My first photo upload...

I was just fooling around last Saturday at work and got a few ultrasound photos printed off. When I took the pictures I was just over 15weeks, so now I am just over 16weeks. The baby is fully formed and has all of his/her parts. The rest of the baby's journey consists of growing and maturing all of those organs so they will function when he/she is born. And we are still sticking with our previous decision and are waiting to find out the sex of the baby until he/she is here.

Sometimes it is hard to decipher ultrasound photos, but these are fairly clear. The first one is a profile shot- I hope I don't get yelled at when he/she is born for that- profiles are the worst right?! And the second one is looking down on the baby's head- the thing between it's legs is a hand- just to clarify that it is not a penis. Maybe we will have a little Michael Jackson dancer! Have a great day!

An EX-trordonary Wedding

I just wanted to let you all know how last weekends wedding went. A little recap...Logan was in a wedding last week and his ex-girlfriend is the groom's sister, so of course she was in the wedding party as well. I also want you to remember that I am just pregnant enough to make people wonder if I am just fat. However, I did go shopping and found a few outfits that made it blatantly clear that I was pregnant and not just fat. That made me feel better about the whole weekend because I thought I looked rather cute. So, that said I will share the evenings happenings.
It was a rainy Friday night...We went to the church and I met the groom's father and then ran off tp the restroom, as my bladder was being severely squished and I hadn't been to the bathroom in nearly an hour. Guess who is chatting it up with my husband when I return? You probably guessed it- the ex. No big deal- they haven't seen each other in awhile and were just saying hello. So the rehearsal goes well and we are off to the rehearsal dinner on a boat around Lake Minnetonka. What a fun idea except I couldn't get off the boat if I wanted to. This is a nice boat with two floors and about 10-12 tables. It comes time for dinner and guess who decides to plop her inappropriate ass at our table? You guessed it again. The entire rest of the night she was focused on having a conversation with Logan and continued to bring up events that they shared together as a couple. Making it abundantly clear that they had a relationship. Any time he got up to go get a beverage, she followed. The wedding party went up to get their gifts, and she had to stand next to Logan. How disrespectful!!! I don't know if she thought she would be a threat to me or what, but clearly he chose me to marry and have babies with. The bride and groom were upset with her when they saw that she decided to sit at our table- it wasn't just for dinner either- it was for the entire night! Someone must have said something to her later that night because the next day she avoided us like the plague.
I really thought I would feel more jealousy, but instead I felt disrespected and hurt because I thought we graduated high school and I couldn't believe that someone would go out of her way to make me feel uncomfortable. She was acting extremely juvenile and inappropriate. I was already a little uncomfortable because I didn't know anyone except Logan and the Bride and Groom. Well- hopefully I won't have to deal with her again. Even if I had a shitty time, Logan had fun with some of his college buddies and was happy to support a friend at his wedding.

Hello again!

I could start by saying that it has been a long time and that I have been too busy to write, but mostly I was just too lazy to come upstairs, sit at my computer, and think of something worth while to say. It still may not be worth while, but at least I have more energy these days. The last month and a half have been somewhat like this: Go to work, come home and lay on the couch with my best friend- Mr. Barf Bucket. This past week has been much better. I have been only sick for a couple hours in the evening instead of the entire afternoon and evening. So, things are looking up. I had another appointment last Thursday and I was able to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Our first appointment we were able to see it beat, but we didn't hear it, so it was exciting! Logan was unable to make this appointment because he was in MN for some training, but I called during the appt. and recorded the heartbeat on his voicemail. Now we can hear it anytime we want! I think hearing that sound come from my belly changed my perspective at work. I think I get more excited with the parents.
We had a neighborhood garage sale this weekend with close to 15 sales. Thursday night was for the neighborhood to do some shopping and Friday and Saturday we advertised so the rest of Ankeny could shop. Logan and I scored a stroller with big wheels- the kind you run with-for $25. We also bought a pack and play ($30) for traveling with the baby. Oh- and my mother-in-law found a baby butt wipe warmer for $5. We decided we are not above consignment items. That is probably where I will be finding most of my maternity clothes too. Things like the carseat, highchair, crib, and everyday stroller we will probably get new- just because we will be using those most often and for our other kids someday. Expanding our family will cost us loads of cash if you think about all the things we are going to need.
I was grocery shopping today and just stopped to price diapers. A pack of 48 will cost us almost $17.00. In the beginning we will be lucky if we only go through 10 diapers a day. 4-8 dirty diapers/day and 8-10 wet diapers/day. Hopefully the baby will kill two birds with one stone once in a while. We will probably end up spending $40.00-$60.00/week- just on diapers. Of course as the child gets older he/she will be voiding less, but that is one reason to start potty training at 2. This brings me to the comment that I hear a lot, "When my friends started having kids- we didn't see them near as much." Well- pricing out the cost of a baby it seems as though it is not because they were too busy, but because they didn't have the money. In conclusion- you must be rich to start a family and maintain the social life you have become accustom.

