monday, april 29
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*update* here's a new belly photo of me at 16 weeks. quality is pretty bad this time.
today begins week 16. the baby can hear us, along with music, tv, dogs barking, etc, now. pretty exciting. at the end of this week, we will start our fifth month. which means only about 3 weeks until the sonogram!
well, keith made it through his surgery. he was so groggy, he doesn't remember the trip home at all. he was so sick to his stomach, he sat down on the bottom of our stairs outside, up to the apartment, and wouldn't move. finally i got him to head up the stairs, and he kept swaying backwards into me. i thought we were both going to take a trip down those concrete stairs! but we finally made it, and he was sweating like a pig, but he laid down and slept, and woke up a bit better. he couldn't seem to get the bleeding to stop, so finally late friday night i called his doctor, and he gave us some tips to get the bleeding to stop. if you know keith, you know that blood makes him sick... he gets queasy singing hymns like "washed in the blood of the lamb" (i'm not making this up). so all that blood in his mouth was just KILLING him. by sunday the bleeding had stopped and he could eat something. he's still taking his pain pills, but he finally got off the couch yesterday. he's doing just fine.
you know, finding a church is the hardest thing ever. we have been to 3 or 4, and i cannot find one that i like. it stinks. i don't know what i'm looking for exactly, except a good worship service and a message where i actually learn something, and we can't find that anywhere. i'm getting sick of trying to find somewhere. maybe i'm looking for somewhere just like home... probably won't find that. i think i already said it, but it stinks.
nothing else going on. trying to talk keith into letting me buy some baby stuff, but he'll have none of it. he says we have plenty of time left. which is true, but come on, how else do you pass all that time, if you're not buying things? he doesn't agree. but when betsy visits next weekend, watch out. we're going shopping! i can already feel it.
friday, april 26
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hello family and friends. today i am in a good mood, because it is friday! and i am only working a half day today because of keith's wisdom teeth surgery this afternoon. i am so happy! i am always so wiped out by the end of the week. my eyes are so droopy and heavy today! weekends can't come fast enough nowadays.
we got our shipment from ebay of baby things... most of it is really great. the lady threw in a carseat and a stroller, and the stroller is REALLY nice. the swing is one of the new ones that swings side to side instead of front to back. very cool. it was fun unloading it all and cleaning it. now it's stashed various places around our house. no wonder our neighbors moved out when they had a baby... we don't even have the baby yet, and already we're full of it's stuff! going to be cramped quarters for a while.
nothing much going on this weekend. keith will be pretty wiped out from his surgery. he has a class sunday afternoon, where they hold a mock interview, and he is graded on it. that will be fun for him, trying to talk and do an interview right after his surgery! they are really buckling down this month on getting the students prepared for applying to studios. of course, we still have no idea what we're going to do, so it's not that much help to us yet. i think april is going to come and go without us making any decisions. pressure!
p.s. here's a plug for kyle...
VOTE YES TO THE MILLAGE ON MAY 7th!
OUR CHILDREN ARE WORTH IT!
questions about the millage? click here!
wednesay, april 24
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well, i got my hotdog wish. monday night keith fired up the grill and blackened four hot dogs for me. oh my goodness, they were so awesome. so that craving is satisfied. i haven't had too many cravings, but when you get one, you just have to go for it. otherwise you will want it for days to come (i.e. the milkshake episode last week).
yesterday we took dante' to the vet. i swear, we should have insurance on that dog. we took him in because we were afraid he had a worm (it's gross, i know). but while we were there, he got his vaccines, and his rabies shot, and his nails clipped, and we found out that he had a bladder infection. so the damage was well over $100 by the time we left. he is the million dollar dog. but at least he is feeling better.
today we are getting some stuff delivered that we bought on ebay. we found a great deal that a lady in casselberry was selling - only 6 miles from our house. it includes a full-size playpen, new graco highchair, play saucer (it's the "NEW" walker - $50 at wal-mart!), a bassinet, a crib and mattress, and a battery-operated swing for $95! it was a really good deal because we saw the swing selling on ebay separately for $30, and the high chair for another $30. so the lady is dropping it off at our apartment tonight. the crib is pretty nice, but we probably will get one with a furniture set for the baby. this can be a crib for when the baby sleeps at grandma's or something (want a crib, grandma ronnie?). so that will be fun.
