21 week ultrasound!

We had our 21 week ultrasound Friday, the 30th. Seeing Baby Garrett's little toes, legs, arms, fingers, nose, heart, etc. was incredible! I go back this week to hear the full report on the radiologist's readings from the ultrasound. We were very tempted but didn't peek at the baby's sex. We're looking forward to the big surprise at birth!

Eddie hates having his picture taken and prior to the ultrasound we were joking that the baby would probably take after him and try hiding from us....and it did! The baby was laying head down, face down and was laying with one arm beside the head and the other arm in front of the face. The technician was fortunately able to see everything she needed and we did end up with a pretty good profile shot, despite the baby's best efforts to hide. :-) It was wonderful to see how much the baby has grown and I feel so privileged to have this special little life growing inside of me. It's just so amazing and wonderful.

the great expansion!!

I've been absent from the blogosphere for awhile and the main reason has been that I've been preoccupied with...........growing our baby!!!!!!! Baby Garrett is due sometime around March 10 and we're so excited to meet him or her!!!

This week we're 18 weeks and 3 days along and doing very well. I was very fortunate to have thwarted off morning sickness in the first trimester and really have felt great so far. I'm now sporting a sweet little baby bump (yeah!!) and started feeling the baby move around week 17. Feeling the baby move is the greatest hi-lite of my life right now. It's amazing to think about there being a little person growing and stretching inside of me. What an amazing, wonderful miracle!

And I LOVE my baby bump! I love to rub my baby-Buddha bump and talk to it. Someone at work stopped me in the hall this week and said, "Oh my gosh, you're pregnant!" I was really excited to confirm her suspicion and to know that the pregnancy is obvious enough now that people can really tell I'm pregnant and not just gaining weight. It really popped into a bump during week 17. Each morning when I wake up I can notice that it's grown a little bigger from the previous morning, no joke! Baby has been undergoing a growth spurt in the last 2 weeks.

During my 16 week check-up I got to hear Baby G's heartbeat and it made me melt! Baby's heartbeat was a strong and healthy 150 bpm. My doctor said everything was perfect and we're right on schedule. During my 12 week appointment I saw the baby on an ultrasound and was amazed to see Baby do a somersault and wiggle his or her right hand and fingers at me!! I was squealing with delight and did not want my doctor to turn the ultrasound off! We go for our big ultrasound on October 30! We can't wait to see our little baby's face, fingers, toes....but we're not going to peek at Baby G's privates. We've decided to NOT find out the baby's sex and wait for the BIG surprise at delivery.

So far I've gained about 8 pounds, which is right on target. My doctor said she likes to see women gain about 10 pounds by Week 20. For a women starting at a normal healthy weight it is recommended she gain around 25-35 pounds total. You know that old saying, "I'm eating for two?" Unfortunately, it's complete crap! Women only need about 300 extra calories a day to support the growing fetus. That's the equivalent of a snack of an apple with a couple tablespoons of peanut butter, or a piece of cheese with a handful of crackers. I set a goal (long before I was ever pregnant) to be as healthy and fit as possible during pregnancy. I really try hard to eat very nutritiously and am maintaining my workout habits. I still walk to work, take my lunch, and workout on my lunch-hour every day. I feel great! My doctor agreed that getting at least 30 minutes of physical exercise on most days supports a healthy pregnancy and delivery. I'm hoping to keep it up all the way to the end.

I've been researching baby gear to the point that it's making me crazy! Learning about baby gear is like taking your first class in a new subject you've never studied and learning the new language. I'm so thankful to have so many friends who are currently pregnant or recently just had a baby. It's very helpful to be able to discuss not only the pregnancy, but all my gear questions with them. Currently I'm obsessed with researching strollers and car seats, two of the most important objects we'll buy for the baby. The dialogue with my friends has changed considerably during the past weeks as my topic of interest has shifted. I call them now and ask things like "so what's your opionion of the Chicco KeyFit 32 compared to the new Britax Chaperone...or tell me what you know about the safety ratings for the Britax and it's side-impact compression features". :-). There are SO MANY options! I'm getting it narrowed down now and today I'm hoping to go to Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby and check out my final contenders more in person. It's so much fun planning for our baby's arrival!

