Just the Three of Us!

So, on Friday, we decided to take some pictures of my belly before it gets too stretched out to be cute! :0) We took them in our backyard--we never realized what a great picture-taking tree we have! Hopefully, David will take some pictures of us with his camera--he is much better than us! It was pretty hysterical watching Byron set the 10-second timer, and then run over to me and try to find out where to put his hands. Much laughter was had by all!


And this is for David and Bhavini---here are the samosas we made. On half of them, the potato fell completely out when we cooked them. But half of them weren't bad! I think we'll definitely let you guys cook all the Indian food in the future!!

It's a Boy!

Here are our much overdue 2nd ultrasound pictures of
Brighton Matthew Lucas!

The first one is my favorite, because you can see his whole leg, foot, little fist, nose, and ribs! He is such a cutie, if I do say so myself! And does anybody else think his legs look super long? I haven't seen very many of these things, but they look long to me! Maybe a swimmer???? We'll see! :0)

This is the ultrasound where we found out he was a "he"! Except nowadays (probably because of people who sued hospitals and ultrasound techs--thanks, guys), they don't give out the pictures of the boy parts anymore! So I guess you'll just have to trust us until you see for yourself in about 3 months!!!







So, as soon as we found out, we decided it was time to register for our baby stuff! The first thing we did that day was to go with Mom (Nana to you, Brighton!) to Wal-Mart to get her Pack N' Play. She was super excited--and it looks super cute! We all pitched in to put it together when we got back to the house! Here's a picture of Nana with her Pack N' Play!




Then, Byron and I went to Target to start our registry there, and then down to Nashville to Babies R' Us to continue the festivities! At Babies R' Us, they were having a sale on all their Carter's clothes, so we went a little crazy and bought Brighton several outfits! They were just too cute to pass up!! And they look so adorable hanging in our closet on little baby hangers--it is happiness to peek in there every once in a while!



Here is the first one I picked out. This is the front:

And check out the back! I think you can see why this was a must-have.


And I loved that pattern so much, we got him a long-sleeve one, too. The little tag on the upper left says, "So happy." Again, you see why we had to have it.

This is the outfit that Byron picked out for Brighton. In case you can't read it, it says, "daddy loves me." Yes, he does. :0)

I can't wait to snuggle up to Brighton in this one!

And, for our "Little Monkey," we thought this was perfect!

This one is fleecy, and looks so warm! The tag in the upper left says, "squeezable."

Here's a picture of Daddy and Mommy -to-be! We're having so much fun feeling him move and even seeing him move now! You have quite a kick already!

Here's a picture of me with my girls before they left for college! Elizabeth, Jennifer, and Caroline--we miss you already! We all went out to eat at O'Charley's for a laughter-filled send-off!
Here's a picture of me and Jerri (I think this is actually the only picture I have of the two of us--we need to take more pictures!) at the pool party that was thrown for our youth choir. They did such a great job with the musical---I'll post pics of that soon. We raised about $6,000 for Zimbabwe! And, the cool thing is, I don't think we're done yet! :0)

Babymoon 2009!

On Monday, July 13, Byron and I set off for our "Babymoon"--our last big vacation with just the two of us! Seeing as how we didn't get reservations until the night before, Destin was pretty much all booked up except for the pricier places. SO--we decided to go to Panama City Beach, Florida instead! We got reservations for the Sleep Inn, and it was just a few blocks from the beach. It also had free continental breakfast---all in all, a nice hotel! We got to Panama City around 7pm, and we were both zonked from the drive. So we watched the Bachelorette in our hotel room and relaxed, and then decided to get some dinner.

Here is something AWESOME about Florida.....and most places except for Kentucky....restaurants are ALL non-smoking. SO, that means we could go to the little Waffle House and eat the best waffles in America without feeling and smelling gross in the process. I don't think I've been to Waffle House since college--it was SO GOOOOD!

Here's a picture of Byron--bless his little heart--he looks so exhausted. He drove the whole way down there (I definitely think he prefers it to even considering letting me behind the wheel.....I tend to get sleepy). After this, he went right to sleep. Precious.

Here's me--I'm hungry, but a lot less tired than my wonderful husband.

