Getting bigger

Tonight we're visiting my sister Mary's house. Our other sister, Debbie, called and wanted to see a current picture of Erin. So Here it is, at 4.5 months:

Little Flutters

Last night I felt a little flutter. I knew I would be feeling the baby moving sometime soon, but there is so much other stuff going on in my body, I wasn't quite sure if this was it. I put my hand under my shirt and sure enough, felt a little push! I told Joshua and he ran over, putting his hand on my stomach. Literally. I had to guide him to where the baby is actually located in my body. :) He tried for a while but felt nothing. He tried again after dinner, when I felt something, I asked if he did too. He didn't realize that was the baby. He said he thought his hand had a twitch. :) Next Friday is the ultrasound but don't expect any big news ... The gender will remain unknown until the baby is born.

You've Got to be Kidding!

Yesterday morning I was getting ready to leave for work as usual. Hmmm ... my car key was not on the key hook. Nor was it on the coat rack. Oh yeah, Joshua drove my car last night and cannot seem to get the key to either of these locations. He likes to put them in his pocket instead. I ran through the house while calling his cell searching every possible place it could have been left. Nothing. The only place left was his jacket pocket which was at that moment in a locker at the YMCA with his cell phone. Rats! Our closest family members were at the Y with him, so calling them would do no good. My other sister in law works close to my school, so I gave her a try. No answer. Then I tried Joshua's parents. My father in law is the best! I quickly explained the situation and he said, "Well, I guess I better come pick you up then." Just like that he was on his way. My hero! I made it to school before the kids did (although I missed the morning staff devotional). As we were arriving Joshua called. He informed me that the key was in fact in his pocket, but he was proud of me for being resourceful. Sounds silly, but any little thing can become a huge drama with these pregnancy hormones, so it was lucky that I held it together and didn't have a breakdown! What a morning!

Joshua's Reply:
I just want to say how proud I am of my wife. As a husband, I have a certain fear that my wife won't adapt to her new home very quickly. Especially when that home is near her in-laws (whom she's only known for the last 3+ years). She felt comfortable enough to call my family for help. I'm just glad they're more dependable than I am.

You snooze, you lose

While out at Costco last week, Joshua and I spotted a glider chair that would be perfect for a nursery. We sat in it, tried rocking, and remembered the price so we could comparison shop. Neither of us had a clue what a glider cost. Yesterday we went to a 10-acre furniture store that we had heard had great prices. The 3 or so gliders they had there were almost 3 times as much as the one we had seen and not nearly as nice looking. So, we enjoyed our free popcorn and hot cocoa, then headed back to Costco. What do you know, they were sold out. So we tried the other Costco. Sold out too. They looked it up for us and found one in Oregon and one in Idaho. Bummer! Trying to make the most of our evening and the van we had borrowed, we went to Target to pick up a stroller we had found last week. Once again, our plans were thwarted as they too were sold out. Needless o say, we learned our lesson. When you see something you need but aren't sure of the price, buy it then and return it later if need be. Anybody know of any good baby furniture stores?

Sweet tea and Hush Puppies with Butter

"Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit. Look who's here." This is the welcome sign to our new favorite guilty pleasure of a restaurant. Fat Rascal's Barbecue in Port Orchard offers wood smoked beef ribs, chicken, and pork that even the most discriminating North Carolinian would appreciate. We arrived with visions of sweet tea and racks of ribs in our heads. We were not disappointed. For starters we had hush puppies served with butter. Erin had a pulled pork sandwich, I had the Some of 'Dis and 'Dat Platter with Ribs, Beef Brisket, potato salad, baked beans, deep-fried corn-on-the-cob, and cornbread.

As we waited for our food to be prepared, which wasn't very long, we were able to play some of the table games provided. Much like the Cracker Barrel they had Golf Tee Solitaire, Yahtzee, and Trivial Pursuit questions. Perfect when you don't know what to talk about, as if having a baby doesn't create something to talk about. Our server was wonderful, obviously transplanted from the South herself.

So, if you're ever in the mood for some sweet tea and ribs, just let us know and we'll join you there. (don't forget the hush puppies)

Duh!

Today I was leaving for work at 0'dark thirty as usual. My windshield was just a bit fogged up and seemed damp on the outside, so I ran the wipers over a couple times. It helped a bit, so I drove off. Then it got really fogged up, so I did what I always do in such a situation: ran the wipers with a bit of wiper fluid. Duh Erin! It was 29 degrees outside! I couldn't see anything at this point, not even the side of the road to pull over, so I just stopped and put on the hazards. (Don't panic, I was still in my neighborhood on a very quiet street.) After scraping the ice I made off the windshield, things were looking up. One day I'll figure out this thing they call winter!

Just for laughs, here are some of the darling things my students have said regarding my pregnancy.

"Is the baby big enough that we can hear it yet?"
"If the baby is so small, how come you're getting so fat?"
"Do you have to eat baby food for the baby?"
"You haven't eaten for a while and the baby is probably hungry. Should I bring you a snack from your desk?"

Aren't they the sweetest?!

The Pregnancy Bump

As per the request of Michelle, here's the 16-week belly-shot showing my baby's baby. It's hard to tell with the outfit that she's wearing, but she has been seeing significant growth since Christmas.

At our last doctor's appointment we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat. We're only able to make out one heartbeat. (it's probably not triplets) Our next sonogram will be at the end of the month, where we won't be finding the gender.

I still think it's funny that we have all these tools to find out about the baby before he/she is born. Height, weight, sex, development process. And we just choose to not know the sex. What does it even matter to us to know the other things? If there's a severe problem, does it mean we'll abort the baby? No. Why do we need to know so much beforehand? I doubt it helps us to calculate the day the baby will be born. I still haven't seen a doctor predict that.

Well That's New

This morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow outside! There wasn't quite enough for a snow day, so out I went in the dark (cause the sun doesn't come up until like 9:00 around here) to go to school. I had to scrape all the snow off my windshield before driving. Feeling fairly proud of my accomplishment, I jumped in and took off. Next time I need to remember to scrape off the back window too ... I wanted so much to take a picture for you all to see, but Joshua has hidden the camera in some secret location. I called to ask him to reveal it to me, but he ignored my call! Imagine that. In other news, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Today makes 16 weeks, so hopefully sometime soon I can feel normal again. I am still having days of nausea now with the added bonus of headaches all the while feeling totally exhausted. What fun being pregnant is!