I slack

Yellowstone*:

Aug. 15-17th: Erick's parents took all of us to yellowstone for the weekend. We stayed in the little duplex cabins at Old Faithful and we saw a TON of awesome stuff. We saw a huge herd of buffalo all up close and personal-like too. It was exhausting and great!

Ultrasound:

Aug. 7th: Beane looks great (not to mention cute, the profile kills me!) everything is where it should be. And beane is a boy!* It was the COOLEST thing to see him wiggling around in there. When we first saw him, he was head down with his feet all the way over his head. A Beane Burrito, you might say. I totally cried, it was amazing. I have the ultrasound printout of his little feet on my desk at work. So cute.**

Tennessee:

Aug. 2-7th: We had a business trip to meet up with all the BSA professionals in the country. With all the pros and spouses and kids, there were about 4800 people there. craziness. But they put on some really great shows! We saw Josh Turner and the author of Flag of our Fathers and tons of other entertainers, it was great. The hotel was amazing: Gaylord Opryland*** 9 acres, and all under an atrium with a river running through it -lots of restaurants and shops and a night club. Then on our way home, we volunteered to take a later flight and got vouchers. Yesssss.

Furniture:

We got our new baby furniture put together, so cute! It's my favorite thing to sit and rock in the babies room. I'm so excited to see it all come together!

P.S. Since I was feeling bold, I read some more of the chapter about delivery last night. BIG mistake. BIG BIG mistake. I started crying. I am officially done with that chapter.

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That pic is the "grand prismatic" one of my faves.

*I have my doubts with all the mistaken ultrasound sex identities I've heard about, so we'll see!

**I asked for emailed pics, no can do. So I'm still working on getting a pic scanned to post...

***The name is weird, but it was cool!

These are the days of our Beane

My Dr's Appointment today was great. Dr. Niceguy* heard Beane's heartbeat right away, and I lost a pound in the last 4 weeks. He said everyone he'd seen today who was between 10 and 20 weeks had lost 1 or 2 pounds - probably because of the summer heat making people eat less and drink more. All I care about is that 1) Beane is doing well and 2) I'm staying in the plan of not gaining anything in the first 20 weeks...

A friend at work freaked me out about epidurals yesterday, so I read the scary "LABOR" chapter** of the scary book***, and then asked Dr. N about it:

Me: what are your feelings on epidurals?
Dr. N: if i were having a baby, I would definately get an epidural.
Me: that was the right answer! i like drugs!

He said that he definately thinks its the way to go. That's not to say that I don't give credit to those who think that going oh-naturale is the best. It just made me happy to confirm that where me and my pregnancy ideas are concerned, I'm in agreement with my doctor. That is a good thing!

I added a poll to the sidebar - check it out. Tell me if you think Beane is a boy or a girl...

Now that requests to see my pregger belly have commenced, I'll be adding a pic just as soon as my husband and my camera are on a break from scout camp. (watch for it early next week.)

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*Name has been changed since he's not e and has seen my woohoo. duh.
**I'm not kidding. I haven't even PEAKED at that chapter in 4 months.
***The pictures in What to Expect are beginning to scare me less as I get more excited. But still. The baby-head-to-openning ratio: not optimal!!

Random Updates: Flutters of Fun!

Wow. I'm a bloggin slacker!

Baby Beane:
I felt a baby flutter yesterday! hooray!!! I have an appt tomorrow, so wish me luck- and oh yeah, I'm definately looking preggers now. :o)

Abandonment:
Erick is gone to Boy Scout Camp. We're into week 2 out of 5, and its not my favorite thing. I get to see him for about 20 hours a week all together. :o(

Work:
Well, lets just say that I don't do it for anything but the money at this point. :oP

Lawncare:
4 weeks ago, our lawn was gorgeous! But then, the valve box got flooded, so E turned the sprinklers off. Add to that that he hasn't had a chance to mow in 4 weeks, and, well, we now have the ghetto yard.

That's about it. Gripping, thrilling read, I know.

Family Fun and the Flu to show for it...

