Ups & Downs of Being Pregnant

Well one of the funnest parts of being pregnant is registering! Scott and I went on Friday afternoon to register, since we now know that we are having a girl. We registered at Target and Baby Depot (Burlington Coat Factory). It took us a while, and I am still unsure whether we overdid it or underdid it. I have no idea what to expect. But I tried to take other people's advice as well as follow some of the "suggested items." Anyway, it was a lot of fun, mostly because it makes this whole baby thing so much more real. Even if we don't get anything from our registry, it will be fine, and it was still fun! I need help deciding which pack and play to choose. One is at Target and one is at Baby Depot. They are both very similar, with a few different features. So I though I'd ask for advice as to whether the mobile one or the shaded one would be better. Advice in comments please! Oh, one other thing. I realize that these are pink and brown, which might present an issue if we have another one that's a boy... but I just like it too much and didn't see any other ones that I liked as much.

Now for the downside of being pregnant. I've discovered that going to amusement parks when you are pregnant is not all that fun. Especially for someone who is an adrenaline junkie and loves big scary rides!!! On Saturday, we went to FunTown with the junior high youth group. We had 6 kids plus Scott, myself, and Kevin. It was a cloudy day, but it was still supposed to be around 70 degrees. It definitely was NOT. When we arrived, we found out that Splashtown was closed, which was a bummer, since I figured that I could plan on just hanging out at the waterslides much of the day. Well, we ended up only doing FunTown, so I did a lot of sitting, watching, and taking photos. At every ride there were signs saying "Not recommended for the following conditions... pregnancy." Oh, yeah, that's me. There was even a sign at the carousel, but I took a risk and went on it anyway! See photo for evidence.








So, that's it for now. I am feeling good and having fun. I appreciate all the love and support we have already had from everyone, and I look forward to continuing this journey.

It's a...

Today was the day! We had our "20 week" ultrasound, although I'm officially at 21 weeks. Around 1:30 this afternoon we were at the Maternal Fetal Medicine at EMMC and I got some warm jelly stuff rubbed all over my tummy. Scott sat next to me in the rocking chair - I told him he's getting ready for when the baby comes. So we got to see our little one from just about every angle. We did find out the gender, even though Scott originally didn't want to know. It's a GIRL! Yay ! I was wrong on my gut instinct, but Scott actually thought it was a girl. So it was exciting to finally know. I know other people don't mind waiting until the big day to find out, but I am too impatient! Now I can plan plan plan, and just pray that the technician was correct. She said she can't say 100%, but she hasn't been wrong in a very long time.

Anyway, here are some pics of the little alien girl!
Note: edited to add the photo of the "girl" identification (at Sarah's request).

Squirrel Madness

Today I discovered a very disturbing fact: we not only have ONE red squirrel living in our basement, but FOUR! I saw all four of them outside in our trees by the house. There is one momma and 3 babies. Mia and Moxie have been going CRAZYYYYYYYYYYY today because they have been able to see these lovely little rodents running to and fro between the trees and the house. I managed to get some great photos of them, although I couldn't get all 4 of them at once. There was one point where they were all together on one tree, but I didn't get the camera in time. Anyway, we're going to have to live trap these little buggers since they are probably wreaking havoc in our basement. Kira has also been spending a lot of time downstairs, and I don't want her to get into a fight with a squirrel!

Pregnancy Update

I wanted to post a new photo of me at 20 weeks, so here ya go! We have our ultrasound on Monday and I am SOOOOOOOO excited! I had a dream last night about the ultrasound, and it was really weird. There was one thing after another and they kept putting us off so we couldn't have it done. Plus it was my director at work who was doing the ultrasound. Weird! I am sure it will be different on Monday. So, the verdict is that we are going to find out the gender. I just couldn't bear to wait another 20 weeks!

Everybody's Doing It

I remember when blogging was first catching on. It took me a while to decide to create my own blog, but with a little help from my friends Steve and Peter, I managed to throw this together. Later I helped my friend Amy get her blog started, and now she is a blogging fiend! I love reading her posts. Now, even more friends have joined, like Shan, Sarah, and Jessica (sorry Jess, I can't seem to find the link to your blog). It seems to be a catchy trend, and I think it's so great that we can all stay connected this way even between hundreds or even thousands of miles.

