hello mystery bills...

...goodbye Seattle.

I'm not trying to pull the poor card (poor card! poor card!) but after a deluge of unexpected bills (one car needed 4 new tires, another car is currently broken down and had to be towed to the repair shop and is having a new starter and some other stuff put in for $600, an $800 insurance bill) we had to make the responsible decision to not go to Seattle.
I know we have a wonderful, comfortable, charmed life, but DAYUM I am really bummed out. I have been daydreaming about this trip and have been reading the Seattle magazines about where to go, what to eat, what to see.
I'm getting so frustrated and annoyed in our quest to find a suitable place to move. I was really eager to see Seattle and explore and see if this could be a part of the country we could be happy in. I'm not sure when we'll have the chance to go again, but if it's meant to be then it will all work out.
I'm sure we'll come up with a fun and considerably less expensive babymoon, but sometimes it isn't fun being an adult and having to shell out $$ for un-fun stuff like tires and insurance deductibles and new car starters. Alas, I just want to spend some time with P and enjoy the calm before our little family becomes a family of 4. I'm really starting to get excited about this little baby, whoever he/she is!

28 weeks

I had my glucose screening this week. At the birth center they have you eat a 50 gram carbohydrate breakfast instead of drinking the glucose drink. I guess the glucose drink makes a lot of people sick? Who knows, but the 50 gram breakfast is pretty good. 2 eggs, 2 slices of buttered toast, 4 ounces of unsweetened juice and 8 ounces of milk. With my pregnancy with Piper I was so excited for everything and a few days before my glucose screening I remember going to Publix with Patrick JUST to pick out the ingredients for the breakfast. We even deliberated over which juice to get. Ah, to have the luxury to worry about such incidentals! This time around I ran down to the cafeteria on campus at 9:45am praying that they were a) still serving breakfast b) had all the items I needed and c)that the plastic bag of spare change that I keep in my backpack would cover the cost. I was lucky on a, b and c. I ate my breakfast at 10:30am over a study session with my professor and then left campus at Noon for my 12:30 screening. My blood sugar was perfect (80) and my iron was low (9. It was low with Piper too).

I had a nice, quick appt with the midwife, she told me to start taking some iron supplements, felt around for the baby (still lying transverse), listened to the heart rate (140) and sent me on my merry way. As I was walking out the secretary stopped me to book me for my next appointment...in two weeks. Jigga wha? How the holy hell did that happen so fast? I can't believe that I am now going for check-ups every two weeks!

I feel like I'm having more intense Braxton-Hicks contractions now. I don't know if that is just where I am with the pregnancy or because I'm not drinking as much water or because I'm totally stressed out. Have I mentioned I'm totally stressed out? Yea, I am. All the shiznit is coming down to the wire with school and that, combined with the HUGE test that I failed (66%) has me absolutely stressed and anxiety ridden. I was calmly and sweetly told by Patrick on Sunday night that he was "semi-worried" about me because I am not handling my stress well at all and I really need to get it in check. So I'm trying. I have a gigantic exit exam on Monday and then I start my 7am-7pm clinicals and then on August 22 it is all over. Pleaseletthatdaygetheresoon!

RIP

RIP little Suzie, Vanessa & Vanessa 2.

A pitbull (!) puppy got loose in the park and got into our chicken coop and killed all 3 chickens Sunday afternoon. It happened about 30 minutes after I was outside feeding them and letting them free range a bit. Some people in the park saw it happened and flagged down our next door neighbor who ran over to tell us.

I'm sad! The chickens had really become little pets to us and were so cute to watch and hold and feed. Poor Patrick had to clean up after the event and when he got back inside the house and opened a beer he took a big sigh and announced that he was putting his foot down and that we are no longer chicken owners after this. I can't say that I blame him; that was the 2nd chicken massacre he's had to clean up after in the last 2 months (one was for our friends and that was a BAD scene) and in total he's had to take care of the disposal of 8 dead chickens.

So it was fun while it lasted and I really enjoyed having chickens. They were excellent pets to have with small kids and up until this event I have to say that having them while living in a city was really easy.

27 weeks

Okay, I really do not have much to update for this week. Uh...I feel good, the baby is kicking and moving, we still don't have a name picked out. You know, the usuals. The only thing new is that I'm starting to get FF, aka fat face. Meh, whatever. I have moments where I freak about it but mostly I'm just doing my best to keep going and eat *somewhat* healthy and if I gain more than 30 pounds then it was just inevitable.