friday is keith's big surgery - the wisdom teeth are coming out. i know he is ready. those teeth have been plaguing him for months. always coming in and swelling up his mouth. so he will be out of commission for the weekend.
only four weeks until our sonogram! last time i was at the doctor, the nurse told me that she was sure that the placenta had adhered to one side of the uterus (the right side - she found the baby's heartbeat WAY over on the right side). now i can definitely tell. the right side of my stomach kind of sticks out, further than the left. she reassured me that it will even out shortly, but it is funny looking right now.
monday, april 22
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fun weekend! mostly spent relaxing, but saturday we went around to some different children's/maternity consignment shops. i couldn't believe the baby clothes they had! brand new things, from children's place (the expensive place in the mall) for a few dollars. i will definitely be buying some clothes there. it was fun looking at all the tiny clothes. i have a feeling i am going to go baby clothes crazy.
we went to albertson's yesterday and bought hot dogs and buns. i have been wanting a hot dog for a while now, especially for breakfast. abnormal, i know, especially for me, because i usually hate hotdogs, unless i'm camping or something. but tonight for dinner - hot dogs, finally. weird craving. so far so good on food aversions - only two that i can think of. seafood, of any kind, makes me sick. the smell, the sight, or the thought of any sort of fish or crab or seafood makes me queasy. i'm getting sick just typing about it! and southwestern chicken soup. this is an awesome soup that my parents make, that i used to make for keith because it is one of his favorites... but i ate it early in the pregnancy, and got sick, and i can't eat it anymore. yuck. hopefully that will end when the baby comes, because it is really good.
today starts week 15 for us. halfway through month 4. no major changes, except i can tell i have belly growth. i have another doctor's appointment in about 2 1/2 weeks, so i will get to hear the heartbeat again.
that's about it for now. about everything we're doing is centered somehow around the baby, so not much to report. keith is still working hard in school, still has his perfect attendance, and only 2 more months to go! i can't believe it is almost over. his graduation is july 2nd. and april is almost over - we wanted to know for certain our future plans before april was over... we're not any closer to deciding. too much pressure! but my trip home is coming up in a little under a month, and we will have visitors in just two weeks (joni, then betsy and alex). so lots coming up.
friday, april 19
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last night we ate the coolest thing for dinner. we got chinese take-out (like, not the buffet, the real deal). it came in the little chinese cartons with little metal handles. it was so fun. and today i brought the leftovers to work in one of those little cartons for lunch. it’s so big-city living.
i think tomorrow we are going to hit some local consignment shops. i found four or five that sell only maternity clothes. hopefully we can find some nice cheap clothes. we live in ritzy winter park (on the outside edges, of course), and it’s a pretty nice town. so i’m hoping some of the rich ladies took their nice maternity clothes to the consignment shops. so far i have had the best luck shopping at ross. if you hit at just the right time, they have a great clearance sale. i have bought several shirts there for $4.00. it’s crazy having to go out and buy a new wardrobe all of a sudden!
not much else going on. we are doing a lot of number-crunching, trying to figure out when and where we’ll be moving. every different option comes with its own set of advantages and problems. we read the other day that if you move to london and take dogs, they have to be quarantined for six months, so that option is out. what would we do for six months without dante’ and gabriel??
wednesday, april 17
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i think i set an all-time record last night. i was in bed asleep by 9:30PM. earliest time ever! i have never been to bed that early! it is crazy how tired i am! i am also the hiccup queen. i seem to get the hiccups constantly. i don't know what that would have to do with the baby, but it has to be something to do with being pregnant, because that never happened before! weird.
i am having the internal gender struggle (about the baby's gender, not my own). my first instinct was that it is a boy. but the longer i am pregnant, the more i think it's a girl. first of all, the heartrate is so low (136). and i am carrying very high. i didn't know it was possible to carry this high! so i wonder if my first instinct was wrong. we have so long to wait to find out! i am worrying about the baby less, though. i read that once the heartbeat is detected, chances of miscarriage drop to 3%. that settles my nerves a bit.
