3D Ultrasound and Stuff

January 23rd, 2007 by Mollie

Here is what everyone’s been waiting for– our second (and more detailed) look at Natalie. We had our 3D/4D ultrasound today and got a few pics of her cute little face! Most of the time however, she had both hands covering her face and then started turning away from the camera. Maybe she was sleepy, she kept yawning! (It was fun to watch.) The doctor was kind enough to do the 3D for free for us since we didn’t get to see her face all that much though. 🙂 Natalie is head down now, too, so that’s good news.

I was just looking at my baby book and it turns out my parents did an ultrasound with me at this exact same time (1/17/1985, at about 31 weeks) and I weighed 5 pounds at that point– the exact same weight the doctor said Natalie was today! Cool coincidence.

Here are the pictures. Who do you think she looks like? I wish I had some of my baby pictures scanned onto the computer. I think she will look like me. Oh yeah, and she has hair, we just didn’t get a picture of it. It was visible on the 2D ultrasound.

From the outside:

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On the inside:
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ps-  I have a Myspace now so add me if you do too. 🙂

The Aftermath…

January 9th, 2007 by Toad

So, last night was the first of Natalie’s baby showers (to which she politely sent her mother so she could be in attendance). I came home for lunch this afternoon, and lo, the house is full of babythings. Now, we’ve had a lot of babystuff around the house for a while: the changing table on the bedroom wall next to the exersaucer, and she’s had more clothes than I do for quite a while. 😉 Now, though, we are surrounded on all sides by Natalie paraphernalia. There’s a 20′ clothesline strung around half the living room with outfits pinned up every several inches, new pillows, blankets, and baskets, and many bags of assorted babythings all around.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m nothing but thankful to have this stuff, and to the people who gave it to us. It’s just something of a unique feeling to see the house filling up with stuff for your first child, and I thought I’d mention it here. 🙂

(Natalie countdown: T-73 days and counting)

22 weeks, 18 to go…

November 17th, 2006 by Mollie

As requested… 🙂

Just after we found out, about 4 weeks along:

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And now….
4.5 months and 17 pounds (!!!) later:

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My belly button has turned completely inside out, which is… different.  I don’t mind if people touch my belly but NOT my belly button, it feels too weird.

Natalie has been on a growth spurt this past week.  I can tell because:

1)  I have an insatiable appetite and the ability to eat huge amounts of food without getting full,

2)  I can feel Natalie moving around a lot stronger this week, including very distinct kicks and punches.

Last night Andy felt her kick for the first time!  So she really is getting bigger.  She should  weigh about a pound now.

IMG_1019.JPG  <--- Natalie love

A Shout Out

November 15th, 2006 by Toad

Today, as the calendar tells me, it is November 15th. This is a momentous occasion, for on this day, eighteen years ago, I gained not one sister, but two sisters, at the same time.

Happy birthday Ali & Joj!

Alison & Joanna

The Haps

October 28th, 2006 by Toad

So, I’ve been absent for a while, in part because I’ve been trying to stock up on things to say. 😉  However, just when I’d get something cool, Mollie would say it!  Such a good little blogger. 🙂

Today, I went to Pomona to take the Engineer in Training exam, along with 2,000 – 5,000 other people.  The directions are all very clear: things like “OMGWTF, GET HERE RIGHT AT 7:00 OR WE WILL STEAL YOUR FIRSTBORN” and “LEAVE TIME FOR PARKING OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL.”  I didn’t like either of those ideas, so I was sure to be ready to park at 6:25.  What they DIDN’T tell me was that parking would take every one of those 35 minutes I left myself, so when I did park, I was still power-walking for the door.  When I got there, however, I discovered that my effort was all for getting at the back of a 5-row line some 400 feet long, STACKED with people slowly filing in the door.

The actual test took place in a massive barn-like building at the fairgrounds of the Pomona Fairplex (one of three buildings there that the NCEES rented for the occasion).  We were instructed where to sit and what we could have with us, which was virtually nothing (we had to leave all our “forbidden devices” on a table by the door), when to go to the restroom or leave the building, the whole nine yards.  Somehow, all some-hundred proctors they had were from the “overweight, old, mean people’s society,” and the “head proctor” was nice and condescending, to boot.  Yet, for all their strict rules, they were severely lacking in actual punctuality.  The test did not start “EXACTLY AT 8:00 AM”, but at 8:31, and the afternoon session didn’t start until 2:11 PM, meaning I didn’t actually get out until around 6 (I finished early).

The nice thing about the experience, though, was that I got to enjoy two nice long car ride on our lovely LA freeways in our need Mazda 3.  Mollie told you it was nice, and new, and I’m hear to tell you that it owns.  The car is amazingly quiet on the freeway, and handles the (many) irregularities in the road surface with exquisite grace.  Also, I had almost forgotten how much better it is driving a manual than an automatic… this car makes me happy. 😉

Not that I would know at all, but I have a suspicion that the new car might be able to make 0-60 in 7-8 seconds, and top 95 in fourth gear.  Maybe someday someone I don’t know at all will find a long, empty stretch of highway and see where it maxes out… 😛