Here's our first day on the beach!! Woo Hoo! We bought two little chairs and an umbrella from Wal-Mart. They were super cute, and super needed. We weren't out in the sun for long at all, and we both ended up with sunburns. Byron especially. He was my little lobster.

The Gulf had a LOT of seaweed in it. Gross. Even if you forgot about it, you remembered pretty quickly when you ran your fingers through the water. And then, back at the hotel, you definitely remembered it, as it was stuck all over our bodies. Really gross.

Here we are---presunburn.

Byron worked a lot of Sudoku, and I read two books! It was lovely!

Yep, definitely pregnant.

This is me with my map. I love beach cities--they always have a map of the fun places to eat....plus coupons! I am trying to help us decide where to eat first!

We decided on The Treasure Ship. It's a 3-story restaurant on this huge boat!

I'm shocked at how big the boat is!

We ate outside on the third level, at Captain Crabby's. I had never had crab legs before, so we decided it was high time I tried them!

Here's my plate--YUM! They were incredibly good, and so much fun to eat. It's like food and an adventure, all rolled into one!

Byron getting creative!

Here's us after our meal--don't we looked happy, rested, and red?! :)

We didn't take any beach pictures the second day...it was pretty much too hot to move. So here's us at Calypso for dinner. They had excellent fried pickles.

This never gets old.

We went to Pier Park--a bunch of shops and restaurants across from the pier. On our way back to the hotel, we grabbed some Starbucks, and saw something pretty hilarious. Now, I've seen some crazy monkeys in my day, but this one takes the cake.

On Thursday, because of our really red skin, we decided a day indoors wasn't a bad idea. I've always wanted to do this, but neither one of us ever had. So, we decided to paint our own pottery! We were in there about 3 1/2 hours, and we had a BLAST!

Byron hard at work. How cute is he?!?!

I'm very proud of my sun. It is happy.

Here are the finished products--first Byron's bowl (pretty much perfection!), and then my mug!

After the pottery, we went back to the hotel to chill for a while, and then we went out to eat at Schooner's on the beach. We had a great meal, and there was a live band playing--fun times!

Our last day was spent at the beach, eating a huge pizza at Butterface, and then going to Coconut Creek Mini-Golf and Grand Maze.

Byron looking rather cute!

Me and a baby elephant!


Another great belly shot! :0)


My dashing husband.

Byron got a hole-in-one! Actually, he got it on another hole, too! Looks and talent!!

Here's a picture of 1/4 of the Grand Maze. The whole thing is the size of a football field! At the start, you clock in, then you have to make it to 4 checkpoints, and then clock out at the finish line! The best time in July was 15 minutes. Byron and I made it through in 31 minutes. Not too shabby! Especially considering it was ridiculously hot and we were both wearing jeans! Good teamwork!

I'm so glad we got a chance to do this. We are so excited about the changes ahead, and this just gave us great memories of the time when it was "just us." We can't wait to add a third to our party, and keep on truckin'! :0) Here's to many more "family vacations" to come!

My growing belly and other fun things...

Byron and I and church camp---Crossroads at Cedarmore in Baghdad, Ky. We had a great time!

And here's a picture of Brighton at his first church camp! This is June 16--so I'm about 15 weeks pregnant!

And here's a picture on July 2--at 17 1/2 weeks pregnant! Whoa! There's definitely a difference!

While the boys were out of town, Byron and I took the opportunity to have Thad and Marianna over for some food and games! We had a blast, as always!

Happy Fourth of July, people! Here we are, all ready to sing with the BG Chamber Singers at the Orchestra Concert at WKU South Lawn. It had been a while since we've performed together, so we were totally excited!

So, we went to rehearsal, ate pizza, and then sat . . . and waited . . . and sat . . . and waited, all the while watching the rain just drench the poor people who didn't have a nice stage to sit under . . .

And then they decided to cancel the concert....sad. Even sadder was the fact that we parked at Diddle, and there's just no good way to get there from the Guthrie Bell Tower. So, armed with nothing (the umbrella, of course, being in the car), we walked speedily in the downpour. By the time we finally got to our car, we could literally have rung enough water from our clothes for a nice, tasty beverage....okay, that's gross. SO--here's the "after" picture:

And here's another belly picture--Byron seems to like to use the camera for surprise attacks!

