16 Weeks

How far along: 16 Weeks 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: +3 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Today I'm wearing maternity pants but not because I had to! myMom got me two pairs for Christmas and this morning when finding an outfit for work they were the only clean non-wrinkled ones in the house. They feel weird!
Sleep: While at my parents house the alarm went off in the middle of the night and I woke up Kevin to deal with it (not that he could) and then went back to sleep. The next morning I had no recollection of it even going off! I guess I'm getting back to normal!
Food cravings/aversions: Nope!
Gender: 4 weeks till I find out!
Best moment(s) this week: Spending time with my family and friends from back home.
What I miss: Not having a cold!!
I am looking forward to: Finishing off this cold!
Milestones: 40% done!

15 Weeks

How far along: 15 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +2.5 lbs
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes still but the fit is different.
Sleep: Not perfect but getting there!
Food cravings/aversions: I've been drinking more water which has helped to curb the appetitie a lot. I feel like I'm in control again.
Gender: 5 weeks till I find out!
Best moment(s) this week: Seeing all the snow falling on Friday and Kevin remarking that GV might be around for the next one!
What I miss: I feel a bit off today and normally I would take a bunch of stuff to fight off the cold I feel coming on. But I can't this time. I don't want to be sick! :(
I am looking forward to: Two day work week! Christmas in Florida.
Weekly wisdom: No matter how hectic your life is, it's amazing how quickly it can come to a stand still.

It's Cold Outside

Very cold! Yesterday around 4:30pm it started snowing and didn't stop until sometime in the early hours of the morning. When we went to bed there was deffo 8 or 9 inches already. Today we didn't get to do much because of all the snow. The Liv.erpool game was a on early in the morning so Kevin was watching that. Then some neighborhood kids came over to find out if they could use our hill/driveway to sled down. Les came down later and you could clearly tell that she wanted to go outside. But not on her own. With Kevin. So she kept bugging him and then bugging me. I eventually guilted him into taking her outside. They played outside for about 20 minutes and then she was ready to come back inside to warm up. Then about an hour later Kevin wanted to clear a path in front of his car so we all suited up and went out front. Different kids were going down our driveway. After a while we went for a walk and hung out some more and then came inside. Other than that it's been watching TV and watching kids sledding. Even now I can hear the kids outside.

Birthday Week

Lots of things have happening in the past week. Let's start at the beginning:
Monday: Because of the new agility schedule we couldn't skip our Monday class. So we went to class. At the end of the class the ladies asked me if I was going to get a cake and I said I didn't know. Well when we got home there was that baking scent in the air. Sure enough in the kitchen was a cake that Kevin had baked. Seems after I left that morning, Kevin changed into his work clothes and drove to work (he usually bikes to/from work so he packs his work clothes so that he can change at the office). Then at lunch time he came home to bake me a cake from scratch! It was delish! Although now we have to try to finish it off before we take off this weekend.
Tuesday: OB Appt! Simple compared to last time. They asked me more questions and told me the results of my bloodwork from last appt but the best part was listening to the heartbeat on the doppler! Heartbeat was 158bpm.
That night I had a bunco game and as I was on the way home, my Nino(Godfather) called to congratulate us. Guess myMom took "after the appt" seriously and started telling family right away.
Wednesday: We finally went to Red L.obster to have my traditional snow crab dinner. No more birthday stuff till next year, I guess. I talked to myMom and she gave me the list of people she's already told. She's not slacking!
Thursday: In the morning Kevin sent me an email:

From: Kevin
To: The Wife
Subject: FW:

It's a baby boom.
________________________________________
Subject: RE:
From: J.H. (Kevin's best mate)
To: Kevin

Bun>oven update… Both the Vs and the Gs are expecting new babies next year. The Vs are due in April and the Gs are due in May.

C.J. is also expanding his family and S’s (J.H.'s wife) brother will be getting married in September so it looks like Hallmark will be making a nice profit from me next year!

All the various mentions are guys that Kevin grew up with. They all went to secondary school together so they've known each other since the about the age of 11. This is the second baby for all of them. The Gs have a 1 year old (2 in May) and the Vs have a 2 year old (3 in May).

So Kevin decided to go ahead and let the Hs know about us too! Other than his family they're the first people he's told. I don't know if he's planning on telling the rest of the boys though. We'll see.

14 weeks

How far along: 14 Weeks 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: +2 lbs according to my scale this morning. Last week at my appt though, they had me at +6 lbs. However I think the NP wrote the wrong weigt on my chart(I clearly saw one number on the scale and then was surprised to see her write a number 3 lbs less than what I saw). Then they took my weight first thing at the appt before I had removed my sweatshirts and heavy coat. I weighed myself when I got home and it was in the normal range.
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes however some of my elastisized pants hurt by the end of the day. Also I can't wear my pedometer because it digs into my side no matter what pants I wear. I think I'm gonna have to move on to other pants soon because I've only got two work pants left and they're getting a little snug in the waist.
Sleep: I'm getting better at sleeping on my side. I wake myself up though when switching from side to side. Kevin checks when he wakes up during the night to make sure I'm not sleeping on my stomach. If I am, he'll nudge me so that I move.
Food cravings/aversions: Last Friday we had this and I couldn't eat it. The guacamole and bacon just didn't sit well in my stomach at all. Yesterday we had the leftovers and I told Kevin to leave off the guacamole and bacon but then I couldn't stand the chicken.
Gender: 6 weeks till I find out! I'm trying to curb myself from calling GV she or her. If I'm wrong I don't want another habit to break.
Best moment(s) this week: Tuesday when I heard GV's heartbeat and Saturday when Dave had a fantastic Snooker run.
What I miss: Being organized about sending out Christmas cards. I still haven't got them done. Tonight!
I am looking forward to: Two day work week next week! And our trip to Florida.
Weekly wisdom: Even though you don't think your husband is as excited about the baby as you are, sometimes his actions will give his excitement away. You just have to look for it.
Milestones: 35% done!

A Wicked Birthday

All last week Kevin had been asking me what I wanted for my birthday. I usually give him lots of clues pretty early on but this year, I didn't really see anything that I wanted. Until Saturday when he opened the newspaper and in a quick flash I saw a full page ad for Wicked: A New Musical. I've been wanting to see this show for several years, but when it would come I never went. So on a whim, I told him that I wanted tickets to see Wicked. I wasn't really expecting him to get them, but he did! He's such a wonderful husband! It's not till March though. But still another countdown to add to my list.

For those that aren't soccer nuts, next year is the World Cup in South Africa. On Friday the draws came out. Group C is USA, Algeria, Slovenia and....England. Now I'm not much of a MNT fan, I've watched a few games and they just frustrate me to no end. I prefer to watch the WNT. So anyways on Friday, Kevin sends me an email that says:

From: Kevin
To: The Wife
Subject: South Africa 2010

England's world cup group fixtures:
12 June v USA, Rustenberg
18 June v Algeria, Cape Town
23 June v Slovenia, Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth

Winner on the 12th gets to pick the name?

I quickly responded with "Heck no! Our men’s team is crap!" I'm sorry but I'm not risking the name of our child on a team that is 2-7 against England with the only wins happening in 1950 and 1993.

