Where to Begin??

Well, it has been quite awhile since I posted, so apologies on falling behind! Lots has happened since the last post, so i'll try to fill you in without getting too long....
First, I have had some requests for updated belly shots, so here you go! This is a little past 33 weeks (apparently my counting was a bit off, so the post at 31 weeks was actually quite earlier!). I am still feeling pretty good! Some days I get rather exhausted but I'm still able to go on a walk just about everyday and go about business as usual. I have taken my wedding ring off for the remainder of the pregnancy just to ensure that I don't have to have it cut off, so I'm now wearing the band Kacey got me for my travels in Costa Rica. We finished up our birthing classes last week and we are both so glad we went! It has made it feel a lot more real (especially for Kacey...he's SOOO excited now even feels like he's started nesting!! haha...). I'm also extremely pumped for the labor and delivery and to finally meet the little one!! Oct. 9th seems so long to wait! But we are praying the baby will stay in there until then in order to be fully developed and ready for life outside the womb.

On another note, I learned something very important last night that every cook should know and I will gladly pass it on to you in hopes that will not make the same mistake I did! Kacey had brought home a huge back of home-grown peppers of all kinds this past weekend, so i thought I'd try a dish with jalapenos...well, after slicing and dicing 5 or 6 jalapenos for a jalapeno pie, we sat down to eat dinner. After about 5 minutes of eating, I noticed a burning sensation on my fingers. Immediately, I started looking for scrapes or cuts that could have come in contact with the jalapeno juice but found nothing. I washed my hands anyways, but the burning continually increased and became quite painful. After furiously scrubbing my hands with soap and water several times only to have the burning intensify, I turned to the internet for help. Upon finding a whole discussion board dedicated to washing jalapeno juice off of hands, I learned that you are supposed to wear gloves while handing the spciy peppers! who knew?? Many of the posts had tales of people who burned for 8 hours to 3 days!! So, i began trying all kinds of suggestions...tomato paste, vinegar, borax, dishwashing soap, saliva, lotion, everything! Below is a picture Kacey took of me (I think he felt sorry for me, but was also pretty amused!) soaking my hands in yogurt... one of my last attempts. After that did nothing, I just numbed the pain with ice packs which worked wonders. After I knew I shouldn't keep ice on my hands any longer, the burning returned so we headed to the store for aloe. And wouldn't you know, while we were standing in the aisle debating between brands, the burning subsided! If I was to post on that blog, i guess i would say use ice for an hour and then drive all the way to the store for aloe. Your body will know you went out of your way to get relief and you won't even have to spend the money on aloe! Whatever it was that worked, i am so thankful that by morning the burning was gone (except a little bit on one thumb). Needless to say, it was very diffifult to eat my jalapeno pie, but I did manage to force a few bites down and I think i may have liked the dish if it didn't bring back painful memories of severe burning! I think I'll be sending the peppers back to the animal clinic for someone more daring and experienced than I...

And on an even more different note, on Saturday, Kacey called me on his way home from work and told me he had two surprises for me. Based on my husband's history and tone of voice, my first reaction was "NOOO!!! oh Kacey....NO!" I think he was a bit surprised that I instictively knew he probably meant something live. I thought for sure he was brining home puppies that needed resueing. He assured me they were not puppies or cats so i relaxed just a little (although he still wouldn't tell me what they were!) . It turns out the two surprises were 1). delicious organic cookies, and 2). a baby bunny. I knew it! It had to be something live! Well, of course, it is sooooooo precious and already hops over to me when I make my little rabbit noise. For now, we plan on helping it get a little bigger and then letting it go in our back yard, if we can convince the dogs that it's not prey.

Mighty is thinking, "Why can't I chase it??? I LIVE to hunt and catch these things!"

Bear was a little more relaxed, although he was still a bit unsure about the little guy.

Here is Kacey feeding it milk from a syringe...

Mighty in his new bed. He loves beds that are way to small for him! What a cutie :)

Katie and Kody came down to visit us a few weekends ago and we had a blast!! One of the funnest things we did was take a blow-up raft Kacey found at a garage sale and charted the river at Norris Dam! We also explored the UT campus, took our dogs to the dog park (Katie and Kody brought their new puppy Noodles too!), and visited the West Town Mall. Katie was also a trooper and went with me to the birthing class!! Poor girl! She got to sit through 3 hours of talking about epideruals, forceps, C-sections, and all kinds of good stuff.

Here are three deer crossing the road at Norris State Park.

Kacey and I in front of Norris Dam.

What a BEAUTIFUL site!

And before Katie and Kody came for a visit, Kacey and I got to go to Nashville to see his cousin Tasha and her new baby! Nana, Aunt Lori, and Aunt Vicki were also there :) Here is Olivia (Tasha's first)...so fun! She was always on the move (and had a big crush on Kacey!) so it was hard to get pics that weren't blurry! Tasha looked fabulous and was a wonderful host...even after just having a baby!

Lori, Nana, Kacey, and Vicki...

And here is the newbie! Myca Ray. Probably one of the cutest newborns I have ever seen...this is just a week after her birth. She really looked like a doll.

Phew! Sorry that was so long...I'll have to post sooner next time!