keith has decided that after his graduation, he is going to illinois for a few days to work at a christian music festival called cornerstone. there are so many christian bands there, and he will be working on setting up stages and equipment and stuff, so he will be able to meet a lot of them. i think he will enjoy that. he will leave either the night of his graduation (july 2), or the next day. he has been wanting to go to the festival for the last several years, so here is his big chance! that will be fun for him.
that is about all the news from orlando. everyone is fine, even dante' and gabriel!
tuesday, april 16
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i think i have kept you all up to date about what is going on in our physical lives. today i will just give you a taste of my own spiritual life. lately i have been so surrounded by the presence of God. i haven't felt this way since master's commission, where there is a constant cloud of God all around. it is such an experience. God is speaking to me these things:
to be in such a place of desperation is not a feeling that i'm familiar with. but God is moving me - the Spirit of God is changing me - making me desperate. there are things coming. changes. God is bringing change to me. to be in a place of desperation is to be in a place where God can work. it is to untie His hands. it is to unstay the oil. it is to become a living sacrifice. it is to truly set aside self and realize how incredible God is. i am falling in love with Jesus, again and again, every day fresh. i am in love with His faithfulness, and His mercy, and His person, His character. the character of God is powerful. do you know His character? it is to the character of God that i ascribe - at the same time dismayed at my own shortcomings... too many to number! God's character is that which we as christians mimic, or strive to mirror. i am convinced that we seek, and most often find, the qualities in God's character that we most admire about ourselves, as said, "i have my dad's sense of humor." God is creative, and compassionate, graceful and giving, and most of all awesome. each day as i count my blessings, i am rocked to my foundation of how God is truly God... how He comes in and moves me, and cleans house in my spirit, how He breaks me, and yet restores and rebuilds. His awesomeness will overwhelm you if you allow it to. and that is why i am desperate. to know Him, to be overwhelmed by His power. and i can feel even in my bones and marrow that there is something incredible happening within me. if you feel it too, then be ready. God is moving person to person, one on one with God, to prepare for a corporate move. this God tells me as i sit at my desk at work - His presence is not particular of place or time. i am excited to hear Him speak. i am pleased that i am anticipating His presence, and not fearful of it, as i would be if i wasn't right with Him.
i have just been overwhelmed lately with the love of God. i have been hearing His voice. it is so incredible to walk in an anointing with God. my times are few and far between; i have so much to learn and so far to go with God! i hope all of you are living blessed, as we are. we love and miss all of you!
monday, april 15
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today begins week 14 of our pregnancy. this week the baby will begin to use his/her hands, and practice inhaling and exhaling, even though there is no air in the womb. within the next two weeks or so, i will be able to feel baby's movement. i can't believe we made it this far! i spend so much time worrying about the baby, i sort of psyched myself out that it wasn't real or something. but time keeps moving along, and the baby keeps growing. and i keep getting more excited!
so far there are not too many things that i am unable to do because of my size. i think you can tell i am pregnant by looking at me, but i am still quite small (well, the belly part anyway). however, the one thing my doctor tells me is to not bend at the waist. it is bad for the baby, and i feel pain when i do bend at the waist. so whenever i drop things, which i do a lot (like my hair pick in the toilet), or need a pot or pan from the bottom cabinets, keith is recruited to help out. well, last night i decided i needed to touch up my toenail polish. of course, how do you get to your toes without bending at the waist? so i somehow talked him into helping me, and don't ever mention it to him, but last night he painted my toenails for me. what a trooper. he was mortified. but he did quite a nice job. he is such a nice guy.
we made an appointment on april 26th for keith to get all of his wisdom teeth cut out. i am going to take a half day off so that i can be around to drive him to his appointment and take him home. he will be heavily sedated. so that's something to look forward to. actually, i think it is a relief for him, because they are constantly growing and giving him headaches and pain. so this has been a long time coming.
not much else going on. we are still working on our future plans, narrowing down our options a bit. keith went last week to meet with his advisor, the man who will help him with job placement. the advisor gave us some very surprising and unexpected news, so even more doors have opened up for us. sometimes i have mental breakdowns over the whole deal. it is a lot to think about! before it was just keith and i, so if we screwed up, it wasn't such a big deal. but now there is going to be another little person who has to face the consequences of our decisions. so now our priorities are different. anyway, we are slowly working things out. we are really planning on deciding by the end of april. i hope!!