And here's a picture of the boys when we went swimming at their house this summer. Props for the goggles, guys--you are my kind of swimmers! We had a lot of fun! Tyler does a great job of holding his breath and diving for rings! Drew does a great job of keeping his mouth and eyes wide open under water! I've never seen anything like it--totally hilarious!

16 Weeks and Counting . . .

Well, a lot has happened since our last post. We got ridiculously busy with 2 musicals, 2 end-of-the-year choir concerts, 3 graduations, and just the run-of-the-mill end-of-school madness. I love teaching, but I have never (and I truly mean it)--never been more excited to see the last day of school come and go. It seemed like the year flew by, and then May just came and sat there. Anyway, all's well that ends well, and school ended well.

NOW IT'S SUMMER!!!! YAY!

So far this summer, we have done some professional development at school (yay for foldables!), went "camping" with the Lucas clan (I say "camping" because all of our nights were spent at the Lucas' wonderful, DRY home.), went to church camp at Cedarmore with our youth group, and then went to visit my Aunt Susanne and brother David and Bhavini up in Lexington. We've also gotten to go to Glasgow a couple of times to see my parents. All in all, it has been a fantastic summer so far! We are looking forward to heading to Florida for our "Babymoon" in a couple weeks to relax and spend some quality and quantity time with just the 2 of us. I am SUPER excited about that!

Here are some Lucas' camping trip pictures. Here's the campsite and Layman and Jacquie making breakfast--it was really yummy!

While they were slaving away, Byron and I took a walk with Drew and Tyler. Here is Byron and Drew--how sweet!!

Here are Drew and Tyler throwing rocks--Byron is overseeing the project.

Here is Tyler hiding in the Kia.

Here is Drew hiding in the Kia. He's saying, "Come in here with me!" We wish we could!!

The happy parents-to-be!

Tyler was in charge of our boat outing (with the help of Uncle Byron and Papaw, of course!). But, he honestly drove most of the way--I was super impressed! Way to go, Cap't T!

Probably the most exciting thing of the summer so far is that we had our first Ultrasound on Thursday (also Mom's birthday!)! It was the neatest thing I have ever seen--little hands and little feet moving and bending, the little heart beating like crazy, and baby Lucas somersaulting all over the place! Jamie Milam (a friend at church that works at the Medical Center Maternity Ward) told me to drink a Dr. Pepper an hour before the appointment so that the baby would move and they would be able to tell if baby is a boy or girl! Boy, did he/she move!! The problem was that the umbilical cord was in the way---so baby Lucas is looking to be just as stubborn as his two parents! Yikes! ;0)

In this first picture, baby Lucas is facing foward. You can see the "orbits" where baby Lucas' eyes will be. You can also see two hemispheres of the brain, the baby's stomach (it's the little black hole in the middle of the tummy), and you can also see an upper lip!

Here's baby Lucas' first Profile Pic! It looks to me like you can see the formings of his/her jaw, the skull, and the spine! And, just so you know, we also got to see feet and the four-chamber heart beating away!
This is probably my favorite picture, because you can see baby Lucas' hand! It doesn't get any sweeter than that!!

Hopefully the next post won't be too long in coming! We have our next Dr.'s appointment on Friday, July 3--then, I think we'll schedule another ultrasound so we can hopefully start fixing the nursery!!

"We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me!"

Here's the two of us on Sunday, March 29. We're at the NCAA Men's Final Four Game in Indianapolis. We had no idea what we'd find out just a few short hours later!!!That weekend, for some reason, I just felt like taking a pregnancy test. I had taken one a week or so before this (March 13ish) and it had come out negative. So, when we got home from Indianapolis, I went to the bathroom and took this test. When I looked at it, there was a faint pink line next to the dark pink line. So, I called for Byron to come there! We're were pretty giddy initially, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.....so I sent him out for another test. I took that the next morning, and--same faint line! The next day, we bought a fancy smancy digital test. It's result was pretty clear: Pregnant. We were SOOOO excited!!!! God is so good!

Three postive tests!! What an awesome sight!!!

