Bad News, Good News...

BAD NEWS
Well, the ultrasound for today at 2:30 got canceled - rescheduled for 2:00 Friday. Don't they know that we rearrange our lives for these appointments? The nerve of the doctor, getting sick. Aren't they supposed to be the experts at NOT getting sick? Ha-ha. I guess we'll have to wait... Poor Andy - this was the first appt that he would have been at - he took the day off (worked from home), and now has to come up with a plan to get 1/2 of tomorrow off, too.

GOOD NEWS
At least my back is getting better. I had excruciating lower back pain for Monday, Tues and 1/2 of Wed. I stuck it out at work, (taught from the rolling chair and made the kids come to my desk with questions), but had to adopt a whole new management plan - reinforcing responsibility and accountabilty after there was a broken Sharpie incident that sent one girl to the eye doctor...

Decisions, decisions...

You know how Andy and I are at making big decisions... Well, we've finally decided on furniture for the nursery. We are going with the Infinity line from Baby's Dream for the crib and dresser combo (no hutch) in Amber - in the link, look at the first Real Nursery Photo. They will be arriving in 6 weeks. We are also getting a cheaper wardrobe type thing - a Chifferobe from Babies R Us - arriving in 2 weeks. We will have to wait to special order a glider/ rocker from Babies R Us until they receive their new catalogue in early Feb. Then, its just a rug (we have one picked out at Home Depot), some baskets, a hamper, and assorted other small things... Outfitting this little room has sure added up, but I'm sure it will look pretty neat, and that we will have what we need when we are through. We are going to paint (a pale yellow) today or next Saturday, so that we are ready to put the stuff in the room as it arrives. I'm still feeling good, the baby has been active in spurts. I'm sure the movement will intensify as I progress into the 3rd trimester (I'm at about 21 1/2 weeks).

The Stokesbaby will be a....

You'll have to wait and see... I have my ultrasound scheduled for Feb 7th - I'll let you know what we find out!!! I have booked the tix to MN for the shower! I am flying in on Friday, Feb 15 at 2:15PM, and flying out at 5:20PM on Monday (President's Day). Can't wait to see everyone!

Here is what I wrote back on Jan.2 - It's only 3 weeks later, and the planner in me is already feeling better about the projects around the house.

Now, back to reality. We are trying to get an electrician out to do several
small projects that we don't feel comfortable tackling. Had an
electrician come out - he put in a bathroom fan,
installed undercabinet lighting, installed an outlet in the island, and ran the wiring for some new garage outlets. We haven't received the bill yet, but Andy has been referring to our new bathroom fan as "gold-plated" - most likely an appropriate nickname.

We have quite a few loose ends of other house projects that we'd like to tie
up before June:
1. re-paint the office (the color we painted a while back doesn't work) - Done - much better.
2. get a new bookshelf for the office for all of Andy's books/ organize the clutter on
the desk - Done - just a bit of work on the clutter aspect...
3. finish up the kitchen - tile the back splash, paint the whole kitchen, nail down the floor trim - Not even started yet.
4. finish the stairway plastering - we'll need scaffolding or a Little Giant type ladder to do this... Hmmm - we'll see how everything else goes - this may be last on the priority list.
5. paint/ furnish the baby's room - I had no idea how tough the furniture purchasing would be... We have several leads - just have to decide how much we're willing to $pend..

6. Now, I'd like to add one more item - Paint and finish up my bathroom downstairs... Now that the fan is in - it's all ready to go!

We had a January birthday dinner with Andy's dad on Sat. night, and then had his brothers and sister-in-law over for both football games Sunday, which was nice. I had Monday off for MLK. Thank goodness. 'Til next time...

Here's a video of the hike from my B-day weekend at the beach.

Birthday Weekend

I have an amazing husband. He planned a trip to the beach for my 34th birthday on Saturday (plus 50 for Andy). We drove out to the coast Saturday afternoon as Andy had booked a night in a hotel with an oceanside room and a jacuzzi tub :) After an awesome dinner of Halibut fish and chips (some of the best I've ever had - melt in your mouth tender), we jacuzzied and crashed for the night. In the morning, the view from our deck was phenomenal. It was one of those very rare January days in Oregon where there's not a cloud in the sky and the temps are mild. The waves were particularly showy because the tide was really high and there was a high surf warning out.



We had a big breakfast, then took a short walk on the beach.

