You gotta give a lil' push sometimes...

The girls have been asking about getting involved in some new activities. I think its fantastic and was so excited to see their enthusiasm. Specifically with Mackenzie - who is so shy. Kali usually can be swayed into trying anything once. During the last summer Olympics the girls were obsessed with the gymnastics. So it wasn't a huge surprise that they both asked if we could check that out.

I was immediately thrown back into my childhood when all of us girls went to California Cartwheel Center. It's mainly glimpses into memories that I have left, but I just remember we had so much fun, and we'd come home and practice in the front yard seeing who could do hand stands the longest. And then of course, there is the Nadia movie. A heavily abused, recorded from TV VHS of the Nadia Comaneci story. You know the Russian gymnast who was amazing. We all wanted to be her.

Anyway, we looked into it turns out CCC is still up and running and just as popular. So we signed them up for an intro class this past weekend. In getting them geared up I told them about the things I could remember. Hands down my favorite part was the giant trampoline next to the HUGE pool of foam. You could jump as high as you could and go flying into what felt like clouds. It was the neatest thing ever.

So Saturday we head on over, and I admittedly question to myself.. did they move? Downsize? Gosh it seems so small now. There is the "giant" trampoline and "giant" pool of foam as promised, but it sure doesn't seem as giant. Ahhh the joys of growing up I guess. Anyway, Kenzie's class was first, which admittedly wasn't optimal as she was getting the jitters and would have much preferred to watch Kali go first. By the time her class was called she had a death grip around my leg and was near tears. The teacher let me carry her in and sit with them while they started class. For the first 5 minutes she flat out refused and begged me to let her leave. My heart broke in so many ways. I never, ever want to do something to cause her to cry, ever! But at the same moment, I know in my gut this is something she will love, she just needed to give it a chance. So I just kept repeating it to her that she has to at least try. After the kids finished the first exercise the teacher asked them to come stand by her, I took this opportunity to kind of shove Kenzie in the mix and duck behind a wall. She could still see me but I wasn't in the area with her anymore. Man, if looks could kill - she was well aware of the maneuver I just pulled. So once I felt like she wasn't going to have a complete melt down, I went back into the room where Josh was, lined with windows so we could watch. It took all of 5 minutes before she was running around with the best of them, doing summer salts and... well, attempting cartwheels. It was the cutest thing ever.

We were thrilled to see her skipping to us after the class was over, followed by one of the teachers to come give her a high 5 and tell us how great she did. So Kenzie was beaming, the teacher was all excited and said "did you have fun?!" and Kenzie said "YEP!" and she said "OH GREAT! So you'll come back next weekend?!" ... "NOPE!" Oh for peet's sake Kenz.

So I think we are going to sign her up for another week and not give her the option LOL. Because Kali was about to pop out of her seat having to watch Mackenzie get to do it for an hour first, and the second the called her class she was barreling thru the door to go do it, and LOVED it. So I think Kenzie will regret backing out when we sit week after week watching Kali do it!

The first thing Kali said? "Can I get one of those pretty leotards like the other girls have?"... thats Kali for ya!!

I see rain

And Fritz said I wouldn't. Just sayin.

Me and Fritz, we are about to have a problem

Fritz is the "weatherman" if you want to call him that on the Channel 4 11 o'clock news. I usually can hold one eye open long enough to hear his weather report before blissfully passing out asleep every night. (Sometimes I'm woken up on the couch at 11, just to move to bed when Josh is ready lol) With California weather you have to kind of figure it's not rocket science. So usually good ole Fritz with his tiny glasses and beady eyes is not far off. Unless we have real weather. Well, are supposed to have real weather. Example: this week. Monday night he says, and I QUOTE! "The rain will hit Ventura County some time Tuesday evening, and then you will have showers on and off thru Thursday." K, sounds great thanks Fritz, nighty night.

Now I must pause to explain that finding out rain is coming was once a happy occasion. Until you have dogs. Rain for us now equals either muddy dogs when you get home, or having to pull them into the backyard on the leash before work, wait for them to do their business, then lock them in the kitchen all day while we are at work. It's a pain, and I hate doing that to them.

