26 weeks - Becareful little ears what you hear...

"No-Name" is moving along and kicking around like crazy. According to my updates she should now be able to tell the difference between mine and Stephen's voices. However, Stephen & I feel she will recognize JT's voice better than she will recognize ours because he is so vocal. It is next to impossible to ask him to be quiet b/c he just talks right back. I see the good and the bad in it, I would like for her to be able to fall asleep under any condition without it being super quiet around her. I have very high hopes that I will be the kind of person that will be blowing and going, however, there is also reality...

Guess what?!! We decided on a paint color and painted the nursery this past weekend. To give you an idea the paint color name is "simplify beige." Here is a swatch:


I think we both really like it. That room gets a lot of afternoon sun and it just makes the room feel so fresh and airy. I would have liked to have gone with a bolder color but that room can seem small and we did not want to close it in any more. We are going to try a glazing effect on the walls using "branches" from the fabric pattern (shown in a previous blog). I'll let you know if it works. If not, its just paint and we can go to plan B.

SIDENOTE: Last night, Stephen & I were watching t.v. and I came across the Discovery Health show "Freebirthing." Okay, that's just weird. It's a/b pregnant women who refuse to be followed with medical treatment and would prefer an unassisted childbirth. REALLY? They followed two women through the process and luckily neither of them had any complications. I have been through way to much to be too strong willed to not ask for help or medication. More power to them, but Stephen & I were partly speechless and partly disgusted at the same time. One family cut the umbilical cord with regular scissors. I found this on wikipedia to explain why some people do this:
The reasons for choosing to give birth unassisted range greatly from mother to mother but a few key factors are common to most.

- The conviction that birth is a normal function of the female body and therefore not a medical emergency.
- The belief that most interventions commonly used by the medical profession during birth cause more harm than good in a normal birth.
- The sense that the mother will be more apt to follow the natural flow of her individual birth in an undisturbed birth setting, thus enabling her to find the optimum positions or techniques to birth her child safely.
- The understanding that birth is an intimate, sexual, and potentially orgasmic experience,[3] and that privacy is absolutely essential for the erotic dimension of birth.
- A noted increase in the feelings and ability to bond with and take responsibility for the welfare of her child.

Some have requested a picture of the "buddha belly" (as Stephen & I call it) so here it is at 26 weeks:

Our little carrot!

We are officially at 21 weeks! Last weekend we were busy trying to decide on the bedding, furniture and the travel system. The only one we were able to accomplish was the travel system.

I really thought I wanted something modern and graphically cool for the bedding… then there is the whole baby pink issue. I can handle pink, but not all over her nursery. I would feel like I was stepping in to Pepto-Bismol every day. Can’t do it. She will be in plenty of precious pink outfits and skirts to make up for the lack of pink in the nursery. I kind of feel like a mom that is not keen on having a girl, but I am very excited a/b it – I’m just not a real girly-girl. I really don’t want the nursery to look real “baby” either. All that to say, the bedding is still up in the air, which drives me crazy, b/c for me, that pretty much determines the look of the entire room (excluding the furniture) – what paint colors to use, what accent colors to use- blah, blah, blah.

I guess one of these days she will have a name. Stephen was given one month from when he found out the sex to contribute any names... two weeks remain. We have a few first names and one strong possibility, but no middle name just yet. Believe you me, she will have a name before she makes her grand appearance.
According to my books, she is a/b 10 ½ inches long – the average length of a carrot.

Off the subject issues:
Last week I chaired an awareness rally at the Arkansas State Capitol for Ovarian Cancer Awareness. Afterwards, we had a survivor’s luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion. The turn out was way more than we expected, we had over 150 people in attendance. Our goal was around 80. Our prayer for next year is that we will have to move locations b/c we need more space. J It was a great success.
Also, we have a website up and running http://www.arkansasovariancancer.com/ to be a resource for women in Arkansas just diagnosed with ovarian cancer and to be a place to gather information on awareness and upcoming events- check it out.

Presentation of Survivors at rally.

Mom, Leah and myself listening to a speaker at the rally

Stephen played in his first adult league soccer game this past Sunday. I was not able to attend. Unfortunately they lost, but they have only practiced twice, so I expect better outcomes in the future. As the soccer player I was growing up, I have to admit I am a little jealous. I think that would be so much fun. However, there are some things that the foot/brace does not allow me to do and this would be one of them.
I am very proud of him for stepping out and doing something a little outside of his comfort zone. Who knows – he probably did it as a way to get away from the crazy pregnant lady at home! HA!

