Awesome Day with Nephews

Oh...what a day! I had the choice of either dealing with the ins and outs of work, (and I love my job, but some days it's a little trying!) or building forts and playing with light sabers with two little boys that I love very much.

I clearly chose the better part!

It has been part of the plan for a while that I would go and watch the kids, because Kathy and David had the ultrasound for their little bundle today. I was so excited to be able to watch them and to hear the exciting results of the ultrasound for the new baby. Needless to say, my anticipation was not met with disappointment or being disillusioned. It was such a fun day all around.

It started off with my being a little worried Thomas would fret that mom and dad were leaving. Fortunately, the worries were swiftly put to rest when we jumped right into having fun. With Jack and I bounding down the hall to play with the train set, Thomas couldn't waste time being sad. Soon, he was toddling after us, anxious to get his hands on a truck, or train and play the fun games we were playing.

After fun times playing with the train tracks, pushing cars over bridges, and making our airplanes fly overhead, the action turned to the stuffed animals that were laying around. First, it was a little dog that Jack wanted to play with. That turned into me grabbing a very floppy Mickey Mouse (whose pants kept falling down!) and making it give lots of kisses to both Jack and Thomas. The soft Mickey Mouse brought an abundance of giggling, as well as competition over who Mickey would give kisses to next. Thomas kept walking into Mickey to make sure he got the next bit of action.

Then, the dogs came back into play. I forget what we were pretending...but it resulted in me speaking in a very high voice (pretending to be the dog) and then Jack using a high voice for his dog, and then Thomas grabbing a dog and using a high voice for his dog. Because of a limited vocabulary, our dogs' conversation quickly turned into a cacauphony of high-pitched squealing and laughing. It was way, way fun.

Then, Aunt Wheetah got really hungry. Though the boys ate breakfast, their eating was cut short by mom and dad leaving and the thought of getting right to playing. So as I ate my banana, they decided they wanted their bananas as well. So we sat down at the table again and resumed a second breakfast, which served as their snack. It was a welcomed break for Wheetah.

Next, we turned our attention to building cars with legos. But not after we all helped putting our other toys back in the bins from our earlier play session. While we were putting our toys away, Jack decided that I needed another haircut, so he took his toy spear from his pirate ship and gave me a haircut because, "Your hairlooks awful! It's all messy! But I'll fix it." Ok, Jack.

That ended when he wanted to see how much he could twirl the spear up in my hair. I quickly anticipated this experiment would end in disaster and a pair of scissors and it was halted. Thomas then wanted to follow suit but seemed a lot less understanding of the concept that tangling long hair does not feel good. So the spear was quickly hidden away.

We ran out to build cars with legos and that kept us occupied for a while. We had fun building up lego cars, rolling them around on the ground and tearing them up only to build them again. This yielded to Jack running to go get his light sabers, which dear uncle Michael provided for Jack's third birthday. After Jack was reminded that Thomas is little and you can't be so aggressive with him, he and Thomas had fun fighting with light sabers, and then I was put in charge. We jousted for a little while, until we were invaded by some enemy tanks. Then we teamed up and destroyed them together.

However, all this action of car building, car racing, and light saber figthing was taking its toll on sleepy Aunt Wheetah. While a nap was not an option, some more sedated fun was in order. And what can be more sedate, and yet at the same time more fun than a secret fort. Secret forts afford the luxury of the little ones not wanting to leave the fort yet, it is small enough that in order to stay in the fort, we have to sit down....ah! Tricking energetic boys into sitting down by building a fort. Genius!

So, we took dining room chairs and built a fort and stretched blankets across them. Jack loved it. He assessed: "it's nice and dark, but not too dark to be scary." He was so excited by the fort that he didn't seem to want to leave. Thomas wasn't quite as amused by the fort and wanted to go back to rolling cars around, but he gave it a good amount of time in there.

After adding some things to the fort, like more blankets and pillows, it was just about perfect, and nothing could tear us away except one thing: tree trimmers.

Outside, guys with noisy equipment were doing lots of damage. The most perfect combination for boys imaginable. They received (to the welcome of Wheetah) ample entertainment. And by "ample" I mean about 5 minutes worth. But, maybe one thing I am going to learn as a parent is, that five minutes of reprieve can sure be appreciated.

Next, it was on to Bible stories (I could hardly complain). Then, it was lunch time and so after dutifully washing their hands, they went to the task of eating. Kathy had prepared a delicious meal of chicken salad with grapes and apples which Thomas gobbled down. Unfortunately, Jack was more interested in my Macaroni and Cheese (not the instant kind, but the really creamy kind!) than his more gourmet lunch (as a side note, I could have had the chicken salad, but Mac and Cheese sounded so good...and it was!). After bargaining with Jack that he could have my Mac and Cheese only if he eats all that was on his plate, he elected to just scarf down some of his food and keep playing in his fort. No problem. More Mac and Cheese for me!

He added more blankets and pillows to his fort and wanted me to read him some books. He REALLY wanted to read Chronicles of Narnia, but I managed to talk him into the Jungle Book and 101 Dalmations. Nothing is more darling than two snuggly little kids, bundled in a fort, letting me sit and read a book to them. Again, Jack's staying power was greater than Thomas', who resumed playing with his trucks.