13 Weeks

How far along: 13 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +3.0 lbs
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes.
Sleep: A lot easier now. I'm not waking up to pee anymore. Still falling asleep around 9:30pm on average. Also Operation Don't-Sleep-on-Stomach is still going horribly.
Food cravings/aversions: My stomach has seemed to even out. Kind of a craving has been Cry.stal Li.ght Fruit Punch. I'm normally a lemonade/pink lemonade kind of girl, but the past few weeks I've only wanted the Fruit Punch (which I normally don't go for).
Gender: 7 weeks till I find out!
Best moment this week: Putting up all the Christmas decorations.
What I miss: Having a normal appetite. As in, being able to sit and eat a meal rather than grazing and eating so slowly that everything cools down by the end (not very nice).
I am looking forward to: My birthday! My traditional steamed snow crab legs dinner! OB appt & hearing the heartbeat!
Weekly wisdom: Drink water!
Milestones: I'm not sure.

Normal Again

This morning I woke up with the worst dehydration/hunger headache I've had in a long time. I'm thinking it was dehydration mainly because I can't stand being hungry so I eat all the time. I had an extra cup of milk with breakfast. The drive in was horrible because the whole time my head was throbbing. Of course it didn't go away fast enough. Not till about an hour after lunch. But if nothing else, it's forced me to drink a lot of water today.

So Chicken knows now. I called her three times during the first weekend that Mum and Dad were around but she never called me back. Monday I left a message on Chicken's FB page telling her to call me. That seemed to work as she called me when I was on my way to the airport to see Mum and Dad off. I told her about the baby and that it was due 2 weeks before her wedding. I was pretty sure she wasn't realizing the timeline. Anyways we talked for a bit and she had all kinds of advice.

On Tuesday, she emailed me and confirmed that she "totally misunderstood the birth date in my excitement." She gave me an out if I didn't think I could be her bridesmaid. But I told her that unless this baby chooses to show up late, I would be there. She's sending me her copy of "What to Expect." She also said that I should get my dress around the 6th month since the baby books tell you to pack those clothes for after the birth.

I've given myParents the date of the 8th (after the appt.) for being able to tell anyone they want. It was hard enough to get them to agree, I didn't think I could make them wait out the holidays. I think I might send out Christmas cards this year that I sign, "The Wife, Kevin & Baby M (due in June!)" That's not too tacky right? Of course most would know by then because of myParents.

Tonight my youth team starts practicing for indoor. The league doesn't start till January and we're only practicing one day a week. I know I probably need to tell the DOC before I tell my team. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do for the spring season. The winter season(indoor) lasts January-February and then the Spring Season starts in March and goes through Memorial Day(May). I've decided I'm going to do as much of the Winter season as I can. I will be 26 weeks the first week of March. For anyone near that or that can remember, how mobile are you at that point? I'm encouraged because physically, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy thus far, but you never know.

In-laws & Out-laws

It's crazy for to think that it's already December. I really like December because we've got my birthday at the beginning of the month and then Christmas at the end, but it feels like it was just yesterday that it was January. I went back and read my blog posts from last December, and man oh man was I a mess! It didn't help that I was in the middle of some bad RE drama. Plus dealing with the in-laws.
Speaking of in-laws, Mum and Dad just left. They were here for 10 days this visit. We had some fun, some laughs, some aggravation and annoyances. Normal for any visit with them. myParents showed up on Thursday which helped keep some tempers (not me this time!) in check. A couple of things which I might (or might not) write about later:

• Mum told Kevin and I that while she was happy that we are pregnant that she's not going to allow herself to get excited about the baby until the baby is actually born. That she's not interested in any details or u/s pictures because if anything goes wrong, it will be that much harder to deal with.
• Mum called the dogs "daft dogs" a few times. Finally I said something to her about my dogs not being stupid so I'd appreciate it if she didn't call them that. She then tried to convince me that "daft" was a term of endearment. I maintained that it was not. She tried to show me different examples of how it was, but quickly realized that usually the term connotated my meaning more that hers. She didn't call them daft dogs for the remainder of her visit.
• Dad smoked. A LOT. Always outside, but then he would dump his ashes/cigar butt in the trashcan so the whole mudroom (house) would STINK!
• Kevin lost his temper a few times with his parents pretty early on. I think he was hurt by Mum's pronouncement and was lashing out.
• Kevin let his parents drive his car around the neighborhood. Apparently Mum kept flooding the engine (his car is a manual) and Dad almost crashed into cars parked on the other side of the road because he kept trying to drive on the wrong side of the road.
• I got upset with Kevin because he kept excluding Dad from things. He would think of things to do with Mum in mind and then instead of asking Dad if he wanted to do these things, he would ask "you don't want to do this, right?" That's not really inviting, is it?
• When it came round to doing Thanksgiving dinner, I was still smarting from last year's "snub" so I wasn't going to ask Mum for any help. Kevin asked me to include her so I relented and asked her to help me prepare this dish. Not only did she do it wrong but she asked a bazillion questions! Dude, you're cutting up vegetables, how hard is that? After that I recruited myMom to help with the rest of the dinner prep.
• myMom wanted to do a round of "What I'm thankful for" after myDad said the prayer. I vetoed the idea because I knew she'd go on and on about the baby and with Mum sitting across from her, I didn't want to start dinner with tension or awkwardness. Wiki thinks I might have hurt myMom's feelings so I guess I'll have to apologize for that.

Okay this post is long enough. I guess I should post more often, huh?

12 weeks

How far along: 12 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +1.5 lbs
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes although sometimes by the end of the day, they're getting tight.
Sleep: The past few nights have been an adventure. With everyone in the house, Kevin and I are sleeping on an air mattress in the office.
Food cravings/aversions: Pretty normal week actually. Which is good because I would have hated having to give up Thankgiving dishes!
Gender: Still thinking girl.
Best moment this week: Having my parents around and being able to talk about future plans for us & the baby. Not that I don't love talking about this stuff to Kevin, but it was nice to have someone else share in our excitement.
What I miss: Normal pee breaks. I will feel like I really need to go and then when I do go, hardly anything comes out.
I am looking forward to: December! My birthday and Christmas!
Weekly wisdom: Even if someone doesn't want to share in your excitement about your pregnancy doesn't mean that you can't still be excited.
Milestones: 30% there! Woohoo!

11 weeks

How far along: 11 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +1 lb
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes.
Sleep: Almost back to normal.
Food cravings/aversions: No cravings, just aversions. If Kevin mentions that something tastes off or is slightly weird, then I can't eat it. I can't convince myself to put it in my mouth, no matter what it is.
Gender: Don't know, but I think I'm deffo gonna find out. Kevin still reserves the right to make his mind up at the 20w u/s.
Best moment this week: Kevin telling me about his spreadsheet that tracks countsdown, counts up and tells us the percentage done we are. Even when he gets excited, he does it in his systematic logical way.
What I miss: Being able to eat breakfast like a normal person. It just takes me so loooooong to eat a bowl of cereal.
I am looking forward to: Two day work week this week!
Weekly wisdom: Even if I don't think I need to visit the lady's restroom before I start my commute home, do it! You never know when you're gonna hit traffic and the 35 minute drive turns into over an hour!
Milestones: We finally got a pregnancy book. We went for this one:

BANG!

Les is anything but restful during the night. Usually she starts her night on the bed in the guest bedroom. Then sometime before midnight she moves to her actual bed in our bedroom before moving to under the our bed. Then around 3 or 4 am she comes out from under the bed, shakes herself a couple of times, stretches and then jumps on our bed to either sleep between my legs or in the crook of Kevin's bent legs. There she'll stay until morning when Kevin gets up to shower.

