Newest Baby Update

My Baby
Your baby's skin is now covered with vernix, a slippery white coating that protects her birthday suit from getting chapped or scratched. This week, the motor neurons in baby's brain -- the nerves that control muscle movement -- continue to develop, which means if you haven't felt those first kicks yet, you will soon! There's so much going on these days, you may even be able to spot your baby's gymnastics during a mid-pregnancy ultrasound -- usually administered between weeks 18 and 22. This checkup assesses your baby's growth (the technician will begin to ID and measure the bones in her little body), lets your doctor confirm or adjust your due date, and can reveal the million-dollar question: Boy or girl? (If you don't want to know, make sure your doctor and the ultrasound technician are well aware of it in advance!) Bring your partner or best friend -- it's amazing to see baby kick, wave, and even somersault for the camera. You might also catch her sucking her thumb or hiccupping. Plus, you'll get pictures to bring home for the brag book. (Scan these ASAP so you don't lose them!) You may have gotten pics at previous ultrasounds, but now your baby's got clearly identifiable features. This time, you may not need the technician to point out what you're looking at.

My Life
Smack-dab in the middle of your pregnancy may feel too early to start buying nursery furniture, but trust us, it's not. If you have any intention of getting furniture online or from a specialty store, you'll need to start your search soon, since big items like cribs or rockers with custom fabric can take six to 12 weeks. Some things to keep in mind: All of the big crib makers conform to general safety standards -- no need to tote along your tape measure to check the distance between crib slats. Think about the future before you buy, though. Will you want to transition your crib or rocker to baby #2? (If so, make sure it's not too girly or masculine, because you never know what you'll have next!) If not, know that lots of cribs transform into toddler beds, a great way to get more than a couple years out of it. And while you should definitely browse for styles you like online, make sure to go to the store before you actually order. Cribs are big, and you'll be looking at this one for at least the next two years. You want to be happy with your choice.

One last shameless self promotion: We have baby registries at Target and at Babie's R Us. If you want links to either of them, please e-mail me and I will send them to you!

There was lightnin' last night!

So last night I ran an errand to the mall. There had been a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for a good part of the night, but it didn't look like there was a storm coming. I left Kane loose in the house, and headed out to the mall. When I left the mall, I noticed that it didn't "feel" like thunderstorm weather, so I didn't think much of it. However, by the time I made it to my car, there was lightning off in the distance. So I think "Uh oh" and start racing to get home to my dog and cats, thinking they'd be freaked out if the storm was up in our area. As I'm driving home, I can't keep my eyes off the sky, because the lightning show was just too much to handle! I wanted to watch it just go on and on! (I'd like to note that I did not take the above photo - I borrowed it from an online site to use as an illustration of the lightning that we were seeing in our area. It was taken by someone named Vlado Janzekovic.)

So I am driving home, just watching these streaks of lightning flying through the sky every 15 seconds or less. It was unbelieveable! And it didn't stop! The storm started around 8pm or so, and didn't quit until well after midnight! Everytime you'd think it was going away, it would pop right back up again, and it was unbelieveable.

John and I layed in bed last night, and he was telling me about driving home from his rehearsal in Gilford, and how he was seeing the same type of lightning, almost 2 hours after I was seeing it! We tried to remember storms when we were younger, and all we could rememer was these big flashes of light, but rarely being able to see lightning like that. We always pictured that type of lightning to be something you see out over the mid-west some where.

It was kind of neat while it lasted, and I'm glad that if we were going to get a cool heavenly light show like that, it happened at night so we could truely appreciate the awesome power Mother Nature has. That being said, I'm glad it's over too.

Misc. Update

I feel like that's the only title to give my updates these days, because I feel like I'm ALWAYS updating!



