32 Weeks

Monthly Update:  I survived 6 solid days without Brent while he was in Atlanta last week for work.  We are now 8 months into this pregnancy and I'm starting to have to slow down as simple tasks are getting more difficult.  I've been walking  quite a bit, but I've started to notice that my pelvis can't handle the pressure after more than a few miles.  April is going to be here very soon and I'm excited to no longer be pregnant, but at the same time I/we are very nervous about being parents to a newborn again.  We haven't decided on any names which is probably the biggest stress we feel at the moment.  Not knowing the baby's sex is making this process pretty difficult this time around.  Hopefully, there is some sort of clarity the moment we see our babe face to face.  That's how it worked when Annie was born at least.  Wish us luck!

It's been a while since blogging,but we're still here!

We are officially into the New Year and 28 weeks (7-months) along with this pregnancy.  I've yet to photograph this baby bump.  I'm not opposed to a photo, I honestly just haven't thought about it until today.  There wasn't much to photograph up until the past couple of weeks.  The past 6 months just looked as though I'd put on a few pounds here and there, but no real noticeable baby bump (at least to the general population.) 

We are rolling at this point though.  The baby's sex will be a surprise again and we're looking at a delivery date of 4/23.  

Brent officially started with his career on December 17th.  He's enjoying the learning curve so far and just completed his first out-of-town trip last week.  Los Angeles isn't a bad place to visit especially when someone else is completely footing the bill.  We managed without him for the week and will have to do it often as he has two more week long trips planned (Atlanta and possibly the Virgin Islands) in the next month or so.

Welcome to HOLLYWOOD!  "What's your dream?"

L.A. Temple

Our post Christmas rice krispie train

nourishment for the babe

Enjoying perfect January weather in south Louisiana

February arrives this week.  Hope you're ready!

Family Christmas Gathering 2012

We hosted my family Christmas party at our house this year.  It was fairly low key, but very enjoyable.  It's always great to see my cousins and grandparents.  We were missing quite a few for various reasons, but hoping for a full slate next Christmas.   Missed you Becca, Dave, Parker, Meredith, Andrew, Peyton, Brady, Ellis, Summer, Ryan, Gavin, Cherie, Jim, and Uncle Tom.

Uncle Matt & Poppy

I'm not sure why Brent looks so angry here

Lum & Donna (AKA: NaNa & Poppy)

Dessert Pizza and Nothing Bundt Cakes cupcakes

The kiddos

Hutchinson's

Vidrine's

Brent's Graduation 2012

 

CONGRATS BRENT MANGUM! 

What an AMAZING weekend!  I'm so proud of this guy.  He has worked really hard and has done VERY well in his graduate program.  It has all come to an end...at least for now.  There's already talk of when he'll go back for the Ph.D program...blah.

He graduated on Friday, December 14th and started his full-time career with NCBRT (National Center for Biomedical Research Training) on Monday, December 17th.  Talk about no break!  His office is located on LSU's campus and he'll be doing disaster training/research throughout the State (I hope I have this info correct:)  We're really excited about this position and feel very blessed that he's in such a good place.

Voting 2012

What a morning!  

We weren't expecting what we encountered this morning en route to vote.  We parked 1/2 a mile away from the voting site walked, and then waited, and waited, and waited...  

We did it though!  We exercised our constitutional right.  Not sure that it was legal for Annie to vote twice, but she did and she was adorable.

Voting with Mom

Voting with Dad

GET OUT AND VOTE TODAY AND BE PREPARED FOR LONG LINES!

Halloween 2012

Our Halloween consisted of a cute little witch, an astronaut, and a pizza man.  Hope your Halloween was awesome!

Kota turns 8

Going back in time. 

I never documented Dakota's 8th Birthday party over the summer.  It was pretty spectacular.  He desperately wanted an ARMY themed birthday and we pulled it off with flying colors. 

Baby Mangum

We're expecting Baby # 3:  

September 7th was my/our last blog post.   There's a reason for that.  That's the date when things starting spinning out of control.  That was the first day that I started to "not feel good" and unfortunately that day has continued relentlessly for the past 6 weeks.  There are days I want to cry and  feel so weak.  This is by far the hardest pregnancy I've had thus far.  It has been even harder because Brent is finishing Grad school this semester and is WAY overextended himself.  We pass each other in the night these days, if we're lucky.  I know there will be a time when we look back and laugh at what we both had to endure, but right now, it certainly doesn't seem laughable. 

I  had a little episode a couple of weeks back with Annie in tow.  She and I went to the gym so that I could get a spin class in thinking that would help make me feel better.  I made it through the spin class and Annie and I stopped at the produce market on the way home for a pumpkin.  We weren't there for 2 minutes until I felt weak and light headed and started to black out.  I quickly found a seat against the wall and had her sit next to me hoping the feeling would pass.  I didn't want to alarm any customers so I was trying to spot an employee who could purchase a coke for me from the vending machine.  Unfortunately, the only people around were older gentlemen so I was left with no option other than to ask one of them for help.  Let's just say the gentleman was extremely concerned and immediately got help and returned with my coke.  It was a little late, as I was lying on the ground when he returned and Annie was patiently sitting by my side.  It was scary because she was with me, but this is certainly not the first time I've passed out.  I've actually had very similar incidences with my pregnancies with Dakota and Annie. The difference then was I didn't have another child with me that I was responsible for at the time.

I'm hoping that things will drastically improve and that I will get some relief in the very near future.  We had an amazing experience this morning of seeing our little babe in action for the first time.  I'm just about 13 weeks and according to the ultrasound...everything looks perfect!  What a relief.