5.28.2003
We spent the Memorial Day weekend up in Roanoke with my parents. We had a great time, but I was grossed out by the return of the 17-year cicadas. (No, I didn't take any pictures... trust me, it was not the sort of thing I wanted to document.) They were everywhere. On the trees, the cars, the fence, the house... tons of them. Fortunately, none of them tried to get on me, but what was really disgusting was Henry's fascination -- no, obsession -- with them. Watching him outside was like watching someone who is put into one of those booths where they blow paper bills (money) all around and the person tries to grab as many as possible in the allotted time. He did nothing but eat bugs every time he was outside. He looked like a vaccum cleaner with his nose to the ground, chewing constantly. Gross, I tell you. The only thing that could have been more disgusting is if they'd made him sick, which fortunately they didn't. Still, his tongue hasn't come in contact with my skin since Friday, and it probably won't until I brush his teeth.
Thanks to everyone who has sent birthday wishes my way today... it was a nice start to the day to find all kinds of greetings in my inbox!
5.22.2003
Happy Birthday to my first Lab, Sunshine, who would have been 14 years old today. Who knows if she'd have made it to that ripe old age... but May 22 will always be a day for me to think of her.
5.18.2003
5.16.2003
Just for the fun of it, The Friday Five:
1. What drinking water do you prefer -- tap, bottle, purifier, etc.? I like my water from my Brita pitcher at home. Tap water and sometimes bottled water tastes funny to me.
2. What are your favorite flavor of chips? Sour cream and onion, though I don't eat them very often.
3. Of all the things you can cook, what dish do you like the most? Right now I'd have to say strawberry pie.
4. How do you have your eggs? Scrambled or fried hard - no runny stuff for me, please. I also like hard boiled eggs.
5. Who was the last person who cooked you a meal? How did it turn out? Well, that would have to be Chris. He made Chicken Spectacular and it was gooooood.
1. What drinking water do you prefer -- tap, bottle, purifier, etc.? I like my water from my Brita pitcher at home. Tap water and sometimes bottled water tastes funny to me.
2. What are your favorite flavor of chips? Sour cream and onion, though I don't eat them very often.
3. Of all the things you can cook, what dish do you like the most? Right now I'd have to say strawberry pie.
4. How do you have your eggs? Scrambled or fried hard - no runny stuff for me, please. I also like hard boiled eggs.
5. Who was the last person who cooked you a meal? How did it turn out? Well, that would have to be Chris. He made Chicken Spectacular and it was gooooood.
5.08.2003
5.06.2003
Finally, there are some new photos in the photo gallery. You can see all of our ultrasound pictures and some shots I took when we took Hannah to the beach for a day.
5.05.2003
It's a................
Mystery. Thursday morning before our ultrasound appointment, I drank a big glass of OJ with breakfast, thinking that this would make for a cooperative baby when it came to finding out the sex. Well, I was wrong. The baby stayed on its stomach with its legs tucked up underneath it most of the time. It did move around some, and at times a good bit, but it never turned over for a full frontal view! The sonographer finally took a look between the baby's legs from behind, and she didn't see any male parts, but she did see three lines that are usually indicative of folds in girl parts. She said she would guess 75% that it's a girl. I was really disappointed at first that we weren't able to find out for sure, but as the day went on, I sort of got used to the idea of not finding out until it's born. I just don't feel confident enough in 75% to go with the girl prediction... I mean, you have a 50% chance to start with, so bumping that up to 75% doesn't seem like much to me. I think we'll stick to neutral colors and leave tags on stuff and just get a surprise in the fall!
Anyway, the good news (and the most important thing) is that it appears to be in perfect health. We looked at lots of body parts... the head, face, hands, heart, spine, stomach, kidneys, bladder, legs, feet... it was very cool to be able to count fingers and toes. We got one shot of the baby giving us the thumbs up with its right hand, and another of the right (I think) foot. The other two printouts we got are of the face, and one is more of a close-up than the other. All of the measurements were right on target... the tech measured the nuchal fold and it was right in the middle of the normal range (the nuchal fold is a marker for Down Syndrome). I was 18 weeks, 1 day and she said the overall measurements said 18 weeks, 2 days... so the baby is right where it should be.
Mystery. Thursday morning before our ultrasound appointment, I drank a big glass of OJ with breakfast, thinking that this would make for a cooperative baby when it came to finding out the sex. Well, I was wrong. The baby stayed on its stomach with its legs tucked up underneath it most of the time. It did move around some, and at times a good bit, but it never turned over for a full frontal view! The sonographer finally took a look between the baby's legs from behind, and she didn't see any male parts, but she did see three lines that are usually indicative of folds in girl parts. She said she would guess 75% that it's a girl. I was really disappointed at first that we weren't able to find out for sure, but as the day went on, I sort of got used to the idea of not finding out until it's born. I just don't feel confident enough in 75% to go with the girl prediction... I mean, you have a 50% chance to start with, so bumping that up to 75% doesn't seem like much to me. I think we'll stick to neutral colors and leave tags on stuff and just get a surprise in the fall!
Anyway, the good news (and the most important thing) is that it appears to be in perfect health. We looked at lots of body parts... the head, face, hands, heart, spine, stomach, kidneys, bladder, legs, feet... it was very cool to be able to count fingers and toes. We got one shot of the baby giving us the thumbs up with its right hand, and another of the right (I think) foot. The other two printouts we got are of the face, and one is more of a close-up than the other. All of the measurements were right on target... the tech measured the nuchal fold and it was right in the middle of the normal range (the nuchal fold is a marker for Down Syndrome). I was 18 weeks, 1 day and she said the overall measurements said 18 weeks, 2 days... so the baby is right where it should be.
