Whoops.

I wish I had some pictures to post of the bruises and rug burns I have right now from falling down the stairs the other night...but on the other hand, no lasting evidence of my clumsiness is probably best.

I don't even know what happened. People keep telling me to slow down when I tell them about falling down the stairs, but I wasn't speeding! I took two steps and then my feet were no longer under me. I slid down six or seven steps before stopping at the landing. If an off-balance pregnant lady has to fall, it's best to do it that way rather than head over heels, I suppose.

Not too long after that I climbed into bed and cried and laid around with my hands on my stomach willing my baby to move around. Nate came into the room and laid down with me and tried to talk sense into my freaked out state. He put his hand on my stomach (Yes, he did. And I didn't throw it off, but that doesn't give license to free stomach grabbing! He's my husband, so he has a bit more to qualify him to touch my stomach.) and he felt the kid moving around...a first for him!

We're beyond butterfly movements with this little one - it's now full on kicks. The kid is gaining strength daily, it seems. And we find out on Tuesday what we're having! ACK!

Ta Daaa!

For those of you not on FaceBook, here's a first look at my 4.5 month pregnancy photos:





Enjoy! I'll post another growth shot around 5 or 5.5 months...

One word: HOT.

(The graduate and her hubby.)

I will forever describe my most overwhelming memory of Leslie's graduation as this: It was hot.

Nate and I drove to Pendleton Thursday evening (6/13) and fell into bed in Adam's mom's guest room. On Friday, Nate had to work on some bids so we spent 4+ hours at the local Starbucks (the only way I could get him to go to Pendleton on Thursday instead of Friday evening was to let him work on bids on our "vacation" for at least a few hours).

Around noon we met up with Leslie and Adam and had lunch and then wandered all over the town doing touristy things: We toured the woolen mills, farmer's market, and Hamley's (stop by there if you can), among other things. By the time we returned to Jean's (Adam's mom) house, it was time to nap, aka start dinner for the group of people coming over for dinner.

Leslie's family showed up and we had dinner and eventually started a movie and eventually went to bed.

Bright and early on Saturday morning we headed to La Grand to save seats for the 15+ people attending Leslie's graduation on her behalf. We were sitting on metal benches at the Easter Oregon University's football stadium. The graduates sat in the field under tents while we got full on sun for four hours. And this is what happens in that situation, this is where HOT comes in:


Lovely, eh?

What it all comes down to, though, is that Leslie graduated! After her graduation, we took a few pictures on the lawn and then headed back to Pendleton to nap/get ready for her graduation party at a nearby park.





We ate a late lunch/early dinner, Leslie opened presents and cards, and then we had a killer game of kickball. Everyone is a winner. Just remember that...Adam and Nate.



We stayed Saturday night, went to church, went to lunch with Adam, Leslie, and her siblings, and then headed home. It was fun to spend the weekend in warmer weather than it seems like Portland will see this summer! I don't know - do we even get a summer this year??

Quick and simple.

Nate took his camera to work with him today, making off with all the pictures from this last weekend, and my 4.5 month pregnancy photo...So here's one to hold you over!

I felt the baby moving around on Saturday at Leslie's graduation (I'll get into that during my next post), but then not again. So on Tuesday I stopped by my midwife's after work to listen on the heartbeat monitor. I think I'm allowed some paranoia for just a little longer :) Peggy's so gracious, though! She got to me quickly amid her busy schedule. We listened to the baby's oh-so-strong heartbeat and then she wanted to see it on the ultrasound.

That was crazy! The kid is big! Nathaniel was born small, which I attribute to his illness, so I'm shocked by how big this baby is almost every time we see it. And...HERE'S A PICTURE!


In this picture, the baby is facing down, butt to the left, head to the right. It's little legs are bent at the knees and folded under its behind; the spine is lit up; the hands are in front of it's chest (it had just been gnawing on one of them). Can you see it, can you see it?

We're scheduled to go to the hospital for an anatomy check on Jule 1st - that's when they'll tell us the sex of the baby. I'm feeling considerably better, morning-sickness wise, but I still have my yucky moments. I actually started work at Starbucks at 6am this morning...and it didn't kill me! How grand!

I'll post more pictures soon.

Grr.

(An old one but a classic.)

