Check out the new baby album!

Hi everyone!  The pictures of my belly over the past 3 months are posted in the "new baby album" in the photo gallery section!  Anyone notice a difference?

Finally...The 2nd trimester is here!

The past week has been uneventful for the most part. The weather in Seattle has been unseasonably cool and overcast. For those of you who haven't been out here in the summer, the weather is normally just beautiful. The temp is usually warm, but not hot at around 75-85 degrees, and humidity is almost nonexistent. Oh well, maybe we will have an Indian summer this year.

Jesse is doing well. He is going to be registering for his last graduate seminar soon, and after that, it is all thesis work (which is already partially done). He is working very hard to finish, and we plan for the timing to work out perfectly for our new arrival.

Marley has recently discovered the joy of fresh catnip. She takes sooo long to eat it, but thoroughly enjoys herself, as she only leaves behind a few crumbs, and a puddle of drool. It seems to have a sedative type affect on her though. For some reason, she only makes it a few feet before plopping down to the floor onto her back for a long nap! Silly cat.

I am doing quite well, now that I have entered the 2nd trimester. Not only do I have piece of mind, but I seem to be getting more energy. My appetite is increasing as well. For the first time in my life I don't mind gaining a few pounds! I have outgrown all of my pants now, but that is OK because the elastic bands on my maternity pants are quite comfortable. And for those of you that are wondering, the pictures are on the way. It is just a matter of actually getting them off the camera and onto the website.

It has been so nice hearing from all of you that have called and written. Sometimes it is easy to forget how large of a support system we really have. I hope that all of you keep in touch regularly as time goes on. We miss all of you that are far away. Please check back soon for the pictures, and have a great week!

Our exciting day!

Today was a great day. Actually this whole weekend has been very nice. Jesse and I had a little bit of extra time off which was originally for a camping trip. Unfortunately the weather here was overcast and rainy, so we canceled the reservations and spent the weekend out and about around Seattle. Despite all of the extra R & R, Jesse and I went shopping for a maternity outfit (my pants are just too tight :), and we also saw the movie "Superbad." The movie was absolutely hilarious, and I highly recommend it to those who enjoyed the movie "knocked up." We also enjoyed dinner out and a couple of nice long naps. I think we need weekends like this once a month!

That brings us to today. Today, Jess and I had the pleasure of viewing our little baby during my second ultrasound at 11 1/2 weeks. We were able to watch the baby for about 30 minutes while various measurements and such were taken. For those of you in the generation prior to us, I understand that this technology was nearly unheard of. We feel very lucky to be experiencing all of the new and upcoming breakthroughs in science. Today we were able to see the baby's face, eyes, nose, mouth, and both arms and legs. We were able to see and count 5 fingers on each little hand, and what appeared to be 5 toes on each foot, but the baby was nearly constantly moving and crossing it's little legs!

We were also able to see quite a few of it's internal organs eg. the stomach, liver, kidneys, brain, and bladder. Every so often it would drift off to sleep until I would laugh or the ultrasound technician would wiggle my belly to wake it up. We actually saw it stretch once after being woken! We were told that it is swallowing the amniotic fluid and then urinating, and that it's sleep wake cycles are 10 minutes or less. We saw it change position from left to right and it would turn over on its belly and cross its legs. It also seemed to be pre- occupied with its face as you can see in the pictures. The heart rate today was 174 beats per minute which is normal, and its size (crown to rump) was within normal limits as well. We still do not know it's gender, but should find out in 5 weeks during the next ultrasound! Please check out the pics, as we will be posting them regularly. We hope everyone is well. Have a great week!

Welcome friends and family!

Well, this marks the beginning of our website! We will be updating our blog on a weekly basis (or so), so please check it often.  We have a lot of traveling ahead of us this summer and will post pictures when we return from our trips.  Please let us know if you have any trouble navigating our site.  We are hoping that this site will enable us to keep closer contact with our family and friends, and keep everyone informed about all of the exciting (and sometimes the not so exciting) things in our lives.  Speaking of the former, as all of you that have access to this website already know, I am currently 10 weeks pregnant!  We will be posting all of our ultrasound pictures as well as a monthly picture of my belly growth (which seems to be growing faster each day)!  We will also keep you abreast of Jesse's school happenings and other life events from week to week.  We are so happy that all of you are keeping up with us, and look forward to writing our future posts!