Last night however things were different. After we had already settled in we heard a loud BANG from downstairs. After confirming that we both had heard the noise Kevin was elected to go check what it was. He got up and as he was on his way out the bedroom door, Les came running in and immediately went under the bed. Ha! Some watch dog you are! You're suppose to run towards the noise, not hide behind us!

Our laundry soap that normal sits on a shelf above the washing machine fell and hit the washing machine. It was completely random. After we got back in bed, we had a few chuckles at Les' expense.

10 weeks

So I'm moving these types of post to Sunday instead of Tuesday now that the EDD has been moved up.

How far along: 10 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: -2 lbs according to the scale at my OB's office.
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes still.
Sleep: Kevin made me go back onto my side of the bed. However Les has started jumping on the bed right after my middle of the night pee break so if I move my legs around she goes and sleeps on Kevin's side.
Food cravings/aversions: No cravings but I've had some aversions. The other day we made turkey burgers and then when I sat down to eat them I didn't want it.
Gender: I've convinced myself that I'm having a girl. I've read random sites that tell you how to predict the gender of the baby based on HCG numbers and heartbeat. So I'm thinking GV is a girl. 10 more weeks till we might possibly find out...
Best moment this week: Deffo hearing the heartbeat!
What I miss: Normal dreams! Last night I had 3 separate bad dreams about hiding out from some bad guy.
I am looking forward to: Mum & Dad visiting this week! They arrived in Miami last night. After a few days in the Sunshine State they head here to RIC on Friday.
Weekly wisdom: I realized that I need to schedule my appts for early in the week. Waiting for the week to show up is bad enough, but having to wait till the end of the week is even harder!
Milestones: I'm 25% there! Woohoo!

The 13th

Our appt was first thing in the morning yesterday so Kevin and I drove separately to the office. Dr. P has moved since I last saw her in Aug 2008 so I wasn't quite sure how to get there so we took off a little early. Ended up showing up for an 8:30 appt at 8:04! Eager beavers, I guess. The new office is very nice and spacious. When we got there the first thing I had to do was check in and reconfirm all my information. We had to fill out a questionnaire that included asking what race we were. As I was going down the list for each race there were additional follow up questions about some medical tendency of that race. When I got down to Hispanic there was nothing! Kevin's had a question about Cystic Fibrosis.

We got sent to the u/s suite first. When they showed us to the room the tech told us that we were going to do a vaginal u/s and asked if I had ever had one before. I just smiled and said yes. So then she tells us that she's going to check first and then she'll let us see. And she was forever! I started to get scared. Kevin was sitting right next to me and he kept craning his neck over to see what she was looking at. Finally he turned to me and whispered that he could see the heartbeat. I was so relieved. A little while later she finally turned the screen and showed us GV. She measured from crown to rump (2.68 cm) and then showed us the heartbeat. We then got to hear it! It was the best sound ever! It measured at 171 bpm. She found another good angle of GV and printed us a picture. GV is measuring 9w4d which is 2 days ahead.

After that we went back to the main waiting room. A little while later, we got called into exam room. The nurse came in and asked us a bunch of questions, measured my height, weight and blood pressure. Then she gave us a bag with some books and prenatal vitamin samplers in it.

Next they ushered us into the NP's office. Who happens to be a midwife too. When she came in, she asked us more questions. She then told us about the different testing they can do to screen for Down's, cystic fibrosis and other stuff. We decided to decline the tests. Even if something was wrong, there's nothing that can be done about it so what's the point of stressing ourselves out about it? Kevin is in the camp that less is more and I didn't really care one way or another so it seemed the best choice for us. She reconfirmed that I was sure of my last cycle start date. She asked if I had normal cycles so then I explained all about how I don't ovulate on my own and that we were seeing an RE. She asked if it was Dr. T and I said no way. I told her that I stopped using met before this cycle and did she think that I should go back on because of my risk of GD. She said nope. I told her that I took baby aspirin. I then had to confess that I took it w/o telling Dr. Grrr. Kevin's always been quite hesitant about me taking it so he asked if it was safe for GV. She said I could take it till week 12 but then I should stop.

After all that we went back into the exam room and I had a normal exam. She then told me that they had a stock of H1N.1 flu shots and highly recommended that I get one. I agreed so we waited a little longer for it to show up. After that I got four vials of blood drawn, set my next appt (Dec 8!) and I was done. Took about a hour and a half.

Our next appt is at 13 weeks. They won't do another u/s until 20 weeks, which is next year! Oh, they moved up GV's EDD. Since she measured 2 days ahead and it coincides with my last cycle start date they are saying the 13th. 7 months from today! Wow!

9 weeks

So I'm 9 weeks. Wow! First, I never thought I'd be able to write those words. Sure I went through all the motions, but I didn't really believe that I was ever going to get pregnant. And now here it is. First though it hasn't flown by. Not in the usual sense. I mean I'm almost a quarter of the way there but time has just been passing. For someone who lived her life in 2 week intervals for the past 15 months not having that anymore somehow makes time go slower. I wonder if I'll feel this way at week 19.

Kevin tells me several times a day "You're having my baby." To which I almost always reply "Maybe." It's not that I want to put a damper on things, I just don't feel pregnant still. I talked to myMom and she said that with Wiki she didn't start showing till she was around 6 months along (this was when she was thin (around 120 lbs). With me, she didn't show until half way through her 8th month. Wiki says she doesn't remember myMom looking that pregnant either (KIM she was 4 years old).

How far along: 9 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +1.5 lbs. My weight has been holding steady-ish. Kevin wants me to be more pro-active about exercise, i.e. go for walks and do the elliptical machine.

Maternity clothes: All my normal clothes still fit me. Last week I had one pair of pants that were snug, but nothing uncomfortable.

Sleep: The past few nights I've swapped locations with Kevin because Les was making me miserable. I was waking up with hot legs but cold arms and shoulders because she was sleeping between my calves and pulling the blankets down. I'm still sleeping on my stomach but I'm working on moving to my side. I always start that way but then wake up on my stomach. On good nights I wake up around 3am needing to pee. On bad nights, it's like 5:50am (I wake up at 6am) if at all.

Best moment this week: Telling the family about GV! Also finding out someone from my CISG is adopting a boy!

Food cravings/aversions: Constant hunger is still my frenemie. Kevin made me a big pot of chili for my lunches and it's been a savior. I've found I can't eat craisins or raisins anymore. Also, I still struggle with water. Ooh, the other day I was hungry on the way home from practice. All I had was dried prunes and apricots. I popped a prune in my mouth and instantly thought I was going to hurl all over Kevin's car. I managed to get it down but it was a struggle.

What I miss: Sleeping soundly through the night. I don't even mind the waking up cause I need to pee. I'm very good at falling back asleep. However I've become a light sleeper now! Kevin woke me up twice the other night because he was "making noise" and then later he was snoring! I didn't know Kevin snored!

I am looking forward to: Ultrasound on Thursday! I really hope we can hear a heartbeat at this one.

Other stuff: I've been having cramps for the past week that are kinda sharpish. Not sure what they are. Also I think I can feel my uterus through my lower abdomen when I'm standing. This grosses out Kevin, but there's deffo a firmness down there that wasn't there before.

Kevin says I'm much faster to get annoyed and lash out now. Kevin is quite pedantic and usually I find this amusing and funny, however lately not so much.

The whole family knows...

