Photo's

I was asked to post some photo's of Alex training for his race, so here they are.  He was running at night, and it was freezing.  I still can't understand why he wanted to run in a short sleeve shirt.  However, I give him mad props for sporting his WDWRadio.com T-shirt.

        

End of the Weekend

It is 6:50 a.m. here in Georgia, aside from the fact, I am still tired, I am happy to report that last night's dinner stayed in my belly, instead of in the toilet or trash can, where most of my meals have been making their appearance lately.

Not that anyone has a desire to hear about a pregnant woman's morning sickness, but I think this is something seriously "underrated" in most of your pregnancy journals, i.e. What to Expect When You're Expecting.

I think everyone expects or "waits" for the nausea, so often heard about, when they are pregnant. I know I did. I had heard stories about family members who had morning sickness or had certain aversions to foods. This is all, of course, coupled with the desire to eat many other items.

That ALL being said, I had NO IDEA it would be like this. I think God definitely knew what he was doing when he had me "lose" my job in January. There is no way on this Earth that I could have held a normal 9 to 5 job this past month. Granted, I'm a Cracker Barrel server, a position not a lot of people with a master's degree consider. However, considering the fact I can sleep in, I have an infinite number of foods from which to choose to eat, and most of your customers are sympathetic to the fact that I am expecting. Since, I don't wear my wedding ring to work, they probably think I'm another unwed single mother and therefore need to leave me a bigger tip. Personally, I'm okay with that.

So, let me give you some 10 frustrations, facts, comments about being pregnant.

1. The belly touching thing is weird. I don't even have a belly yet and when people find out I'm pregnant, they suddenly want to tickle, touch, or otherwise "rub" the house for your unborn child.
   
2. You are tired, exhausted, worn-out, pooped, or another word that describes this feeling, for the first…well, for a LONG time. I'm in week 13 right now, and I still could sleep like Rip Van Winkle. Right now, it's 7:01 a.m. and I cannot wait for MacKenzie to leave the house at 7:40, just so I can crawl back into bed. After I drink a gallon of Maalox.
   
3. Maalox becomes your friend very quickly. Even vegetables give me heartburn these days. Some foods do not give me heartburn…here I have a 50% chance of them ending up in the trash can.
   
4. Throwing up sucks! I had not thrown up a long time until Christmas. I got the stomach flu right after Christmas at my parents house and spent a lot of time in the bathroom (along with my Dad and Mitch, mom, ironically enough was spared). Morning sickness is different. When you have the stomach flu, this little part of your brain goes "Hey! Don't eat for 24 hours and you'll be just fine." Sure enough, 24 hours later, you are back to normal (or close to being back to normal). With morning sickness, you are still really hungry. At least I am. You also get sick at the mere sight of some foods (chicken, pork, and green beans, for me, right now). And crave others as if they were the best things on Earth.
   
5. Cravings. I don't have too many. Except for Whopper Junior Cheeseburgers. They are REALLY good. As are the French fries. The bonus is, this food, always stays down and doesn't cause me heartburn.
   
6. So, in 9 months, my cholesterol is going to be through the roof. Who cares?!
   
7. And I might be as big as a house, probably not, but again, who cares? If one MORE person tells me that pregnancy is not about eating for 2, I'm going to rip their eyeballs out. I KNOW THAT! My girlfriend in Germany said "People who say they are eating for 2, are eating for themselves, and their fat asses." This is true, this second person, currently snacking on whatever tidbits of food end up I the umbilical cord weighs about 2 ounces. It's quite natural to say they probably need less.
   
8. But, regardless, I am using this pregnancy to eat whatever I want. I have spent the past 6 years of my life, shrinking my body down to the point where I could fit through the holes in a screen door. So, give me a break, if I suddenly desire an ice cream sundae. Do you know when the last time was I had one and DIDN'T feel guilty? Back off.
   
9. Names…ahh names. We are naming her LaFonda Moongazer, if it is a boy, it will be Ta&ji Deliverance (not a misspelling, the & is silent). Are you kidding me? Of course we aren't going to name them after a Napoleon Dynamite character or a military base in Northern Iraq. Just don't ask or give advice, you'll find out after the baby is born.
   
10. We are up in the air about finding out the sex. I would love a little girl, but I'm fairly certain I'm having a boy. That being said, some days we want to know, others we don't. Does it make shopping easier for family and friends? Of course it does…but I didn't know this was about them.
    

I'm not trying to be cynical or mean, there is just a lot of stuff that you don't expect when you are pregnant. I just wish the books covered it more, such as a good response to "Is this Mitch's baby?" I almost want to say, "Nope, he was gone 13 months, but I waited until he came HOME to cheat on him and get pregnant." In the words of the great Maury Povich, "Mitch Brannen, you…..are the father!"

