Not Photogenic?

So, today I went for another doctor's visit. It included an ultrasound, which Andy couldn't come to see. The baby appears to be cute and happy, but I have no pictures to prove it because the ultrasound tech said my baby "isn't very photogenic." I'm certain Andy won't care how photogenic the baby may or may not be -there will be plenty of pictures when he/she arrives.
Points of interest I learned today about both myself and the baby:
1. Baby is weighing around 5lbs, 9oz
2. Baby's heart is still pumping correctly, today's rate 136bpm
3. My amniotic fluid level is good -which is risky with the gestational diabetes
4. The baby is already head down and lowering
5. I am 1cm dilated... only 9 more to go
6. I am 50% effaced
7. I lost a pound from what I gained last week, putting my total weight gain at 8 lbs.

The doctor encouraged me to talk to the baby and convince it not to come until at least June 8th -she'll be out of town until then. So, for now we just keep preparing and waiting.

Weddings and Showers...

So, it was a crazy, busy, nuts-o weekend. The great thing -I survived. Saturday after the service project with the girls I went home to get ready for the wedding...the nice, long, warm shower felt great on my back and legs. I love when showers are more fun rather than hurried necessities. Anyway, I got ready and made it to the wedding to find that well over 300 other people decided to show up. Parking was an issue, but I finally figured out where I could park and headed inside for one of the most traditionally unique weddings that I've ever been to. I really enjoyed the ceremony. I opted out of the reception because I felt so tired, I wanted to eat with Andy when he got home, and I was becoming less fond of the large crowd of people...I sometimes have crowd phobia issues. (It's a real problem at Christmas time.) Anyway, I enjoyed wearing my new dress and when Andy got home he took a pciture of me because he liked it, too.

Sunday afternoon I was given a baby shower from our church. There were over 20 people there, and I felt loved. We got several things, but mostly we got diapers. It was nice, and the cheesecake was really great.

Last night I presented all the Awana awards, served drinks at the reception, and then went out to eat with Andy. Luckily I had a doctor appointment this morning, and it wasn't scheduled until 10:50 -that meant a little extra sleep and a bit of unrushed getting ready. It was nice, and I actually was able to sleep until a little after 8AM. The appointment went well, but it was uneventful. I've finally gained a total of 9 pounds (and I think a lot of it was from the recent cheesecake and cookies...). My appointments now become weekly. I was disappointed that my next one has to be on a Wednesday and includes an ultrasound -meaning, Andy can't go and I have to do the appointment alone. So, anyway. That's the latest. The rest of the pregnancy is now a waiting game. I'm trying to give myself weekly tasks to accomplish/focus on so that it will seem like the time doesn't drag on so slowly.

Lastest Happenings...

I keep meaning to update more frequently but things just keep getting in the way. I'm keeping very busy...this weekend alone I have Bible study at my house Friday night, Saturday morning service project with Awana, a wedding Saturday afternoon, (my mom was supposed to come Saturday night), church on Sunday morning, baby shower for me Sunday afternoon, and Awana awards ceremony to prepare for Sunday night...then, work again next week. I think when this week is over I will be able to rest/relax a little more before my baby decides to make it's entrance into the world.

In the meantime...

1. Andy and I attempted to celebrate Cinco De Mayo by eating Mexican food at a great little restaurant where a mariachi band was playing...somehow we missed the band, but we got some really cool chips :)

2. Andy gave me my first ever Mother's Day gift...very geeky, and I love it!

3. My lovely co-workers gave me a great "surprise" shower (I really knew all about it and most of the details...). I got really wonderful things that I had really wanted/needed.

So, I'm off to start the weekend, and I hope it goes wonderfully well. I'm excited to wear my new dress that Andy's mom made for me...I look super duper pregnant in it.

Cooking Experiences...

I'm always interested in our church's "international meal" that we prepare twice a year. One for the mid-year missions celebration and the other for the main Missions Celebration -this one is a much larger shindig than the first. However, both include this "international meal". Most people choose to make American food or Mexican food. One of the ladies in our church is Greek, so she makes baklava -but that's about it. I usually try to rack my brain to create something interesting and it usually only turns out just okay. This year I attempted chicken curry and Indian naan. I don't really like chicken curry, but I heard that what I made turned out pretty good. The naan made 6 small loaves (I'm not sure sure they're really called loaves...) and people weren't always good at following the instructions to tear off a piece. But, the naan was a hit and I'm excited to make it again sometime. I also feel intrigued to try new (and perhaps international) recipes. If I try it and it's terrible we can just eat it and never make it again, or there's always the traditional PB&J and we can throw out the horrid experiment. Who knows, we might find something really wonderful that we love.