Mum & Dad

Thursday around 11:30am or so Kevin calls me and tells me that Mum is going to call me and that I'm suppose to conference him in. Two seconds later Mum calls and I place her on hold and call Kevin at the office. After the 3rd or 4th ring, I realize that he probably wants me to call him on his cell phone so that he's not sitting in his cubicle and telling his parents that they're going to be grandparents. So I hang up on him and then call him back on his cell. Once we're all on the phone, Mum tells Dad to open the envelope (backstory: We made copies of the scan (a nice 5x7 photo) at Targ.et and then mailed it to our parents. Kevin wrote "Call us before you open this" on the photo mailer in four separate places and then dropped it in a another envelope). So anyways, Dad opens the envelope and for a second thought it was a weather map (WTH??), but when Mum saw it she dropped the phone in her haste to get to the picture. So we spoke to Dad about it first. Mum finally got back on the phone and wanted all the details. So we told her about the drugs and when we decided to test and then the long wait for the scan. She got "upset" with Kevin that she had spoken to him several times since October 9th and he hadn't let anything slip.

She got the envelope around 8am so she had to wait around all day for Dad to get home. She said she figured it was an u/s picture or a picture of the baby we were planning on adopting. After I got off the phone with them she called Kevin again and was asking all sorts of questions. They're not going to try to time their trip with GV's due date. Last minute international tickets are expensive, Mum will still have a month of preschool left and with Kevin and I trying to make it down to Florida two weeks later for Chicken's wedding, it might be too much. So they're going to come in July. For a month! Wow! I'm excited because then it will mean that I'll have lots of help.

Wiki

Friday I called Wiki on my way home from work and left a message. Finally around 8:30 when she hadn't called I called her again. She was at her BF's house but he was on the phone with his mom so she could chat. We talked about a few things and right when I was getting ready to tell her, her BF got off the phone so she tried to hang up with me! So I told her that I had something to tell her real quick but first she had to promise me that what I was about to tell her would not cause her to spend any money (Wiki loves spending money by buying people unexpected little gifts but seeing as she's been unemployed for the past 9 months I was worried that the temptation would just be too much). Of course this caused her to immediately know what I was talking about and she asked me if I was pregnant. A proper amount of excitement and details followed. She "told" me that she was going to tell the BF and then asked if she could tell his parents too. I said no. Then she said something about how it might slip out at Thanksgiving and I again told her no. I told her that his family is not our family and that there were other people who were much closer to our family that I hadn't told yet and that I wanted them to know before non-family members knew. Of course this led to her wanting to tell her BFF (who I've known since I was 6) and again I had to tell her no. Not that her BFF isn't on the list of early notifications, but not this soon. Hopefully she can keep our secret.

SIL

Saturday morning I had a soccer game at 10:30am, which meant that I needed to be out of the house around 9:25am. So I tried to get Kevin to call his sister around 8:30am. Not that I was going to be on the phone with him when he told her but I wanted to be able to eavesdrop and then talk about it with him afterwards. So 8:30 rolls around and Kevin is nursing his bowl of rai.sin b.ran and reading the paper. I ask him to make the call and he gets all upset and says he will AFTER he finishes his breakfast. Seriously? So I sat patiently in the chair staring and sighing at him and finally around 9:00 he makes the phone call. SIL had just gotten back from the gym. They engage in small talk for about 10 minutes and then finally he tells her that come June she's going to be either an aunt or uncle (some weird family joke about the gender of the child). I think I heard her shout something over the phone that might have been congratulations. They talked a bit more and then right around the 20 minute mark they hung up. He claimed the call was long enough. Huh?! I will never get them and their relationship. I then had to scramble to get everything together in five minutes and get out the door.

So I think we're good for now. At least until the next u/s and appt. Which is this Thursday!

First in Jumpers!

On October 24th Kevin got up at 4:30 in the morning, packed the car with way too much stuff, grabbed Dave and Les (well they get themselves in the car really) and headed to Misty Mountain Campgrounds (1.5 hours west of us) to compete in their first agility competition. Me? I slept in till 7:00 then got up and ready for my soccer game (which we lost :( ), coached and then got in my car and headed out to meet them. By the time I finally got there, Dave & Les had run their first event, the Jumpers course. Les knocked a bar down at obstacle #14 so she didn't qualify, but Dave ran a perfect run (minus the sniffing stops) and not only qualified, but came in first place! Go Dave!
I got there around lunch time. The rest of the day was wet and drizzling but it cleared up right before their Standard course. Les was up first and had another awesome run, however when she got to the table she forgot to stop so Kevin had to get her back on the table. This is an automatic NQ. Dave was next and she ran well. Well not really. She stopped to sniff several times, she tried to go through the tire jump the wrong way and wouldn't lay down when she got to the table. This all culminated in a time that was 42.06 seconds over the qualifying time. Oops. However between Les' faults and Dave's super slow time, they managed to get 1st (Les) and 2nd (Dave)! Okay, there were only 3 dogs competing in their class and the third dog didn't even finish the course, but that's besides the point. My dogs locked up 1st and 2nd!
Now Kevin is totally hooked. The next trial is Thanksgiving weekend. At first when he was told about it he didn't want to do it. His parents would be here and they wouldn't want to trek out to somewhere to watch us and a bunch of other people running around with their dogs. This was his assumption, not that he actually asked them. Well after the trial, he started thinking that maybe we could go and do a half day - a standard course and another nonstandard course. Well he finally talked to Mum and she's all for spending a day watching so now he wants to do the whole shebang, a standard course plus jumpers, relay and snooker. Yeah, he's hooked.

myParents know

We told them on Friday. myMom was super excited, asked me if I'd told Wiki, Chicken, anyone yet. I told her no. Asked if she could tell her work friends, I told her no. That she had to wait till after my b-day. She pretended like I was killing her in making her wait to tell everyone. So we told them to at least wait till we told Wiki, SIL, but most importantly Mum & Dad. She "agreed." I'm going to assume that she's not going to tell anyone, but myMom is worse at keeping secrets than I am.
myParents have always maintained that I was the easy baby/toddler and Wiki the difficult one and then we switched and I became the difficult child and she the easy child. Apparently this started with pregnancy. When myMom was pregnant with Wiki, she was constantly sick (as in she had to take a bag with her every time she got in the car), felt run down and fatigued and gained a lot of weight (of which she didn't lose all of it). With me, she never had morning sickness, only gained about 10 lbs (she wasn't overweight at that time) and lost it pretty quickly afterwards. I don't know if some of that had to do with having a 3-4 year old (Wiki is 4 years 4 months older) around. But it did make me feel better about the lack of symptoms so far.

So the things I'm struggling most with are drinking water and the constant hunger. First the water. I really really really don't like the taste - or lack of taste - of water. I'd rather drink nearly anything else, even beer. I don't drink a lot of water to begin with, usually opting for iced tea or lemonade. Well since being pregnant, lemonade tastes "off" to me and iced tea is out because of the caffeine and sweet-n-low. I bring a water bottle to work and usually I force myself to drink at least one bottle full, but at the end of the work day my stomach feels awful, full of water and all "sloshy" if that makes any sense. Once I get home, I just never get the urge to drink. Not that I don't get thirsty, I just don't want to drink anything.
Now the constant hunger. Every three hours like clockwork. Sometimes every two hours. Yesterday around noon, I ate a two slices of pizza (leftover from dinner Friday night) for lunch and I was still hungry afterwards. It took like half an hour for my stomach to settle down. And then at 3 pm I was starving! I made Kev buy me a muffin so that I could eat it on the way home from grocery shopping. Of course this started a whole argument with Kevin about how I'm suppose to gain ten lbs during the entire pregnancy not the first month and if I kept eating the way I was I was going to gain too much weight. I wanted to hit him. Really hard. It took everything in me to turn around and not say anything back. I appreciate his concern, but Kevin has a tendency to come across as an a$$ and yesterday was not a good day for him. I'm just tired of being hungry all the time. It's like a constant ache in my stomach that won't go away no matter how much I eat or drink. Like today, I've brought cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cheerios, oatmeal, half a muffin, yogurt, cottage cheese and a banana to work to eat. Those in bold are things I've already eaten and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be enough. I don't know what else to do, I'm at wit's end.