Tuesday morning I wake up and it's a bit dreary outside, but I figure fair enough a storm is a brewing! So, rather than locking the dogs up in the kitchen for 3 whole days, and deal with Chance having an accident, I happily send them outside figuring the rain will not come till we are home anyway. Well Fritz was WRONG! We are literally driving to work as I see rain drops hitting the windshield. Sigh. Fritz's only saving grace was that it never rained that hard, so we thankfully did not have muddy dogs when we came home!

Last night while watching The Biggest Loser, I hear the preview for the news, and its Fritz, his beady eyes now taunting me saying "If you hated the weather today, you are gonna hate tomorrow!" Sure enough come 11pm he's claiming full on rain for today. So, imagine my surprise today, when my alarm goes off, I throw open the curtains to be BLINDED BY THE MORNING SUN!!!! Fritz, YOU ARE A LIAR!!!

Thats all I have to say about that!!

Where Assumptions Will Get You

I look as though I have a basketball under my shirt. There is no turning back now, no way to conceal my secret and protect Jack from the world. Not that I didn't want people to know about him, but I liked that it was my decision whether or not people knew at first. Don't get me wrong, I ham it up, running into someone I haven't seen in a while and squealing with delight about whats to come. However, there is always some Eeyore, some dark rain cloud lurking somewhere. This week, it was at the grocery store.

Josh has taken care of the grocery shopping for what seems like the last month so I volunteered to tackle it by myself this week and let him stay comfy on the couch. (he was minutes from dozing under his B, too cute!) So off I went, filling my cart with the usual suspects for the week. Our splurge dinner happens to be bratworst, which we boil in beer and onions before throwing on the grill. So I grabbed a 6 pack of beer and threw it in the cart. I eventually made my way to check out, unloading my cart while the cashier got started. I should say, this cashier actually lives in my neighborhood and stopped at the house JUST to ask about Rufus because she sees him at the fence during the day and can't get over how adorable he is. We've since exchanged stories and while going through her line in the past she's whipped out her cell phone to show me pictures of Bowzer, her bully. So it caught me off guard when she scanned the 6 pack across and with a horribly judgemental eye on my stomach, asked for ID in a tone that was obvious she did not approve. As I bit my tongue, I thought of a few things I wanted to say, I wanted to give her a piece of my hormonal mind, and let her know that only in my dreams would I be able to go home and crack one of these bad boys open right now... or ask for a pack of cigarettes too, just for kicks, or lastly.. point out that she should open her eyes to the gallon jug of chocolate milk she's about to scan and realize theres a much bigger chance THATS for me to pig out on. Really lady? We swapped doggy pictures and you have to ruin all that by assuming I'm a knocked up alcoholic. Well, see if I stand in your line ever again! Meany!!!

On a happy note, today marks 100 days left!! That still feels like an eternity, but I'm happy to move into double digits tomorrow!

Mr. Doggy

I am not ashamed to admit that I sleep with a stuffed animal. It's something that has comforted me since I was a small child. When I lived alone having my bunny I got for my 11th birthday tucked under my arm against my side provided comfort. Tease me all you want, I don't care! When Josh moved in, out of fear of embarrassment I tucked my dear bunny up into the girl's stuffed animal net, hopefully hiding him from the elements. So, a few months later when I was having a tough day and stalked down the hall to change out of my work clothes, I immediately smiled when I saw the cutest doggy stuffed animal sitting against my pillow with a card in his lap. It was from Josh, telling me to cheer up and that tomorrow would be a new day. That night, the stuffed animal was firmly wedged in my side bringing me back to that childhood comfort and all was right in the world.

