Botox

I have a baby Dr. appointment today. Earlier in the week I had asked Matthew to help me remember to ask the Dr. about 2 things; 1. the braxton Hicks contractions and 2. Cal Disability form for maternity leave (since I'm the first at my work to get preggers). So this morning Matthew wakes up and says "Don't forget to talk to your Dr. about your Botox problem." I was dieing! Botox.... Braxton Hicks, so very close. But he did help me remember, so what more could I want! :)

Big-old belly

Holy cow, the baby is over a pound now! And I swear, I think that I have officially "Popped"! I mean, I actually LOOK pregnant now! I don't have strangers rubbing my belly in the middle of the grocery store yet, but still my belly is really starting to stick out! So fun!
Our little one is 23 weeks now (and the size of a large carrot), about 11.4 inches long and about 1.2 pounds! Lots of new things our happening to the little baby this week, the bones in its' middle ear are now totally formed and hard, which means that it now knows which way is up and has gained its' balance. It's skin pigment is forming (hopefully it's going to have Matthews nice tan-tinted skin) and proportionally it looks just like a new born... just skinny. It's pancreas is still continuing to form and the baby has started to produce insulin to break down all those sugars. Also the blood vessels in the lungs are almost all developed! What I have noticed with our little baby is that it LOVES live music! At both the women's retreat and at church yesterday as soon as the music would start it would begin to wiggle and 'dance' inside me. It does not do it was music on the radio though, so I think that it much be responding to the base. Maybe I just need to 'bump' my music more! :)
Yesterday my uterus started sort of hurting a little and kept getting really REALLY tight. At first I was really nervous, but I think what is going on is I am feeling Braxton Hicks contractions... but I have a baby doctors appointment on Wednesday so I'll ask to make sure. But just to be on the safe side I stopped mowing the lawn yesterday and am not going to the gym today. Shigh! I don't want this little one surprising me earlier then planed! :)

Heartburn

Ok, it's official, THE worst part about pregnancy is the HEARTBURN! It's open to debate, but honestly heartburn is horrible and I seem to get it no matter what I eat; Cheerios, oatmeal, fresh veggies, fatty foods, bland foods, WATER.... ! It's so frustrating, it feel like someone is sitting on my chest while another person is simultaneously pouring pre-lit lighter fluid down my mouth! Anyone jealous? :) At this point the only saving grace is the EXTRA LARGE, EXTRA STRENGTH bottle of tums that I have right next to my bed, in my office and in my purse! Oh the joys of pregnancy.

Growing, growing!

Week 22 and counting! This week our little one is the size of a Butternut squash (about 11 inches long)! It now weighs close to one pound (~15-ish oz). It's crazy to me that in the next 16-18 weeks it is going to be gaining another 6-8 pounds and grow another 10-ish inches! I already feel like I am losing breathing/digesting room inside, it's got to feel crazy to be carrying a full term baby! Yikes! Any way... The little baby now has eyebrows and the eyelids are fully developed (though still fused closed) and its' eyes are also fully formed but its' irises still are lacking pigment. I'm sure that we will have a little brown eyed baby, considering what Matthew and I had to work with! :) any other guesses? Its' little fingernails have now grown out to the tip of its little tiny fingers, and its skin is really loose and baggy on it's body right now as it waits to put on all that cute baby fat to fill out the skin. All I can think about when I learned that is the puppies that I see daily. Their skin is sooooooo loose that you can literally grab 2 handfuls of extra skin and the puppy doesn't even notice!
Ahhhhh our baby is a Shar Pei puppy!

Women's Retreat

This weekend myself and 3 other ladies (mom, Kerstin and Julia) set off for a weekend women's retreat! It was so wonderful!
It was really nice getting out of my own typical world, sleeping in a cabin, enjoying the company of others ladies and of course getting in lots of great God time! I love how after a God-based weekend like this it leaves me feeling so refreshed head to toe, inside and out! The topic was about Defining Moments in our lives that God has done or we have allowed to happen and how to stay on or get back on course again. The other great part of the retreat was seeing a few faces that I hadn't in some time.