We then headed down to Depoe Bay, to watch the waves crash against the seawall in town. We also picked up some salt-water taffy for the ride home. Mmmm. We next headed to Cascade Head to go for a much needed hike. (I don't think we've been hiking since Alaska in July...) We did this same incredible hike just after we got engaged in Jan. 05. Again, it did not disappoint. I had to stop for a few extra breaks along the way, but overall it felt great to get out and do some hiking. The viewpoint gave us, well, a great view of the Salmon River and surrounding area. We took some trial video with the new fancy-shmancy video camera from my (soon-to-be-grandparents) parents. I'll see if we can download the video and try to post it...

Thanks again to my wonderful husband for planning a great getaway weekend! (Baby's first beach trip!)

Happy Birthday, frodermommy!

Happy New Year!

Let's see... Our trip to MN was great. On Saturday when we arrived, my parents picked us up and headed down to the farm. Casino Christmas was a new thing this year - a way for my dad's side of the family to all get together. We had a catered dinner in a banquet room of Jackpot Junction. Then, since most of the family was travelling a fair distance, we just crashed at a room in the hotel for the night. The next day we (my dad) drove up to the cabin (about a 5 hour drive) in 30 MPH blowing snow conditions. Brent and Patti and Sam met us up there that same day. We had a nice time together, but I forgot my camera, so no pics. We exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve, and received some very nice things. We had fabulous food and a nice time relaxing. There was probably close to a foot and a half of snow on the ground - picture perfect White Christmas. The ice was crappy, so no ice fishing.

Andy and I headed down to Mpls on Thursday to hang out with the ol' college pals before flying out on Friday. It was great seeing everyone and the kids. Hope had a huge Rubbermaid tub of maternity clothes for me to try on. I didn't think I was ready for them yet, but man, they are much more comfortable than trying to squeeze into regular clothes and I looked pregnant instead of like I've had one too many cookies over the holiday (which I also probably have done). Thanks Hope!!

I got to try out a maternity outfit at Andy's Christmas gathering on Sunday. Here I am at 18 weeks.

Now, back to reality. We are trying to get an electrician out to do several small projects that we don't feel comfortable tackling. We have quite a few loose ends of other house projects that we'd like to tie up before June:

1. re-paint the office (the color we painted a while back doesn't work)

2. get a new bookshelf for the office for all of Andy's books/ organize the clutter on the desk

3. finish up the kitchen - tile the back splash, paint the whole kitchen, nail down the floor trim

4. finish the stairway plastering - we'll need scaffolding or a Little Giant type ladder to do this...

5. paint/ furnish the baby's room

We spent most of New Year's Day looking at several stores for an office bookshelf, and for baby furniture... we have a rain check at Target for a bookshelf, and some ideas for a crib. Much work is left to be done. Thank goodness I have the rest of the week off. It'll be a harsh reality heading back to school on Monday.

** To my loyal reader (EE) who has stopped reading in protest of TMI (too much information)...

I hearby promise to forewarn my readers of any talk of parts unique to the female body or having to do with bathroom functions :)

Reaction Time

What an exciting day! I announced the pregnancy to the staff at the school today at our Holiday Breakfast. I could really feel the love! I had the principal put an announcement over the loudspeaker in the morning - The office staff sang "Hush little baby" and then told the kids... I heard a rumble of noise, and couldn't figure out what it could be. Wow - I had no idea what was coming! A herd of at least 50 kids stormed into my room yelling and offering hugs of congratulations! Amazing! I totally started crying (darn hormones). My face hurts from smiling all day. The kids are so excited... I had several handmade baby cards by the end of the day - along with a jillion cookies, etc. for Christmas gifts.

On top of all this excitement, we got the results back from the Quad-screening blood test taken on Tuesday. The nurse said that I am well below the average for risks of all of the factors that they test for. YEAH!

Off to do laundry, pack and shower. Our alarm will be going off very early tonight... 3:30AM.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

On Saturday early, early AM. We will have to get up at 3:30 AM, to leave the house by 4:30 to make it to the airport by 5:30, to catch our flight at 6:30! I'm not looking forward to the half in/ half out of sleep feeling that I usually get on an airplane. I get frustrated at not being able to fall completely asleep, and being uncomfortable, and being crowded by the person next to me - you know how it is. I can't imagine trying to do this with a baby! Well, 1 day of school left - I am telling my co-workers tomorrow about the baby! We have 99% of the shopping done, just need to do some laundry, take care of some little things and pack up our stuff. Can't wait to see everyone back home! My belly is getting noticeable. It'll be nice to not have to cover it up any more as most everyone knows at this point. I can't wait to see the maternity clothes that Hope has for me!