Fleur de Aleta

Greg came with me to our more recent doctor appointment, which we knew would include an ultrasound.  We spoke with the technician and the doctor and asked, "If you know what gender the baby is, don't tell us.  Write it down on a piece of paper and seal it in this envelope." The doctor and technician both asked if we were doing a gender reveal party and we said yes.  They asked, "Cake or balloon?" We responded, "Cake, but what is Balloons?"  For us, we're took the envelope to Gambino's bakery and asked for a gender reveal cake.  The lady working there immediately knew what we were talking about, "I just love making those cakes!"  The outside of the cake is decorated in pink and blue.  The inside icing will be pink if it's a girl and blue if it's a boy.  At the party, we cut into the cake and everyone finds out the gender at the same time :) The technician explained about the balloons, "You bring the envelope to the b

She's so tiny.... so gosh darn cute!  We have pictures of her at such a young age and my parents are painting the down pink! Meet the newest family member :) Isn't she precious!  She only weights a pound and a half.  She's six weeks old and is a mix of toy poodle and teacut poodle.  My Dad is afraid that he's going to step on her!  She sleeps a lot but loves to play and when she runs, it's more like she hops like a bunny. Originally Mom was going to name the puppy Blondie, but she received too many "oh, don't name her that"comments, so Mom was on the hunt for a good name.  I called Mom one morning and asked if the puppy was eating anything.  Mom said, "The only thing she will eat is a biscuit."  I laughed and said, "That's what you should call her!"  Mom loved the idea.  Yeah!  I got to name the puppy!  Woot Woot.  Mom later said, "Perfect name, because I even spilled jelly on her." I'm thrilled th

When we received an invitation from Danny's wife, Kathy, to come to her husband's 50th birthday party, we immediately made plans.  I loved how Kathy wrote a side note on the invitation "Greg - "SURPRISE"  SHHH!!!" No worries there, Greg maintained the secrecy :)  Unfortunately, three days before the birthday party we didn't know if we would be able to keep the flight arrangements.  Nothing was wrong with the plans, it was the concern of the pregnancy specialist.  She requested to see me three days prior to flight to check and make sure all was well for flight (had something to do with being placenta previa).  It was just a quick check and she gave me the go-ahead. We stayed at a hotel where Kathy had arranged for out-of-towners to stay at a reduced price.  When our rooms were ready, Kathy sent gift baskets to the room, how sweet!  Our gift basket included two types of cheese, flatbread crackers, chocolate bars and a chocolate chip cookie.  Now, I

My husband took the picture with his iPhone while he was on the road.   Then he sent the picture to my iPhone and I'm uploading it to my blog.  LOVE this picture.  And I love how my husband enjoys sunrises and sunsets as much as I do :)

Hello Second Trimester!  It's a relief to be here.  Still feels strange though.... to know we are going to have a baby.  I guess because it wasn't planned, wasn't even thought to be possible.  And yet, we are! Doctor said everything looks good :)  The placenta is still previa, but she believes there's a chance the placenta will up.  It's too early to have any concerns about it right now. Otherwise, the baby is still on track for March 7, 2013 and we still don't know if we're having a boy or girl. Below are two pictures and a YouTube Video of the ultrasound. In the below picture, Greg said, "Our baby is ready for Halloween.  Looks like a skull and bones costume." Next picture isn't that clear, but you might be able to make out the profile:

This past week has been a long one.  My husband said, "We're taking life four hours at a time."  Gasoline was limited and we ran the generator for four hours and cut it off for four hours, to make sure the freezer kept the food. Some things we learned..... we need to find out what's wrong with the window unit in the office.  That should have been our saving grace with the heat, but instead it was only blowing luke warm air. Use paper plates, etc so that you don't have a mountain of dishes to face once electricity comes on.  (We are fortunate to have a gas stove/top and gas barbecue pit, so we had cooked meals.) Get an electrician to install outside-to-inside power so that we can hook up the generator to the inside without having to leave the door slightly ajar... something the cat took interest in. We aren't the only things to sweat, the house will too... and that makes for slippery tile floors.  Thankfully my husband made a towel path so we didn't