This week Baby G is about the size of a bell pepper. Here's a picture of what Baby G looks like right now and a link to the full article from Baby Center on what Baby G's doing this week:

Credits: photo from Baby Center

looking forward to fall

Summer is winding down and I'm excited for Fall. I love Fall! Today was the first cool day we've had without humidity and I think it was a fluke, but I really savored it. I walked to work this morning, took a walk at lunch, and walked home from work- so nice. Students are back in school and it reminds me of the excitement of those first school days, fresh school supplies, new clothes, so fun! Here's what I'm looking forward to this fall. What are you looking forward to?

Fall goodness...

• crisp, cool sunny days
• beautiful sunsets
• apple picking, apple pie, apple butter, cider
• pumpkins, pumpkin pie
• leaves changing
• colorful mums
• tourists leaving the city and enjoying the mall and museums again
• soups! I can't wait to make a lot of yummy stews and soups.
• squash from the farmer's market
• the smell of firewood burning
• Halloween and seeing the cute kiddo costumes
• Thanksgiving

fun in the midwest

I'm a bad blogger...almost a month since my last one. Sorry about that! I'll make up for it with a good post about our trip back home.

We visited family and friends in Iowa and Missouri over the fourth of July holiday weekend and had a blast. We really fit a lot in and a lot of people. We spent the night with each of my 3 grandmas while home and that was a real treat for us all. Terrific food, great stories, photos, and laughs- it was perfect! You're never too big to spend the night with Grandma!

Spending time with my dad in Iowa was wonderful and we enjoyed trap shooting with him. I was a little nervous but Dad was a good teacher and I actually hit several targets. Eddie was awesome, of course, and loved it. And Dad and Lori, well they're in a league of their own- the professional league, really! We really enjoyed just sitting and talking together. Iowa is really quite beautiful in the summer with its' flowing green corn fields and bright blue skies. And the weather was perfect and pleasant!

Dad and Eddie shooting trap

New lil' babies near us...aren't they cute?!

We had a really great time with my mom, step-dad and brother Traivs. The morning of the 4th we went to a little nearby town, Hurdland, to watch the big parade. Unfortunately is was raining but we couldn't miss the parade since Travis was riding his horse in the parade. We found a good parking spot along the parade route, backed in the car, kept the wipers on and the windows up and then hollered out the windows cheering for Travis when he rode by. :-) He was very handsome atop his horse. Eddie was also impressed with the many varieties of tractors. It's a cute little parade.

Mom and Mike hosted a bbq at the house on the 4th and it was great seeing so many people and catching up. I love me some bbq!! Mom and I had a lot of laughs and it was fun just being around the house together. Eddie and Travis entertained the crowd with some lovely fireworks to top off the evening. Travis demonstrated his talent for making "sparkler bombs"- until you've heard one, you can't imagine how loud they are!

Travis demonstrating his sparkler bomb skillz

Travis and his buddy Brian treated us to a 4-wheeler ride at the farm and we loved it. Eddie drove and I rode behind and picked a bouquet of beautiful wildflowers along the way.

Eddie's dream was for ME to propose to HIM with an ATV...didn't quite happen but I think this helped tide him over

Blurry wildflowers...

We attended my neice, Isabella's baptism. Here she is with Grandpa Mike.

Lovely family ladies. (Terry, you made it on the internet!)

I'm just skimming the surface of all the fun we had. Thank you to EVERYONE for making our visit so great! We love you all and can't wait to come back again for more everything!! and you're always welcome to visit us too!

coming soon...

I know, I know...it's been a while since my last blog. We've been busy bees but very soon my friends, I'll get this thing updated with some jolly fun. Hopefully later tonight. :-)

happy father's day

Happy Father's Day to my dad and step-dad! I'm a lucky lady to have you both in my life and love you very much!

my new baby

I'm so excited about the new member of our mac family! Yesterday I got a shiney new MacBook Pro and she ROCKS! Previously I had an old iBook G4 that I purchased in 2005 (a lifetime in computer years- she served me well). We're addicts of Apple in this household, so the new baby has a lot of other Apple brother and sister products around the house to keep her company.

Apple introduced their new MacBook Pro family last week and there's no better time for an upgrade than right after the release of a new computer or operating system. The new Pro family has a ton of awesome new features that make it super smooth and fun to work on. To see details of what makes her so wonderous, click here.

Being on the computer is now exponentially more fun...watch out, I feel a lot of blogging coming on. :-)