I left for California last Thursday and got back on Monday, and then worked two (oh-so-long) days at Starbucks, so it was last night that I finally asked Nate to take a picture of my bulging belly. Yes, well, the man was tired, so no photo...YET. He agreed to take one this Saturday, and if he doesn't I know Leslie will. We're heading to Pendleton tonight for Les' graduation.

We had an ultrasound appointment with Peggy on Tuesday, and it was so funny I just have to tell you about it. Nate and I were put into the ultrasound room and sat there for a few minutes before Peggy passed by the door on her way to another patient's room. Before she came by, though, I had been reading the poster next to the table I was sitting on.

I haven't really gained any weight this pregnancy. I lost 20-ish pounds when we lost Nathaniel, and I kept it off for several months. I wasn't trying or anything - it sure was a nice surprise! The first trimester of this pregnancy, my weight stayed put. It didn't fluctuate at all. But when I got on the scale at Peggy's, I had somehow gained 5 or 6 pounds in the last week. Personally, I think it just looks that way because I went into the appointment after lunch...

So I was sitting on the table in the ultrasound room and reading the poster when I spotted a little bit of information under "Month 4" - it said that I would be gaining a pound a week pretty much from here on out. I hollered. Nate laughed. At me. He thought that was hilarious.

It was about then that Peggy stopped by for 2 seconds (and good timing on her part because my baby and I were about to go after Nate). She handed ultrasound goo and the ultrasound tool to Nate and told him to find the kid, which distracted Nate and I from a-pound-a-week-from-here-on-out. I laid back on the table and we exposed my belly and Nate started squirting the goo all over my clothes. I took it from him at that point and put a good sized glob on my actual stomach. And Nate performed the ultrasound!

We got some good pictures. We saw the heart beating rapidly, the unearthly glow of its growing bones, it's strangely large and weird looking head...And because Peggy wasn't in the room, I got to hear how Nate actually feels about it all (usually he leans against the wall and sticks with, "Oh that's neat. Cool."). This time he was totally involved with the ultrasound: "OH...Did you see that? That's so awesome! It totally just moved, did you see that??" I may have spent more time watching him than the screen at that point...

Peggy finally bustled in and took over. She took one look at my stomach and said, "Wow, oh my, you've grown!" Good? Bad? Ugly? I don't know. We walked away from that ultrasound confident of the amniotic fluid levels and the kid's heartbeat. All good!

This is our "scary week," the same time we lost Nathaniel in our first pregnancy. This baby feels much stronger than Nathaniel did, though. I find myself easing up.

Our baby anatomy appointment is set for July 1st. We'll take a good long look at the kids developing body, and find out the sex of the baby! So exciting...

So you want an update, do ya?

We're at 14.5 weeks in our pregnancy now - I just had an ultrasound about an hour ago with midwife Peggy and she said the baby is about 10" long. TEN! That seems so weird to me. I see changes in my belly, but I don't expect some stranger on the street to look at me and say, "My, you must be pregnant!" That would be weird.

Editing is going well, or at least getting better. I enjoy what I'm working on right now, but it's so hard to stay awake :) I find that that's my greatest struggle - which, if that's it, then no problem, right?

I'm still working through some morning sickness, but I try to remember that every time I throw up it's just a good reminder that I'm still pregnant! That's really the only way to be positive when you have toast coming out of your nose.

Nate's hecka busy. He's surviving on the triple grande vanilla lattes I get him from Sbux/other workplace. I think that this week alone (so far) he has to write up and send out six bids. He's a busy man! If you want any painting done, and you want him to do it, I urge you to call him SOON. I love watching him at work, though - he's so efficient at and proud of what he does. He has a crew working for him right now, so at this very moment, he's working in his office lining up jobs and his guys are finishing painting a house. It's wonderful when everything flows so smoothly!

I take off for California this week. One of my down-south cousins is getting married so I'm going to his wedding. Even though it's now June, there's no sun to speak of in Oregon! It's still very dreary here, so I can't wait to see the sun shining! Oh, and when I get back from California, it will only be about two weeks (end of June) until we find out the sex of the baby...ACK!

By the way, Happy June! Can you believe it??


P.S. This was the first ultrasound we got of this pregnancy - I hope to have a new one for you next week.