A New Patio

We finally got some patio furniture! (It's only taken us 12 months!) We've always wanted to have a table and chairs to enjoy some outdoor dining, but it just wasn't at the top of our priority list.

However, just in time for our out of town guests (Russell and Alexa) to come, we bought a table and four chairs. Check it out:
And you can see that the oranges on our orange tree are finally ripening in the background! (This picture was actually taken last weekend, and the oranges are just about ready to eat now.)

Would you believe me if I told you that the table isn't wood? It looks just like it, but it's actually aluminum. I like it because it's lightweight, it'll survive the weather better and is super comfy. Michael prefers sitting without those extra pillows at the back, but I like the support!

Now we're ready for some outdoor meals now that the weather is so mild!

Limited Resources

Sorry for the delay in blogging. It’s not that I don’t have things that I want to share, it’s that I don’t have the means.

Our computer at home is basically shot. Between regular re-starts and re-setting of the internet, freeze-ups and overheating, my already limited patience with the thing is basically up. This means that I don’t really have a place to, for example, upload and then post pictures of our great weekend with Russell and Alexa in town. Maybe I'll have better luck tonight. I don’t even really have a place from which I could blog. I’m posting this blog from my work computer on my lunch break. Even then, I’m not entirely sure if I’m allowed to or not except that I keep catching my coworkers looking at Facebook and Gmail and Youtube at their computers, so I’d be pretty upset for getting in trouble for doing this one thing.

I’m so excited for the holidays. I know I’m not supposed to start celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but I can’t help myself. I broke out my favorite Christmas music mix in October and am thrilled to find myself one week away from Thanksgiving!

Yesterday I rode my bike to the library. I strolled inside, walked immediately to the help desk and asked for assistance. I told the lovely woman that I needed an Romance audio book that had to do with Christmas. She didn’t even blink. “Okay, well, we only have two specific titles at this location…” I’m thrilled to report that I’m listening to an audiobook that is predictable and has obsolete dialogue and it’s during Christmas and I’M LOVING IT.

Any chance Michael will let us put up lights early this year?

Halfway Through!

Here's my 20 week belly:

You might not believe me, but I think I've "popped" a little more even since this picture was taken. Yesterday at work I had two people realize I was pregnant and Michael agrees that it seems my belly came out of nowhere in the past few days. I might have to start taking pictures every week instead of every two weeks.

I know it might not look like much, but it looks a little better if you compare it to where I started!

Just Call Me Ralph

Weeks pregnant: 20
Days without taking Zofran: 2
Times I puked while brushing my teeth this morning: 1

That’s if you don’t count how I started puking, then stopped, then started again. So, technically 1.5.

When I was about 12 weeks I got my haircut and told the hairdresser about all the nausea I’d had. She told me that she would bet I was having a girl because girls are so hormonal, and having your own pregnancy hormones combined with a hormonal girl inside would make you extra sick. I thought that was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard. Now I’m wondering if maybe I’m the crazy one. Why am I still sick? I was doing so well! I’d gotten down to taking only one Zofran in the morning and feeling practically normal for the rest of the day, so when the prescription ran out I thought I’d be fine without it. Two days of queasiness later, Welcome to Vomitville. Population: 1. Mayor, Treasurer and Party Planning Chairman: Julie.

Sometimes I try to be dramatic and cough out little cryptic complaints in between heaves (“This sucks”), but I was so surprised to be yakking once again that I forgot to this morning.

QUEASINESS: IF YOU RUIN THANKSGIVING FOR ME, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!

In other news, Michael’s the sweetest husband and soon-to-be father of all time. Last night he didn’t mind at all that I hiccupped and burped from the couch (I know I’m gross, but the burps really do help my stomach. But will Michael ever find me attractive again?!?!) while he toiled away hanging things on the walls and putting books back on the bookshelves in time for our guests this weekend. These two cool cats are coming out to see us:
Russell was Michael’s Best Man and Alexa is one part sassy fashionista and one part sweetest girl alive. Can't. Wait.

A Fair Fairway, A Green Green

Have you ever heard of golf referred to as "a good walk spoiled"? Mark Twain said that, and I think every golfer out there has thought it at one point in time.

However, with company like this (my family and the Beerys, wonderful family friends), and sights like these:

What could be spoiled?

I used to let the way I played golf influence the entire experience and my feelings. Lately I've come to realize that I'm probably never going to be joining the WPGA, so I might as well get used to enjoying the views and just hoping to do the best with each shot I'm given. Of course, I still have exclamations of, "What am I doing today?" or "Well, that wasn't good."

I just try to also pay attention to the sun on the water (even after I've lost two pretty yellow balls to its depths) or the feel of the breeze as I search for my ball that blends in with the rocks I've hit it in to.

We ladies had a nice time as we waited for the boys behind us, who had let two groups play through.The boys finished in the glow of an Arizona sunset.And we all headed out to dinner. Tom looked glamorous (and matchy) as he borrowed my mom's glasses to read the menu.And we ended a day of good times with some good laughs. Like when JP was trapped in the "Hourglass of Love," which is made by combining two large bellies. I love Dad and Tom's gleeful faces, and JP's expression of abject terror.

It's A ...

GIRL!

And we're thrilled!

The whole ultrasound experience was so incredible! Especially since this was our first time seeing the little one!