Here are some recent pictures of my boys...

Stephen & JT at my brothers house in Fayetteville. JT actually rode around at low speed, it was too funny!

JT Hanging out of the window. (this picture may not be reproduced in any way without permission)

I wish she would live forever...

Most of you know, I have a very special quiet angel in my life -

my 12 yr. old golden retriever, Belle.

I have had her since I was 15. I am just know able to post this b/c I have run out of tears and have started the process of acceptance, but it is going to take me while to get through this post.

We found out last September that she had skin cancer after two tumors were removed off of her right leg. Everything seemed great, nothing seemed to "loom" over us.

Right after New Years, what I thought was two more tumors had popped up on her right leg again. I took her in to get them removed and there were SEVEN, not two. The type of skin cancer she has is very aggressive. We had just been dealing with Grade 2, well, one the size of a BB came back a Grade 3, which puts us in a whole other playing field. Chemo is not very effective towards this cancer, so we have decided not to pursue that option.

To me, her quality of life is much more important at this stage than the quantity!

She still greets us at the door everyday when we come home - tail wagging and ready to play frisbee to the best of her ability. If she wants a whole piece of bread instead of a half piece, yes, i admit it, she gets it.

The vet said we have 6-9 months.

I know the time will come, but I will NEVER be ready.

• Every time I have been sick, Belle would not leave the front yard, even if she did want to go on a walk so bad she couldn't stand it. She had a job a to do.
• One of her nicknames is "Thumper" b/c when you come up to her and she is lying on her side she thumps her tail on the ground so loudly and has the biggest grin on her face that says "Rub my belly, Rub my belly"
• Another nickname is "Boo Boo" b/c my brother used to call her that to make fun of her b/c she is such a chicken when it storms
• She is my protector and my gentle giant. All she wants to do is know your not going to hurt me, then she licks you to death.

I soak up every minute I can with her right now b/c I know I will never have a dog just like her. It is heart wrenching to think that what seems like a little thing in your life will leave an impact the size of a crater on your heart.

So this post is dedicated to my quiet angel.

Cancer....free, babies, pun-kins & ribbons

It is absolutely crazy that it has already been 22 days since our last post. We have been very busy. I guess this way we don't have to wait for our vacation to get here, it is just going to smack us in the head the night before.


As a family, we got the best news in six months.....
MOM IS CANCER FREE!!!

The past couple of weeks I have been traveling for work- Fayetteville for a photo shoot and Hot Springs for a tradeshow. In between those events I have preparing our office to participate in the 2ND Annual WD&D Pumpkin Carving Contest (which i think was sabotaged/rigged) and the Tinkled Pink - where we decorate a port-o-potty for the Race for the Cure.


Here are some pictures of the port-o-potty - we don't know if we won yet- we better have!!!

Stephen joined us later and helped with all the detail work- i think he is the one that took the group photo - me, Courtney, Laura and Aaron. I know, you would want to use the potty in our bathroom!! We had all the tile and wallpaper donated. So it only cost us a/b $50 to decorate.

Before all of those events I hosted a baby shower for one of my long time friends! That was such a treat - however i do feel older by the day when my friends start having kids and Wes & Kelly have #2 in the oven. But no pressure, right?!
"In Gods time" is what i keep telling myself. Although we have had "the baby talk" but I will need to get off of my nerve pain medicine and that will be a TALL mountain to climb. Maybe I will talk more about that on another post.

Speaking of babies - Stephen & I are going to have to deal with "letting a stranger keep our baby for the first time" thing. I never knew finding a kennel that we were both comfortable with was going to be such a task! First we thought we had found someone Stephen works with to keep him, b/c come to find out they had one of JT's cousins only a month or two younger than him. Well, he was a little too rambunkcious (sp?) for dad and mom just wanted to know that he was going to be as loved there as he is at home. It will be funny to see how long we can go w/out calling the kennel to see if he's alright.

I will try to write again before we go on vacation!

Our First Step in blogging!

I (Amy) wanted to create this blog site so that all of our family and friends near and far can hop on here and check out what our family is up to. We hope you throughly enjoy it. For those of you that we do not see often, we miss you bunches!

Here are a few pictures to get us started!

Wes & Kelly and Amy & Stephen

JT Lasseigne on his first birthday!!! August 6th!

What a handsome boy!

We can't leave out big sis'!

Belle McDaniel Lasseigne - just turned 12 September 22nd!!



Love you bunches!! We hope you enjoy our blog!