Well, that lasted about a week before Josh started teasing me. First, he thought it was ridiculous that he didn't have a name. Now, I never named my previous stuffed animals so the extent of my creativity went to Mr. Doggy. Well this just sent Josh over the edge, you can't name a stuffed dog Mr. Doggy. Oh really? I think I just did! Well, ever since then, Josh has just had it out for the poor guy. If he gets into bed before me, I'll occasionally see Mr. Doggy go flying against the wall in the hallway while I stand there brushing my teeth. Sometimes I crawl into bed and realize he's not there and look around... here are some of the places I've found him:

- In the laundry basket

- Wedged between the top of the door and the door jam

- "Hung" by the neck in a small wreath near the bedroom door

If I put Mr. Doggy on the same side as Josh I can count on him grabbing him at some point in the night and throwing him across the room. Josh claims it's because Mr. Doggy "makes me sweaty". Hmmm, I'm beginning to think Josh is jealous of Mr. Doggy! What do you think? ;0)

And yes, I know I sound crazy, but it's a kooky kind of day - ride it out with me!

Meet Chance!

Just because things were getting a little to easy and predictable around the house, we thought we'd add something to the mix - or rather, someone to our family! I introduce to you, our new puppy, Chance!

Chance would be a perfect poster child to help change the stigma that surrounds pitbulls. I have never (sorry Rufus) met a sweeter dog. He is 5 months old, and so well behaved it's almost uncanny. We keep wondering if something is wrong with him because it has been such a smooth transition. The only "puppy" issue we are still working on is potty training at night, but by housing him in the kitchen, it's pretty easy clean up. He's already learning to stand at the door to signal it's time to go potty. (At his old house, they had free run to come and go whenever.) All he wants to do is get love from you... and hands down the best part, he'll even take love from Rufus. We have been contemplating getting a playmate for Rufus for some time now. He does seem so bored during the day when we are at work. We've even done a handful of meet and greets with dogs at the local shelter trying to find a good match. There has just never been a gut feeling of this is the one, there was always some doubt. So, we agreed to take Chance on a trial basis, with the caveat that he and Rufus meshed well. So we headed home and upon tons of google research, the first thing we did straight off the bat was go for a walk. Which... had an unsuspecting challenge. Chance had never been on a leash before. So it took Josh going ahead with Rufus and giving us a few minutes for Chance to start to get the hint. Rufus really had to focus (thats my boy) on walking and not turning around to sniff butts, but by the time we got the park down the street they were galloping around each other like baby horses and Josh and I were hopeful. Over the next few days their bond only increased as Chance started to become familiar with us. Rufus still likes his alone time when it's time to go to sleep but will begrudgingly allow Chance to spoon once in a while. The best part hands down is their budding friendship. Rufus is easily double the size of Chance, and yet, when they play, you see Rufus going belly up and letting Chance get plenty of opportunities to take over and get a few playful jabs in. It truly warms my heart to watch!

Sorry for the awful picture, their noses get the window dirty in 2 seconds flat! But they are definitely buds!!

On a quick side note... Teddy's tracker says 111 more days to go, can't wait to break 100!!!

Finally, feel like we are making progress!

July 28th is my due date and it is a number ingrained in my head. I'm not obsessed with the idea of that being THE day. I get it, Teddy may already be with us at that point, or we may watch that day come and go on the calendar. But for now, this far away, its all I have to hang on to. It seems like light years away. Everyone says "oh coming up soon!" ya not really. At least, when for the last 5 and a half months my life consists of counting the weeks pain stakingly monitoring small milestones... I feel like Ive watched every hour of every day of each week slowly meander by.

However today, I got a little bit of excitement as I looked through the calendar. Next week we have a monthly check up. So I counted ahead 4 weeks to see when our next appt would be and how far along I'd be. That will be the last "monthly" appointment! After that, we will need to start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks as I'll be in my third trimester! YAY!!!! Something about that connection just really makes me feel like we are finally getting somewhere with this!!

Some other out of the ordinary events in the next two months: our 4D ultrasound, glucose test (Bleh, but I'm actually anxious to have it just to get it over with) and my shower!!! This will surely help build some of the realization that it is FINALLY getting near!

This and That

It's a combination of nothing too out of the ordinary happening lately, and a huge lack of sleep in my world that has lead me to be indecisive about what to blog about lately. Refusing to let the blog slip away into oblivion, I'll do what I do best. Ramble.