Okay, so here we go:

1. John's car came out of the shop yesterday, so that's good. It wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be either, which is ALSO a good thing. You never realize how much you rely on having two cars until you suddenly don't. Turns out it was the alternator that went, plus he needed an inspection. He still has to get his third break light (the one over the rear window) replaced because some punk kid at his school smashed his to bits, and it doesn't work. My car goes in for its inspection on Monday. I know it will need at least two new tires to pass, but possibly 4. It also might need breaks, but otherwise, it's in good shape. I like my car. :o)



2. I had a "job interview" yesterday which went well. I put the words job interview in quotes, because it wasn't really an interview. It was basically me sitting down with this guy, Arni Swanson, and him telling me all about Social Work p.r.n., which is like the equivalent of a temp agency for social workers. P.R.N. is the medical abbreviation for "as needed." So I've agreed to go on with them as an independent contractor. I got all of my paperwork out in the mail today, and I'm waiting on my liability insurance to come through. In the meantime, the hunt for an at-home job continues. We need the income of two jobs, but my primary goal is to not have to pay for day care when the time comes. I would much prefer to be able to stay at home with the baby if given the choice.



There was something else I was going to update about, but I can't remember what.



John and I will be away this weekend at my parents house, but I'll probably post with a baby update before we go for the weekend.

Car woes

Last night John and I went out to our favorite date night spot, Café on the Corner, which is down in Dover. We got there around 8:10 and had a good time just relaxing drinking hot chocolate (for John) and chai (for me). Then at about 9pm we started driving home, and as we headed up towards Weeks Crossing (a major intersection on the Dover/Somersworth line) John noticed his car acting funny. The interior lights were getting all dim and I think the headlights were too. I didn't think anything of it, because the interior lights in my car are bright blue, and you would definitely notice them if something was wrong. John's, however, are green, so I didn't pay much attention, because I think green lights are dimmer anyway (just my perception). But John said that something was up with the car, so he pulled into the Friendly's parking lot, thinking he could just restart the car. Nope. As soon as he shut it off, it wouldn't turn back on. He thought it was the battery, but I told him that couldn't be the case, because the lights all worked. Then I noticed the clock in the car had reset itself to 12:00 (like if you lose power). So then, we decided we'd call Johns parents. Well, John's pre-paid phone had no minutes on it (he never puts any on it in the summer), and I didn't have my cell phone (because I didn't bring my purse at all). So then John thought there was a payphone in Friendly's. I guess they took it out though, beccause he had to use the restaurant phone to call them. So they came, picked us up, brought us back to their house, and John called a towing company. Someone got out there just after 10 to get the car, and they towed it to the shop we get all our car repairs done at. $75 later, Johns parents were driving us back home, and I was in such a bad mood it practially ruined the rest of the night.

Then, I started to feel horribly guilty for not having a full time job to help pay for all the costs of stuff that we needed to pay for now (his car repairs, our impending inspections and registrations, etc.). We've been counting on this help that we're supposed to be getting any day now (but we've been "supposed to be getting it any day now" since April), but since we don't know when it will get here, my guilt is just immeasurable. With a baby on the way, the last things I need are to be broke and stressed all the time.

Anyway, I just needed to rant about this for a while.

Newest baby update

My Baby
These days, when your heart beats, your little baby may be able to hear it! With the bones and nerves in his ears developed enough to function, he can now hear all sorts of sounds -- from blood coursing through the umbilical cord to the rumblings of your hungry tummy. Over the next few weeks, he'll be able to detect voices and music outside the womb as well, so it's time to bust out the books and practice your storytelling skills! Your baby's growing into one smart cookie as his brain continues to differentiate into specialized regions. He may even exhibit primitive reflexes in utero -- such as recoiling when startled by a loud noise.

Did I mention in my last update that my next ultrasound is scheduled for August 29th? I couldn't remember, but that's when it is. I'm excited to go! Still unsure if we're going to find out if it's a boy or a girl, but part of me kind of wants to and part of me kind of doesn't. I don't want to get all excited for one sex, only to find out they made a mistake and I actually had the opposite. We'll see I guess.

I've had a lot of people asking me lately when my baby shower is going to be, so let me put this out there: I am NOT throwing my own baby shower. I consider it rude to throw a shower for oneself in order to ask for presents. If anyone out there would like to throw a shower, you are more than welcome (dare I say, encouraged? :-) ) to throw one, but I want to make it clear that I am NOT the one throwing the shower. Therefor I know nothing about details of one.

Anyway, sorry to put that downer on the post, but I wanted to make that a well known fact before I got asked again. I am hoping that my family will throw one in November when Aunt Donna is in town. She wasn't able to come to my bridal shower because of timing, and I'd like her to be able to be in town for the baby shower, if nothing else!

