Pregnancy News

So I had my first stranger touch my belly today. Talk about weird. I ran into Chili's in Ankeny after work to purchase a gift card for my brother-in-law's b-day. As I was walking out, the hostess just reached out and rubbed my belly. She totally caught me off-guard...so I just kind of smiled and walked out. But talk about weird...what possesses people to do that? I have had co-workers ASK me if they could touch...and I say yes. But at least I know them.

Other pregnancy news - hmmm, well....guess there's not much to report. Starting to look more at baby stuff at the stores when I go shopping. Trying to figure out just what we need and don't need. The baby is really active and moving around lots. It's a pleasant feeling now - since the babe isn't too big yet and the kicking isn't painful! I really am enjoying when that happens. And in food craving news, Haribo Gummy Bears are my favorite thing right now. I usually have to eat one serving (20 gummy bears) a day! I figure that's better than one whole bag, right?

Max's B-day

For those of you who do not know my nephew Max....well, he's a Lego freak! The kid LOVES to build things - with his preferred building material being Legos. For his 9th b-day this weekend, all he really wanted was the Lego City Airport. G'ma and I went together on this gift. He told his mom he would be really upset if he didn't get it. So we had an early b-day dinner for him Friday so he could open it. Otherwise, he may have been disappointed when he opened his parent's gifts....and there was no Lego Airport. As you can see below, he was thrilled with his gift!Below is Mollie putting together the puzzle she picked out for Max for his b-day present from her. He was too engrossed with his Legos to really fight her about putting his new puzzle together.
And this is a bump comparison between me and Noah....with me at 24 weeks. Even with our 50 pound weight difference, my belly is definitely bigger than his!

24 Weeks

We had a midwife appointment yesterday. Since getting the scale is my favorite thing to do (not), I made Noah also get on. We're exaclty 50 pounds apart right now. Noah said he's happy to gain with me - bring on the beer! But the nurse said his weight may be harder to take off come Jan. 17. Ha!

When the midwife was listening to the heartbeat with the doppler, she thought she heard a dropped or extra beat.....which she said is quite common. But to be on the safe side, we got an ultrasound. Another chance to check out the little one. The photo above is of his/her face...and hands. The ultrasound tech didn't detect any irregularities with the heartbeat...so I think all is fine.

Next appointment is the 28 week one where I get to have the glucose test, more blood work and the Rhogam shot. Fun! Wonder if Noah can also get some needle work....

22 Weeks & Jalapeno Burn

We are now 22 weeks along. I've been feeling the baby move now on a daily basis so that's been exciting. It's nothing Noah can feel yet with his hand on my stomach, but it's still fun knowing the baby is active. Today, Mollie helped me put all the baby gifts/clothes we have received so far away. We cut tags off, and she helped me organize (still will need to wash everything, though).

In other news, I learned a very good lesson this week. Russ and I were making salsa...and this was my first time helping him. (Russ makes the BEST salsa.) I was helping chop stuff up and decided to de-seed the jalapenos....with my hands. I guess I always knew that you shouldn't touch your eye or something on your face after working with the peppers...but it did not occur to me you could literally burn you hands! So an hour after the de-seeding, my hands started feeling weird. And throughout the night, they just got progressively worse. The only relief I could find was putting my hands in cold water. Noah looked on the internet to see what I could do - and we tried everything we could....rubbing alcohol, vinegar, tomatoe juice, etc. Nothing worked. So because my hands were on fire, I couldn't get to sleep. The only solution I could think of (since sleeping with my hands in a bowl of water just wouldn't work) was to sleep holding two cold cans of diet coke! And that worked! I woke up at 1 a.m. and the cans were warm, hands still on fire, so I got two new cold cans. When I woke up for work the next morning, my hands were better.

Talk about learning the hard way!

Orchard Season

Most of you know - but for those of you who don't - my sister and I work at our friend Steve's apple orchard (Center Grove Orchard) in the fall. Steve's family and our family are long time friends, so it's fun for us to help Steve with his business...which is way more than just an apple orchard. Over the years, Steve has grown the business into a fall family attraction that people travel to from all over. Amy and I primarily help in the store, and LOVE to give Steve our great ideas, which he usually welcomes...and then tells us to go do them since he doesn't have time.

For those of you in the area looking for something fun to do, come check out the orchard. Visit the website at http://www.centergroveorchard.com/ to see all the fun stuff to do, experience and buy!

Below are some photos from the orchard last weekend. Steve, sampling the Golden Supreme apples to make sure they are just perfect. When ripened to perfection, the Golden Supreme's will actually have a hint of raspberry flavor. Neat, huh? I'm learning LOTS about apples. Below is me bagging the Golden Supremes....and a snapshot of the fudge counter. Steve sells homemade fudge, and has over 20 flavors. It's yummy....and hard to resist for a pregnant girl - and Noah too. Everytime he's in the orchard store, he usually snags a hunk of fudge...much to Steve's dismay.

For those who don't know....Steve and Noah became friends in college. When Noah came back to the central Iowa area after working in Oklahoma, he started working for Steve. Steve then got him hooked up with my dad - and that's how I met him. The rest is history! Thanks Steve!

Long Weekend

We devoted a lot of time over the weekend to some house work. With harvest quickly approaching, and me working at my friend's apple orchard this fall, time was going to fly by this fall. So we decided it was now - or November - to get some work done. First up - the baby's room. The nursery needed a new ceiling, so we had that done professionally, and this weekend we painted it - and then painted the walls. Since we had all the painting supplies out - we decided to also paint the spare bedroom. We live in a 110 year old farm house which has it's originally 6 inch white trim. So we decided on a nice neutral khaki (boring, I know). But it turned out great.

Once the painting was done, we shampooed our carpets and moved in the baby furniture - which my sister is so graciously "loaning" us. It's from her two kids...and was being stored at her house. Now it has a home with us. In the process of moving the furniture in, which Amy and Noah did, Max and Mollie were playing with this stretching toy thing. Well, they liked to twist it up and watch it unwind. This particular time, it started unwinding a little too close to Mollie's hair - and whoops, it got all twisted up in her hair. Guess I'm kind of a bad aunt for not watching them more closely. But Amy and I had to do some delicate "surgery" to remove it. Noah's solution - as you can see below - was to cut her hair off and then tape it back on. Mollie didn't think that was very funny!

In between coats of paint, and carpets drying, we did find some time to relax in the pool at Amy's since it was dang hot this weekend!

20 Weeks

It's been a while....but we've progressed now to 20 weeks. With that milestone came an ultrasound and midwife appointment! The ultrasound was Friday - and all looks great. All organs and physical features are normal, baby's weight is on target and we even found out the sex. You ready to know too? Sorry, too bad. Noah won't let me tell anyone! Fun hater. We'll see how long I can keep the secret! Below are a couple photos from the ultrasound - a foot and profile - and also me at 20 weeks (getting big!). And last - Noah - diligently writing in our baby journal (thanks Julie & Alissa!).