Without Further Ado

Here are the pictures of Garden View! Yes we're still calling her/him Garden View even though we were in Iraklion, Greece that day.

First the clinical one:

And one where Dr. Grrr was having a bit of fun:
Kevin made J and Dr. Grrr laugh when he said the sac was either a halo or a smoke ring! Oh that Kev!

BTW, Kevin loved the bit about Father's Day. I don't think he had realized GV would be around by then (I hadn't even) but now he's really psyched about it.

♥..♥..♥..♥

There was a heartbeat! I got to see it twice!!
I left work around 3 for my 3:30 appt. Of course I hit traffic. Traffic! Why is there traffic at 3 o'clock!?! So I was actually about 10 minutes late for my appt. Kevin got there, went up to the office and they told him that I wasn't there yet. So he came back down and called me. When I finally got there we switched out so that I could check in while he parked the car. J and J2 were all smiles when I got there. They kept asking me if I was excited and I told them that I would decide after the u/s.
Dr. Grrr came in and first quickly checked that it was in the right spot and that there was a heartbeat. He then turned the screen around so that Kevin and I could see it. GV measured at 7 weeks exactly which means that I most likely ovulated on our anniversary(CD16)!! Our due date is now June 15th. Dr. Grrr did some other stuff (we got 3 pictures) and I asked him if he was sure there was a heartbeat. So he showed it to us again. After that he asked us if we were going back to Dr. P. I said yes (because as of right now that's the plan), but I might look into midwives. I'm not sure though.
So now the big dilemma is how to tell our parents. Originally we were going to video chat with my parents and mail the picture to Kevin's parents and tell them over the phone. However we just found out that myDad now has Thanksgiving off so they're thinking of coming up to visit (yes, while Kev's parents are here). So Kevin thinks we should wait till Thanksgiving to tell them. I'd be 11 weeks by then. I think it would be really cool to tell them at dinner but I really want to tell them sooner! Like this weekend! Also it would mean hanging around with Mum all week and not saying anything. I can avoid saying something when I'm talking on the phone, but in person, I'm much more of a blabbermouth. So we're trying to figure it out.

Calmness

That's me, Mrs. Calm. Well with some minor moments of anxiety, but I just say a quick "Our Father" and it all goes away. Tuesday was just a particularily rough day for me. Not only was I dealing with all this preggo stuff but I got into three separate "discussions" about plans for soccer. Nothing major, just a difference of opinions that eventually got worked out. I just really don't like confrontation. For years, I coached with three other people so any parent/coach/club issues that came up, I knew I wasn't alone and that they would stand behind me. But since I moved away from them, it's just been me by myself. I know the club is behind me, but sometimes I forget. Anyways, like I said, it got all worked out by EOD Tuesday.

Tuesday night when I went to bed I really dedicated myself to praying. I say little prayers all the time, but this time I really wanted to release everything over to God. So I prayed. I prayed about a lot of things but the thing I stayed away from was praying for this pregnancy. That might sound weird but I reasoned it out in my head that asking for GV not to be a blighted ovum or miscarriage seemed somehow to doubt that God had given me this incredible gift and was moving me along His plan. So I prayed for my family, Kevin's, all of you. And I drifted off to sleep still praying.

Wednesday was the complete opposite to Tuesday. I just felt so much better, not as anxious and able to think about this pregnancy in a positive mood. I felt so much better that when Dr. Grrr called I didn't answer the phone. I was in such a good place that I didn't want to bring up the events/feelings of the day before. But of course I did call him back. He did a great job of reassuring me that I was normal (with normal minimal pg symptoms) and based on what he's seen so far I have nothing to worry about. And in the end he reminded me that nothing we do right now is going to change anything about GV. If somthing is wrong on Tuesday nothing I did, Kevin did or Dr. Grrr did could have changed that. Tuesday we'll know and take the steps necessary at that point. It really did make me feel better. He also reminded me that he was the doctor on call this weekend so if anything changed (spotting, cramping, bleeding) I could call and know that he would be the doctor answering.

Yesterday was also Chicklet's 3 month birthday! Wow! I can't believe she's been around that long. Chicken posted new pictures and she's so precious. myMom thinks she's looking more and more like Chicken.

Today has been relatively calm too. Kevin and I are preparing for this weekend. I have four(!) soccer games, one on Friday & Saturday and two on Sunday. One to watch, two to coach and one to play in. Plus this weekend we are going to Les and Dave's first agility competition. We were going to go to it on Sunday, but then my game (the one I coach) got rescheduled for Sunday so we had to switch to Saturday. This means I'll miss Dave's Jumpers run but I should make it for the Standard one. Gonna be busy this weekend, but I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

Mashup

I broke down today and called Dr. Grrr's office. After explaining the whole vanishing of symptoms to J2 she handed me off to J. I repeated what I said and then J told me that Dr. Grrr is in Atlanta today so that "if" he called, she would tell him what was up, but that she would deffo tell him tomorrow morning when he got in. Why the heck are you going to Atlanta when I'm freaking out here? Anyways nothing can be done till tomorrow it seems.

So I know I said yesterday that last week I decided to give my fear over to God. Yeah, that's a lot harder to do than I thought. It never has been before, but this time around it is. But I'm trying. And I do have some moments of relative peace, but unfortunately they never last. Perhaps missing mass these past two weeks (since I got my BFP) has been part of it.

Earlier today when I was actually doing work at work and not goo.gling "blighted ovum 6 weeks," "6 weeks no symptoms," or "blighted ovum when miscarriage" I had to ask co-worker C about something. Now C is pregnant. Somewhere in her 2nd trimester but we've not actually talked about the fact that she is pregnant. Anyways I walk over to her office and co-worker S is telling her about how his girlfriend is pregnant. Yes, it's unexpected but they're both really excited. Oh and they just found out about it on Saturday. Saturday people! So they think she's about four weeks along and he's telling people already. And you know what the sad part is? That I was jealous. I was jealous that he got to feel this giddy, happy expectant joy this early in the pregnancy. I want that. I want to share that with Kevin. But I know I'll never be that way.

