A new Month, and some good news

I hope everybody is doing ok. We are starting to do better. I have found out from TS that I am a very valuable asset to them, considering some of the things that I have done in a very short time. They have let me know that the odds are extremely good that I will be hired back next year. That means that right now, my hours will be cut. The one good thing is that they are working on getting us back to 8 hours at the high schools only. We are more than busy for this, and 6 hours is not enough time to do anything. I also applied for a year-round position as a lead technician. This would be an upgrade for me. TS also says that I have a good shot at this position, which is what I would prefer.

LeAnn is working her normal days. Last week, she had to work 4 days straight. It was not good. This week, she worked 3 straight days. She is tired. From now on, she is going to split up her work days to work no more than 2 in a row. In the long run, this will help her out.

My grandmother went into ICU last week. LeAnn and I went to Phoenix with my parents on Sunday. She looked good, but was having trouble breathing. They had her on breathing treatments. Yesterday, she was discharged from the hospital. They placed her into a care home (possibly hospice). The doctor's are not letting my parents know what is going on. She had 2 MRI's of her head over the past week. They also said that she would not be allowed to go home again by herself. My parents are up in Phoenix this weekend to find out what is going on. My aunt is flying in Sunday to be there as well. Hopefully, they will find out something out this week.

On the baby front, we now have a fully-assembled crib and stroller. Steve and Donna bought us a crib a couple of weeks ago, and I put it together last weekend. My parents purchased a travel system (car seat and stroller). I have been cleaning up the front bedroom to get the furniture that is needed for the baby. It is a long process, but it is starting to take shape. Next Friday, we have the 20 week ultrasound, where they should be able to tell the sex. They will also have a better idea of the delivery date at that time. I am looking forward to this appointment.

I have got to go and put LeAnn to bed, as she is falling asleep on the couch. Have a safe week and we will let you know what the baby is (hopefully) next week.

Please pray for my grandmother and the latest developments in her cancer battle. Also pray for Katie and her job situation. Continue to pray for my job situation. Finally, pray for the continued good health of the baby and LeAnn.

David

Updates

It is nearly the end of another week. What kind of updates can I have? Not many, unfortunately. My job situation is still questionable, though teachers are now being informed of the situation and the budget of the school is up for a vote by the staff and faculty. I have a good feeling that the current budget went down and will need to be redone, hopefully with a change for the better for me.

LeAnn had to work last night. It is not great. She will work 4 nights in a row, due to being called in. I guess it is good, since we can always use the extra money.

Movement on the townhouse is unknown. There have been no bites either for rent or sale, but many people are calling Steve about it. Hopefully, somebody will purchase it soon so we are rid of it.

On Monday, we switched our television from cable to satellite. We went with DirectTV, and are happy with what we have gotten. I still need to run a new cable line for the main TV (due to the satellite DVR needing 2 lines) and will do this next month. LeAnn says that I can cut a couple of holes in the wall, but must fix them quickly. Next Monday, we are getting our phone switched from Comcast to QWest. We will be keeping the same phone number. The overall goal is to save us money. We should end up doing this.

Both of our dogs are doing well. They have slept most of the time, since they spent 3 days with Chica. They are very happy and are glad they are home. They did go and see Chica on Tuesday for LeAnn's Birthday.

We spent LeAnn's birthday at Steve and Donna's. We had chicken lasagna and enjoyed spending the night with them. LeAnn got clothes for her during the pregnancy.

My Grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I still have not heard anything about treatment.

My father is still recovering from hernia surgery. He is doing very well.

Please pray for Katie, Donna (tiredness after Easter and Birthday), LeAnn and the Baby (obvious), my grandmother (cancer), my father (hernia surgery), and my job situation. Also pray for each other as as we go through these tough times.

David

Easter Vacation

Here we are on our vacation. We came up here on Friday morning after dropping off our very sad dogs at Steve and Donna's. We got up here around 11 am. We went to the Star Trek exhibit at the Science Museum. We spent about an hour there. It was not that big and a lot smaller than I thought it should be, considering 10 movies and 4 television series. Last night, we went to the movies at Arizona Mills. We saw Monsters vs Aliens in 3d. It was really cool and we both had a good time.