Solitaire Tournament

It is not too crazy tonight, so I decide to check for solitaire on the computer. I am so lucky! There is solitaire, free cell, and minesweeper; all of the classic computer games. I started playing solitaire and changed the options so it was scoring Vegas style and flipping every third card. This triggered a fond memory. It is the one where my four college roommates and I were all supposed to be writing a paper or doing some school related task and we would interrupt each other to have solitaire tournaments. We would all play 2 games and see who had the highest score at the end. It eventually got to 5 and 6 games before we would check each other's scores because it took more time. The things we did to put off doing our homework. I bet we would have gotten much more done if we weren't such procrastinators , but then we wouldn't have stories to tell about solitaire tourneys. I hope I never forget the silly things.

Workout Wednesdays

When I was in Junior High, we had a thing called 'Workout Wednesdays.' Basically we would take a break from whatever unit we were in, be it basketball, golf, swimming, or the ever favorite square dancing, to run circles in the gym or do some other accelerate-your-heart-rate exercise. This was my school's attempt at keeping its students fit. We also had to bring a note from our parents every month saying that we participated in activity at least three times a week- including Workout Wednesdays. Pretty lame back then, but actually a pretty good idea as now I see the Chunky Kids of America is a growing club.
Anyway- what got me on this topic is my current 'Workout Wednesdays.' Wednesdays have been a day that I have been able to make it to a workout class the most often due to my crappy work schedule. The teacher is really great in a few aspects- she kicks our ass every time, she plays great music, she has a lot of spunk, and clearly gets people to come back. Other things aren't so great...
Point A: She draws attention to you if you screw up. Sometimes I work out so hard that my brain sort of shuts down a little, sometimes I don't lift my feet high enough and I may trip, sometimes I miss hear her and I do the wrong step. Calm down and keep going- she doesn't have to point it out to everyone by saying, "Oops, let's try that again, you'll get it" as she turns around and looks directly at me, or "Let's try it again, so everyone (again as she turns around and looks at me) can move on." It's not just me, but so I turned the wrong way or I lifted a knee instead of doing a kick- RELAX or I will come up there and jam that microphone down your throat!
Point B: She is one of those instructors that is in her late 30's, early 40s, has had like three children and has this perfect little body that makes you want to throw up. Plus she has so much spunk- see what I did there...her spunk is both a positive and a negative. Her being so tiny isn't really that big of a problem, but I wanted to have three complaints and the next one drives me slightly insane.
Point C: Now, most instructors wear microphones. I have always thought that they were for the simple purpose of instructing the workout pupils on the next step and maybe giving a little shout of encouragement, but my Workout Wednesday instructor uses her microphone for her own fun-time sing-along. How can I stay focused if I keep hearing her shout, 'I'm still Jenny on the block!' (Yes, she is a white girl.)
Clearly, the things I am complaining about have not kept me from going to her class, but somebody should slip her a note to let her know how fantastically horrible her karaoke skills are!

Little trip to paradise

We had an eventful week in Florida.

Day one: We woke up at 4:00 to drive 3 hours to Kansas City to catch a 2.5 hour flight to Houston and then to 'Home Alone' run to our next 2.5 hour flight to Tampa. Talk about a sucky day of traveling! When we finally got there, we went out to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse, which was fun, but we were trying to tell the 'I barely speak English' waitress that we wanted to do Sake Bombs. She kept saying she knew what we meant, but she clearly didn't because she brought us four tall carafs of sake and four beers to pour in eight fancy beers glasses(the kind that kind of look like wine glasses). Anyway- that was a flop, but we ended up going to my old hang out, 'Raccoons' Molly and her boyfriend came with us to dinner and to the bar. It was a good start to a fabulous week.

Day two: Monday, We headed down to Cape Coral for the remainder of the week. We got ourselves organized and bought groceries for the week. We sat around in the hot tub and had a few drinks.

Day three: Tuesday, we went golfing and lost almost every ball we had. I got golf clubs for Christmas and was really excited to try them out. I think I did pretty well since I hadn't swung a club in over two years. We were planning another day of golfing, but decided to skip it. This was our night to go to the, all you can eat sushi buffet. What a truly fabulous meal!

Day four: Wednesday, we headed down to Fort Meyers Beach. Logan and I went parisailing- what a blast! We have a bunch of pictures- speaking of pictures- I am at work so I will upload some pics of this vacation later. All day in the sun made us sleepy, so we went back to the house for some, everyone's favorite college meal, mostaccoli, and a few beverages while sitting in the hot tub.

Day five: Thursday, we went fishing. We (well actually I) caught a 5 lb red fish. It was really fun to catch that crazy fish. We went home and cooked ourselves a fantastic seafood meal complete with the blue crabs we had caught in the trap throughout the week. We had nine crab, 5lbs of red fish and 4lbs of shrimp. Tasty!