2 years ago, Kali played on a Newbury Park Girls Softball Team. Her experience consisted of twirling in the outfield picking flowers during innings and making friends. Which, at 6 years old, is the best thing you could hope for! But it wasn't shocking when she passed up signing up for the next year. Plus, there were lots of changes, right when the season ended, her mom moved, so it became tricky to figure out how we'd swing games and practices. So when she expressed interest a few months ago, we initially said, we'll see. We just weren't sure what we could get her signed up for. Typically the rule is, you don't go to practice, you don't go to games. So we got in touch with NPGS and explained the situation. They were so supportive of the situation, they found a team happy to let Kali just show up for games when she's here, and just like that, Kali became a team mate on the Blue Angels. She was SO EXCITED! So, very quickly, our Saturdays have become busy. We head out a little early to the game because the coach has offered to show up early and work with Kali (So cool!). The one rain cloud over this, is what it means for Mackenzie. She gets bored out of her skull sitting there every Saturday morning watching the girls play. In true Kenzie form, last weekend the girls on Kali's team were singing a cheer. When they finished Kenzie mumbled to herself "Thank God thats over"... we just about died.

So, once softball ends in early May, both girls have expressed interest in gymnastics, so we found a center that has classes on Saturdays, so BOTH girls can attend. Hopefully Kenzie will start to feel the love!!

In other news, I'm growing at a rapid pace these days and have the growing pains to prove it! I'm noticing that while I can still manage on my own, its a helluva lot easier to get up when Josh gives me a good heave.. (I can hear someone mooooooooooing at me somewhere). Teddy kicks on a regular basis, and it's still not strong enough to hurt so for that I am grateful. We scheduled our next doctor's appt for next week, when the girls are with us during Spring Break. They always ask if they can come along, so we were stoked to get an appt when they'd be with us during the week.

I think that brings you up to speed on my exciting world!! That's all for now...

I heart daylight savings!

I have been looking forward to daylight savings for a few weeks now. I truly love it. Minus the first few days when it feels like you get no sleep. But that is worth it to me. There is something psychological, at least for me, about it being lighter, later. During the winter months, by 6pm I am shuttin' it on down for the night. Once it's dark my internal clock goes "GO TO BED!" Besides it annoying Josh that I can't stay awake through any movies, it leaves me feeling so lazy. I feel like I don't accomplish nearly as much as I should or could. A perfect example to prove this, is last night, the first day of day light savings we didn't eat dinner until close to 8pm because we were side tracked doing so many things outside, simply because we still could at that hour. It was GREAT!

I don't mean to use the lack of sun as an excuse for my laziness, I know full well I can still clean my room with a light on rather than depending on the sun. But seriously, I do think there is something some what psychological behind it, I refuse to believe I am THAT lazy. ;)

Another reason I am so stoked for the change is that Josh and I can start going walking after work again. It is my favorite time of day to get outside, get some fresh air and put the day's hassles behind me. Plus Rufus will love us even more for it, getting to go on regular walks again!

So Spring, I welcome you, and your warm, longer sunny days with open arms!!!! Hooray you are finally going to be here!!!

You can have your trip to Belize! I have a paper heart worth more.

So my stomach is growing. I embrace it, it's growth signals that Teddy is growing, he's healthy, he's developing, he's going to be here! I follow message boards for women who are having babies in July as well. It's neat because its a bunch of people going through the same things as me, at the same time. I've heard several of them talk about how gross their bodies feel and how hard of a time they are having dealing with the changes. I can definitely relate, it's insane how different my body feels, and its admittedly a little hard to watch the number on the scale creep up and remind yourself that this is what's supposed to be happening right now. But my experiences haven't been negative, the bigger picture of why it's changing makes it so worth it!

Well, then this morning happened.

It's a pretty obvious statement that if your tummy grows, your clothes get tight. My pants wouldn't button, so I got bellybands, perfect fix! But now, my shirts are starting to not fit. So this morning after 3 shirts came on and got peeled off.. I was frustrated. Taking twenty minutes to decide on a top set me back and now we were running late. Of course this is the morning that the cats decided to sleep on my black jacket last night and Rufus decided to rub up against me right after I put my black pants on. I made my way out of the bedroom pausing at my make up bag, but ditched it realizing we had no time. As we backed out of the driveway I looked down and sighed, I was covered in hair. We got to work, Josh had to jam so he took off while I went through 5, yes 5 sheets on the lint roller. I looked down and decided it would have to be good enough!!

