Baby Update

Ok, one more quick post before I head off to bed.

I had a monthly checkup today for baby #2 and overall everything is fine (we're at 20 weeks right now). My weight gain is right on target (but still more than I'd like it to be - but then again, who really likes watching their waist disappear into oblivion?) and my blood pressure is very good, which is kinda amazing considering all the stressful stuff that's been going on this week. I was sure it would be a bit higher. I guess I handle stress well, or at least my heart does!

I did find out that I will be having another sonogram in about a month. We had one at 18 weeks, and my amniotic fluid was measuring at an 8, and apparently they don't like it to go below 7 and would rather it be closer to 10-12, so we're going to check on it again. Also, the baby's head was measuring right on target, but the abdomen was measuring kinda small. My doctor said it's not really a big concern at this point, but they'll go ahead and measure again next time to be sure it catches up with the rest of baby's growth. She said there can be slight growth delays between one body part and another, and they usually even out on their own, so I shouldn't worry. I really like how low stress my doctor is. That's the last thing I need right now is someone stressing me out about stuff that isn't a major deal and I can't really do a whole lot about now anyway(baby miracle grow anyone?). I just have to be sure I stay well hydrated, and that should help my fluid levels go back up. And on a positive note, this will give us another chance to possibly see if baby is a boy or a girl since s/he was so shy the first time. We'll just have to wait and see!

Other than that I'm feeling great. I'm not nearly as tired, but I'm still taking naps since I have found that laying down with Melanie gets her to go to sleep with less fussing, and after laying in a quiet, dark room for 10 minutes I normally end up feeling tired, even if I wasn't when we started. I really need to be more determined to not let myself fall asleep because I end up wired and awake late at night (like right now!) and I also don't get anything done around the house. Oh well. The laundry and dirty dishes have yet to run away from me while I'm resting, so I guess it's not that big a deal after all.

Basement Update

The basement finishing is underway! Last week they put up the framing and did the electrical work, and yesterday and today they got the drywall up. I'm assuming they'll start mudding tomorrow, and probably sanding sometime next week. Then there's just spraying the ceiling and putting up the woodwork and they'll be done! We have to pick the carpet out and get it installed ourselves since they don't keep a carpet guy on staff, but that's no big deal. We'll also do the painting ourselves to save some money. It's amazing how fast something like this can go when you aren't doing it in your spare time!

Here are a few pics of the framing and drywall in the family room. I can't get a good angle in the spare bedroom, so you'll just have to imagine it instead :)

Vacation Pictures (Finally!!!)

So I realize we've been home for over 2 months now, and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from our vacation. A combination of my normal blogging time being Melanie's nap time (and more recently, my nap time) and the fact that she somehow removed the "period" key from the computer keyboard have both contributed to my lack of motivation to blog. It wasn't until this evening, spending time waiting for Matt to call me from California that I decided to finally get around to doing it. So I posted all the pictures using the "main" computer and am now typing on the laptop, since having to use the tweezers whenever I want to end a sentence would more than likely get on my nerves using the other computer and all the pictures were already loaded on the other computer.

I broke the pictures down into two slide shows for your viewing enjoyment. The first includes pictures of the family enjoying our vacation. Somehow Matt's mom managed to avoid being in the pictures, but I guarantee she was there with us the whole time.

Just a brief summary of the events from Alaska:
-Matt and John both played in a couple Texas Hold 'Em tournaments, John won the first one, Matt took second in the one held the following day (or vice versa on their winnings, I can't really remember now - I've slept a lot since then - I just know they both won some money)
-We saw both the Hubbard and the Mendenhall Glaciers. Hubbard we saw from the boat, and the water was especially icy that day, so we were still about 5 miles away when the captain decided to turn around since it would have taken too long to get up close and would have thrown the entire schedule off. For the Mendenhall Glacier Matt, Gordon, Melanie and I went on a walking photo tour that ended with a boat ride where Matt got the nice shots of the eagles and the whale tale, as well as the pictures of the seals. This is also where a lot of the scenery pictures came from.
-As a family we went on a wildlife photo safari (along with about 50 other people). We were lucky enough to have some excellent whale watching opportunities, with a very playful whale that breached (jumped out of the water) quite a few times and just hung out playing for us. We also saw some more bald eagles, as well as the raft (group) of sea otters that are pictured in the slide show.
-Matt, John, Katie and Gordon went salmon fishing in our final port in Alaska, and they each caught at least one fish and had a good time. Matt's foot is in the picture of the fish for a size reference - leave it to him to think of that! Stacey, Melanie and I stayed on dry land and ran around shopping instead.
-We went to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada as a family, which were quite lovely. We kinda had to hurry though, since we docked at 7 pm and it was dark by around 10, so I'm sure we would have enjoyed the gardens more if we had had more time with better light. There was an outdoor concert going on while we were there, and Melanie enjoyed sitting on a bench and swaying to the jazzy music they were playing (quite a few Michael Buble' covers)
-There were crazy amounts of food! Dinner every night was 5 courses, which I normally only ordered 2-3 of since quite a few of the dishes were too adventurous for my 1st trimester stomach to try. Melanie really enjoyed the bread they brought at the beginning of the meal, and would often eat the middle out and leave the crust behind (as is pictured). She also got to try "cleansing her pallet" with sorbet between courses - we all had a cranberry-ginger sorbet, but they brought Melanie a plain one so she could be in on the fun!
-Melanie got lots of quality family time. We were normally back on the boat by 1-3pm, so there was time for a nap before dinner. Matt took full advantage of asking his family to watch Melanie so I could rest. She had a blast playing on their beds and running up and down the halls with them, and the stairs were a particular favorite. She definitely had a rude awakening when we got back to Kansas and she just had boring old mom to entertain her all day!

So that pretty well sums up our vacation. Sorry for the delay in getting it posted. Maybe if you're lucky it won't be 2 months before I post again!

Alaskan Experiences

Alaska Scenery