A Cramped Baby

Monday was a day of doctor visits. We also had another ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing well - they are concerned the baby may be too big and my weight gain isn't enough. They estimate the baby is 3lbs, 4oz and I've gained 6 lbs since the beginning of the pregnancy. Everything is looking good. I'm going to post a picture, but the baby was awfully cramped with very little wiggle room. (So, the picture is kind of hard to see...)

And, Sunday Andy and I went out to play with the film camera. It was fun to experiment and stuff again. He has tons of rolls of unused film that we've been playing with, so here are a couple of pictures of me at 30weeks, 3days.

Vacation :)

So, I had Good Friday off and we wanted to get away for just a bit. Andy took off Friday and Saturday, and I took off the following Monday. It was wonderful to be together -we found we really miss just being with each other. I suppose that will change even more after the baby gets here. We just realized that it's only 2 months away. That's both exciting and scary.

So, a short breakdown of the trip:

1. Sleep in Friday morning (I think we woke up at 7:30 anyway) After hanging around home a bit we started towards Belmont to see the Easter crowd. On the way I went to a scrapbooking rummage sale and then we stopped in Bloomington to eat. We found the Fuller family late Friday night at the cabin -just in time for a cranium game.

2. Saturday at Belmont. Fun Easter activities and our very first ever BABY SHOWER! The theme was Curious George, and the best part was having lots of family and friends around.

3. Left Saturday night and drove to Columbus, Indiana. We stayed in a hotel that I absolutely loved...I think it was the bed that was so wonderful. Went to Easter services at a church that I helped to build several years ago.

4. Left Columbus, ate lunch in Edinburgh, and drove through Cincinnati. We stopped at the William Howard Taft home and got a little history.

5. Left the Taft home and sought out the Creation Museum. I discovered that it was in Kentucky (not Ohio like I thought). We found a place to finally stay in Florence, Kentucky. We drove through the Big Bone Lick State Park, ate at a pretty good barbeque place, and finally found Kroger to purchase and share some cheesecake. (My blood sugars are amazingly good while I'm not at work...it's interesting and strange.)

6. We woke up Monday morning and headed to the Creation Museum -very informative and thought provoking. I ate in Noah's Café (with Andy, of course). We then headed back home.

7. We stopped at the Lincoln living farm in Spencer County, Indiana. We paid to see it, but I'm not sure why. The museum in the state park is really boring. The farm was nice, but I was sad that the lamb wouldn't let me pet it.

8. Andy took a detour home -but we made it to our last birthing/childcare class on time.

9. We attempted to bathe and diaper a baby. We've decided that this will be a fun adventure and are hoping for the survival of this child's first year. (Mostly, we are totally excited about it all -even the crying and sleepless nights.)

10. We finally made it home. I woke up the next morning to my husband singing "Happy Birthday" to me.

11. I went to work to find all the wonderful things my co-workers had for me, answered lots of "we love you" phone calls, ate at Biaggi's Italian Restaurant.

12. Okay, vacation was really over...but I like to pretend that it keeps going.

A Short Sort-Of Date

Some days when it's really beautiful outside and I want to be out instead of in, I really miss the Saturday time with Andy. Andy's last Saturday off was in September. Most of the time it's okay and I get things done while he is gone, but sometimes I wish we could just hang out. (Especially as it gets closer to time for the baby to arrive...I feel like I need to savor and invest a lot of time into our couplehood. Strange, maybe.)

So, today was beautiful and a wonderful day for driving and being outside. I decided that I would get a couple of geocaches ready, meet Andy at work, and then hope that the sun would stay up long enough to actually look for one of them. I arrived at KDL around 6pm, and around 6:10 my husband came waltzing out -and I was very happy to see him. I told him the plan, and he seemed excited.

Our first cache was a Ty Beanie Baby cache. I had secured an unwanted beanie from the upstairs closet and was excited to see what was hidden. We made it to our destination with sunlight still left. We searched for several minutes trying to understand the clue: "Angel" I was certain that someone named Angel had carved her name into a tree and that was the spot. I was wrong. I finally spotted something that was carved but couldn't tell what it was -Andy with his great eyesight and quick feet ran to tell me, "it's an angel!" About 5 minutes later we finally solved the case. It was very ingenious how it was hidden. I left my beanie but didn't take anything. I think it's the most exciting cache I can remember ever hunting and finding.

We had time to do the 2nd one I had planned although the sun was setting quickly. Amazingly, we found that one as well. So, this evening we were 2 for 2. That doesn't happen with us often.

So, it was a little like a date...and I love dating Andy. I'm excited for this weekend because we both have 4 days off in a row and together. It's going to be wonderful -I can feel it!