Yes, that's Sara Trifilo (now Miley). I grew up with her and hadn't seen her in 10 (+) years! She is such a sweet heart and now has 3 beautiful little girls of her own! It was great to see her and to catch up after all these years!

The Special Kind of Love

Most guys I know would think that buying or picking flowers is a good way of telling their lady that they love her... but not Matthew! For as long as we have been together (11 1/2 years) Matthew has done things the "Matthew way". I used to laugh at his way of doing things, and over time I have come to see how unique and special his love is. For instance, the other day when I got to my car after leaving the gym, there, on my front window, secured under the windshield wiper was a beautiful leaf that he had put there. I once had asked him why a leaf, why not a flower, his response (in typical Matthew fashion) was 'everyone picks flowers, but who picks a leaf?' Fare enough, you can't argue with that kind of logic! I used to keep ALL the leaves that I had been given over the years, until I realized I had kept what would be the equivalent of a small forest.
It's just the little things in life that really make it wonderful! Thank you Matthew for your 'special' kind of love!

It's a Baby!

So I have gotten quite a few comments regarding the fact that our baby has made the magical transition from Gremlin to Little One. And yes, there are those that are sad about it. So if the rest of you were wondering why the switch, here's your answer... Prior to feeling and REALLY seeing the baby, it felt so unreal, almost fake, something that I could tease about. And lets admit it, it looked like a dot (a cute dot) but a dot none the less for a while! NOW, our little one gets the hick-ups, has a body and a face, little toes and fingers that I have seen and the baby wont stop moving! It is all SO real! I feel this deep love and attachment for this little life that I can't just pretend that it isn't a a real person growing inside me. So with that realization, the Gremlin transformed into a Little One.

Week 21

I can't believe that I am now PAST the 1/2 way point. It's just crazy to think how time has just flown for this first half, and now I have LESS? WOW! This week our baby is a Banana! Which means that it is about 10.5 inches long (head to heel) and weighs about 12.5 oz. It's little skull size is about 2 inches across. Also it's bone marrow is now taking over production of making it's red blood cells (if you remember, before now it was being done by the liver... and if you don't remember, they you need to study harder and pay more attention to this very important information)! :) Our little one's intestines have started to absorb sugar (which it is getting from swallowing the amniotic fluid) and the sugar is going to be turned into fat. This is the main job of the baby over the next few months... to get and store fat! Tough life. If our baby is a boy (which is what my feelings are leaning towards) it's testicles should have descended this week and if it's a girl, then its ovaries should have around 6 million eggs (which will decrease to a mear 400 by puberty). Isn't it crazy to think that IF there is a little girl inside of me, then essentially I am also caring my grandchildren as well. Weird!

So Cute

Yesterday Matthew and I had our 20 week ultrasound, and it was in 3/D! It was INCREDIBLE! The detail of that ultrasound unit is phenomenal. It made my ultrasound look like an Etcha-sketch! It was really neat. They took both regular 2/d view then would take a series of pictures and it would form a 3/d model! WOW!
Hi Little Baby!


From the 3/d model they said our little one is right around 11 oz and looks great!!! They were able to rule out a vast amount of birth defects (no clef pallet, no downs, no spina bifita, no diaphragmatic hernia, no cub feet, no missing limbs/organs). I mean they could even see both tiny kidney and the baby's retinas! They measured the skull and were able to look at parts of the brain... from that they were able to see that our baby is brilliant! :) Our little one was once again (as always) moving around like a nut and not giving them great clear pictures (but ONLY when it came to the face). The few they did get (that didn't have it's hands/arms in the way) were really cute.
I think that it's going to have Matthews ears and my lips, and look at the size of those feet... I think it takes after my youngest brother Thomas, they are HUGE!


The crazy thing is that there are 2 people out there that know the sex of the baby (the tech and the Dr)! Matthew and I were really good and didn't even open our eyes when they were scanning over the bladder/umbilical attachment/upper leg regions. So it's still a mystery! :) They did say that the genitals look good and there is NO ambiguity down on that end. So that's good.
It was so wonderful to see our little one. It's truly amazing to realize that it is a little person with a perfect little heart beat! It gives me the good shivers just thinking about it!

