HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY KELLI!!

My friend Kelli (who is married to Richard's best friend) was born today 24 years ago. But today is her 6th birthday!
Her husband is throwing her a surprise birthday dinner complete with 28 of her closest friends! It should be fun. =)

Mmmm...Brownies

I had my first craving this weekend. It wasn't a I-Must-Have-That-Now craving. More like a Wow-That-Looks-REALLY-Good. Food commercials are torture. Everything looks good.

The funny thing is it wasn't even a food commercial. It was a Carsoup or Carfax commercial. And the woman in the commercial made brownies with horse laxatives in it. And all I could think was "Man those brownies look delightful. I wish we had brownies." Nevermind they were tainted with horse laxatives! So Richard and I stopped at the store and I bought brownie mix.
Richard got a kick out of this.

I did manage to make the brownies last 3 days. But I would eat 1/3 of the 13x9 inch pan in about 2 minutes.

I would love to hear about other pregnancy cravings people have had.

Week 22: And so it begins...

Pregnant and formerly pregnant friends have warned me that everyone will touch or rub or pat your belly.
I didn't think complete strangers would invade my personal space and just touch my pregnant stomach. But they do.
People I work with, that I barely talk to, are touching my swollen abdomen. It's weird.

If we've hugged in the past, then I'm OK with you reaching out for my belly. If you are family, then you have the green light. That relationship has been established. I trust you and aren't jumpy if you touch me. But if we are just acquaintances or strangers, please ask first. I'll most likely say yes. But at least I won't be taken by surprise!

Did the baby just kick or was it just gas?!

My sister gave me The Baby Plus belt to use starting at week18. It has a little speaker that attaches to your belly. It sounds like a heartbeat crossed with footsteps. And the tempo varies and increases every week. It is suppose to stimulate the baby's brain and help him distinguish between my heartbeat, his heartbeat, and other sounds. He's most active when I use it. Lots of fluttering. On Monday, I had it straped to my belly and I was reading a book in bed. Suddenly my book gets pushed up. And then I feel what can only be described as a belly hiccup on my left side. And then another.
This happened again on Tuesday night.
He's kicking!
It feels like a gas bubble popping in my belly. Or a hiccup.

Logger was laying half on my belly (he likes to cuddle up to my stomach now). And the baby was kicking him. But Logger didn't flinch.
It's too soon for someone else to feel it from the outside. Hopefully in another week or two.

Why I Love Coming Home

Week 21: Where Are My Feet?

I used to be able to look down and see my feet. My bulging tummy and ever expanding breasts (seriously, are they going to stop getting bigger?!) have taken over my line of sight when I look straight down.
When my stomach eventually goes back to normal (oh please, God.), will my feet still look the same? Is this what overweight men feel like when they haven't seen their junk in years? hmmm...

Week 20: Confession

Before I "popped", I would actually arch my lower back and stick my stomach out a little further. I grew tired of the awkward phase of looking like I gained 10 pounds. I wanted it to be obvious that I was pregnant.

My Funny Valentine

Elvis Chommers FermaNelson: My 7 year-old, blue eyed, door opening, scratch my cheeks siamese mix.

Madeline (Maddy) Meowington FermaNelson: My 8-year-old, spoiled princess, need to sharpen my nonexistant claws on everything, my tail is misbehaving so I must chase it, tuxedo wearing kitty.

Loggerhead Turtleshell: My 1-year-old, pill popping, butt wiggling because I can't control my tail, jumpy, Where's my chicken!?, fast as a greyhound, let me french kiss you puppy.

My Valentine

My husband Richard!
This is our third Valentine's Day together. This "holiday" will always be special to us because Richard proposed to me on our very first Valentine's Day.
There will never be a Valentine's Day as perfect as that one.
This year, we celebrated last night. We made dinner together and relaxed. I bought him his favorite popcorn (http://www.daleandthomaspopcorn.com/). I wanted a foot massage. =)

So HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I'm So Excited! And I Just Can't Hide It! (sing along)

Molly and I are going to New Orleans! Our first ever trip together (we've been friends for 16 years; You would have think we've traveled farther together than a carpool to Green Bay).
We're going to visit Miss Amy, who was my best friend in high school. Amy is in the Navy and has been transferred all over the coast line (Pensacola, FL; Washington D.C; New Orleans; even Japan). I have never visited her in the 7 years she's been enlisted. I am so excited to see her and to travel with Molly!

Week 19: The Big Question

These are the first images of our baby.

I can't even explain how this feels. It's very overwhelming and exciting. It makes everything seem real.

And the big news:

It's a ...........
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BOY!

He's fiesty too. He was flaunting his manhood, showing off. He made the ultrasound tech laugh!

He also kicked back at the ultrasound device. I couldn't feel it, but we could see it. The tech said we are going to have our hands full with this one. Taking after Richard already.

It's amazing what you can see on the ultrasound. We could see him moving his mouth (talking back already!). He made a pouty face. He was rubbing his eyes.

The tech kept trying to get him to put his hand down. She made me switch from my back to my left side to my back to my right side. She pushed on him, jiggled him, begged him. He moved, rolling almost completely around, but wouldn't move his hand from his face. Little stinker.

Richard was just in awe. He wanted a copy of the pictures so he could show them off. He's going to keep one taped to his work clip board.

We were hoping for a girl. But Richard said it best: "As soon as the image came up on the screen, I didn't care what we were having. I'm just happy we're having one. I'm not disappointed at all."

Exactly. He's healthy (ten fingers, ten toes) and boisterous. That's more than we could ever hope for.

PS: I'll post larger pictures of the ultrasound pictures