We went and played after the girls left yesterday, so we ditched our normal routine of grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons. The result, no breakfast .. oops. So I stopped at the work cafeteria on my way to my desk. I barrel through the door in my shirt that doesn't quite fit, my pants and jacket that still are covered in hair, my lap top bag and purse threatening to slide off my shoulder at any moment, self conscious that I have no make up on... and my eyes can't help but see the gorgeous woman who is at the omelet bar. She was tan, had boots that all season I've wanted so bad but never could afford, and the prettiest "I just bought this just because I'm perfect and spring is coming" dress on. My eyes scammed over my own outfit as I trudged to the bagel bar. I heard her ordering her egg white healthy omelet as I slathered cream cheese across my onion bagel. Then I heard someone say her name and ask how her vacation was. "Oh we went to Belize.. it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g." I can instantly picture her perfect body (one I once had, not just a few weeks ago!), perfect cute bathing suit on some perfect beach with a perfect drink with a perfect umbrella in it. I instantly wanted to cry! STUPID HORMONES!!! The kicker? As we both left at the same time, I realize she sits right near Josh and walks by his desk every day with her perfect dress, perfect legs and perfect tan. Just perfect.

So I'm dragging my feet across the courtyard to my desk feeling awfully sorry for myself, as my stupid laptop bag slides off my shoulder and I almost drop the bagel I just slathered with 5 servings of cream cheese. I get up to my desk, throw the bag in my chair and rip it open to get my laptop out, and I stop. There in the front pocket was the note Kali made for me this weekend. A cut out heart, with her adorable 8 year old writing "You are the best Megan in the world". What am I doing.. am I really about to have a pity party because some random chick at my work has a tan and boots and got to go on a trip? So what. I have a family that loves me, that adores me, that leaves notes on my pillows. How did I get so lucky? There is no trip, no pair of boots, no tan in the world that could even come close to being worth what I have. This weekend Kali had her first softball game, and at one point in the game I went to the dug out to see how she was doing and she turned to me with the biggest grin and said "I love you!"

I sat down, got my lint roller I keep at my desk out, finished my pants, and smiled as I enjoyed my bagel, rubbed my Buddha belly, and hung Kali's note up on my desk. Screw Belize, this is way better!!!!

Here's a shocker: Teddy is stubborn!

So today we had our "detailed, full, complete" .. it's been called many things... ultrasound. This is where they check his anatomy and make sure everything is on track and there are no red flags. Abnormalities, slow development, club foot, cleft pallet, etc. I was so busy at work (yay!) that I didn't think to eat anything with some sugar in it just to make sure he was moving around. So big surprise, he was asleep, curled up in a cute little pint sized ball. Sigh, again! What a stubborn little punk. I'll jump ahead to tell you that the little snot did not 'wake up' and cooperate AT ALL. He essentially stayed in the same position the entire time.

It is amazing what these technicians are trained to see. She kept pausing the screen to show us different things. Some were obvious, and quite neat. The last ultrasound we had, his bones were still almost completely soft cartilage. In the past few weeks they have been hardening into bone. So while we could see his limbs before, we could actually see the bone, even fingers and toes!! But then she'd zoom way in and we'd completely loose sight of what she was looking for and all the sudden she'd say "oh there's a kidney" ooookie dokie, sounds good! Then of course, theres the weird alien baby stuff. She was trying to get a measurement of his head, and kept rotating around, so the image would kind of go away and appear, and when it first appeared, his face would look like 1 of two things. Either an alien with big round black eyes, or a skull head straight from the set of Pirates of the Caribbean! It's wacky!!!

Hands down the coolest part though, was when she was trying to get an image of his heart beating. While he never rolled over or changed positions, he kicked his legs a few times. So we were watching him on the screen move around, while at the same time, I could feel him kicking my stomach. It was such a weird sensation!!!!