The Great Car Search

So, Matthew and I have been in the market for a new car for a little while now (and if you can picture my sad, old car you will know why). Now when I pull up to clients houses to wont have to worry about looking like a starving student or worry about leaving oil spots on their driveway! I can look like a 'real doctor.' Any way we have finally decided that NOW is the time to take the plunge and get one! After looking/researching/test driving a bazillion (yes, that's a lot) different cars we have narrowed our search down to 2! The 2010 Subaru Outback (Motor trends SUV of the year)



And the 2010 Chevy Equinox


We are going to test drive them both again this Sunday and bring along a bunch of 'stuff' (car seat, stroller...) just to see how they both are at holding it all/how it feels to more it all in and out.
Both cars have some really nice features about them, so it makes for a tough decision. Feel free to offer input if you know anything about either of these cars. I will look cute driving either one of them, and THAT is what really matters, right?

Yosemite

Last weekend Matthew and I drove to Yosemite Thursday night and stayed through Sunday. WE went there because I had 12 hours of Continuing Education Fri-Sun (only 4 hours each day) that I had to take. The C.E. was just so-so, but Yosemite was BEAUTIFUL! I had never been there in the winter, it was AMAZING! It snowed on the drive up there and all that night, so Friday morning the ground/trees/benches/cliffs/waterfall... were all covered in snow! So beautiful!

Each morning I would go to my class and Matthew would stay in the room and study. Then we would grab a quick bite and hit the trails. This is Mirror Lake... Gee I have interesting memories from this place... just ask my mom! :) teeheeeeheee


We continued hiking and went to the base of Vernal Falls. The rest of the trail was pretty snowy and it was getting dark so we stopped here.



Saturday we drove over to Badger Pass and played in the deep snow.



Our snow ball fight went terribly wrong... I lost! :) Doesn't Matthew know that I am ALWAYS supposed to win?! Silly boy.


Here's my AMAZING snow man!


We had a really great time, I love the fact that there are so few people here during the winter. It was like our own little winter wonderland!

A Visit from Janie

Yesterday my best friend from childhood drove over from Nevada to visit/complete some Continuing Education. It was so nice to see her, if only for a few hours (darn work, C.E. class and sleep got in the way of any more time).
The other wonderful past about her visit was that she brought her youngest daughter Reece (who is 22 months) and Matthew and I got to babysit (or practice being parents... yes we did survive, oh, and so did Reece). She was an angel, we cooked dinner and read books, but what REALLY kept her entertained were Sonny and Krush. She would wonder around the house asking "where's Krush" or "Where's Sonny" until she would find them. At that point she would either squeal uncontrollably with joy or plop down next to them and start petting them. It was too cute. Reece LOVES books and was caring one of them around and kept putting in in front of Sonny figuring that he could read it to her while I finished cooking. Makes sense, right? I mean Sonny is REALLY smart!
At one point in the night Reece started to cry, and poor Sonny didn't know what to do, he was so worried, he paced around for a little, then followed Janie and Reece into the bedroom, where he was just staring at her with a sad/worried look. Poor guy only has a few more months of quiet before he better get used to the crying! :) Thanks for the visit Janie, and all the "new Momma" gifts. I'm excited to use them (yes even the spray)! :) Love you!

Half way there

I can't believe that I am at the half way mark! It is going so quickly! This week our little one is the size of a Cantaloupe! Crazy, huh?
So it is about 6.7 inches (Head to rump)and weighs about 11 ounces. I just learned that for the first 20 weeks little babies are measured from head to rump because their legs are so curled up into their chest that it's too difficult to measure head to toe. From now on the length is going to be head to heel because it's little legs are less tightly curled into it's chest. Our little baby is really starting to react to noises and voices and it's favorite time to REALLY wiggle around is about 9-10 pm! It's starting to get it's covering of vernex (the thick lotion-like white stuff that covers it's entire body). Also, all of it's other senses are starting to get more fine tuned as it's brain becomes more complex!
Here's my 5 month baby bump! It's really starting to stick out there! I am having to wear maternity pant (all my other ones are WAY too tight) And who knew that maternity pants were so comfy? I love them. So for the rest of my pregnancy I should be gaining at least 1 pound per week as the little one get bigger and requires more!
I am now LOVING the feeling of when it moves! It's no longer a fluttery/tickly feeling, but a much more substantial blast of pressure! Yes, our little one is going to be strong! :)

