The end is nearing!!

I still don't feel like blogging much, but I thought I would post an updated picture (or at least, the timeline). I'm now over 34 weeks and she is measuring over 36! Hope she doesn't get too much bigger! In less than 3 weeks she will be classified as full term, although still just under 6 weeks until her due date. I can't wait to have my body back!!! (click on the pic to go to the source and see a bigger version)

I'm Back

I've just been keeping really busy, and unfortunately this place has had to suffer for it. Even this note will be brief, but if things continue the way they have this last week (will elaborate momentarily) I'll have more time to be on here.

April was busy at work with our usual first quarter busy-ness. This was probably one of the least stressful quarters - let's hope that continues!

The first weekend of May, my sister, bro-in-law and niece came for a couple of days on their way to Gatlenburg. Below is the 3 musketeers:

Baby Sarah turned 20 a few days before they came down here, so I surprised her with a birthday photo cake - the picture is her at 11 1/2 months. Her parents couldn't get over it, and had a really hard time eating her (but it was a yummy cake!). In 20 years, this was the closest to spending her birthday with her that I had.
Just to show how pregnant I as at this point (25 weeks), here's me and Baby Sarah (who, yeah, is a hottie):

Two weeks later, I headed to San Francisco for 4 days to take some training for work. I went with a coworker and we didn't book any extra time in (due to me being pregnant and her having some issues at home), but we crammed in as much sightseeing as possible. If you ever go, I highly recommend a culinary walking tour - although we loved the bay cruise with Golden Gate and Alcatraz, the walking tour was both delicious and really entertaining. Oh and Mary, I went in Burberry and Coach at Union Square just for you!

Up until this point, my pregnancy had been going to well. I walked all over San Francisco (including A LOT of hills) with no problems (although on the mile straight up sections, we took lots of breaks). I even got back from 4 days of walking there to go hiking the next day here. The next weekend, I took Kody for walks, although I kept them to just 1.5 miles of flat. Morena was (and is) quite active and made (makes) my stomach bounce all over the place.

Here's a shot of me from a week ago:

Last Sunday, things changed. Shannon was away with his brother in Louisville, KY and was on his way home Sunday afternoon. After some unusual pains in my stomach, I started bleeding and ended up driving myself to the hospital. I contracted for over a day and was kept in the hospital for 2 nights to let my body settle. Although there was a fair bit of blood (to me!), 2 ultrasounds and 2 internal exams (over 2.5 days) didn't show any problems. I was given two shots of steroids to help with Morena's lung development just in case. All her readings were really good - in fact, the doctor and nurse said they were exceptionally good for a 29 week old. That's my girl!

Anyway, now I am on bed rest. For now it is until Wednesday when I go back for a follow-up. For a couple of days I was fairly confident that it was temporary, but since I am back to having contractions any time I'm up more than 5 minutes, I'm not feeling it so much. Luckily (sadly?) I can still connect to the office - gives me something to do! But for now, I need to get more horizontal again, which means putting my computer up.

Drink Wine, Not Water

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. Coli) bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.
However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine (or tequila, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering, and/or fermenting.
Remember: Water = poop, Wine = Health. Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.There is no need to thank me for this valuable information, it is being done as a public service. Please pass along this important information.

How Awful Am I?

Here I built up the excitement and then went away for the weekend without posting the results!
First, my birthday on Thursday was low key, but nice. The office threw my a little party the day before. Lots of birthday wishes the day of. No presents from Shannon since I told him that all the extra I had to pay on my hostess benefits for Premier Jewelry (several more pieces of jewelry) show could be my present, but we went out for a good dessert that evening. Of course, found out what this little one is!

Our anniversary was also this weekend. Since this was our final anniversary that we had kid free, we rented a cabin up in the mountain to get away. Obviously, no kids to get away from (except our darling little furboy whom we missed terribly), but it was nice to get away from people calling or dropping in. Plus, our cabin was gorgeous with a fantastic view. We didn't do a lot of touristy things in Pigeon Forge, but did go take the scenic drive out to Cades Cove.