And I should point out that as I sit here typing, my sleepy butthead is awake and kicking at the laptop. Just because he can. PUNK!!!

Next Milestone, CHECK!

Josh felt Teddy for the first time last night!!!! It was so great! We were watching TV, I just ate way too much ice cream, so Teddy was most likely hyper thanks to me, and bouncing around. I had my hands resting on my stomach and I felt him kick me with my hand! I turned to Josh and told him to get over here with his hand... a minute later, Josh practically jumped to the ceiling, he felt it!!!! It was so exciting! We were both giggling like little girls. Definitely one of those moments to tuck in there and never forget.

On a semi-related note.... I got my order of BellyBands over the weekend. Hands down, best invention ever! I'm in that in between stage where my pants hurt to button, but I'm way too small for maternity pants. For those of you (like me before Teddy came along) who have no idea what they are, bellybands are a big, tight piece of material that look like a tube top. You slide the bottom half under your pants, and fold the top half over your pants, leaving them unbuttoned, and unzipped. The fabric is tight, so it holds your pants up, while concealing to the world that you are undone! I feel like I'm hanging out at work in my sweat pants. SO COMFORTABLE! Screw pregnancy, I could have used these a long time ago!

teeehehehe....

I got an e-mail from Pattie yesterday saying " I couldn't resist!" Here is what she was talking about:

I am trying to refrain until we are closer to the due date, so I know what we've already been fortunate enough to receive from friends and family. Josh on the other hand, gets near a baby store and is like a kid in a candy shop. This is my favorite that he's picked out so far. If you know Josh, this is SUCH an outfit he'd pick out! He lives in polos!

I feel him! OMG. It's real.

So, it's not that I'm in denial that I'm pregnant. I live and breathe it, it's all my spare thoughts are devoted to. But in some sense, it doesn't feel real yet. Maybe it won't until he's in my arms... but I'll tell ya. A few days ago, I felt something. I'll be totally frank, at first I dismissed it as gas. But it started to happen pretty regularly. I only noticed it at night when I was laying down. I hesitated to say anything to Josh because I had no way to know for sure what I was feeling. But I did talk to him, and we read on line all the 'tell tale' signs of what it should feel like. Days later, I can easily tell you I'm feeling him move around!!! Just like everyone says, it feels like popcorn popping in my stomach, or a butterfly... but as he's getting stronger, I think an air hockey puck panging around is a better example!!

I'm more excited for Josh to be able to feel it. I feel like so many of the experiences of bringing him into this life only involve me. I'm sure Josh is more than grateful for the majority of the not pretty side effects (ligament stretching pains, acne, LABOR!) but I do love sharing whatever I can with him. Mackenzie is also extremely impatient about wanting to feel him move! So it will be very exciting to share this with the girls as well!!

SPRING!

Ok so I'm a few weeks early, but I just can't wait for Spring to get here. I am just so sick of cold murky days and long for those few weeks in spring when it feels so good to open the house up and get all that fresh air. Your toes still get freezing without socks, but sitting in the sun makes you feel like you have the best blanket in the world wrapped around you. Then it gets hot and miserable, but lets focus on those few blissful weeks instead!

Just like Fall brings out the crafter in me, Spring brings out my green (ok brown) thumb. I long to have a green thumb, I really do. Maybe practice will make perfect. Remember a few months ago when I blogged about how the fairy gardens died again, and Pattie gracefully did not blame my thumb, but rather my dirt? Well, we set out with a plan. To dig a trench, get new soil, and start over! Well! That ended up being a MUCH larger task than we had thought. After about 5 inches of so-so dirt, we hit clay. (alas, the problem!) So three weekends later, several pulled muscles and a few disobeyed child labor laws later, we had a trench! Then it rained. And rained and rained and rained some more. We missed the window of opportunity to plant anything until Spring.

So we've watched as the mounds of dirt next to the trench have gotten packed from the rain, watched the rain fill the trenches then slowly disappear underground. However! There is a light at the end of this muddy drab tunnel. Pattie announced that in a few weeks we will be ready to plant again! I just can't wait, our front yard needs some desperate TLC. This will give it some color that it's dying for. Stay tuned for pics in the upcoming weeks!!