Kauai Part 2

The day after the wonderful B-day Luau we took a drive to the one of the other sides of the island and did some hiking around the Waimea Canyon a.k.a The Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It was really beautiful!



After a few long hikes we all deserved a special treat so we went to JoJo's.... which is literally the best Shave Ice is Kauai, and I would venture to say the world! Jeff and Lindsay were brave and tried the Special (which had macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom. They LOVED IT! (I tried a bite and thought that it was nasty... but then again I would be happy eating Pickles all day long)! Mmmmmmm! Pickle flavored shave ice, now there would be a concept! I'm sold!


We did a little coffee tasting too... which was really wonderful for me since I stopped the whole caffeine thing a few years ago. Let's just say after the sugar from the snow cones and then the cafeine, I was a little 'zippy'.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that Jeff and Matthew are holding hands (See what happens when they think no one is looking)!


The next day we drove to the opposite side of the island and walked part of the Napali coast line. It's an 11 mile hike one way, and since I'm Preggers it was recommended that I don't hike it. (a little disappointing because someday I really want to). But Matthew and I did hike into the first stop (which is 2 miles in). It was BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to do the whole thing some day!



Just having fun! :)


Dad's feeling a little Frisky (dirty OLD man)! :)

Our last day of the trip Matthew and the Boys went Scuba diving (which was wonderful for Matthew, since before finding out I was pregnant he and I were planning on doing some dives, but they wont let you dive if your preggers). Any way the resort offered a short FREE Corse that Ty and Tom took then they were considered "Resort Certified" and could go diving (with a Master diver) down to 45 feet! Cool, Huh?!?! Any way, they all went diving and saw LOADS of cool fish and sea turtles (I'm not Jealous, I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous). Mom, Dad and I found a great hiking trail near our resort and went

on like a 2 1/2 mile hike along the ocean. It was beautiful!



Saturday morning we were woken up at 4 a.m and told to evacuate because of the Tsunami warning. So we finished packing and headed to the airport... with just some mild Freak Outs!




Mom Dad and I played Cribbage to kill time, Matthew studied and the boys napped.

We made it home safe and sound! IT was a truly wonderful vacation. Mom and Dad, thanks for setting it up! I love you!

Kauai Part 1

Alright, Back to the vacation! We spent a week in Kauai (sat-sat) and it was so wonderful. The island is so much more peaceful then Oahu (though still more developed then I was thinking it would be.... Heck, they even have walmart, K-mart, Costco, and a billion Starbucks) :) But the areas that weren't developed looked more think this...


Jeff and Lindsay flew in Sat from Oregon, and the 8 of us stayed in 2 beautiful resort rooms (fully equipped with multiple bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, washer/dryer... the works). So that was really nice. We stayed in the town of Poipu next to a beach called Shipwreck Beach. Every morning we could (if we woke up early enough) go and watch the whales migrate. They are such beautiful animals! We watched pod after pod go by. Sometimes being able to pick out groups of 6 at a time!
We rented snorkel gear for a week and all really enjoyed the sea life. Here's Jeff looking scary, no, wait, I think it was sexy... Who knows, they are so close.

















The whole family also did quite alot of hiking/driving around so that we could see all the amazing sites. This is near one of the falls


This is during the hike around Power Line Trail


This is Spouting Horn


Then it was time to celebrate the real reason that we came on this trip... Dad turned 60! That evening we got all dolled up and went to a really neat Luau. Not only was the food good and the drinks were flowing, but during the dance they did a great job talking about/recreating the history of Hawaii. Happy Birthday Daddy!


Ok, that's enough for one day. I'll finish up tomorrow!