side view --looks like Hitchcock's profile  

belly in full glory--check out the weird bellybutton 

28 weeks happy belly 

3.5 Months left

Wow this goes fast. Sorry we have been lax in posting. I can't believe Brett put a picture of our very messy room for everyone to see. Doesn't he know you are supposed to hide that sort of thing? We do hope to work on it over the weekend and get it going. Obviously time will dictate that we have to get it done. My belly is now 33 inches around, so I have expanded seven inches since conception--very strange. At least my chest is growing proportionately to my belly :) Thanks to my sister and Vicki Hoefler (Tyle) I got a few more maternity outfits to wear, so I should be all set. And speaking of maternity outfits--the one in the picture is just ok--I like the shirt and I like the pants, but I like them better in other combinations; I have some really cute maternity outfits, but the day we took the picture, I wasn't wearing one of the cuter ones. How sad. :) I really like what I am wearing today, but unfortunately, we won't be taking pictures today. I realize this may not be something all of you have the least interest in reading about, so I'll move on. I am still not experiencing discomfort or any other problems on a regular basis--I did, however, wake up with a bit of a cold, so I have that to look forward to for the next week or two. Other than that, I have a few little pains here and there--some weird feeling in my rib cage and lots of kicking and pushing, but nothing to complain about. I have been eating a lot more, though. It seems like if I am not busy, I am in the kitchen looking for food. I tend toward ice cream the most :). Tonight Brett and I are hosting the Senior Banquet for the Class of 2005. I am excited to see how much the kids enjoy it, but I am dreading the late night--I'd like a nap right now, but I can't go home to get one. Anyway, my next appointment is next Wednesday, like Brett said, so we'll see if anything has changed at that point. We'll also see about the ultrasound. Now I have to go get ready for the banquet.

Haven't updated in a while.

So we have been pretty busy with work and what not. I am finally getting around to updating the blog. New pictures added below. Leslie is feeling fine. She was supposed to have a doctor's appointment this evening, but her doctor went on maternity leave, so the new appointment is next week. The bad news: the old doctor hinted at possibly getting another ultra-sound. Now we probably get to wait until August to find out the gender.

Our short-term goal is to work on the nursery. We finally got rid of the big furniture. We now need to store all the hand-me-down baby clothes that are cluttering the floor in the room. After those are gone, I will remove the carpet. That should happen sometime this week.

Les had always mentioned that she wanted to do Dr. Seuss themed nursery. More proof that we are not very original: http://sheknows.com/about/look/182.htm

Les thinks we will be doing this, but for some reason, I don't think that either one of us is talented enough, but I am sure she will try to prove me wrong.

This is the future nursery. We got rid of the bed and the dresser. The room is a disaster. 

Close up of belly at the end of end of week 24. There is no belly button. 

Here is the close up of belly at week 24 from the side. 

Here is Leslie at 24 weeks. Tomorrow is the beginning of week 25. 

I couldn't resist including Henry--look how cute he is! 

Brett hasn't shown up on here, so I thought I would include him. We are at my Uncle Ed's 75th birthday party. 

Here I am in my e-bay jeans and my noticeable belly. (it's water, I swear!) 

here we are--all five of us! :) 

Sydney is all smiles with her mom. 