Does anyone work on Friday's anymore?????

Ok, I use the term "work" loosely... no pot calling the kettle black here... I'm well aware I usually blog between the hours of 8-5 on weekdays. But gimme a break.. at least my butt is in a chair AT WORK. Where is everyone? How do they magically have this much vacation time to never be here on Fridays?

As annoying as it is to be sitting in an empty row of cubicles imagining all the fun things everyone else is doing, you know what is worse? Guess who is here until at least 5pm EVERY Friday? (besides me) Yep. My boss. She is in love with working. I think if she could marry it she would. I don't mean to rag on her, it's so great to have such a motivated boss to work with, keeps things positive. Usually. But man.... there are days I wish she'd just be like "you know what, why don't you leave early." Never happens! Ever! I always vow that if I ever become a supervisor I will pick Fridays at random and let my staff leave early... imagine how much they'd love me!!! I think I'd make a kick ass supervisor, don't you?

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Let me start off by saying, I normally love rain. But it just has not stopped lately. Ok, I'm exaggerating again. It has stopped a few days here and there but just keeps coming back. Even though we are saturated beyond belief, there are parts I still really enjoy about it. Namely, being home when it hits. But that's not exactly realistic! The reality of the rain these days, is that it keeps hitting on Fridays, making drives to pick up the girls pure hell. It also seems to rain between the hours of 8-5, or 2am-6am, so I'm either at work or asleep when it hits.

This time frame also isn't beneficial for Rufus. When it rains during a work day, it means Rufus is confined to the kitchen. We have slowly been letting him have access to the entire house when we aren't home, but for an hour at a time max. I'm just not ready to trust him for an entire work day! The result in that, is he is beyond stir crazy at the end of the day. When we had the last big spout of rain that lasted for a few days, by the 3rd day he would just pace the living room and kitchen after we got home. I felt so bad!!

So today, I keep hearing the rain won't come until later today. It was semi-sunny before we went to work, so I took my chances and let him stay outside. Keep your fingers crossed that it holds off until I go home for lunch and get him set up inside! I don't want a wet, muddy shivering dog that we have to bathe tonight!!

It's a Boy!!!!!

Ahhhhh finally, we know!!! Like we really waited an eternity, I know. But seriously, it was slowly killing me to have to wait any longer. :)

Our appointment was scheduled for 2:30pm today. At 10am we got a call that there was an opening at 11am, so we rushed to get everyone ready and out the door! We were so excited!! We were ushered into a pleasantly dimmed room with lots of comfy chairs and a big comfy couch. Music was playing softly in the background and there was a giant flat screen TV on the wall with a blank ultrasound image waiting patiently for us to get settled. The girls were kind of squirmy and giggly, indecisive on where to sit. They have had a wager going for weeks.. Kali wants a boy, Kenzie wants a girl. Kali ended up on Josh's lap while Kenzie hid behind my chair and held my hand. I reclined back (seriously, this was luxurious compared to the doctors office where I have to strip down and have a paper blanket over me!) and all eyes were on the screen. One cold squirt of gel and some pressure on my tummy later, and there he was! ASLEEP. WHAT! Oh come on!!! Not just asleep, but sitting 'Criss-cross-apple-sauce" as Kenzie pointed out.. hiding everything. I had downed a ton of water before the appointment so she suggested I go use the restroom and handed me a giant tootsie roll to eat on my way out.

In the bathroom I won't lie... I did some jumping jacks, shook my tummy a lil and Teddy and I had a pep talk. Wake Up! I begged!! I gulped down another glass of water and took my seat back in the comfy chair. She moved her wand thingy around for what felt like an eternity, not saying a word. We all were stealing glances at each other wondering if anyone really knew what was going on LOL.