Today, it was raining when we got up. This was not good, as we had planned on going to the zoo today. We started out by going down for breakfast. We then decided to go see my grandmother, who was just diagnosed with lung cancer. We went over there and spent about 30-45 minutes with her. We talked about what was going on and what we had been doing. By then, the rain had stopped and we decided to try the zoo. We got to the zoo and had a good time. We spent at least 3 hours there, looking at everything they had to offer. We went on the tram ride twice, walked about half the zoo, and saw many things. After the zoo, we were both hungry and decided to go to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. It was good. We were both so tired that we ate about half of our meals and brought the rest of it back to the hotel. It is a good thing that we have a fridge in the room.

We are both quite tired and looking forward to coming home tomorrow and spending time with our families. Katie is already in Tucson and we will see her tomorrow as well.

Please pray for my grandmother while she goes through the treatments (they will determine either surgery or chemo this week). Also, pray for my father as he recovers from hernia surgery. Pray for the baby, while it continues to grow bigger by the day. Pray for my job situation, that it will quickly resolve itself. Finally, pray for all of our other family members, whether we see them or not, that they will have a safe Easter holiday and coming weeks.

David

And the Sex Is....

And the winner of the what is the gender of the new baby is.... Nobody. The baby wouldn't cooperate with us yesterday when we went to see if we could find out the sex. The umbilical cord was in the way. However, the doctor scheduled us for another ultrasound in May to find out. As a result, it is still just a baby.

Everybody have a happy Easter.

Nearly Easter

It is nearly Easter 2009. I have 2 more days of work and LeAnn has 1. Lucky her.

We have our doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully, they will do an ultrasound so we can find out the sex of the baby. If not, it will be another month before we find out (boo). LeAnn has had a few bouts with Morning Sickness again. It is not fun, but we will get through it.

Work is not that great. On Friday, they gave all teachers who had 3 years or less their pink slips. They also gave one of our administrators one too. I have yet to receive mine. I know that it is coming (assuming the school goes with the district plan). It is just a matter of time.

My dad had surgery today. He had a hernia repaired. The surgery went well. The doctor says that he has to take it easy for a little while.

My grandmother is going in for surgery tomorrow to have fluid removed from her lungs. Things should be ok with her.

This weekend, we are going to Phoenix for the weekend. We plan on having a good time, since this will be the last time for several years (due to the baby). We plan on going to the Star Trek Exhibit (Beam me up, Scotty!) on Friday. On Saturday, we plan on going to the Zoo and the Spaghetti Company. We will come home on Sunday to spend the day with our families.

Katie is coming down on Saturday. I am really happy she is coming. It has been quite a while since I have seen her. It should be fun. She is always good for a lot of laughs and fun times.

That is it until this weekend or next week. Please pray for my entire family as they recover from surgeries. Pray for Katie and Donna. Also pray for the baby, as we let it develop and become the newest member of the Totten/Douglas families.

Here is your first look at Baby Totten. This is the baby at 13 weeks. He/She was waving that little hand all over the place. We got the results of the Ultra-screen this week. The Ultra-screen is a group of tests including ultrasound and bloodwork that look for genetic anomalies such as downs syndrome. The doctor said that everything looked perfectly normal. Also, I am happy to say that with the first trimester over, I am not feeling any morning sickness anymore and my energy level is slowly beginning to increase.
David got word this week that due to budget cuts, TUSD will be cutting their technical services staff back. Basically all the positions that they are keeping will be posted and then people can put in for the jobs they want. Even if you had that position before, you are not guaranteed to keep that position. Also, if he does get the same job he currently has, the hours might be cut to 32 hours a week. Please pray for the wisdom to know which jobs to put in for and that David will get the job that is best for him.
We have decided to re-list the townhouse for sale. With the new home buyer incentives we are hoping that more people will be looking at buying. At the same time we are listing it for rent too. Whichever one happens first that is what we will do. We are praying that something happens soon since David's job is only during the school year and we will be loosing his income for 2 1/2 months over the summer.
David and I will be taking off to Phoenix for a couple of days over his spring break. We wanted to just take some time and get away just the two of us. David wanted to go see the star trek exhibition at the AZ science center and I think that we will go visit the Phoenix zoo since I have never been there.

The first pictures

The first pictures have been done. Unfortunately, they don't scan real well. That stinks. The doctor says that everything is good. The heartbeat was easily heard (beating at 150bpm). the baby was very active. It was doing summer saults and spinning constantly. It was waving its arms and legs all over the place. They were clearly defined. The baby's head was noticeable as well. You could see the entire facial bone structure. It was really cool.

We also learned that this is a single pregnancy, despite what others think (and I was one of them). This will make purchasing clothing and furniture a little easier.

We will post more pictures when we get them.

David