Kicking

Haven (that's what we're naming our little girl) has finally been letting her mommy know that she's around. Actually, she's let me know she's around in quite a few ways ever since the beginning, but I've felt her little flutters for about two weeks now. Well, now that I know that it is her, and not just my stomach being weird, it has been much longer than just two weeks. In fact, Chris was even able to feel her little bubbles the other night for the first time, but there was a football game on so I'm not sure he really absorbed the moment.

This morning at 5 when Chris's alarm clock went off, she was apparently wanting to get up with him. I was talking to her, and she gave me a nice firm little kick. Already sassy. There's really nothing quite like feeling your baby kick. I would go through all the morning sickness, all the headaches, all the other even less glamorous aspects of pregnancy to get to feel that again.

I am sometimes still a bit gun shy from losing our first baby and tend not to write about this one as much as I want to. I honestly don't understand how you can love someone so much that you haven't even met. I don't know what she looks like, although I've prayed numerous times that she will have Chris's eyes. I can't even imagine what kind of personality she will have, although if her name has any bearing on it, she will be a calm and peaceful child. That will be a work of God for sure if Chris and I can produce that kind of baby. Anyway, it doesn't matter because we will accept her no matter how she comes. And, I already know I'll be jealous if she loves Chris more than me. Thank goodness I come with food! If she takes after me in the food area, then the playing field will be even.

Good Times

Is there anything better than soup on a cold day, afternoon tea, or watching a movie with your hubby? Possibly, but I can't think of anything.

On Friday, Chris and I had a desperate desire to get away alone for awhile. We drove to Santa Fe, even though he had to work a couple hours on his Friday off. We finally found the elusive Back Street Bistro that we've searched for months for. They are renowned for having lots of soup on the menu. We both love soup so I sampled the Hungarian Mushroom, and Chris tried the Clam Chowder. They were both delicious.

After that luscious meal, we apparently hadn't had enough. My mom cooked a brisket and mashed potatoes for dinner. I proceeded to watch Chris eat about five pounds of mashed potatoes in one sitting. And then he ate dessert. My mom pointed out that he is getting to be as interesting to watch feed as his dad is. My father-in-law, who really and truly deserves his own post and I'm sure will get one someday when I'm inspired, can put away food like that 90 pound Asian woman that wins hot dog contests. It is truly a sight to behold.

On Saturday our church had a lady's tea and my mom and I hosted a table. We'd been picking out dishes for a week, adding and eliminating every day. Then somehow she talked me into baking sugar cookies as a party favor. We had, at the most, 8 women at our table. But, we baked and decorated 12 dozen cookies. How does she talk me into this stuff? You should know that I don't care for tedious tasks. I don't like crafts because they frustrate me. Fortunately, my friend Megan came over and helped ice them. She has a month old baby, and I used her little Zion to introduce my doggies to a newborn. They loved her. I think Sophie loved her because she smells like milk.

So, we were all set to go for our tea when we arrived at the church early to decorate our table and oops...my mom locked her keys in the car. She was surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

Dawn suggested that Bryan, our pastor, could probably pop the lock on the car so she called him, while my mom asked my dad to make the 45 minute drive up to our church just in case Bryan wasn't as good a car thief as his wife claimed. Bryan proved to be a very handy breaker-inner. I think he may have a profession to fall back on if times get hard. Always good to have a back up.

Our table got decorated in a timely fashion. The tea was a success. At least as far as the food went, because it was delicious. I don't know how else you measure a successful tea.

I guess all of that setting up, eating, and going home to veg on the couch caught up with me. I overslept for church on Sunday so we went to town to a furniture auction. Thank goodness Bryan hasn't been teaching on consumerism or anything. Especially when we missed church and then went and bought a bookcase. Auctions are so fun. My granddad is an auctioneer, so I was raised around them and even helped with them when I was older. Chris hated how the auctioneer talked at first. I guess it is kind of loud and weird, but I think the sing-songiness of the chanting is kind of hypnotic. And, it's kind of like a game to see how much or how little something will go for. It hypnotized us into a beautiful antique bookcase for a very reasonable price.

