15 Weeks Pregnant

I am off of school and officially celebrating summer. St. Louis must have skipped spring because it is already 80s and 90s witht humidity. Bummer. It's been sooooo nice to be able to keep up on the house, run errands, and finish projects. I've been working on scrapbooks from our Italy trip last summer and sewing baby stuff. Craigslist is my daily vice- I am starting to collect baby gear. If you have any you'd like to get rid of, let me know! I also just started a walk-off with my sister Megan. We are both tracking miles for the summer.

Baby Update: Today I'm 15 weeks! I am definitely starting to feel different in many ways: I can't really suck in my belly, a get short of breath in certain positions, my stomach is hard and starting to bulge, and my body gets tired more easily. I've been sticking to stretchy pants but not yet maternity clothes (it is soooo nice not to have to get dressed for school, ie wear the same pants on a tight rotation). Baby K is kicking up a storm (supposedly). I thought I felt a kick twice, but Dan says I'm crazy. We spent a long time the other day trying to hear a heartbeat with a stethoscope- which is impossible at this stage but fun anyway. Baby K is now the size of an apple, 4 inches long weighing 2.5 oz. That's unbelievable!!

3 of the greatest years...

Dan and I celebrated our three year anniversary last week! I cannot believe it has already been that long- we've known each other for almost 7 years!!! Dan was on call and I was in the middle of finals week- May 13th is not the greatest time of year for celebrating- but we each got each other a little something to remember the occasion. Dan always begs for cookie cakes at the grocery store- so I decorated one for him. He arranged a bouquet of flowers out of random stems that was (and still is) absolutely gorgeous. I am so impressed. We are so thankful for our marriage and find ourselves often saying something like "life is CRAZY and stressful, but at least our marriage is amazing." Though less often than in the first few years I still wake up some days and wonder how I am so lucky to have found a perfect match when I wasn't even looking. We are both thrilled to see how a baby will turn our lives upside down.

Dan, I love you more than my limited vocabulary will allow me to express and I think you will be the most patient and wise father a little girl or boy could ask for. Thanks for promising me forever!

Proud to be a St. Louisan

Well, my first day off after finals I had the wonderful opportunity to be a perspective juror. Wow, was it ever an experience. Unlike most other places I have lived, St. Louis has more than its fair share of crimes and it becomes more obvious when there are well over a thousand people sitting in a hot sweaty crowded room waiting to be called into a courtroom. Wow. Anyway, I am thankful that the judge and lawyers didn't choose me as one of the 12 to actually hear the case. Of course, it took one and a half days to dwindle down the 48 perspective jurors to the final twelve. It isn't the most efficient system, but they told us plenty of times that just be being there and waiting and waiting I served my civil duty. So, pat on the back for me. And, to those of you who have lived here for more than 2.5 years and haven't been called, consider yourself lucky. Now, I am off to try and enjoy a beautiful summer day- I have so many errands that I have put off until now and there is not better time to get them over with... Happy Summer, everyone!!!!

One more week!

I only have one more week of school before I am officially done with my first year of optometry school. YAY! I am taking the summer "off" which is very out of character for me, but I think I'm going to enjoy it. Anyway, the countdown is on: 4 finals down, 5 to go...

It's Spring!!!

I feel like this spring has been a little late in coming, but it is now official (according to me). Our spring bulbs are flowering and our ENORMOUS azalea bush in the front is all pink. As many times as our neighbors have tried to talk us into ripping it out I'm glad we've stuck with it. In the spring it is just so pretty! As I type a huge bug just flew by my face- a reminder that I have indeed left the back door open for the last hour to let the puppies play in and out. Dan is going to be peeved if he comes home and has to chase down hornets in our house like last week. Here is our spring house (to compare to the winter one I posted a while back...)

I am counting down the days until school is done (10 more) so I can spend more time doing the fun things. For example, I can't wait until the world's best snow cone hut opens up again across the street so I can get my "wedding cake" flavored treat and take the dogs for a walk in the park. A friend of mine from school came down to the neighborhood to look at our old apartment and I took them on a tour. It just reminded me how much I LOVE where we live. There is so much character- and so many things to do- and so many good people around.

Pregnancy update
I am almost 12 weeks now (just about through the first trimester) and feeling much better in general. By know Baby K should have about all of his/her organs and will just work on growing them in the next 6 months. Baby K also is probably sucking his/her thumb and wiggly his/her toes. Now do you see why I want to find out pink or blue? "It" just doesn't cut it when I am thinking about my baby! Baby K is about the size of a lime and will be growing much more rapidly in the coming weeks and months. I, unfortunately, have not been growing too rapidly. Basically, I just look chubbier in the tummy and can't fit into many of my pants. But, I am not nearly big enough for maternity clothes. Anyone out there have any suggestions for this in-between stage?
Baby K:

I have my 13 week appointment on May 11th and I don't think I'm getting an ultrasound. I just might beg for one, though, because my first picture looked like a blob and supposedly now Baby K looks like this (really hard to believe since I don't look or feel any different:)