Immediately we saw that there was only one baby in there, which put to rest some feelings of apprehension I'd had since my midwife mused, "I wonder if there're two in there." (She was remarking that my uterus was rather large.) We saw the baby's head and hands at first, so our technician, Trish, swept over to see what kind of baby we had. We got a funny straight-on look at the baby's butt and little legs and that empty gap in between! "This is a girl," Trish said, smiling. While Trish added a little arrow and the word "GIRL" to the screen, Michael and I squeezed each other's hands and couldn't peel our eyes from the screen.

I tell you, I could have stared at her all day.

She was so active in there! Even Trish commented on how squirmy she was! We'd have a great view of her and she'd wiggle around, or her hands would jerk up around her face. It's just incredible how much detail you can see in these ultrasounds. We could literally see all of the tiny bones of her spine at one point. We saw all four valves of her heart beating perfectly. We zoomed in on her face and watched her open and close her mouth!

Her squirminess was the cutest!

When I first learned that "it" was a "she," my mind first went to little tutus and dress up and Princess movies and girltime. It went to frilly little bloomers and Michael holding her up close against his shoulder. It went to tiny shin pads and tap shoes and shaky first steps. I can't wait to have a daughter!

I hope to post the pictures from the ultrasound as soon as I get a chance to upload them!

Tomorrow

After tomorrow…

We won’t have to use “it” or “he or she.”

We can really start thinking about baby names.

We can decide what to do with our nursery.

We'll know if we're having a little boy or baby girl.

I'm about 20 weeks along, which means the baby is about the size of a cantaloupe!

And let me tell you, it's starting to look and feel like there's a cantaloupe in there! I remember when the baby was the size of a blueberry and feeling like it seemed so strange, because a blueberry is substantial, you know? And now there's a small melon moving around in there. Wow.

As an update: the nausea isn't completely gone, but it's gotten a lot better. I still get a wave of it once or twice a day, but eating or drinking something seems to help. I'm still taking a Zofran first thing in the morning and hope that soon I'll be completely quease-free.

I had my first person that didn't know I was pregnant ask if I was. I thought it was rather bold, considering how awkward things would have been if I'd said, "No, why do you ask?" I was wearing a form-fitting shirt, though. I also had a male coworker ask me a funny question after her overheard another person ask about the pregnancy.
"You're pregnant?"
"Yes!"
"Are you...happy?"
I guess a nice person would have just said, "Yes!" I gave him a little side-eye, half laughed and said, "Am I happy that I'm having a child? Yes." He laughed and said, "Yeah, I guess that was kinda a weird question."

I can't believe we finally get to find out the sex of the baby tomorrow!

Feeling Crafty

My dear friend Jaye and I got together on Friday for some much-needed girltime. When we decide to do this we usually go back and forth for awhile deciding what we want to do.

"I could make dinner at my house."
"Or we could meet for dinner someplace in between.'
"Are there any movies you want to see?"

Well, I ran an idea past Jaye and she was game. I wanted to make these:Little fabric flower brooches that can be worn on clothes, attached to a purse, in your hair even! We started out with nought but some fabric pieces, hot glue guns and some needles and thread.

I thought we'd be like a little brooch making factory, making at least two in one evening. No such luck. Between our perfectionism, chattiness and minutes of staring at the cloth to get a "vision," we each made one.

But I have to admit that I like the outcome.

We might not be ready to open up our own business, but it was fun!

Halloween Sweets

Hello, and a very spooky and happy Halloween to you!

As you may remember, I signed up to bring cupcakes to the Halloween potluck at my new job on Friday. I spent about 3 hours on Thursday night mixing colors, dipping, frosting and otherwise decorating said sweet treats.

I made spiders,
Pumpkins,
Mummies,And, yes, I made the brains.

And made a total of about 50 cupcakes. So with the exception of keeping a dozen at home for when I saw the family this weekend, I was planning on taking all of them to the potluck. Michael asked how many he could take to his work. I originally snorted and said, "How many cupcakes have you been slaving over for the past three hours?!" He retorted that it would just be really nice since his work wasn't doing anything special and they'd all really appreciate them.

So I gave in and sent him to work with a dozen and took about 25 to work with me. Well, there was a call to bring all food down to the potluck ahead of time, and when I brought them down there wasn't anyone else there. There was, however, a whole table full of desserts including sheet cakes and lovely store-bought cupcakes (next to which I set my poor little homemade ones). At the potluck there was no going around saying who brought what (way too many people).

Here's the thing, guys. I don't make cupcakes to get compliments. I don't need people to "ooh" and "ahh" over them, but I really do like a little acknowledgement, you know? Just a little something that says, "I can see that you spent a lot of time of these. They're nice." But no one even knew that I'd made the cupcakes. Oh well.

I called Michael to see if he'd given the cupcakes away.

He said that they had been a big hit! Everyone had thought they were cute and supposedly one person even took a picture of them. Might he have been exaggerating to make me feel good? Maybe. But it certainly worked. I was so glad I'd given him those stinking cupcakes that I was going to be so frugal about. And the people I'd made them for didn't even know it! Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

A safe and fun evening to everyone!

Boy or Girl?!

A week from today we find out the sex of the baby!

Any predictions? Any wagers?

I am so excited and hopeful! A lot of people have asked us what we want. At this point all I want is to know! I don't know those people wait until the birth of the baby to find out the gender, it's been hard enough waiting to the 20 week point!

I am hopeful we'll get to find out. I've heard stories about people not being able to tell because of the position of the baby or not being far enough along. Well, we're at the end of the recommended period of when to get the anatomy scan, and I don't plan on leaving the ultrasound room until our technician can tell us one way or the other!

So, please vote on our most recent poll and tell me what you think we're having!