Back to work I go

I was cleared to go back to work on light duty.  I am glad to be back at work because being home all of the time was getting boring.  Work is harder than it was now that I'm supposed to sit as much as I can and not lift anything.  My Dr. said nothing over 5 lbs.  Which is pretty much everything.  So I feel a little guilty at work since I don't feel like I do my share of the work.  I also get tired really easily now.  

All of the older ladies that come to pharmacy are now noticing my large baby bump and wanting to talk about all of their grandkids.  It is sort of funny.  I can only button the top two buttons of my jacket now. Hopefully we will get one that fits me better soon.

My parents are coming this next weekend which is always nice.  

That is all for now really.  Just trying to take it as easy as I can for the next 10 weeks or so.  

Lot's of stuff

Well, we are still recovering from our 2 and 1/2 weeks of off and on vacation. We had my sister one week, then my parents came for a few days, then we went to Vegas for a few days. Here is the recap for the past week.

1)Jojo: Joleen had some stomach tightness that we thought was nothing but it turns out it may have been contractions. So, doc has put her on light duty (which means she gets more vacation because she can't stand up all day at work!) and she has just been hanging out at home trying to take it easy. She has another appointment in the morning so we will see what they have to say then.

2) Vegas: Jojo, Kristi, Kyle, Karen, and I flew up to Vegas on Friday and got back on Sunday. We had a ton of fun. We saw two excellent shows in Blue Man Group (pretty dang funny and great music) and Mystere (hot ballet dancers and awesome acrobats -- overall a pretty impressive performance). Plus I didn't become a gambling addict and I may have finally kicked my soda habit. Great weekend.

3) Back to work: so it started out pretty well. Monday was very busy and I had a tech sick but it was one of the most smooth days I have worked in a long time. Tuesday was slow, but the real fun happened after I left. I guess about 10 minutes after I left for the day, a guy came in and held up the pharmacy for Oxycontin and Xanax. The guy was getting away but two of our managers tackled the guy just outside the store and held him down until the cops got there (about 3 minutes). The guy admitted to hitting 6 Walgreens and CVS's over the past few months so that's great news. The whole tackling an armed robbery suspect isn't exactly kosher with coorporate policy so hopefully they are okay with it. High five to my store manager and assistant manager though for bringing the pain. Even though I wasn't involved at all, the whole situation does scare me a bit and makes me think I should get out of the retail setting when I get a chance. I have a year left on my contract. Let the countdown begin????

Finally, a note about a few of my teams. Heads up to Joleen so she can skip this section. Yankees are doing okay but the pitching has been awful thus far. They are scoring plenty runs to win the game (even with A-rod on the DL) but the bullpen has been terrible and the only pitcher that has been worth his big contract is AJ "I'm gonna get injured at some point" Burnett.

To the cats, Kentucky signed Jon Calipari as their head coach 3 weeks ago and it has been a very fun 3 weeks already. This is the beginning of the rebuilding of Kentucky glory. I am so giddy about it I can hardly wait til Midnight Madness. Until then, I can follow the recruiting as Cal "selects" the players he wants. He is probably the best recruiter in the nation plus he plays a fun style. I am stoked!!!

That is all for now.

Already mid April! WOW!

This month is going by so fast.  Zak and I are having a great April so far.  We had lots of family come and 

visit us the last few weeks.  It was really nice to see everyone.  We went to two baseball games and went miniature golfing twice.  We also went to Amazing Jakes which is an indoor place where you can do lots of arcade games along with bowling, a climbing wall, and bumper cars.  Zak, Amber, Ryan, and Thad went to the Science Museum while I was at work one day. They said it was a lot of fun.  We spent one entire day at the Zoo and took a ton of pictures.  We also did some shopping which is always my favorite.  

Zak and his Dad went to Bass Pro Shop while his mom and I went shopping on our own.  One of the highlights of my week was when I discovered there was a Taco Time really close to the Bass Pro Shop.  YEAH.   The other Taco Time closed recently and I was very disappointed. 

We went shopping at Babies R Us yesterday and of course we couldn't resist some of the cutest little girl clothes.  Zak's parents bought us a few adorable outfits that I can't wait to be able to use.  

After a week of fun activities I had my 28th week doctors appointment.  They did an ultrasound and she looks great. They are estimating that she is already 2 lbs 15 ounces as of last week.   That seems big to me.  I have been having a few contractions (or at least what I think are contractions) and I talked to the doctor about them.  She did a test and I just got the results back.  It came back positive that I'm at an increased risk of pre-term labor.  So I'm restricted to light activity right now.  Since my job requires me to stand most of the day if not all, I am off work until further notice.  I have another appointment the 22nd which I'm hoping they will let me return to work.  We will just have to see.  However the best part of the appointment was the part where they did a 4D picture of our little girls face.  Isn't it amazing what they can see on one of these.  She is adorable according to her future parents.

Well, I guess that is all for now.

-Jo

One day left of March!

