and some nuts... it tasted fantastic, but about an hour later my tummy said "Hey! What is up with this?!! We want FOOD down here, not junk!!"... hahaha.... It's so sad too because Mommy LOVES ice cream... we've had some since then, but in serious moderation!!!

We received a present this week from Aunt Janet (GranJan)!!! Yeah, it's our first outfit!! It's the cutest little Carter's Sleep-n-Play with ducks on it.... so sweet!! Even the feet look like sweet little duck bills! Thank you so much GranJan!!

Daddy is getting really good at this "daddy duty"... Taking care of Mommy like a champ!! He knows that popsicles make Mommy's tummy feel better, so he's back and forth to the kitchen ALOT!! I call them Emma's popsicles because they're just like the popsicles that Emma (& Cole) have at their house (and Gamma's too I think) for hot days or just for a fun snack. I used to call them flavored colored sugar water, but now I call them LIFESAVERS!!! =o)

Daddy had a softball tournament in Cookeville on Saturday (6/13) and I thought that I would go and have fun, like I usually do at tourney's.... Well, we found out that Mommy's having a hard time tolerating heat too!! hahaha... Just comes with the territory of growing a person, huh?! I love it!!

The lil one is growing so much lately!!! Hard to believe 10 weeks has gone by so fast!!! Lil duck is about the size of a kumquat!! (What do you think about the nickname kumquat instead? ...hmmm...) Week 10 is the start of the "fetal period" when the tissues and organs start to grow rapidly. All the organs are in place and are developing. Even tiny fingernails and peach fuzz hair are starting to grow. The little arms & legs are starting to bend and the hands can now meet in front of the heart (ooooh how sweet!). AND Lil duck is already 1 1/2 inches long!! WOW!! Pretty amazing!! Here's a picture of the little "kumquat" (yeah, I like Lil Duck better too!!) at 10 weeks. What a miracle!!

Hope everyone is well .. Week 11 we have a Dr's appointment, so check back... We'll update you soon!!!

Love,

Mommy

Ok, so we've been really bad about keeping up with the blog.... but we're trying! hahaha. Everytime we think about updating the blog at home, we're either hungry or sick feeling or just plain exhausted. Our hearts are in the right place, it's just a matter of getting up and getting all the info on the computer!

Well, lets give you a quick update on the little one for week 9!

Everything is going well, Mommy is pretty much feeling icky every day. No actual sickness, per se, just the icks.... Luckily the morning sickness doesn't hit in the morning, mostly in the afternoons around 2:00. It's not that bad, but if I don't eat every 2-3 hours, it can get ugly. And although before I was pregnant, I wasn't much of a fan, I'm learning that CARBS ARE YOUR FRIEND.... Crackers, bread, potatoes, pasta.... anything that is filling seems to make the queezys go away....

Daddy is coping well with Mommy being sick. He's great at pampering, back rubs and cracker/snack duty before bed!! He's also been great at dealing with the mood swings, whether it's tearing up at a tire commercial or getting angry at a call on the ballfield... He's just been so great!! Props to Daddy!! = o)

The little one's development is moving right along too. Lil Duck is starting to look more and more human. All essential "parts" are accounted for, but they're still growing. His/Her heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form. We even start to get tiny teeth. Organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The eyes are fully formed, but won't open for a while. Apparently, now is the time that the baby is ready to start rapid weight gain. YEA!! Growing like crazy... Here is the 9 week picture of Lil Duck!!

Hello everyone, Dad here. We wanted to at least give ya’ll an update for week 8 (even if it is a week behind).

OH, and I am nowhere near the writer that Mom is, so bare with me on this, lol!

We have realized that there may be some folks that don’t understand, or know where the name “Lil Duck” came from. Well, here’s how all the “Ducks” came to be. When one of my best friends, Uncle Ronnie, had his first child, his aunt named me Uncle Donald Duck (Ronnie do you remember which Aunt that was). Chase shortened it to Uncle Duck. A lot of folks may have forgotten that, but Missy and I never did. Well, with me being Uncle Duck it just seemed to fit naming Missy, “Missy Duck”. It is very possible that Ronnie and Leslie added the Missy Duck, but we can’t seem to remember exactly when that came to be. So when all of the other nieces and nephews came along, it just seemed to stick with us. When Missy and I were trying to come up with a cute name for the lil one, it just seemed appropriate to go with Lil Duck. So there ya have it!