Nausea can be a good thing

Even if it's slight. Because then there is something that means that I could still be pregnant. Late last week I had actually gotten better. On the way home from practice last Wednesday I told myself that my choices were simple. I could live in fear, mistrusting what my body and tests were telling me. Not believing that God would bless us with a pregnancy. Or I could take joy and comfort in what we have been given. Even if only given it for a short time, I could love GV and cherish her/him for as long as God has given her/him to us. So things got better.
And then Sunday all my pregnancy symptoms disappeared. No excessive peeing, no more sore boops, not even the twinges/cramping I'd had up until that point. My mind immediately turned to thoughts of a blighted ovum. Apparently they can cause early pregnancy symptoms and then all your symptoms just "disappear" because there's no embryo to continue them. And then last night I didn't wake up in the middle of the night needing to pee. A first since finding out I was pregnant.
So this morning has been all a panic. I considered calling Dr. Grrr and demanding an u/s or beta test. I was tempted to run by the dollar store or wa.lgreens to get an HPT. I was trying to figure out how to finagle my work schedule when suddenly I realized I was feeling a bit nauseous. Not to the point that I was going to get rid of my breakfast, but enough that my heart stopped racing and I could take a big breath. I've only felt nausea twice before...Thursday morning at work and Friday evening after dinner. I can't wait to ask my mom if she ever had morning sickness.
Kevin has come up with how to tell our parents we're pregnant. They all involve waiting till after next week's u/s. I've also convinced him that he needs to call SIL to give her the good news, not do it in a message, through Mum or an email. I'm also keeping this off faceb.ook, but my reasons are a whole 'nother post entirely.
A - sorry to cause distress with my adding and removing of PG tickers. I just can't find one I like yet and so I keep taking them off. I am still looking though, but I've put one up in the mean time.

Fear & Symptoms

Even if you had tried to warn me that the dread of AF before a BFP turns into FEAR of AF after a BFP I wouldn't have believed you. But it has. I think about it all the time. I question my body, my b/w results, my symptoms.
Oh, new symptom: I'm always cold. All the time, especially at night. Last night I had to pull out the flannel pajamas. This from a girl who normally only sleeps in underwear. Kevin will be sitting watching TV in a t-shirt and shorts and I'll have on a sweatshirt with a blanket. Weird.

I called J2 yesterday to try to get the u/s moved up and the most she would do was Monday. One day!?! Seriously, you're going to make me wait 17 days instead of 18? What help are you?
Today I spoke to Dr. Grrr to find out why I didn't get a second beta. He said that it would have been a waste of money. My beta/p4 results were very good so he doesn't see the need. What about peace of mind?

I've been tracking my weight for a while now and so far here are my results:

3w3d - 0/0
4w3d - +4/+4
5w3d - -1/+3I've read all the studies/reports about how I should only gain 10-15 lbs during this pregnancy because of my existing weight. I've already gained a fifth of that! Sheesh! However I think GV might have the metabolism (I hope!) of Kevin because I'm still hungry all the time! I can't believe how much I've been eating. But I'm trying to be smart about it. No more chips or cokes while at work. Kevin is making us fruit cups with dried apricots, prunes, raisins and craisins to snack on during the day. I'm eating cottage cheese, yogurt and drinking an extra glass of milk to get that extra calcium. I also gave up Feta! Arg! So even with all this extra food I lost a pound. I have been drinking A LOT more water too.

A couple of nights ago I had to get up at 5:00 am to pee. And again when I woke up at 6:30 am. Last night I woke up at 1 am needing to pee. Well I'm not sure if I woke up because I needed to pee or if it was because the blanket weight that is Les had taken most of the blankets from me. Regardless I still needed to pee. Kevin (the lightest sleeper in the world) is loving all these night time interruptions. I haven't had the heart to tell him that it's gonna get worse before it gets better.


Thanks to everyone for the congrats and well wishes. You all are the best!

A Garden View Weekend

Friday

Last night I didn't get a restful sleep. I kept waking up flipping between taking the test and not taking the test. I didn't know if I could stand seeing another BFN. Plus Kevin said that AF always arrived either the day I tested or the day I was going to test. But I needed to know, so eventually I decided to test.

Kevin stayed in bed when I got up. The dollar store test comes with a little dropper instead of being able to hold it midstream. I collected, I dropped 4 drops and then I waited. And waited and waited and then magically that beautiful 2nd line suddenly appeared.
I immediately burst into tears while thanking God. Then I was fraught with indecision about how to tell Kevin. I mean he knew what I was doing in the bathroom so it's not like I could have just pretended that I hadn't. So I took the test and walked calmly to his side of the bed. I turned on the lamp and showed it to him. Right after he looked at it, he looked at me and I practically shouted "It's positive!"

That whole morning we were floating around the house. We talked about babies and plans. I tell Kevin that I think I am 15dpo cause I think I ovulated on CD19. While we were in Egypt. He starts calling the baby GV. For Garden View - the hotel we stayed at in Egypt had two options: Pyramid view or Garden view. We were assigned the Garden View.Which as you can see was actually a view of a concrete slab, some gross "ponds", dirt and then a bustling major road. Anyhoo, it was an awesome morning.

I called Dr. Grrr as soon as I got to work and they eventually called me back around 8:30. Since it was Friday they're only open a half day so J2 wanted me to get my Beta/P4 blood draw as soon as possible and they would mark it STAT so that hopefully they'd get the results before they closed at noon. I went to the nearest lab and waited impatiently. Finally around 9am my name was called. I got to sit in the room for another 10 minutes and finally someone came in. But I had forgotten to bring my insurance card and so they didn't know if they could do anything. There was some consulting and finally they said they'd do it. I confirmed J2 had sent the order STAT and then went back to work. At 11:50 J2 called me to say that they still hadn't gotten my results but that she'd leave a note for Dr. G. Hopefully if he came into the office he would check for it and call me with the results.

I never got a call. I figured no news was good news right? If there had been any red flags, he would have called right away, right!?!

Saturday

The morning started like yesterday morning. Me racing into the bathroom to POAS. I told Kevin I needed to check that I was still pregnant. It came up positive again.Yay! I had a tournament this weekend so I had no time to sit around the house today. I was out of the house by 7:30 am and out pretty much all day.

Today are when fears of miscarriage, chemical pregnancies and ectopic pregnancies first appeared. The cramps/twinges/pressure have continued. I'm waivering back and forth on whether this pregnancy is "real". I thought it would be so easy once I saw that BFP. But it's not. I'm still worried and I'm still cautious. How did it work? We've done expensive injectibles, triggers and IUIs and have failed every time. How did Clomid, no trigger and normal se.x work when it didn't work last year. Was it the self-prescribed Baby Aspirin? Then I freak out about that. Should I have told Dr. Grrr about it?

Sunday

Another soccer game to coach. My team hasn't been doing too well. We've not scored a goal all weekend. We are missing our main offensive playmaker so that's most likely it. Not because I've been distracted by all my pregnancy thoughts.

I took another pregnancy test in the morning. Another BFP!Although I freak out about how it's not getting as dark as fast as it did the previous days. I get home around 11 am and I am starving! I'm starving all the time now. Also I've been peeing up a lake. And the boops have gotten tender. I'm not any sleepier than I usually am during a tournament weekend. I research what I can eat on the internet and settle for cheerios for lunch. Yeah, we're not prepared at all.

After my afternoon nap I have to pee again. When I wipe there's slightly pink EWCM on the TP. I freak. I think my heart stopped in my chest. Of course I wipe furiously a couple (or 10) more times with new TP and nothing else comes up. I start checking every half hour and when I'm doing the weekly grocery shopping it stays in the back of my mind. Kevin is up in DC climbing with friends so it's just me and the dogs at home freaking out. Okay, so just me freaking out.

Monday

Finally Monday! I planned to call Dr. Grrr as soon as the office opened at 8:30 but break down and leave a message at 7:59. J2 calls me at 8:33. All excited and congratulating me. I ask for the results and she says "Didn't Dr. Grrr call you?" I tell her no so she looks up the results. Beta was 768 and P4 20.3. She said those were great numbers, kinda high for 15dpo but good nonetheless. I ask if I should get a second beta done and she says that they usually don't do a second one. I tell her about my continued cramping. Then I tell her about the pink EWCM yesterday and she asks if I've had anything else since then. I tell her no. Dr. Grrr isn't in today but he usually calls after getting the beta results so he'll probably call me tomorrow. If he's concerned he'll ask me to come in then. Grrr. Oh and they don't do an u/s until 18 days past a BFP. What!?! That's not till the 27th! I made the appt, but I'm considering calling and asking for the Thursday/Friday before.