We called and got an appointment to have the blood work done--just to make sure before we told people the good news. And, on Monday, April 6, it was "medically confirmed!" My first prenatal appointment with Dr. Mody was on Thursday, April 9 at 11:00 (Spring Break was at the absolute perfect time!). On this day, more tests were run, and an initial due date for Baby Lucas was set for December 1!

We told our families the exciting news on Easter Sunday. We put M&M's in Easter eggs with a little slip of paper in each, saying "Happy Easter, Nana, Pa, Uncle, Aunt, Cousin, etc......Love, Little Lucas #1 (on my side) and Little Lucas #3 (on Byron's side). It was so fun to see each person realize what it meant in their own time! Best Easter we've had yet!

We had our second prenatal appointment on Friday, May 8 at 3:30pm. At this appointment, we got to hear the heartbeat!! It was the coolest thing I've ever heard. And it definitely made everything more real. What a neat sound--I had to control my giggling so we could hear it! Dr. Mody had the great idea of recording it---so here it is! It fluctuated anywhere from 172-192 beats per minute! Little Lucas is already going strong!!

We were also told that I could be anywhere from 10 weeks and 4 days to 12 weeks and 4 days pregnant. She'll know more once she sees the ultrasound. So my due date is probably closer to December 1, but could be as early as November 14!

And here's a picture of my belly before I really start showing. It feels a little different--especially when I roll over in the bed. I think I might be showing a little, and my Mom definitely does! So here's me at 11-13 weeks pregnant!!!

For purposes of the blog, we'll just say that I'm 11 weeks pregnant as of tomorrow. That way we can post about what the baby looks like, how big it is, etc. Here's a picture of what our baby should look like right now! I love the fact that you can know this stuff--so cool! And Little Lucas is about the size of a lime now--growing so big already!!

To end this way overdue post.....here's a few things I've been craving over the past several weeks. It's really been interesting--I've wanted very specific things from very specific restaurants....and I've found you cannot substitute. Substitution is not good. And, pretty much every other food besides the one I want--not good. It's crazy! Poor Byron. Anyway---here goes the list as far as I can remember---Banana Peppers (before I knew I was pregnant), Mom's chicken casserole (came to me during morning prayer at church---this was the first craving I really remember), O'Charley's Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad, Olive Garden Salad :), Fazoli's Bread Sticks, Captain D's Batter Dipped Fish (with lots of ketchup), Sausage biscuits from McD's, Egg Biscuits from McD's, Grapefruit, Thin Crust Sausage Pizza from Pizza Hut, Grilled Cheese with mustard, Cheese Sticks from Pizza Hut, Chocolate Ice Cream, Rafferty's Salad..... It's so funny. I haven't wanted sweets (except for the chocolate ice cream)--just starches. The thought of green beans make me sick, as does most vegetables. Fruits are great--especially strawberries, pineapples, apples (and the aforementioned grapefruit!). I've really just been eating whatever sounds good, taking my vitamins, and hoping for the best---good news is that I didn't gain any weight from my first dr visit to the second! I was a little worried...

Anyway, we'll try to keep this updated so everyone can see how far along we are! We love you all and can't wait to bring Little Lucas into the world to be loved by all of you!

FreeRice.com

I am so excited about this website!! Anytime you ever feel bored or just want to pump up your vocabulary, just go to this site. The awesome part is that it isn't just the pointless games that we usually play on our iPod (sudoku, 10 million forms of solataire, etc). It's actually something that is helpful to those most in need. For every vocabulary word you correctly match with its synonym (don't worry--it's multiple choice!), the UN will donate 10 grains of rice to feed the hungry. Ten grains of rice isn't a lot, but that number will grow exponentially if more and more people tap into this awesome resource!! Last night, in literally 5 minutes, I earned 800 grains of rice. How exciting! I'm definitely going to tell all my friends, as well as the teachers at school--what a great way to use extra time in the computer lab for kids that finish early! Anyway, check this site out OFTEN--every day, even! (And there's no penalty for wrong answers, so you can go all day!)

Also--look in the "subject" heading and you can quiz yourself over math, geography, spanish, and other things, all the while helping the World Food Program! SWEET!!