We also wanted to let everyone know what the results were from what the bloodsuckers took. (Gaga likes the term Vampires.) YEP, still pregnant! As a matter of fact the numbers for that particular test were increased as they should be, and are actually increasing at a rapid rate. Dr. Lipsitz was very pleased with that result. We also took another test to see what the odds were of the baby having Cystic Fibrosis. A little background on that, but I am sure everyone knows because we didn’t (remember, we are newbies). If both parents are carriers of the CF gene then the odds of the baby being a carrier of it are certain. Missy’s test came back negative for that particular test. GREAT NEWS there. Oh and she found out her blood type (35 yrs into her life), it’s A+ in case anyone wanted to know that, haha!

Last week at the Dr’s office, we were asked if we wanted to run the test to determine if the baby will have Down’s syndrome or not. After weighing the options and risks we have decided not to have that test. Doesn’t matter one way or the other if the baby does have Down’s, we are going to have this blessing no matter what!

Missy has been struggling more and more with the morning sickness. Cute story on that. Sunday May 24th , Missy woke up feeling a lil sluggish (reason for missing Church), but after we ate breakfast and kinda moved around a little bit, she got into her “MISSY MODE” and just started cleaning up around the house a lil. If any of you know how Missy likes to keep her house, you know that means there wasn’t much if anything at all to do. Well, we ate breakfast, lunch and snacks throughout the day. She was a little worried that evening, she told me “I didn’t have any morning sickness or fatigue today kinda scares me”. I just listened to her and let her get it off her chest. Well, Monday roles around and BOOM she has the sickness and exhaustion all over again X2 making up for Sunday.

Here is a lil update on what the lil one has going on at the moment. Fingers and toes are starting to shape up (something to wrap me around). We have eyelids covering eyes. Lungs are developing and the lil tadpole tail is just about gone. The lil one still hasn’t decided if they are a boy or a girl yet. At 8 weeks the baby is about the size of a kidney bean and is constantly moving and shifting. Momma still hasn’t felt any of that just yet. I have a feeling it will be a pretty emotional time when that does happen. Here is the 8 week picture that we have been getting from our favorite baby website http://www.babycenter.com/.

That’s all for week 8 but we will give you a week 9 update VERY SOON (right Momma).

Momma gives the Love Love Love, so I will just say talk to everyone soon!

DADDY!

Hi everyone... Mommy is soooo sorry!!

I owe a BIG apology to all who are following the post.... I kept meaning ALL last week to update and just never got to it.... I'd like to say I had a good excuse, but I really didn't. Just tired and lazy I guess. Hahaha..... To put a positive spin on it, I'm just conserving my energy! =o)

We received our first gift last week from Aunt Holly & Uncle Danny - it's a very cool book "Your Pregnancy Week by Week".. LOTS of great advice!!! It has info about how the baby is growing each week, changes taking place with Mommy's body, nutrition advice, a new exercise each week and miscellaneous things you should know to prepare for baby.... We absolutely LOVE this book - it was exactly what I was wanting.. Thank you so much Aunt Holly & Uncle Danny!!

We also received our first "baby" gift from Nana. Nana is actually Debbie McClendon, one of my favorite people in the world. Debbie was my first supervisor when I started working at AGLA, and we've remained close even though we don't really work together anymore. Her grandkids call her Nana. She always made sure that I got to see the "first snow of the season".... To this day, she still calls me on the first day of snow to check!! Gotta love Nana! She gave us a DVD of Praise and Worship music from The Praise Baby Collection. Too cute!! Thank you Nana!!

I finally had to break down and buy a few Maternity tops and a pair of capris. OK so I probably didn't need to buy the capris just yet, but they were on sale - don't judge me!! hahaha. I'm a big girl, but I'm starting to feel a lot more pudgey than usual. The jeans are a little more snug than usual and I have about 4 pair of pants that just don't fit at all anymore! I LOVE being pregnant!!

I know this one was short, but it was just a check-in. I promise to have more from Lil Duck later this week.... Oh and we'll have more pictures too!!

Love you all,

Mommy