According to the "pregnancy starts with AF" theory I'm currently 5 weeks 1 day. I'm 4 weeks 4 days if I go by my CD19 ovulation theory. However since getting the beta results I'm wondering if I'm farther along than I first thought. Could I have possibly ovulated on CD 15/16? I soooooo hate not knowing. Isn't it funny the things that will bug you? I mean, we're only talking about four days, but it's really bugging me.

If I wait till the 27th I'll be 7 weeks 2 days at the u/s. If I can go the Friday before then I'll be 6 weeks 5 days. Either way, we should have a heartbeat and I hope then that I can breathe a little easier if there is one. Please GV have a heartbeat.

CD33

***I tried to post this last Thursday but for some reason it didn't post. So here it is finally...***

Last Saturday when we were getting ready to leave for the soccer game/trip to Savannah, I wondered if I should pack supplies for AF's visit. On Friday I started getting cramps/twinges/pressure and so thought that she was going to arrive on Saturday or Sunday. I decided to risk it and go unprepared. Well AF never showed, the PMS symptoms continued. So Monday I decided to to take a BBT. 98.65°! The highest bbt I've ever had!! I was so psyched! Then Tuesday I took another bbt and 98.4°. Not as good as Monday, but still a solid post-o temp. Wednesday morning it was 98.2°. Hmmm. So enough to confirm ovulation (based on usual pre and post O temps), but I don't know when I ovulated so I have no idea what day of my LP I'm on. However, I looked back at my past charts and this seems to be the usual post-O pattern before AF starts. The cramps/twinges/pressure have continued so I've started taking supplies with me to work.

Tonight there was a lot of down time at agility so I started thinking... I usually ovulate on CD17-21. Later when I don't have a HCG trigger. So CD22 + 12 day usual LP is CD34. No AF yesterday. No AF today. Tomorrow will be CD34 and it's highly unlikely that I ovulated later than CD24. So I broke down and decided to stop by the dollar store for a few tests. Nothing crazy. Just three to make it through the weekend. Kevin was suspicious when I said I was making a stop before I got home. I told him yesterday about my ovulation confirmation, but I don't think he knew we were near possible POAS.

Approved and Applied

First off, Les is doing well. Still no after effects of her run in with the Jeep. She's been to agility the past two evenings and other than having come back from a month long vacation, she's behaving like normal. Just as moody and anti-social at home like before so we're good.

Next, our homestudy has been APPROVED! We got the packet in the mail while we were on vacation. It took us 3 months for the whole process since it's dated 9/16/09 and we started on 6/17/09. Most of that wait was on the reference letters, but they were all really awesome letters so I guess it's okay that we waited.

During the first weekend in September, we actually had the chance to meet a couple (NewMom & NewDad) that had just brought their adopted son (J) home the month before. Like us, they did their homestudy with JFS. They waited a year and nothing had happened. Then they found out that JFS wasn't looking for them (which we knew from the first homestudy appt.) and so they started sending out their adoption profile to everyone they could think of (which NewDad doesn't recommend doing because now they don't know who has got them or where they are). When that didn't work, NewMom started researching national adoption agencies on the internet. NewMom and NewDad had met online through a matching service and figured if that was how they started their family maybe that would be how they could add to it. They filled out the paperwork, paid all the monies and 4 months later got THE CALL. A birth family in another state was interested in them. After a couple of phone calls the birth parents picked them and two weeks later had J.

We went over to their house to meet them and J. They were so cute! J was a little darling (yes I was offered the chance to hold J and I turned it down) and behaved like an angel, so we got to talk a lot about their adoption and adoption in general. They pretty much had visited the same agencies we had and just felt right with JFS, like us. NewMom got very specific about costs and time lines which was nice. They told us they were just as scared as we are of getting ripped off or taken advantage of, but that they believe God was with them every step of the way taking care of them. It was really great meeting them and I'm currently working on a crocheted puppy for J. I think the most beneficial aspect of our visit was that it's put Kevin at ease with the whole adoption thing. Even though he said before that he was okay with it, he still kept hesitating with every step we took towards adoption and away from TTC. But in talking with NewDad he was able to get all of his questions answered, even those he was afraid to ask.

Now we're moving forward! Kev and I have decided to apply with a national adoption agency in Florida. They were recommended by our SW and I got to talk to them back in the first week of September. We got a package of stuff before we left. We've poured over it and now feel ready to file an application. I filled it out and have sent it to Kevin to double check. Hopefully we'll get it finished this week along with our adoption profile book.

The Family's Back Together

We're all home from our vacation, safe and sound. Although Les seriously tried to make that untrue. But more on that later.

Kev and I have been back for almost a week. I am planning on updating my vacation posts with pictures and more text, hopefully this week. In the 13 days that we were on our vacation, we took 975 photos and 4 hours of video. We didn't take any photos/videos on 2 of those days (2nd day at sea and while we were in Athens). We took only 1 photo on our first day at sea, so taking the remaining days and the number of photos - we took 97.5 photos per day! In Egypt alone we took almost 300 though! So obviously, I'll have a few pictures to post.

Saturday after the girl's game (which we lost 4-1, bummer!) we headed down to Savannah to meet myParents. Oh, and Dave and Les! They got there about 20 minutes before we did. After checking in and as we were driving to the room, we actually saw myDad walking Dave and Les and so we stopped and just watched. Then we went into our room (we were right next door) and I called myDad and told him we were hiding so to bring the dogs over. Kevin hid in the closet and I hid in the shower. They found me first and of course got excited so they they started roughhousing. I kept trying to get them to look for Kevin but they were too distracted. Kevin starting inching his way out of the closet and finally Les saw him when he was already half out! I felt bad for Kev but I'm sure he understood. After catching up for a bit, we drove around Savannah determined to find a dog-friendly place to eat, but with traffic/parking/the crowd, we gave up and picked up pizza and ate it back in the room.

The next morning Kevin was downstairs loading the car when I suddenly need to ask him something so I opened the door. As I was walking out, myDad asked me a question and I turned around and came back into the room. I thought I had closed the door and as I was walking over to myDad, myMom shouted and I turned around to see Les sliding out the gap. I "walked" after her down the corridor as I didn't want to run, thus turning it into a game. I tried calling her name, saying "Come!" and "Touch!" but she just kept going. At the end of the corridor she could have turned right and circled around the second floor or turned left and gone down the stairs. She turned left. I panicked at this point because we were right next to a divided semi-major road and she was headed straight for it. So I started to run. And she did. Right across the street and onto the path of an oncoming Jeep. All I could do was just stand there and watch. She made it most of the way and at the very last second got hit by the car. She cried out, but didn't fall, just sort of spun. I crossed the street, but she ran away again and into the parking lot of the building next door to the hotel. Then she just stopped and I was able to catch up to her. I checked her out and felt all over but she didn't cry out. Kevin caught up to us by this point and carried her back to the room. myDad checked her again but nothing seemed to be wrong.

We spent the morning/afternoon walking along the riverfront and around Savannah and she never slowed down or limped. I figured if she was injured, after the initial adrenaline wore off she would start to feel the pain, but so far nothing. We're keeping watch for signs of internal bleeding (watching the color of the gums and eyelids) but hopefully she'll be okay.