After letting the boys play a while by themselves while I took care of the lunch dishes, we spent more time in the fort until Kathy came home. It was an awesome day giving two people your attention was never so well received. Where blankets and chairs turn into something almost magical, and my appreciation for Kathy's energy levels was never so high!

All the while, these little nephews of mine were happy, well-behaved, obedient, and loving. What a joy to be an aunt!!

A Good Check-Up

Today was the first day that I got to hear the baby's heartbeat! In the past two appointments, the doctor was unable to get it with the doppler and had to use the ultrasound machine (which was fine by us because we got to see the baby again!). But this time (a month since the last time) he had no trouble getting a reading, and the heartbeat is nice and healthy at 150 beats per minute.

Everything else was good in the check-up. I am slowly gaining weight, but because of the weight I lost in the 1st trimester, I am only just now up to my pre-pregnancy weight. He said it's fine, as long as I keep gaining. He estimated that I would probably only gain 25-30 lbs in this pregnancy. That's not too bad! Considering 7-8lbs of it will be baby, some of other baby-related stuff I'll deliver when the baby's born...so, hopefully, if I eat well, I may only have about 15-20 lbs to lose! That is a nice goal.

Otherwise, he gave me a flu shot and sent me on my way with my next appointment with him a month from now. I can't believe at that point I will be 5.5 months! As anxious as I am for the baby to come, it kind of seems to be going fast!

-Kim.

Kung "Pow" Kickin'

The Baby is getting stronger each day!

Yesterday, it was kicking on my right side pretty consistently, so much so that I could see it and feel it. Since it kicked me about 3 times in a row, I decided to see if I could have Michael feel it. So, hoping it would do it again, Michael has hid hand on my stomach and just waited a few minutes. After a few little kicks that Michael couldn't feel on the outside (but I could on the inside), it finally gave a kick hard enough for him to feel. How exciting!

Then today at my RCIA meeting, we were sitting around listening to someone give a talk when all of a sudden, the baby kicked REALLY hard. It actually startled me! I jumped up and said "Ouch!" Not because it hurt, but I guess more out of surprise than anything else. It was a pretty strong jolt and when it is unexpected....I guess it really got me!

So, the little one is getting a little feistier by the day. It's still weird, but it's neat at the same time. I'm glad he/she is lively and growing. As much as it is weird to feel, I'm always glad for it because that means it is alive and well!

Just another week and a few hours and we get our ultrasound!

Stay tuned!

-Kim.

When Ali Retires

Many dogs, as they grow older, weary of their owners insisting that they entertain them with endless tricks.





So a group of very smart dog programmers came together for a solution that satisfies everybody:





http://www.idodogtricks.com/index_flash.html



Ali, now you can rest and the show can still go on!!

Don't forget to ask the dog for a kiss at the end!!

Getting Weirder

Wow, this baby moving thing is definitely getting weirder. Normally it has just been little pokes, typically on my left side, but yesterday I was sitting in Mass listening to Fr. Michael's homily and he/she just went nuts. I suppose it had to turn around, but it was for a good ten minutes!! It actually tickled a little bit...I wonder what my facial expression was like as this little kid was doing gymnastics!!

In other news, Michael is starting to feel better, so that is good. He's been out with a viral infection for almost a week now, butI think he is slowly progressing back to the land of the living. As much as I hate to see him sick, and I really want to see him well, I do enjoy having him home so often...but I know that is selfish of me.

--Kim.

There's Something in There!

Just a few more weeks (actually less than 2!) until we find out of our little one is a boy or a girl. We are very excited!!

I used to be staunchly against this...I liked the whole romanticized idea of the big announcement taking place at the birth. But, now being pregnant, I see how easy it is to get excited about finding out, wanting to plan, or just plain ol' tired of calling the baby "it" or always having to qualify phrases with a cumbersome "his or her this" or "he or she that."

So February 11th is the big day!

They also have to check for any abnormalities, so I suppose it wouldn't be a bad thing to pray for us and the baby that everything checks out A-Ok.

Right now, the baby is really busy poking and prodding Mom. He or she (grr!) noticably made movements last Wednesday, and gave me a good solid couple of kicks on Thursday. Since then, each day I feel movement and today, they've been getting a bit stronger.

It's very cute because I noticed that the baby seems to move a lot more whenever Michael is around, and lately I've noticed it moves a lot when I talk to Michael on the phone. I know by now, the baby can hear things on the outside so it's no wonder it hears Michael's voice, but I think it's really cute that it seems to respond to him more than any other sound. In terms of talking to Michael on the phone, the baby probably feels a change in my heartbeat, or hears my voice that I'm happy to talk to him :)

We still can't feel movement on the outside yet...so I can't put my hand on my stomach or have Michael do that, and have us feel it. Just on the inside right now. It's kind of a weird feeling. I have to admit that for some reason I get worried a little whenever I feel it move because normally unusual things happening inside our bodies is a sign that something is wrong! It still takes me a split second to remember that it's a good sign and is supposed to happen.

I was trying to prod it and poke at it to see if it would poke back at me, or I could feel it better, but admittedly, I chicken out a little bit because I think I would freak out if I did feel something poke back at me...Ah! There's something in there!

First Post

It's obligatory for the first post of a new blog to explain why the blogger is adding this blog, offering some justification for creating it.

Knowing how cliche' this is, I therefore would like to forego this and not tell you my motivation for assuming others want to know what's going on in my brain.

Thank you for your time.