First baby things

So we bought the first things for our future daughter

Note the toy...

She thinks she's in charge

The real owners of the bed

This is why the dogs stay in the kitchen during the day.

A gift from Grandma Netty

A nice cute outfit

All healthy!

Apparently I have been eating too much of my sisters food and have built up some fatty deposits mommy was worried it was cancer but the doctor says I'm healthy! I have gained 4 lbs since january though, that's just more Ginger to love!

Week 17

Okay, week 17 has been fairly uneventful. Went to the shore for the day on Sunday (got to wear the new maternity tankini...surprisingly comfortable) and ate my first bit of chocolate in a long long time - choc fudge with walnuts...not sure if I totally enjoyed that. I do miss chocolate and sweets, though my taste buds do not. The shore was fun - the kids seemed to enjoy it too. Water was way too cold for me - couldn't make it past my shins. Ocean City is the best - I would love to spend a week there! A vacation...how nice that would be!!!! I wish...if only I had a job!

I have some more revisions on the thesis, working on it. I will be very very happy to turn that sucker in on Monday. Then I have about a week to focus on the presentation portion. And then...DONE. Then I can focus on what next.

We setup the crib but haven't gotten the bedding yet. We still need to organize the room and put everything in its place. We have a ton of hand-me-down toys - really hope we don't get too many more of them.

I had my second blood draw for the early genetic screening - should have results in about a week - hopefully everything normal, no reason to expect otherwise. Next checkup is Tuesday, and then the big appointment, level 2 ultrasound, will be on the 29th. Please, please, baby cooperate and face the appropriate direction. No crossing of legs or any other funny business. I must know the gender - too impatient to wait!

That's about it for this week. Feeling better overall.

Found a lump on Ginger's chest...taking her to the vet on Saturday to get it checked out. I am not going to think about it at all until after the appointment. I don't know if I could deal with that right now. That dog is everything to me. For now, I'm going to play fetch a few extra throws with her.
Marie

Week 16 spent in Chicago

Week 16 was interesting. A few headaches and a bit of nausea and a definite growing belly (and not from eating out every meal in Chicago!). It was a fairly stressful week due to my talk on Tues morning. Despite my adviser's lack of confidence in me and his unfounded criticism afterwards (really don't understand why he is so afraid of his own data), I think it went surprisingly well. The room was packed - standing and sitting in the aisles. People said ~300 people attended including some big guy from the Gates Foundation and someone from one of the NIH agencies. The questions after the talk were pretty easy and straightforward. What a relief. Funny thing is, despite the anxiety of the day before and morning of, once I got up there and started speaking, I think part of me actually enjoyed it. A little morning sickness immediately prior, but the baby overall seemed fairly cooperative too! Maybe he enjoyed the public speaking experience (future extrovert?)...oh no, maybe his Daddy's political interests will rub off on him and we will have a future politician. I would be extremely proud of that provided he were a Democrat. Oh, and no news regarding the gender yet, but I am seriously convinced that this little creature is a boy. Only a male could inflict so much distress and illness upon a female (haha, just teasing). And the constant craving for protein is also tipping me towards boy. Darn he is going to be big, because I feel huge already.

Chicago is a really great city. Expensive, more so than I had previously remembered (or maybe that is because I wasn't so poor the last time I went there?), but many things to do and the park system is amazing. Love the lake - beautiful color and almost as great as the ocean. I wish I had more time to see it, and that I wasn't as preoccupied with the conference.

It was nice to come home. Ian surprised me with some flowers and a temporary wedding band to wear during the pregnancy - fingers are already swelling and will only get worse during the summer heat. The dogs were happy to see me; I think Ginger squealed louder than I have ever heard her. My soul mate of a dog! Next in level of excitement were Hailey, Luna, and then Bella/Sadie. Sometimes I wonder if Bella and Sadie possess the mental capacity to realize the length of time that I am away - I swear they were just as excited to see me after a week's absence as they are when I run to the grocery store. Luna surprised me...she really does think I am her master...funny as she is NOT my dog. Pumba (Clawde) and the brothers (Hans and Franz) missed me and started following me around...but that might be because Ian is notorious for forgetting to feed them...they might have been simply hungry and recognized me as the giver of food.

It was good to come home, but it was sure nice to sleep in that clean bed in the hotel...no dog or cat fur to cover every surface, no dogs crowding me out of my bed. Clean linens... My house is a zoo. And every inhabitant is in full shed mode. And Ian isn't terribly clean or tidy either (various dishes and half full drinking glasses stacked in the bedroom - hallmarks of his late night snacks in bed)... it's good to be home... I think!
Marie