More Belly Pics

Here's the latest round of belly pics, most recent on top.

25 weeks (Nov 21)

24 weeks (Nov 15)

22 weeks (Nov 1)

21 weeks (Oct 26) with Deuce

20 weeks (Oct 18) with Pedro

How will our other "kids" adjust?

Deuce (left), Pedro (right), Hera (on my lap), and Skylar (just outside of the camera's view) all help me relax after an exhausting day of teaching, research, and being pregnant.

We're not sure how our current "kids" will take having a new baby around in a few months. I'm sure there will be a bit of jealousy (on their parts) and neglect (on ours). I'd like to think we'll still have time to love up the dogs and cats, but LOTS of people have warned us that we just won't have the time or energy. Life will undoubtedly be different, and I hope we're all able to adjust to our growing family.

We are trying to slowly adjust Deuce and Pedro by having the baby's room, which is still nothing like a baby's room, off limits to them, and by trying to not call them "little boys" quite so much. It's hard, though. I've also read that it might help to carry around a doll and give it all the attention for a while so they get used to me not having just them to coo over. Although it's entirely possible Deuce and Pedro won't even acknowledge the baby's existence until he's able to pet or play with them, in which case they'll just be sad we're ignoring them for no apparent reason.

As for the cats, I'm pretty sure Skylar will keep a polite distance for a while. Hera, however, will be very put-off that my lap is no longer hers and that some other creature has taken her spot. But Hera's good with routine, so I guess I'll have to start making my lap off limits to her now and she'll adjust. Hopefully.

Our 5 Year Anniversary

We celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. Hard to believe that it's already been 5 years! Plus two years before that of dating. It seems like just yesterday that I was floating on my surfboard, waiting for the slow 6 inch summer Florida waves to roll in with Bryan, Aly, and Deb, no clue what would be in store for us... Anyway, these first 5 years have been great! And they'll undoubtedly be VERY different from our next 5 years.

Halloween and October Snow Storm

We had our first big snow storm of the season the week before Halloween. It was beautiful, and I decided the 18+ inches of snow we got at the house was a good reason not to go to work. No sense battling traffic and slippery roads and cold temperatures if I didn't absolutely have to. It was wonderful staying at home with the dogs, watching the snow fall.

Here are some pics of the snow. The first one was taken in the morning of Oct 28th. The second was taken the following morning with over a foot and a half of snow. The front bush was completely covered, and the birdhouse and corner of roof show the amount of snow that built up during the storm. Our backyard was pretty buried too, which the dogs enjoyed! Here Deuce (and Pedro behind him) are asking to come back in after racing around in the snow.


Fortunately for all the local kids, almost all the snow was melted and gone for Halloween. Bryan and I stayed home, passed out candy and watched scary movies on TV - no costumes or big parties this year, just a relaxing evening at home. A week before, we had carved pumpkins with our friend Katie - Bryan was very excited when a trick-or-treating family recognized what his pumpkin was. :)

It's a boy!

Our little growing baby has grown a pair. :) We found out that we're having a boy at our last ultrasound appointment. It's amazing what they can see with the ultrasound - individual vertebrate, chambers of the heart, different parts of the brain, and all sorts of bones and other organs! Amazing. I had planned to add pictures from the ultrasound with this post, but my computer died a few weeks ago (lesson to everyone: back up your stuff!!!) and we can't find the software for our scanner to install on Bryan's computer. So we're picture-less for now.

I've been feeling him kick and move around more and more over the last month. At first it was really hard to tell if it was him that I was feeling or just gas and random muscle spasms and whatever else happens inside my belly. But now it's definitely the baby kicking and moving around. It's such an awesome feeling! And very distracting. I'll be sitting in on a seminar or someone's talk and then the baby will start kicking and I'll totally stop paying attention to the talk. Oh, and I can tell that the baby is growing - at first all the kicks were down at and below my belly button, but now they are much higher, all the up to my ribs.

We've decided on a theme for the baby's room: space. It was easy for us to agree on that! And hopefully the space theme will help to assimilate our little Locutus into the space traveler's lifestyle that would be futile for him to resist. ;)