Let's see... what else... I can't think of much. I started knitting a baby hat, and I'll probably do some baby mittens soon - though they won't be real mittens per say - just kind of little pouches to put their whole hands into. Baby hands are so tiny they won't fit well into actual mittens, and they'd have a hard time keeping their thumbs warm. I'll post a picture of the hat when it's finished.

Our Mini-Vacation

We just got in from our mini-vacation to Maine yesterday, and we had a great time! I uploaded the pictures to Shutterfly, so if you want to see them, send me an e-mail so I can send you the album. They're also on Facebook if anyone wants to look at them there.

We arrived at the Carriage House at about 5:30 on Sunday evening.

It was great to get back there! Marcia, the owner, greeted us with big hugs and brought us up to our room. It was nice to stay in the same room as we were in before when we were there for our honeymoon.

We went out to dinner at a place called Foxy's.

It was kind of pricy, but the food was REALLY good! So it made it worth it.

Plus, the weather was beautiful, so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed our dinner there.

Our waitress was not the most personable, but she was quick with our food and everything, so we couldn't complain.

After dinner, we went back to the bed and breakfast and walked the beach. It's a rocky coast there, so there aren't any places to go swimming really, which was fine, because it was too cool to go in the water most of the trip. Not a complaint though! It was nice wearing a long sleeved teeshirt on Saturday!

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the B&B. She always makes the best breakfasts! We also hung out with Jimmy, the resident beagel.

Then we headed out to Acadia National Park for the morning to do a little hiking around on the carriage trails. They are relatively flat roads that you can walk and/or bike on, and they go all around in the woods. There is something like 49 miles of these roads, and no cars are allowed on them. They are called carriage roads because they were used only for horse drawn carriages.
That pretty much does it for all of the pictures I have. But after hiking around in Acadia, we went for a late lunch in Bar Harbor, and ate at this great little hole in the wall place called the Thirsty Whale. Good food, and even better prices, which was nice. It was a small place, not very wide at all, but long. While we were eating, it started POURING! I was on a mission to get some salt water taffy, but we couldn't find any, so I didn't get any, and we wanted to get back to the shuttle to get to our car anyway. We did that, and then it took us TWO HOURS to get from Bar Harbor to Searsport - a trip that should have taken only one hour! That was quite frustrating, but at least we didn't have to stop for food or anything. We got back to the B&B and got dried off. We didn't get any dinner until about 8:30, but by then, EVERYTHING is closed in Searsport, so we had to get Chinese food from the only open restaurant we could find! We didn't have plates or silverware, so we just got chicken fingers and crab rangoons, but they were good. We even got to watch our favorite TV show while we ate back at the B&B, since we weren't out like we thought we might be!

Sunday morning we packed up and headed out just after breakfast. We said our goodbyes,

Then headed south to go to Freeport, stop at L.L. Bean, then continue our trip the rest of the way home.

It is definitely nice to be back home, I missed our pets tremendously! And, it was nice to sleep in our own bed again too. I was quite sleepy! I didn't get up until around 8am this morning!

Tonight I'm going to an open house at NHTI to learn more about their Medical Transcription program. I'm hoping to be able to work from home once the baby comes, but I know I won't finish the program fast enough. I'm hoping we will have enough stored up though, so that I can finish up the program, then start working.

Basement photos, as promised

Above: This is looking from the top of the stairs down into the basement. You get a pretty good idea of the color of the walls from this view.

Above: This is what you see as you come down the stairs, and are about half way down. We will be putting up a bannister there once the baby comes so that we can not worry about the baby falling onto the ceramic tile.

Above: This is the room from the bottom of the stairs.

Above: I don't know what the blurry thing in the lower right corner is, but the bulk of this picture is showing where my new computer set up is. I told John the other night that I like the set up because it feels like it's in a college dorm there.

Above: You can see Johns computer and the TV in this picture. He shares a screen with the TV. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much, when I want to watch TV and he wants to play around on the computer.

Above: You can see Kane's crate tucked away under the stairs, as well as the door that goes into the unfinished part of the basement. Sorry, no photos of that!

Above: This photo makes the tile look significantly more gray than it really is - it's actually a tannish-sand color, as is the grout.

Above: These are the shelves above my desk. You can see my printer and my fish Jonah up there!