So our family reunion was great. Soggy, but great. E and I got to Camp Little Lemhi about 11am on Friday, and by about 2 everyone else was there. It rained all day, but we came prepared with lots of snacks and board games since the weatherman said it would be rainy. Beck and Bry brought crafts for everyone, that was way fun too. We waited until everyone was there to tell them about the water in the cabins not working. (evil? i think so, but we'd only just found out.) That wasn't fun for anyone, but we all managed.

Saturday it rained some more, but E and I any BJ and BA and Shadara went to Jackson for a little trip. It was pretty fun to talk politics and other crap on the way there and back. We were also sneaky and snuck in a bit of McD's while we were out. Sunday the weather was great! We played on the lake, had our family olympics (seriously entertaining, with the exception of the ugly bruise I'm sporting on my ankle cuz E forgot the 'outside inside' arrangment we made just before starting the three-legged race!) and stayed outside as much as possible to enjoy it. Monday it was threatening rain, so we all pitched in and helped until the clouds broke and some people who didn't have tarps to cover their trucks took off in a hurry. We were all out by 11am. Not too shabby. We only had one run in with a skunk. It was pretty funny watching E and BJ and then Mike try to figure out what to do about it. Mike showed up with his gun, of course, and was disappointed, when it appeared the skunk had already skulked off. But it was exciting in the meantime, nonetheless!

It was so great- the weather didn't really seem to be a downer. We had so much fun. We missed PDitty and JD, and their 'things' though!!!!

We got home about 2pm Monday, I took a 3 hour coma and woke up feeling feverish and nappy. Threw up gratuitously on Tuesday, and was still not feeling great Wednesday, but I'm back at work today. I have a Dr's Appt. this afternoon, just to make sure everything is okay.

How was your Memorial Day weekend??

"The end, not the means." (just keep saying it!)

(btw: Thanks, Ninnabutt, aka Shaniqua, aka Anitra for the 'bump and beyond' ticker idea that I shamelessly stole from your website. ) :o)

I feel VERY blessed to have the priviledge of being pregnant.

Having said that, I am not a fan of the actual logistics. Since the age of 12 I have seriously been okay with the idea of adoption. This may be due to the vidoes I was forced to watch in the 6th grade under the heading of 'sex ed', but 'birth control' would have been a more appropriate name, if you ask me. (I think that was the intention.)

I can't get past page 23 in one of my books, where it shows the progress of the fetus. I just keep looking at that last picture. The baby is all nice and big, and the route out is all scary and small. Seriously. I had to close the book after looking at the picture for about 20 minutes.

But I just keep thinking about the assurances I keep getting from everyone: "Drugs." LOL.

Also, I'm at 8 weeks, and trying to take it easy so that I make it through the first trimester, but let me just say. The brain farts, the boob aches and bulging, the stomach *ich*, the 'no food sounds good', the altered taste of EVERYTHING, these are the things I am currently not enjoying.

The end, not the means. The end, not the means. The end, not the means. The end...

Since last I wrote...

Thursday:
Family Reunion- we had a bit of a scare. It turns out that we won't be able to use Erick's summer camp for Memorial weekend after all, as it is STILL SNOWED IN! Aaauuggh! For about 20 minutes, I was thinking we would have to host it in our back yard. No worries, though, we have 5 aspens for climbing and could get a kiddie pool. 20 people all entertained for 3 days, no prob! Argh! And then, the miracle! Erick's coworker will let us use his camp 'Little Lemhi' for the weekend. Saved!

Friday:
Work- so the closer I work with took a job as a loan officer. I'm alright with that. Friday was actually a good day, I was busy and productive and got to do 4 closings, it was great. Fleeting, since they're interviewing for another closer, but great. Given my hopes to stop working when Beane arrives, I'm thrilled not to be a closer, but I don't look forward to training the next one.

Saturday:
Volunteering- I got to teach a new home buyer's class for a local grant company. It was great. Why am I not teaching something as my full time job?! O yes, its because teachers make nothing and I have to make more while I work for a living. (not to mention the dramatic loss of credits due to transferring schools.)
Driving- We went up to Idaho Falls and on to Camp Little Lemhi to sneak a peak. I think it will make a fine substitute. It won't be the same, but it will still be free, so no sneezes from me.
Shopping-We bought all the dry goods we needed from Sam's Club in prep for the reunion. Long, good times.
Paranoia- We ran into one of Erick's old camp buds who is now an optomitrist working for Sam's. Erick told him about Beane, and that we're at 8 weeks and he said "oh, be real careful. if you can hang on for another couple of weeks, you should do great, but be careful." Good. note to self-stop all the crazy building jumping you've been doing and stop ingesting the glue fumes. REALLY?! Telling a woman carrying Beane to be careful as she enters what she already knows to be a very critical two weeks helps nothing! Paranoia = stress, stress=nothing good. Thanks!