20 weeks

We had a check-up appointment today. Everyone knows of my disappointment at the ultrasound--I can't believe the kid had its legs crossed! However, my doctor gave me encouraging news that it may be possible to have another one. She said we can't do it too soon, since I just had one, but she gave me hope. :) So we may know the gender in another month or so. Other than that all is well with the little guy. This baby moves around a lot--which is cool. I am wearing maternity clothes full-time now. I was able to find a couple of pairs of pants at the Old Navy by my school, which was very lucky. Melissa was right--that was the place to go. My sister also just sent home some more pants and shirts for me, so I think I am all set. Plus I got two very cute dresses that I plan to live in all summer from Motherhood. We just got back from North Carolina--visiting Sydney (my niece) and my siblings. But Sydney is the most important :) (just kidding Matt, Terra, and Jason--I loved seeing all of you and miss you so much!) Sydney is fantastic! Perhaps I will include a picture or two of her on here. Speaking of pictures--it is time for a new belly picture for me. I weighed 111 lbs. today at the Dr. office--so that is 11.5 lbs gained so far. My waist is 31.5 inches--5 inches growth. The baby is about 5-6 inches long and weighs about 10 oz. I am trying to get my exercise--but I didn't do it at all when I was on vacation--I need to be better about staying on schedule. I will try to do it everyday from now on. Nothing strenuous, of course, but just to be sure I don't get lazy or unhealthy. I might sign up for a prenatal yoga class with a friend of mine at the Beverly Arts Center.
On a Henry note--no destruction lately. Hooray hooray! He did not go on vacation with us--he stayed at Grandma andGrandpa Shobe's and got himself spoiled for the week. He was very happy and very exhausted when we got home. The day we got home, he wouldn't leave our sides, but he also wouldn't stay awake. He would travel to each room with us and then curl up and go to sleep as near to us as he could. It was cute. He was worn out from his exciting week. That's all for now.

We also know that the baby likes its fingers--yum yum. 

We don't know the gender, but we can tell it is a healthy baby with a good looking profile :) 

Finally

I posted the pictures. I realize it took a while longer than I said it would--oops. Obviously, a much more pronounced belly than previously. Brett and I went materninty clothes shopping today--my pants are all at the rubberband stage, so I thought it was time. As the indecisive duo that we are, it took us about 5 hours to decide if we should actually go or not. I was just going to go, but Brett felt bad that I was going by myself, but he also didn't know if he could give up the time himself. He was worried about a hundred different things as usual and wanted to know what my shopping plan was. (Of course, one must have a plan of action for shopping before going so that as little time as possible can be spent in each store.) Unfortunately, I did not have a plan--I knew what stores I wanted to go to, but not exactly what I wanted to buy--so this posed a problem because then how did I know what I was going out for? So I thought, "well, I don't have a plan; I don't know what I want or need, so maybe I shouldn't go until I figure that out." Then a little while later, Brett came back to me and said that I should go, but he still didn't know if he was going to be able to join me. After a little more discussion and time, at 5:00 p.m., we finally went together. Brett was a good sport, and we had a fairly enjoyable shopping experience. Unfortunately, my pants hunting was not too successful. Maternity clothes are expensive. It hardly seems worth it since I won't be wearing them for very long. I will keep watching the clearance racks! :) However, it was not all a waste. I did get a couple of cute tops and a skirt, but more exciting than any of that was my greatest purchase of the day. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a tablecloth because we needed one and I had a 20% off coupon :). And when we left, we just happened to go into DSW because it was right next door. On the clearance rack was a fantastic pair of converse l0-tops in light blue on sale for $34.89 with 60% off. So I got my first pair of converse for $14. As Amanda Callas can attest to, I have wanted these shoes since at least my senior year of high school. We would search endlessly every time we went to Sportmart, but they never had them in my size. I feel so lucky! I love shopping days like this. The pants didn't work out, but I am not so discouraged yet, and it was a successful day overall. I did get one pair of jeans through e-bay a couple of days ago. I feel very lucky about those, too. They were the only normal looking jeans in my size and they are regularly $80 jeans that I got for $25. They are very comfortable and fit great with plenty of room to stretch. And they came very quickly--so it's a start.

16 weeks. 

16 weeks.  