Recently, I noticed that several of my other friends or acquaintances have also joined the blogosphere:

• Michelle, who also has her own online store
• Kellie, a friend from high school and college
• Katie, another friend from high school
• Marnie, another friend from high school

I love reading the posts when I have down time and enjoying the fun stories, etc. So, blog on, friends, blog on.

New Baby Stuff

Well today I had to say goodbye to my supervisor, since her last day is tomorrow, and I'm not there on Fridays. She is such a great supervisor and I have really enjoyed working with her. I hope that we hire someone at least half as good as her.

Anyway, as we were saying goodbye, she gave me a great little baby gift since she's not going to be around when they do a shower for me. So I absolutely love my gift! Here is a photo so that you can all see how cute it is. She got green items since we don't know the gender yet. But it's still super cute, and I especially love the onesies!

Parenting Gone Wrong

What has this world come to, when something like this can happen? I am just sickened by this kind of thing, and it makes me sad to realize that people continue to treat their children like their property instead of like a human being. This story makes me think of the book, "The Child Called It", and I can only imagine what else this poor boy went through before his final "punishment" when lead to his death. Some speculators are relating this to a possible "religious" issue or a "homeschooling" issue. No, I think it is a STUPIDITY issue. A complete lack of humanity on the part of the parents. They should NEVER be allowed to get their other 2 children back, but in this world, I wouldn't be surprised if they did...

Coming Along

Here I am at 18 weeks pregnant. Things are coming along. I am finally showing (a little bit), and I am now needing to wear maternity clothes, since now of my regular clothes are fitting. I went shopping with Sarah, who is about 5 weeks behind me, on Saturday and we scored some great stuff. The thing I am most excited about is the "belly band", which you can put over your regular clothes and hide the fact that you have your pants unbuttoned ; )

Anyway, the best part right now is getting to feel the baby move. I love laying there at night with my hand on my stomach, feeling all the little squirms and kicks. So cool! We will be having our 20 week ultrasound on June 23rd, which is actually my 21st week. So I think we're going to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl, which will be exciting... my guess is a boy.

Well I am off to youth group and hanging out with lots of kids!

Rant

Ok, I have a rant. What is one of the things that bothers me more than anything? When someone (or several people) make statements about things which they know nothing about. It seems to happen a lot online. See, I do some posting online to promote my business, and most of the time things go smoothly. But every once in a while, there is someone who thinks they are an expert but yet have no direct experience with the topic at hand. That has got to be the most annoying thing in the world.

That's about it. I just had to get that out of my system.

One of Those Days

Today I had one of those days. It was not good. It started with me being very emotional and getting into an argument with Scott, and much crying ensued. Then, after I was calm enough to eat breakfast, I felt a little better. I had a business call before going to work and that went well. Well, it went well and then it changed, and so that was another disappointment. At work, I had to talk to a DHHS worker that I have a hard time interacting with - it seems she says and does things to purposefully irritate me, like failing to mention that she changed the meeting time tomorrow. On top of that, my supervisor who I really get along with is leaving and that is a huge bummer. After all of this, I really just wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and go back to sleep. That way, I could just forget that I ever got up today.

Somehow, I managed to put my mind on other things and get some actual work done. It helped to talk with a friend and be able to focus better after that. After work, I came home and wanted to relax for about an hour before I had to go back to Bangor for a meeting. Moxie, however, decided that it would be fun to get wrapped around the tree in the pouring rain, which meant I had to go out and get him. Then he also decided it would be fun to crawl under my car and trample my flowers. URGH! Sometimes dogs can be so stupid.

I managed to lay down for about 20 minutes and then have some dinner. Then I went back to Bangor to meet with 3 classmates and plan our 10 year high school reunion. That was good because we were able to meet pretty quickly. Once home for good, I crashed on the couch and watched stupid TV shows for a while, and also talked with another friend.

One good thing of the day: My company that I work with for my business called today and said that they want to interview me! I was a little shocked, since my past few months have been slow (thanks to all my fatigue and morning sickness). But nonetheless, on Friday I will be interviewed and it will be put on the company training website. What an honor, and a nice pick-me-up after a long day.