Finally she revealed that she was pretty sure she knew the gender, but she just needed to double check. Sounded vaguely familiar of what our doctor was trying to do. Getting antsy, Josh and I got a little distracted talking with the girls, trying to keep them excited, when the screen froze, an arrow appeared, and she typed "BOY" across the screen. Josh and I sort of did an excited laugh, Kali exclaimed in the air that she knew it! But the show stealer in this moment was Kenzie. They had a table with toys set up for little kids who might not be all that interested in the brother or sister entering their lives. The second she heard the word boy, she was done. She marched right over to the table and began playing. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. It was like she was saying "well I didn't get what I wanted so I don't care anymore!"

As soon as I was safely down the flight of stairs out of the building I was calling my parents. Pattie answered and I blurted out "it's a boy!!!" looking back I think she was trying to tell me to hold on so she could get my Dad but I didn't wait LOL. I guess I should have thought about that, but I was just way too excited!! Luckily he was in the same room as her and she was able to relay right away.

So! The great mystery is solved!! Hooray! Now the daunting task of picking a name. ugh! It is so much more overwhelming than I thought!

But now life can go on, back to normal for now! I am so excited to have found out, but the past few days have been exhausting. I look forward to a few less surprises over the next few weeks and a normal routine returning!

Shy? My Child? BAH!

So today was the big day, our appointment with the doctor where we might find out the gender of the baby. No matter how many times I mentally tried to prepare myself for that big might up there, I knew I'd be disappointed if we didn't find out what Teddy is. I'm only 15 weeks along and while you can see as early as 15 weeks (earlier if you decide to do the 1st trimester screening) generally you find out from 18-22 weeks. Josh and I eagerly strained our eyes on the sonogram machine as our doctor diligently moved the gadget around trying her best to find some proof one way or another. Finally Teddy cooperated and turned upside down (giving us a view as if you were looking up from a toilet, LOL thats the visual the doc gave so you can suffer through that one with us). Josh and I both held our breath, there was DEFINITELY something between the legs! But alas a millisecond later Teddy moved and there was just no way to confirm if it was the umbilical cord or not. BUMMER!!!!

So the doc gave us a referral slip to an u/s technician that we needed to see anyway to perform a complete u/s to scan for down syndrome, abnormalities, etc. They also confirm the gender. We hopped into the car (and after calling Pattie and Lizzie) I called to schedule the next appt possible. March 2nd. Are you kidding me?!! We have to wait a month!?!?!

Josh and I trudged into work. In my 'open book' way of life, I of course immediately posted on facebook that we didn't find out. My dear friend Jenee (who I remember telling me found out the gender of her babies at 15 weeks) suggested finding a independent ultrasound office we could go to, to do what they call a gender check. Ya and how much does that cost? Well, not anywhere as much as you, or I thought!! Within minutes Josh and I had talked ourselves into this idea and began searching. So we decided since Kali was so upset she wouldn't be able to go with us to today's appointment to try to schedule it on a weekend. So! We are going this Saturday at 2:30! I can't wait!!!!


Just to give you a neat comparison, the first u/s picture is of Teddy back on January 7th. The next one is from today. No wonder I keep feeling growing pains in my belly!!

You are all a bunch of drunks!!!

Ok maybe not. But get this. So I keep reading how pregnant chick's noses are way more sensitive. I haven't noticed that really... except a few weeks ago at work, I started kind of getting that "whoa..." feeling when someone would be near me and breathe. I would double take. Have they been drinking? I totally smell alcohol! Over the next few days I was just astounded at my revelation that like 70% of the Amgen work force were closet drunks!!

So after my dramatic conclusion settled in the dust I decided to be a bit more rational about it. I can actually thank my boss. She is a die hard very consistent hand sanitizer. Anytime she comes back from or goes to a mtg, I hear her bottle click open. She's very loyal about it. Well after she strolled by on her way to a mtg, I noticed that faint smell of alcohol, and knowing very well there is no way she is a closet alchy... it dawned on me. Amgen is HUGE about hand sanitizer right now. You can't look out from any given location and NOT see a bottle or I kid you not, an actual hand sanitizer station (at each bank of elevators, on each floor). So DUH... everyone around here uses it a lot! So rest assured, Amgen is not staying afloat due to a bunch of bloated alcoholics.

Phew, I was worried for a sec.

Btw, I would die for a margarita. Actually had a dream about it last night.