20 Weeks

Here's a new pic of me at 20 weeks (that's 5 months for those of you who don't like to count). Half way. Yeah! And getting bigger by the moment.

New Experiences

I think it's useful to try something new every once in a while. Even if it is potentially harmful to others, which this very well could have been. It is best to ignore the protests of disgust and just forge on. Friday night Chris and I had dinner with our friends Sarah and Zach at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. I took the liberty of ordering all the food so that they could try more than just one dish. It went well. I think Zach likes Vietnamese food and Sarah is coming around. Until Chris asked about dessert, that is. They only had two desserts. The first was ice cream served in a young coconut and topped with whipped cream. How can you go wrong with that? Unless you don't like coconut, in which case your gastronomical judgements are already severely impaired and you need more help than I can offer on my blog. The second dessert, well, I wasn't really listening with both ears and only heard that it came with three different kinds of beans and coconut milk. That's just weird. So, I wanted to try it. I didn't hear the part where our waiter explained that it was a drink or that it came with green jello on top. Before I had a chance to change my mind Chris OK'd my original decision (it truly is his fault when things go awry) and the waiter walked off with our order of 3 Bean Drink. When it came it was the most bizarre drinkable concoction I'd ever seen. There were three layers of beans on the bottom--kidney, mung, and something else, topped off with coconut milk and the aforementioned green jello. It was kind of intriguing in a way. Thank you, Sarah, for finding a picture for me. We were informed that you mix it up with the straw before tasting which didn't help the appearance. I would describe the experience as eating your entree and dessert simultaneously. It wasn't horrible, but neither was it delicious. Zach didn't seem to have a problem eating it. He was pleased to have his protein, fiber, and dessert all in one handy glass.

Pictures

Check out these pictures of my brother and his lovely wife...oh, and the super adorable Grizzly. Aren't they a pretty couple?

It's a Girl!

We found out yesterday morning that we are expecting a little girl. The woman doing the ultrasound sounded very confident when she announced it. Although I have the pictures to prove it, I still don't see how she found our baby's parts.

My due date is now March 12. I'm happy to move up two days, but still think due dates are somewhat arbitrary.

Chris is very excited and a little nervous about having a daughter. It will be a household of females...which he says he can handle without any problem--and that it takes a dozen or so females to tame all the maleness in him. I'm not sure even a dozen could do the trick.

Penguin Rescue

I thought this video was so cute. I've tried to convince Chris to get me a penguin, a polar bear, a goat, and a Jesus donkey (I figure if I can make it sound holy, then I'm more likely to get one). So far he's adamantly refused. But, I'll wear him down. You could probably send donations to me, and he'd be OK with that.

Torture Devices

Did you know you can torture your husband for only a dollar? That's a very small price to pay, don't you think? If your husband is like mine then he probably doesn't like his dogs dressed up in sweaters. He probably really hates the idea of the dog showing up at his super macho flag football game all decked out to cheer on her owner. He probably hates even more hot pink, girly dresses on what he considers the ugliest dog in the world (Trudy is not ugly...she's muttly).

Target really outdoes themselves on husband torture devices. Last year at Halloween, Trudy surprised Chris with a lobster outfit. As soon as I saw it in the store, I started laughing and couldn't stop. Just knowing the joy it would bring to Chris took my breath away. And, then of course, there was the time last season that my parents taped Chris's football numbers to the back of Trudy's pink sweater and had her all suited up and ready to go to the game. Chris was reluctant to admit how darling she looked, but I think I could hear it in his voice when he insisted she was not going to the field like that. So modest. Didn't want anyone else to think he had more cheerleaders than they did.

This time, Target did it all for me, they imprinted "Go Team" on the fluffy pink shirt and made it easy to put on. Only a dollar to bring peace and goodwill and laughter to those you love.

No, Chris didn't laugh. In fact, he pulled into the driveway to pick me up, saw Trudy, and pulled back out again. He rolled down the window and told me I wasn't going if I was taking Tru with me. Apparently, not everyone appreciates laughter and peace and goodwill. Those people are usually the ones that hate Christmas and birthdays and probably like to kick little old ladies. I am suspect of those people.