Well, I know this isn't my usual, more elaborate posting, but I'm swamped right now with work and I need to go to bed. Have a meeting at the buttcrack of dawn!

And the result is ........

GIRL !!!!

What Do You Think?

Here's a shot of me from last night. My mother-in-law now thinks that I am having a boy based on the fact I am carrying the same way she did for her two. Everyone else thinks definitely girl, although there hasn't been much weight gain in the hips or butt (unless I keep eating like I have!!!) Hopefully we will have the verdict in just over 7 hours!!

Yup, S/he's Southern!

Pregnancy is going well - hard to believe I'm at 20.5 weeks, although sometimes it seems that I've known I've been pregnant for much longer than 3.5 months! Thursday (my birthday) is the day we are hoping to stop using s/he and switch to one of the other. Let's hope the baby isn't shy!

Last night we went to a dinner and show at our church. The local state university's blue grass band (there's actually 12, but we got one of them) played as a fundraiser for the church. When they were warming up and testing the microphones, Baby Bee woke up and started kicking pretty much in time to the music and stopped when the music stopped - Shannon's pleased that that is a good indication that we're having a Southern baby! It wasn't awake for some of the concert (heck, I wanted to nap after the fabulous dinner), but kicked away for other bits.

The weather lately (although screwy!) has been gorgeous. Week before last it was in the 70s all week. Sunday it snowed. Not enough to stay on the ground, but it came down a good chunk of the day. This week has been back in the 60s and 70s with yesterday hitting 83! I'm loving it (although low 70s is my ideal temp) - Shannon has pointed out what I didn't need to hear though. Since it is 83 on March 24th, what will it be like in July? When I'm a beached whale (my words, not his)? I'm not going to let that get me down right now though. I've taken Kodie on several walks lately and both of us have really been enjoying the sunshine. Dogs are so therapeutic. It doesn't matter how down you feel, when you see a little guy who looks like a big dog puppy instead of a small dog romping around with a look of pure bliss on his face, you can't help but smile. Puppy Joy - good for all that ails you.

Of course, having to deal with idiot owners dampens it slightly - I HATE having to dodge piles of dog crap. However, I'm not going to let that bring down the tone of this post and I will save that rant, and my rant about idiots at Walmart and the grocery story (yeah, buddy, you with no shoes on in the grocery store, I'm referring to you), for another time.

As some of you know, I am doing the MS Walk again this year. I'm so thrilled to have raised $390 so far! That's 78% of the way there. (want to donate? click Here) I'm supposed to walk on May 19th in Bristol, but now will be coming back from a business trip to San Fransisco. I'm working on transferring to another walk (April 14th in Greenville) but not sure if I can. Otherwise, Shannon will have to walk for me - I'd hate for that since part of my pitch this year is that I will be walking at 29 weeks pregnant, but .....

Last, but not least, I become an American citizen on April 17th. No, don't worry, I'm not foresaking my Canadian roots! It will just make things easier in the long run if I have my American.

Alright, time for me to head out and embrace the day!

Book Tag

I'm supposed to be working (just finished some taxes, was going to switch to work work, but hey, it's a Sunday) when I made the silly mistake of checking MB's blog. Drats! Tagged!

1. Find the nearest book: Lately it has been "What to Expect When You are Expecting", but it is upstairs. Mostly I have magazines near me on my desk, but I do have one I got from Little Baby Benny for Christmas.

2. Name the book title and author: "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" - written by Richard Louv

3. Turn to page 123: Hey! The start of a new chapter halfway through!

4. Go to the 5th sentence on the page and then copy the next 3 sentences on your blog.

The boundaries of children's lives are growing ever tighter. A 1991 study of three generations of nine-year-olds found that, between 1970 and 1990, the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. In the winter 2003 issue of American Demographics magazine, TNS Intersearch reported that 56 percent of today's parents say that by the time they were ten yeras old they were allowed to walk or bike to school. Today, only 36 percent of those same parens say their own kids should be allowed similar freedoms. A separate study by Taylor Reseach and Consulting fuond that 41 percent of children ages eight to eleven worry about being safe in their neighborhoods.