Month Four

I will include new pictures either tonight or tomorrow. I took the pictures tonight, so I will get them up as soon as I get to the picture program to download them. However, finally, I have a noticeable belly. People who don't know that I'm pregnant still don't know. They may think I am looking a little chubby around the middle, but they don't guess that I am pregnant. Those who do know can tell that my belly is starting to poke out. When I am not covering it, it is quite noticeable, and I measured it--WOW! For me, the measurement is pretty significant. My waist is 30 inches. I started at 26. Last week or maybe slightly over a week ago, I was at 29 inches. So it seems to be growing quickly now. And when I was weighed at the Dr's office, I found I have gained almost 7 pounds. On their scale, I started at 99.5 and last weigh-in, I was at 106. My pants are definitely straining, and some won't button at all. I need to go shopping soon. It is all so interesting. Still no weird cravings or other strange occurrences that many people speak of and still feeling great. I would say that I wish I had more interesting things to report, but so far it has been a joyfully uneventful pregnancy. I have been reading a lot of magazines and keeping track of my own progress. I have a journal for my child with a bunch of information about what I do now, what life is like, and what I hope for him/her which is pretty cool. Other than that I am just doing normal life stuff. We have about a month to go before we can find out the gender--this child better cooperate because I really want to know! Thanks for the name suggestions so far. More are coming to my mind instead of fewer. I am not really helping myself. That's one big reason I want to know the gender--that way I can at least narrow it down to just the names of one sex. But I have to wait.

Oh, on a non-child growing note, Henry has been terrible lately. Part of me can't get over how cute he is, but the other part of me wants to kill him because he really really likes to destroy things! In the past seven days, he has DESTROYED both pairs of my glasses. He ate the frames and ruined one of the lenses. That's pretty expensive. I don't know when I will replace them. But on a cute note, he is beginning to learn to roll over. So that is my life news--all excitement for me, but mostly lame for the rest of you. I'll get the pictures up soon.

names

I forgot that I had a couple of other boy names that I liked. I like Brady and maybe Bailey. Brett has some terrible name ideas like Igby, Roskolnikov, and Aristotle, so he is not allowed to name our child. So far, of the choices I have been thinking through, Brett likes Jude. He likes the idea of the name having the juh and duh sound and it being one syllable--I am not sure what is so pleasing about the sounds, but Brett seems to enjoy it. Anyway, please give me some feedback--I don't want my kid to go around with a dumb sounding name. :)

Doctor Visit

I had my second check-up today. It was very short, but cool. I have officially gained 2.5 pounds. (I think I look bloated in the pictures that we posted. Maybe the camera is adding weight :)) She got out this little machine and some jelly and put it on my belly so we could hear the baby's heart. It was beating nice and loudly. My official due date is August 17. My Dr. figured it out from the ultrasound that I had. My next ultrasound is not until the end of March, but that is when we will know the sex if the baby is cooperative. So we have to start thinking about names. I have a couple of ideas. For a girl I like Callie (Callia Irene which means beauty and peace) or Sophia or Sophie (Sophie Millicent which means wisdom and strength). For a boy, I am having a harder time because boys' names are limited, it seems, and if we pick a different kind of name, he will get made fun of. So far, I like Charlie (Charles Reid) or Jude (I don't know a middle name with this one yet, but I just thought of it the other day. All of the names sound nice with Lettiere. Anyway, comments are welcome. Thanks.

Les from the front. 

Picture of Les from the side. 

Pictures of Les in clothes. 

okay, okay

So I'm posting again. I feel great lately. Brett mentioned that I had a cold. That was awful--no fun. But it only lasted a week, so at least there's that. I have measured myself--I seemed to have gained an inch, but my weight is not changing much. The most I think I have gained is three pounds, but it fluctuates. I will take new pictures tonight. I am trying to do yoga, but I need to make more time for it. I really enjoy it, and I need to make time to do it every day because I think it will help me to be in less pain when it is most important. Plus I want a big belly, but not a big anything else. I also need to get more organized otherwise my house is going to be a very scary mess in eight months. I guess there is a lot to think about with a child on the way--I'm just not sure what it all is. We still have not decided on the hospital. It's kind of a pain having choices. I have a doctor's appointment this week. I am watching Gilmore Girls as I write this, which makes for bad writing--sorry.

Shopping for hospitals

Nothing much new on the pregnancy front. I am feeling fine. I am at 150 lbs. Once the community college starts back and I start teaching two classes and have to deal with the stress, I am sure I will drop back to an unhealthy 145. I have no morning sickness. I do get these wanging headaches when I think of financing this whole thing in the next year.