Sunday:
Slacking- didn't go to church. gasp, boo, hiss. Erick went though and said it was great. I was exhausted from Saturday and took a break, so as to be 'careful'. sheesh.
Winning- Erick took it upon himself to go down into the crawl space to turn the sprinkler system water on. After a few tries, he found it. He came back up stairs, turned on my i-pod and starting blaring 'we are the champions' courtesy of Queen in honor of his triumph. Pretty stinking funny.
Losing- When he turned the sprinkler system on, nothing was working right. bummer dude.

Monday:
Rescued- Erick's parents came down from Rigby so his dad could take a look at the sprinklers. It was pretty funny watching Erick follow Dad around. Even though he's a foot taller and bigger, I could totally picture him as a 7 year old so excited to be working with his Dad. It was pretty cute. Mom kept offering pointers, which were shot down. They were quite proud of themselves when they figured out that they needed to not have all the valves open at once. They got the timers set and the sprinklers work great. Nothing like a fix that doesn't cost a cent!!
Refreshed- Mom and Dad took us out for ice cream. Yum. Coldstone. Banana ice cream. Brownie mix-in. mmm.

Tuesday:
Queasin- Thought I was going to lose my breakfast for a moment there, but the saltines did the trick.
Panic- There was a moderately sized, very ugly spider making its way across my desk as I was grabing my purse for lunch. I screamed, tried to get it with my foot (image- me standing half paralized by a small spider, trying to extend my leg up to my desk top and tap with my shoe, all for no good outcome) and my coworker came in and smashed it with her hand. EW! and thanks? but mostly EW!

BTW:
The Host by Stephanie Meyer - as of page 277, so. dang. good. really. read it.

Mid-week Meme. Only not.

The latest:

Work: Not too busy, not too challenging. Here's hoping the housing market picks up. SOON!
Church: Went on Sunday, it was better than it's been the several previous times I've attempted it. People actually made an effort to introduce themselves to Erick and I. Finally. We met some of our neighbors who seem really great. Hooray!
FreeTime: I've been tutoring a 6th grader in math. He is not excited about the end-of-the-school-year crunch we're working with, but he has to retake tests and turn in old assignments, so what are ya gonna do? He's a good kid, and he's smart - he just doesn't care. I'm working on that...
Reading:I'm reading a pretty good book lately. Its more of a topical book, rather than a novel. If, for example, you're feeling queasy and achy, gassy and mean, and a little crazy, and oh yeah, like your bo*bs might just explode, you look up page 161 where it tells you that is perfectly normal for the current month.
Silliness: I'm taking voice lessons from Emily who played the lead in 'My Fair Lady'. Its been hard to get our schedules to mesh, but I'm really excited about it. She says I'm a metzo, which when she's done with me will mean I can comfortably sing any old thing I want and basically pick my part. :oD
Under Consideration:There are try-outs next week for Wizard of Oz and Little Shop of Horrors, and later this month for Fiddler on the Roof. But, I think I'm too engrossed in my current reading project, which we'll call 'Beane', to find the time or energy for that just now.
Planning: Erick and I are in charge of my family's reunion over Memorial Day Weekend. It should be a lot of fun - we gave every family an assignment to come up with an event for the olympics. Ours is going to be 'Ellen De'Generous' Marshmallow Challenge'. If you haven't seen it, I'll post pics after our trip. It should be pretty entertaining!
Surprises: One of my favorite friends from high school (Albequerque, go Eldorado Eagles!) caught up with me last week on my facebook. Its been SO great to get a glimpse into what she's been up to! I love it! And it turns out Kim and I were in the same corner of the world for a bit, and i missed it! Don't you just love finding old friends?!

That's about it! ;o)