tuesday, april 9
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wow, do i feel better today. i mean, WOW. i feel about 3 million times better than yesterday. i tried to stick it out at work yesterday, and made it almost the whole day. i went home about an hour early. i just went home and crashed in the bed! last night keith made a roast, potatos, carrots, onions, gravy, the whole deal for dinner. i kept some of that down, but i was still sick at bedtime. then i woke up this morning just famished, and feeling so much better. i don't think that was morning sickness yesterday. i think i must have had a little virus or something. today i am back to normal (which is ravished with hunger). and i got to eat some more of the roast for lunch, so that was nice. keith is a good cook, usually. he used to be really good when he cooked at duffer's. but for the last 2 and 1/2 years, i have been doing all the cooking, so now he's a bit more bumbly in the kitchen. but he only burns things SOME of the time. last night he did great.
the vending machine at work today had a special treat in it - chocolate milano cookies! i rarely hit the vending machines, but i didn't bring enough breakfast today, thinking i would still feel sick. so i ventured downstairs to the machines, and the best-ever cookies were there! i got a little package. i think the baby will be a chocolate-aholic like its mother. although i have been incredibly good since i've been pregnant. so much fruit! and juice! keith pours fruit juice down me all the time. i am about juiced out. i now hate every juice. actually, i liked orange juice until yesterday, but you know how that went... so no more juice!
keith started his new class today. i think this one is the resume class. this should be the month where he starts applying to different studios. the problem is that we have absolutely no direction as to where we should go. we are praying that by the end of april, we will know something for sure. it is getting too close to the wire to still not know! but God brought us here, that much we are sure of, so He is working something out for us (just keep telling yourself that, robyn). no panic!
well - it looks like may is going to be a fun month for us. joni will be visiting that first week, and we will get to see her. then betsy and alex are flying in the second week, and are going to stay with us for 4 days. then the third week i will be flying home for 4 days. then when i get back, we will be having our sonogram to find out the gender of the baby. busy busy! all fun stuff. if only april would hurry up and get over!
monday, april 8
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sick, sick, sick. today i am sick! the last week or so has been morning sickness hades! i have felt so awful. i feel bad for the lady that sits behind me at work; she keeps hearing me throwing up in my trash can (not to gross anyone out). so today i am not feeling so hot. i am also having trouble sleeping, because i can no longer sleep on my back. the weight of the baby pushes on a major artery, which could kill me and/or the baby. so i am trying to learn to sleep on my side, but it is really difficult! i wake up every few hours to find that i have turned onto my back in my sleep, and various appendages will be completely numb. so sleep is off and on. other than that, i am feeling really good. i am excited about going to the doctor this week. we are going to hear the heartbeat on thursday. i am hoping that this will give us a clue of what the gender is - the higher the heartrate, the more likely it's a boy, and vice versa. i am also excited about keith coming to the appointment. this will be his first time to come with.
well, we made it back from key west late thursday night. what a trip! we really had a great time. we spent a lot of time just relaxing by the pool at our bed and breakfast. the weather was great. key west is so historic - we walked around and saw all of the old homes and beautiful architecture. we got to see the hemingway house and the truman white house, and a lot of other neat stuff. we ate at some nice places. and we took our snorkel trip. i have to say, this was what i was most looking forward to. however, it didn't turn out that well for me. i have been on the ocean before and not gotten sick, but this time - watch out. i was so sick. we had an hour in the water to snorkel, but i didn't make it. as soon as we hit dry land again, i was fine, but being on the ocean made me completely ill. the water was beautiful, though, and we saw the coral reef and lots of fish. keith didn't get sick, and really enjoyed it. so we had a great time.
friday we took the dogs to the dog park, since we were both still off work/school. there were a few other dogs there, but dante' and gabe mostly wanted to play with each other. gabriel was completely anti-social, and spent the entire morning sniffing trees and chasing squirrels. then when he would see dante' again after a while of being apart, he would run to him and dance around, all excited, then back to sniffing. dante' only really played with a little black puppy and a yorkie. he wasn't interested in playing with the big dogs. he is too used to little gabriel, i guess. but it was really interesting to see them interact. we spent the rest of the weekend resting, doing laundry, and we went to the same church again sunday. and today is back to work!