I thought that Les would write a little more on this blog, but she says she doesn't know what to write. Perhaps she will have more to say later.

Leslie is sick with a cold. She cannot take medicine, I guess. Therefore she is a little miserable.

As the neurotics we are, we went shopping for hospitals last week and this week. Leslie's doctor is pregnant and is not going to be able to deliver our baby. We have to change doctors anyway, so Les thought it would be a good idea to go to hospitals and compare. I sometimes think we are like Meg Swan (Park Posey) and Hamilton Swan (Michael Hitchcock) from Best in Show. This is the couple who bring their dog to a shrink because it has been misbehaving after it saw the two having sex. Too much? We did call the vet after Henry's first couple teeth fell out. And look at the pictures of Henry in a Santa Claus outfit for Christmas. What type of people dress their dog up? My eye doctor asked me not to come back after he operated on my eye because I irritated him with my nervousness.

Anyhow, Team Neuroses, headed by Ms. Think-a-Lot and Captain Undecided, set out to check out hospitals. We visited Little Company. This is the closest hospital to us. It would be the obvious choice for anyone who didn't give this a couple week's worth of thinking. It has five birthing suites. Only three people are allowed to be in the birthing room at one time, but it is sweet. Have a baby on a night with five other people, you get a sterile white room for labor, another room for delivery, and another one for recovery. The hospital offers SuperMax-like security. Babies are cuffed with sensor wraps and visitors are buzzed in and out. There are plenty of statues of the Virgin Mary staring down like hawks throughout the hospital. And the waiting room, at least the one we were in, had old worn carpet and plastic chairs. The lady who gave our group a tour made it out like it would be hell if one didn't get one of the five birthing rooms. She also went on and on about how if someone comes into your room, make them show you their identity badge. No carpeting in the rooms or hallways. Typical hospital look. Not bad if you haven't seen the alternative.

Highlight of the evening is that we met another couple who live in EP. They are close to the same age and same period in their pregnancy.

Speaking of the alternatives, we went and visited Palos Hospital. The maternity floor had nothing but birthing rooms. All carpeted and clean. No religious figurines giving you the creeps. We can have almost unlimited people in the birthing room, but only two or three for the delivery. Afterwards, it is visitors galore. We can have almost 8 people in the room before we even use our three visitor passes. I have images of Party Monster; I wonder if Michael Alig could arrange a party in our room. The birthing rooms and waiting room have satellite television. There is no security. One can come and go as one pleases. To its credit, babies are probably less likely to be stolen from this neighborhood. It is quite a hike to this hospital, which is not bad for the two or three days for the birth, but I can see it being annoying for all the visits before and after.

We now have to decide between the two. We'll probably decide sometime next September or October. But the nice thing about Team Neuroses is that whatever choice we make, the road untaken will look better and we will spend plenty of mental energy anguishing over our poor choice.

I know my eyes are closed and I look a little stupid. I was not trying to strike a sexy pose in this picture. I was just trying to get my arm out of the way to get a good side angle so I will really be able to see the difference as my belly progresses. So I feel a little self conscious posting these pictures, but I want to keep a record of my changes. I guess it is ok for others to see this.  

I am going to try to take belly pictures like this each month to monitor my growth. This picture was taken on December 16. At this stage, I am only 4 weeks pregnant. I weigh 95lbs and my waist is 26 inches. I'll try to keep up on the measurements.  

Here is only one part of the destruction Henry caused this past week. This is a picture of our fairly new dining room table. Henry jumped on the table, ate about 20 pieces of gummy watermelon candy that were in a center piece, scratched the table in two different places, and almost committed suicide by jumping. I caught him right before he jumped. I don't think he would have landed on his legs. Over the summer he jumped from half the height and landed on his face, which dislocated his jaw. 

Here he is enjoying his candycane.  

More pictures of Henry looking cute. This is Christmas morning. Henry received more gifts than Les and I combined. 

Here is Henry, looking cute and innocent.