As most of you know I'm counting down until April and then probably again to May.  Work has been very busy this year and we expect a lot of our "winter visitors" AKA snowbirds to be leaving April 1.  Some of them take longer and leave sometime during the middle of the month.  After that  works gets easier and I get happier.  Of course the weather goes from wonderful (80-90's) to a scorching 115 in a matter of a few months, but I have decided that that is okay and that is what swimming pools and AC are for.  

Nothing has changed much here.  Our baby nursery is painted and it looks wonderful.  As my niece Libby would say, "it's all kinds of colors." I'm still waiting on furniture which should arrive sometime in April.  We have bought a few new things already for her and it is so much fun.  I have always liked the headband hair bows even though my sisters have all voiced differently.  So I bought an assortment on e-bay the other day. Some of them are so small.  Karen assures me they will fit or maybe even fall off.  I am 26 weeks pregnant right now and doing pretty good.  I had labwork yesterday and did the glucose cola test. It wasn't as bad as everyone told me.   In fact, it was sort of fun.  After I drank the orange drink the baby was moving like crazy.  I could even see little waves of movement from her on my stomach as I sat in the waiting room.  I wanted to laugh but since I wasn't alone I sat silently.    We have an ultrasound next thursday which I'm excited for.  Zak already adores this baby. He keeps telling me can't wait for her to get here.  He is constantly putting his hands on my stomach and talking to her.  Even asking her to move for him.  

As I posted last time, April will be a busy month for us.  We have been doing some spring cleaning this month and we are almost done.  Zak's sister is coming to visit with her family and we are excited. We have lots of things planned which should be fun.  We are BBQing and swimming on Saturday.  I can't wait to see my niece in the pool for the first time.  Later in the week we are going to a diamond backs baseball game, the zoo, and a amusement park place that has mini golf, laser tag, bowling etc.   I took one day of work off and Zak took 2 days off. Then once they leave Zak's parents are coming the next day and staying for a few days.  We are going to another baseball game when they are here too.  

Hopefully I can get Zak to post on here one of these days.  I told him nobody likes a blog that is never updated. But I'm just as bad.  Even though I didn't promise a new entry weekly.  

Oh, we are also still trying to come up with names so if anyone has any suggestions.  Right now our top contender is Natalie.

-Jo

New background

Since Zak wasn't changing the background monthly I decided to do it myself.  A lot more of my taste.  Everything is going pretty good for Zak and I right now.  Zak has been sick a lot lately so that hasn't been fun and we have both been really busy at work as well.  However we have a lot of things to look forward to in the next few months.  Zak's sister Amber and her family are coming to visit in a few weeks. Then right after that his parents are coming.  I'm really excited for people to come visit us.  I have been trying to get a few little house projects finished and spring cleaning done.  Our soon to be baby room has some new paint on the walls. It isn't finished yet but when it is I will post some photos.  Then Kyle, Kristi, Karen, Zak and I have a trip planned to Vegas mid April. I can't wait to get out of Mesa for a few days and have some fun.  Hopefully shortly after this trip most snowbirds will have gone home and work will get easier for us.  

Here's to a happy March! -Jo

Just the beginning

When I was an intern at Walgreens in 2005, one of the tech's that I worked with played a practical joke on me and spiked my water with bubblegum flavoring from medication flavoring kit. When I took a drank of my water the taste was so overpowering that it forced a smile. We later kidded that it was impossible to not smile when you drank the bubblegum flavored water.

Flash forward to Thursday night. I had just sat down to play some more WoW because I am so addicted to that game and I faintly heard Joleen calling for me from the bedroom. When I got to the room she told me that the baby was moving if I wanted to try to feel her move. We had tried for me to feel it before without much luck. Most of the little movements that I "felt" I figured was just Joleen's body and not the baby. Tonight was different though. After a few minutes of me resting my hand low on Joleen's abdomen, I felt her move. And not just a little, a lot. As I type this I still can't stop smiling. This was really one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I am not quite sure I can describe how it felt but of course I am going to give it a shot.

A couple of the kicks or whatever you want to call them just felt like tapping. But then came a big movement that felt as if she had rolled over in the palm of my hand. Then there was some repetitive tapping like she was boxing me. Then I began guessing exactly what she was touching me with. Some felt like a single finger brushing up and down my palm. Others felt like her foot was fully planted on my hand and just pushing to let me know that she could here me talking to her. I begged the baby to continue communicating to me. At one point I was giggling so histerically that I was crying in joy. Joleen had quite a good time listening to my enjoyment as well.

So anyway, that was fun. It was way more fun than any rollercoaster I have ever been on. It was more satisfying than any meal I have ever eaten. It was more entertaining than any movie or show I have ever seen. And to think this is only the beginning of being a parent. Oh man am I excited.

I have posted a countdown to the right for everybody to follow as we get closer and closer to welcoming our spawn. Until then, I will have to settle for more boxing matches.

Yeah Boi!!!! er...Girl

Baby girl on the way!!!!!