Day six: Friday, it was storming, so we just sat around playing games and preparing for an afternoon of the 'century club.' Now we had been drinking the entire week to bring our alcohol tolerances up, so we were ready for such a challenge. Steph and I made the entire power hour and stuck it out until the end of the century club, but I think we missed about 10 shots or so. We all kept our beer down and still had time to sober up before we went to bed- to minimize our hangover of course. We were all acting as if we were 21 again. Such a fun game!

Day seven: Saturday was filled with game playing- because it was storming...Again- and it never rains in the winter in Florida. Anyway, so we cleaned the house and packed. Just a lazy afternoon before making the trip back to Tampa. We drove the two hours back to Brandon, where we met my sister and Cindy out for dinner. Logan, Steph and Nick all went back to my dad's house for a movie, while I hit a local bar to meet up with Molly for a post- Lightening game fest. We bowled on an arcade game- like golden tee. Anyway- it was fun and then I headed back to my dad's for a quick sleep before we had to leave for our flight.

Sunday- we flew home- well to Houston then to Kansas City and then a three hour drive home- just in time for the Super Bowl to start. Then my in-laws came over for the game and Subway. They had Gracie all week and she was so excited to see us. It was so cute- when Logan's parents were leaving, they called Gracie over to say goodbye. She looked so sad when she started toward them, but after they left, she was back to her old self because she realized she was going to get to stay home.

Well, that was my week in a large nutshell and I am really glad I wasn't working- we had 78 babies between Tuesday night and Friday night. CRAZY!!!
I think the moral to this vacation was that you are never too old to join the century club- even if you already belong!

No Biker Capris Either!

I totally agree with whoever believes people shouldn't wear biker shorts- I believe it started with Betsy. They look awful and you certainly can't hide anything- it only helps your flabby skin bulge! I also believe you shouldn't wear biker capris- especially grey ones. I envy the women that are always cute when they work out- clearly not me! However- I am so glad I am not one of those women that wear biker capris and show off my cellulite. The only rippling I want people to see are my crazy ass muscles (that I am in the process of getting). If you are my friends- please tell me if the clothes I wear become inappropriate. As we used to say- lock me in a closet and only give me water and bathroom breaks. I pray that I will be able to maintain my weight until I am a grandma- everybody likes a soft grandma.

I'm back

Clearly it is about time I start writing again.

What's new with me?

*Things have been so crazy lately. I am glad to report that my radiation treatment is finally over. The ugly scar that the dermatologist left after removing my collection of crappy cells is now bright red! Makeup is a wonderful thing though. It covers up all of the red, but you can still see the scar. Oh well- just a battle scar from life.

*I am going for my second laser treatment this week. And for those of you who were wondering about price- My friend Steph and I bought a 'buy one half off and get the second free' deal. We each paid $275. I guess it seems like a lot of money at one time, but think about all of the razors and shaving cream you wouldn't have to buy, plus all the pain you save yourself. I think it will be worth it.

*We are leaving for Florida this Sunday. I am very excited for a little vacation. We are headed to my uncles home on the canal in Cape Coral. We have a full week of relaxation planned. We found our charger for our camera so hopefully I will be able to download some pics after the trip. I have not done any preparation tanning though- I am a little nervous that I didn't, but every time I think about going- a little voice reminds me of my run in with cancer. I think I choose life over sun!

*I finally found my kitchen table! I found it at a place called K's merchandise. It feels sort of like a marshals or TJ Max. The table is really nice, but the first one we brought home had a big chip in it and one of the chairs was chipped as well. So, we packed it up and took it back. The second table we brought home was two different colors. By this time I was getting pissed- I called and talked to the manager and requested that my next table be delivered for the inconvenience- a reasonable request. It turns out- this place is so cheap- it doesn't have delivery! I took back the second table and made them open the third one in the store. It was fine, so we brought it home and set it up. It looks really nice- I am glad to have a matching kitchen table now.

*Work is going well. I don't really have any amazing stories, but ladies...There is a disease that I have been running into quite frequently lately. It is called SPS. 'Stinky P****Y Syndrome' Maybe women of Des Moines are hibernating and not showering as often as recommended, but please remember this syndrome when you are pregnant or at your annual exam. You do not want to be known as the girl with SPS.

*We are sill planning to have a small function at our house the first weekend in March. My schedule isn't our for March, so as soon as it is for sure- I will let you all know. I am pretty sure I will have that weekend off, so please save the date.

*Not that you know any of my co-workers, but we just had our Christmas Party last Saturday and it was not what I expected. We were planning on staying for about and hour or so- figuring it would be boring. We ended up staying at one of our Doctor's houses until 12:30 before heading to a gay bar downtown with another Doctor and his wife. Everyone was so drunk! We had fun and are looking forward to it next year. It is weird how different people are outside of work.

I hope to continue writing... I will try a little harder!!