(As an aside, this is something I had been thinking about lately - and I hadn't even gotten this far in the book! I was in grade 6 when Ben and I started biking to school. We were never allowed to go alone - although when he was in 7 and 8, he could bike the 3 miles to his best friend's house - but it was a good 45 minute bike ride. We were about the same age when we biked the 8 miles + into the local village in the summer. I can't imagine letting my kids do that now, even if I wasn't in a fairly high traffic zone with crappy sides of the road. I hope I don't become a distance nazi with my kids, but it is sad that I already know that they will be restricted from what I did as a kid.)

I have to tag 3 people, but most people who read my blog don't have blogs on their own (except on myspace, where they don't blog). I could make them do this in my comment area, but most don't comment on here either - just in person or on email. So ...... 'Stina, when you read this .... tag!

ARG

This keeps not showing up!!!

I'm Sorry, Josh

I'm Sorry, Josh

It's been a while since I have posted. Work and a total lack of desire of being on the computer (although I've done some ever exciting tax returns) has kept me away. Other than work, only a couple of things have really happened.

On Jan 31st, I headed down to Memphis to take my citizenship test. There was a big deal in the news about the ball player that just passed his with 100% - big deal. He studied for a year, I studied for a month and I got the same freakin' score. Where's my picture on Fox News? I had absolutely no trouble with the official questions and answered them before he was finished asking the questions. He even threw in 2 extra ones - the first which I got, the second which I should have gotten. Why should I have gotten it? My friend Josh (see title) quizzed me on that exact question only days before and I just brushed him off, saying it wasn't an official question and I didn't have to know it. Please forgive me, wise one! I told the immigration official that I was nervous about the English language proficiency test since people here at work made fun of how I talked and told me that I didn't sound Southern - which to them equates to unAmerican. The official laughed and said I wouldn't have that problem with him - he was a Yankee. The test was a joke. I had to read the sentence "It is sunny outside today" and write the sentence "His wife is at work now" - amazingly, I passed! Anyway, it had to be reviewed by one more official and then I will find out when and where I have to swear in. Luckily, no more Memphis - it will be Greeneville, Knoxville or Chattanooga. Oh, and yes dear Canadian friends, I will retain my Canadian citizenship. You can take the Canuck out of Canada, but can't take the Canuck out of the girl!

My pregnancy is going well. I'm still quite tired and have a little siactic pain, but nothing too severe. I've heard the heartbeat 4 times now, with the last time being 175. If the old wives' tale can be relied on, I'm having a girl. I have had a quickie ultrasound (because I looked pitiful and asked for one), but we couldn't tell the gender. That will either be next week at my next appointment (the OB is getting a new U/S machine and I might be used as a guinea pig) or at my 20 week U/S. Can't wait!

Puppy in the Window

Is there anything cuter than a puppy in the window? Especially when it is MY puppy? Our front picture window is just the right height for someone with stumpy legs and a long body to put his front paws on the sill and look out. He's just so sweet peering out at you, and it is impossible not to pause after backing out of the driveway to wave to him (or, if you are Shannon, flip him off, laugh hysterically and speed off). It is really hard to leave in the morning though if you are the last one to leave him - his watching you drive off makes you just want to zoom up the driveway, run in the house and scoop him up. We especially love when we come home at night and he pops up there with his bat ears outlined by the light of the tv. I wish I could get a picture, but I keep forgetting my digital camera. I'll have to see if I can get a decent one on my camera phone.

Other than that, not a lot to report. Last week I worked 68 hours and this week I worked 67 - tiring even when you aren't pregnant! We had a lot going on at work (our typical busy season), plus we were down a person with one of our 4 taking another job. Tuesday morning, we move to our new digs while our floor is being renovated and Tuesday noon I fly off to Memphis to take my citizenship test and interview.

Right now, I need to get to bed!