We are in the midst of daydreaming/planning a babymoon. We have so many fun trips coming up between now and January: Denver to see Aldus(just me), Wisconsin/Michigan to visit the Bells, Seattle, Hawaii to celebrate baby #2 joining our family and Key West with the whole family (and for Sue Anne and I to get our noses pierced). Whew! How awesome is that? The traveling, not the nose piercing. We are sorta going for broke (poor card!) with the traveling since we have been studying/working like crazy and are straight up burned out (this is a gross understatement) and exhausted and just want to have a fun few days together before this baby comes. Patrick really feel in love with Seattle on a recent business trip. We have flights reserved and plans in motion for 4 days in Seattle in September when we get back from Ann Arbor. As usual I'm worried about affording the trip whereas Patrick is all "Screw it! We work hard! We deserve a fun trip just the two of us!" And he's right, we really do. So it looks like we will be headed to Seattle to tour the city, enjoy the cooler weather, sleep in (!), NOT study (!!), eat fun dinners and see if maybe this could be a place we could see ourselves living.
I'm really looking forward to time with just Patrick. As we all know, having a little family is the most wonderful thing but damn if you get any time alone with your spouse. Patrick and I can not have a conversation for longer than 4 seconds before our wee little chatterbox starts talking to us. So I am really excited about having time with just him+me and not having a little shadow at my knees talkingtalkingtalking. I think honeymoon's are so important to take and I will always remember our honeymoon as a week of pure bliss - doing absolutely nothing, just walking the beach, drinking rum and cokes and being giddy with new wedding excitement. And the same was true with our babymoon for Piper (we stayed in the Abacos, a few days after everyone left from Christmas and lounged at a little inn on Elbow Cay). Once a little one joins the family nothing is ever the same - for the better! - so I want to enjoy the time Patrick and I have before our time, and my boobs, are devoted to a new little munchkin and jetting off for a few days alone won't be as easy.

p.s. - I need more comments people!

Margaret Vain Williams

I was really honored when my mom asked me recently to write my Grandmother's obituary. It's not often you get asked to do such a thing and I hope I honored my Grandmother well through my words.

Margaret Vain Williams, 93, passed away peacefully June 16, 2011 in Livermore, CA. She was born and raised in Baltimore, MD where she married the love of her life, Dr. Charles Herman Williams and for 55 years they enjoyed an endearing and cherished love story. Together they raised their four children near the banks of the Chesapeake Bay and spent much of their free time sailing the waters and basking in the beauty of their home state. Her later years were spent in Livermore near her youngest son, Mark M. Williams and the many family members and loved ones who visited her often. “Marvelous Margaret”, as her beloved husband would call her, had an infectious positive spirit and a kind word was often the first thing spoken from her lips.

Margaret was extremely committed to the importance of education and graduated from Glen Burnie High School in Maryland and went on to graduate summa cum laude from Anne Arundel College. She was an avid supporter of volunteer work and was active at her church, St. Charles Borremo in Pikesville, MD, founder and president of the Baltimore County Medical Association, president of the Women’s Auxiliary Medical and Surgical Society of Maryland, board member of Anne Arundel County Library, established the Republican Women-Town Neck Hundred, member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary and helped establish a nursing association with the Maryland Medical Faculty.

Margaret will be lovingly remembered by her four children, Charles, David (deceased), Susan and Mark as well as her 13 grand children and 15 great grand children. She leaves her family with a proud legacy of commitment to family, love for your fellow man, importance of education and happiness in marriage. She is cherished by her family and will be greatly missed.

26 weeks

Wow, I feel like my tummy is looking pretty (pret-tay, pret-tay, pret-tay) darn big in this week's belly shot. And for Wannie, I kept my arms down so that you could see the full extent of my sway back, er..I mean you could better compare the photos.

The baby officially had hiccups this week! Today actually. It was so sweet! I was sitting at the table and felt what seemed like a few kicks, down in my lower pelvic area (like, really low. almost vagina low) and it seemed sorta rhythmic and I thought oh yea! hiccups! I had sorta forgotten that babies get them in utero. I ran to the couch and laid down and sure enough it was hiccups. Cute!

Other than that, I am just trucking along and really don't feel like I have all that much to report from this week. Next week, I have my glucose screening test and will officially be in my third trimester. WTF? How is this pregnancy going by so fast?

p.s. - I got my hair cut sometime between 24 and 25 weeks. I just looked at the pictures and you can tell. You like?