As Mitch has detailed, we are headed to Disney world, in less than 2 weeks. Right now, I am still scheduled to run the 5K Saturday morning, although I will admit, sleeping in until 8 a.m. or so, does feel like a much better option right now, so we'll see. Even pregnant there is a lot of stuff I can do at Disney, minus the Tower of Terror or drinking my way around Epcot. Mitch and I have actually discussed getting me a wheelchair in the evenings, mainly because I get so exhausted so easily.

So, I'm bidding you all adieu now, so I can get MacKenzie off to school to take her Terra Nova exams. It's good to see modern day schools still using the archaic, mass, standardized testing module, proved ineffective so many years ago.

Till next time,

Betsey

An Interesting Weekend

Friday, we drove down from GA to Lake Butler, FL to visit my dad and step-mom, Nancy. We had a pleasant drive down, and were able to make good time.

Saturday, Betsey, Alex, MacKenzie, and I went to the Florida Gators Basketball game. We arrived in Gainesville about 30 minutes before tipoff. We were able to find decent parking for $5, and made our way to the Arena. This was our first college basketball game with the kids. I was surprised to find that simple things like pompoms, and programs were included. I was figuring that these items would cost a small fortune. Nope, that was reserved for the concession stand. Small drinks were $3.50 and popcorn was $4.00. Oh, well. The game was great. The Gators beat the Vanderbilt Commodores 82-68. It was a good win.

 

On Sunday, we drove back in time for Alex to attend youth group. Alex sent in a video for a Lip Sync Contest. He chose the song "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General." He was tied for second place. I thought it was great for his first attempt.

We are only 12 days away from going to Disney. We are staying at the Polynesian and we are completely excited. We currently have ADRs for Bomas, Ohana's, California Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, and Le Cellier. We should have a great time.

 

Not a whole lot else going on. We will keep you posted.

The Sonogram Photos

The First Sonogram

So we had our first sonogram the other day. We were finally able to figure out how to get the photos on-line. So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

 

In other news, Alex ran another 2 miles today. He is really getting comfortable with it, and he looks to do well in the race.

 

Alex is studying poetry in school and is enjoying it. He likes Langston Hughes. He was also recommended to be one of six students to attend a Science Camp in Southern Georgia. We are very proud of him. His technology class is working on creating solar-powered cars. So we will see how this goes in the coming weeks.

MacKenzie is working on those things that are important to her. She is practicing quite a bit on her multiplication, and spelling. She is reading The Tale of Despereaux. She also was selected to cheer on the All-Star Cheerleading squad for Fort Stewart. She is most pleased with this, as are we.

This weekend, all four of us are headed down to Gainesville, Florida to see the Gators play Vanderbilt in college basketball. This is the kid's first college game, and they both seem very excited. Our cousin Holly cheers for the University of Florida, and she has asked to be assigned to that game. Hopefully, she gets to cheer on Saturday and we can see her perform.

Well that is all I can think of at this time. Stay tuned for more…

Some thoughts about running

So this evening, Alex is running his 2 miles, and I began to thinking about his progress. When we first signed up for the 5K, he was unable to do a mile without having to stop. He is now running 5K's and he is able to go further, if there was some incentive involved. He is doing so well. I am looking forward to doing this run with him, and then moving on to training for the next event. It is our intention to do the Expedition Everest event in September. I am just waiting for it to open up, so I can register us for it. He has also decided he would rather do the Race for the Taste vs. the Twilight Zone run in October. His ultimate goal is to run the Disneyland ½ marathon, and then the Disney half marathon. It is a bold plan, but I have the confidence that he will reach his goals. Betsey went from not running at all to running a ½ marathon in only 4 months, so I know he can make it with amount of time that he has to train.

 

Hopefully my back will be better tomorrow, so I can pick up my running schedule again. I am ready for the race, but I still need to get some more miles under my belt. Till next time.

My First Post

Hi there. So, I'm Betsey, wife, mom, dogwalker, laundry extraordinaire, house cleaner, multiple sport cheerleader, movie quote buff, odd novelty collector, and all around good gal. This is my first post as part of the Mad Hatter 77, Mitch's newly created blog.

As he mentioned we are headed to WDW the first weekend in March for participation in the Princess 5K. I am extremely excited to being staying on property for the very first time in my life. Our previous stays generally include Shades of Green (the military resort), family, or for my first trip, an off property hotel in Kissimmee. 

Unfortunately, this will be short, as there is plenty to do around here. 

Current temperature in Hinesville, GA is 69 degrees F.

My First Post

So this is my first post, and I am not sure what it will end up being. Currently, my son, Alex and I are training for the Royal Family 5K that is being held at Disney on March 7, 2009. This is just a few short weeks away. We are all excited, because we will be staying at the Polynesian Resort. It will be our first time staying there. I have been to Disney over 40 times, and my family is rapidly catching up. We really enjoy being there, and feel as it is a second "home."

My wife, Betsey, and I are expecting a baby the end of August. It is our first child together. We had our first sonogram on Tuesday. We were not able to find out the sex of the baby yet, but we are happy to see that at least he/she is healthy as far as that is concerned.

As the days go on, I will be putting more information and posts on this page. Stay tuned.