We got home around 10:30 last night and after unloading went about like normal. So did the dogs! It was like they never left!

Athens (Piraeus)

The city we'll be in but not do anything. The ship docks at 4 am and our flight is at noon. We'll be home by 8 pm.

Nafplion

Excursion: MYCENAE & PALAMIDI

From Nafplion we'll venture to Mycenae and Agamemnon's citadel. We'll see the Lions Gate, a monumental statuary, and visit the Beehive Tomb. Back in Nafplion we'll visit Palamidi.

Katakolon

Excursion: ANCIENT TREASURES

Katakolon is the gateway to the mystical site of ancient Olympia, where the first Olympiad was held. We'll visit the Temple of Zeus, the Stadium and the Archaeological Museum.

Alexandria, Day 2

Excursion: BEST OF CAIRO OVERNIGHT

We start the day with a drive south to Egypt’s first capital, Memphis. Sights include the Temple of Ptah, the fallen colossal statue of King Ramses the 2nd, and the Alabaster Sphinx of King Amenophis the 2nd. We'll drive to the oldest, ancient cemetery of Sakkara and see the Step Pyramid of King Zoser. Next we'll visit one of the Mastabas (tombs) built nearby, and visit ones such as those of Ptah-Hotep, Mereruca, Idut or Ti. Finally we'll head off to the Giza Plateau where we'll see Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Some exploring and then lunch. After lunch we'll head back to the ship.

Alexandria

Excursion: BEST OF CAIRO OVERNIGHT

We'll take a bus ride from Alexandra to the legendary Al Qahira, internationally known as the teeming metropolis of Cairo. Highlights for today include the Citadel of Saladin, a drive through the ‘City of the Dead’, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali and Liberty Square where the National Archaeological Museum is situated. Then onto the hotel for check-in, lunch and a short siesta. Next a visit to the Papyrus institute and to end the night a dinner cruise on the River Nile.

Iraklion

This actually was yesterday but I wanted yesterday's post to be on our anniversary. Today is our "Fun Day at Sea," so in other words on our way to across the Mediterranean towards Egypt.

Excursion: KNOSSOS & VILLAGE LIFE

The Palace of Knossos was the largest and most spectacular of Minoan palaces. It was the court of the legendary King Minos, father of the mythological Minotaur, half-bull, half-man. Then we'll visit the traditional settlement of Arolithos.

To Us

Wedding Memories...

1. Where/how did you meet: We met in November of my freshman year of college. It was his first year (he was on a 3-year course). We met online in a chat program called 'burbs. We met face to face at the Manchester Airport 20 months later when I went to go visit him for a month! He came back with me to Florida for a month and a half. We've been together ever since.
2. How long have you known each other: Since 1995 - 14 years.
3. How long after you met did you start dating: We talked online for about 4 months before we made plans to meet up. We were friends up to that point but decided that we wanted to be something more.
4. Where did you get engaged: At our house! In December 2006 he sent Dave & I an evite from him and Les asking us to become Marriotts. He figured since we met online, we should get engaged online.
5. How long was your engagement: 9 months.
6. How long have you been married: 2 years!
7. What is your anniversary: September 22, 2007!
8. How many people came to your wedding reception: about 60.
9. What kind of cake did you serve: I don't remember. I don't think I had any other than the first bite. It was from Uk.rop's and I remember being annoyed by the "gold" detail. I asked them specifically if it was gold looking or just yellow and the lady told me flat out it was gold. Yeah, it was yellow! I was mad because I had told her that if it was yellow I would just change the color. I only wanted gold if it was gold looking.
10. Where was your wedding: in RVA. Most of my family lives in Texas, my parents live in Florida and Kevin's family were all from England. I figured if there was going to be a lot of traveling they might as well travel to us.
11. What did you serve for your meal: Mexican themed food! We went to A Shar.per Palate. They were awesome!
12. How many people were there in your bridal party: 8 - 4 bridesmaids, 1 best man, 2 ushers and 1 junior bridesmaid. No flower girls or ring bearers though!
13. Are you still friends with them all: Sort of. My sister was the MOH, Chicken, SIL and a sorority sister were the others with a former player of mine being the junior bridesmaid. The only one I don't regularly converse with is SIL. Not since her tiff with Kevin anyways. The best man was Kevin's mate from middle school (who with his wife wrote the most awesomest recommendation letter ever for our home study!) and the ushers were a friend of his from work (in England) and a good friend of mine from college.
14. Did you or your spouse cry during the ceremony: No.
15. Most special moment of your wedding day: While Kevin and I were waiting to be introduced at the reception he took my hand and squeezed. We were finally husband and wife!
16. Any funny moments: I fell down on the dance floor! I was dancing the Cotton Eye Joe (the real one not the Red Ne.x version) and either I or my friend stepped on my train and down I went! The photographer was still there so he got a few shots of it as well!
17. Any big disasters: Nope!
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon: Two years later we're here on a cruise in the Mediterranean!
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change: Get automatic cars! Both Kevin and I have manuals and between his friends and family not wanting to drive in the States and my friends and family not knowing how to drive stick shift getting everyone to all the places was an ordeal!
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on: The side farthest away from the door. That way if someone attacks us, I can get away while Kevin is fighting them off! :)
22. What size is your bed: Queen
23. Greatest strength as a couple: Even though from the outside we seem like opposites, we are very similar in the ways that matter.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple: Early on it was adjusting to the differences between us culturally. Coming from different heritages, nationalities and religions there were some differences. It wasn't really a huge problem but we had to discuss things pretty early that most people don't face.
25. Who literally pays the bills: Kevin. I'm such a procrastinator that I never get bills done on time even though I have the money to pay them.
26. What is your song: We don't really have a song. There are lots of songs though that bring up happy, funny or special moments.
27. What did you dance your first dance to: "You'll Never Walk Alone" sung by Gerry & The Pacemakers. I was able to convince Kevin that we should get lessons so we had the whole dance planned out! This was good for Kevin cause he was really nervous about doing it and having the whole thing choreographed made it a lot less stressful for him.
28. Describe your wedding dress: White, simple and sparkly! It was empire-waisted with detail on top and in a band on the bottom. It had straps on the shoulder. Plus it was only $149! Steal!
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding: I'm not sure. They were all #ff6600y though!
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? No. Since the design goes all the way around they don't resize them they just give you a new one in a new size if it no longer fits properly. Funny story though, our bands are matching and only a quarter size apart. So when Kevin gave them to the priest, the priest had to ask Kevin whose were whose.

Santorini

Excursion: GREEK STYLE FIESTA

We’ll drive to Pyrgos village and visit the Monastery of the Prophet Elijah, the highest point of the island. Leaving Pyrgos we head to the northern end of Santorini to the village of Oia and then a local winery for lunch. After lunch is Fira town, the picturesque capital of the island built on the rim of the caldera wall.

Mykonos

Excursion: MAGNIFICENT DELOS

Not far from Mykonos lays the island of Delos, the ‘island of light’. According to mythology, Zeus, the King of the Gods, fell in love with a beautiful Titaness named Leto, but when his wife discovered his infidelity, she forbade Mother Earth to give Leto refuge. Lonely and pregnant, Leto wandered the earth until the island appeared amid the waves so that she would have a place to give birth to twins: Artemis, goddess of the hunt and virginity, and Apollo, god of truth and light. Sights include the Avenue of the Lions and Mt. Kynthos.