sunday, june 30 entry hmm, i had to take off one of my [100Things]. i had written that i had naturally straight teeth, but keith informed me that my teeth aren't straight. i've been living a lie. i think they are uncommonly straight for teeth that have never had any orthodontic work on them... but i guess they are average. today is one year *offically* that we have been florida residents. wow, where did the time go? we are sitting around today waiting for laura to arrive. her brother johnny and his family are accompanying her. johnny is a lot of fun to hang out with, so i am expecting a good time. they are arriving tonight about 8PM EDT. they called this morning from pensacola - they have had quite a drive! we spent most of today cleaning. the plan was to finish all the cleaning last night, but we had a mondo-thunderstorm yesterday afternoon and our power was out for several hours in the afternoon/early evening. so we sat in the bedroom, the only room with natural light, and sweated to death (no AC in florida, not any fun). so no lights, no vaccum, no cleaning. florida power is the worst thing in the world, aside from adelphia cable. eventually we got our AC and lights back. but we had to finish cleaning today. last night we did overhaul on the dogs - we bought new toothbrushes and brushed their teeth. they were miserable. then we brushed and bathed them. they smell fabulous, but they were both pretty mad by the time we were done with them. they have to be clean, though, because they are going with us to nashville. i can't believe we are braving it, but i think they will have fun. we are going to take them to the fourth of july fireworks show (which hopefully is in a nice park somewhere - we don't really know yet). they will love that. nothing new with the baby. we are fixing to start week 25. he is just growing away, moving around. we still haven't decided on his full name yet, which is starting to bother me, but at least we have his first name. we have taken to calling him owen now, instead of 'baby' - so hopefully he is getting used to his name and our voices. we bought a cool frame for his ultrasounds, so that they don't get all wrinkled. i hover between "i can't believe how close we are to having him!" and "another four months?! who can wait that long?" i have to confess that i satisfied my craving for coke. in a big way. actually, i had a vanilla coke, not just a regular coke. i am crazy for those things! they are so good. i also bought some milano cookies for our trip, but all in moderation, right? so we are holding onto those. i am off now to finish up some last-minute house straightening. we are expecting laura within the hour. friday, june 28 entry *i have added a link to the sidebar called [100Things]. it is, as you can guess, 100 things about me. seems to be the new thing to do for web journalers, so i jumped on the bandwagon. i never knew i could chronicle a hundred things about myself. you should try it sometime; it was kind of fun.* last night was a baby breakthrough! keith finally felt the baby move. i have been able to feel it for a while, but keith doesn't really have the patience to sit still for the length of time it takes to feel a tiny movement. but finally last night he felt a little kick, and then another right after that. good job, owen! it seems that he moves more when i am talking, like maybe he responds to my voice. so i was talking to him, trying to get him to kick his daddy, and then he did. i really expected going into this pregnancy to have some huge food cravings. i mean, you hear about husbands having to make midnight runs to taco bell or something, but i really haven't had too many. i had a hotdog craving for a while, and a BLT craving, but that's about it. so my new one is taking me by surprise - coke. i could drink a million 2-liters! i so rarely drink coke. the last time i did was my birthday, and before that, it was when i was home to visit, and i slugged down the last of stephen's coke before we left applebee's. wait, that's not true, keith and i had a vanilla coke the other night. it's just so bad for you! why can't i crave raw vegetables or salad or something? so far i am doing really good at not drinking sodas, so i will try to continue. we will see how long i can hold out. water just doesn't do it for me. i have to work again tomorrow. only three hours. this is my second weekend in a row to work. i am tired of it! after work i am going straight home to clean. we want a nice sparkly-clean house for laura and company. i should be adequately worn out by tomorrow night. getting to sleep isn't a problem for me. staying asleep, that's more difficult between not being able to sleep on my back and thirteen million trips to the bathroom every night. i am managing, though. i have actually had a really good week. feeling just fine! and i am really looking forward to our nashville trip. i also have a small sense of accomplishment because i got keith's graduation gift. i couldn't think of anything, and then i had a good idea, so it's all finished (i can't say what it is, because he might see, and it's still a secret). i can't believe he only has two more days! and then he will be an *official* graduate! thursday, june 27 entry here is the belly shot i promised. it was taken 06/25/2002 at 24 weeks. i also included a picture of a rainbow. the picture isn't the most clear, but after two weeks of rain, this huge rainbow over our apartment was so beautiful! it was a huge arc in the sky. God's promise! wednesday, june 26 entry rain, rain, rain! i can't belive all the rain we are getting! it has rained here all day long, every day straight since two saturdays ago! seriously. everything is flooding, and sinkholes are eating everything. i don't mind the rain, because it keeps the heat away, but it is strange to see so much rain. keith is taking a test today. only three more days of school for him, counting today. i can't believe he is so close to finishing. he has been studying hard for this last class. in fact, he has been studying hard for the last year. i think now is a good time for me to trumpet his achievements. he doesn't read the webpage, so it's not for his benefit, it's just all true! he is a hard worker, and has busted his behind all year for straight As and perfect attendance. besides his massive load of schoolwork, he cleans the house while i'm gone during the day, walks the dogs, pretty much takes care of the homefront. he works on our cars all the time - in fact, he spent about four hours yesterday fixing my car. he can fix about anything. he knows so much stuff about music, he is so talented. he has an incredible work ethic, he's a Godly man, he is compassionate and kind, and he's very funny. i can't believe how awesome he is. he has been even more awesome during our pregnancy. i am really blessed. speaking of the pregnancy, i am starting to get more of a timetable of owen's movements. every night at 9PM, he is up and going. pretty much on the money, 9PM. during the day he is up and down at various times, but at night, he's up for about two hours, and by then i am usually asleep. i wonder if he will keep the same sleep patterns after he is born. i am pretty sure that i read somewhere that he will. seems like now he is nocturnal - spends the days sleeping and the nights taking care of business, whatever he does in there. hopefully he will get his schedule switched, so that i don't have to switch mine! we took a new belly picture yesterday - much better than the last one. i will post it tonight. only a few more days until laura and crew arrive. they will get in this sunday. i am looking forward to it. we had a really good time on her last trip here, back in october. it will be nice to see some family once again. and then i only have to work one day next week before we are outta here! well, for a week anyway. monday, june 24 entry i can't believe it, but i got keith to go shopping with me again this weekend. that is three weekends in a row! what a great husband. we went to the mall, and to a baby consignment store, and to motherhood, a maternity clothing store. i spent my birthday money, some on myself and some on the baby. we got some of the cutest baby clothes for him. a couple pairs of cargo pants, khaki and navy, a pair of overalls, several golf shirts, some super cool stuff. i'm getting so excited! we are 12 weeks away from full-term, and 16 weeks away from our due date. time sure is flying. we are starting week 24 today, which means we finishing up month 6. i am getting the stretch marks now; i officially have two. and feeling a lot more movement from the little one. i can't believe how close we're getting - before you know it, he'll be here! keith is off most of today, doesn't have class until 9PM tonight, so he is spending the day working on my car. poor guy, working on cars is about all he does nowadays. he had to go get some part from a junkyard or something this morning, and then he was going to jump in and try to get it fixed. we're so lucky that he knows how to fix all these things that go wrong, because we would be drained if we had to go to a mechanic each time! we went to the same church again yesterday. i am really impressed by their follow-up. we have received two notes in the mail, and two emails. one of the emails was from another couple in the church who is expecting a baby just after us. i guess they get someone kind of like you to contact you, give you someone to relate to. pretty good idea. i enjoyed it sunday. we haven't braved a wednesday night service yet, mostly because keith has class every wednesday night at 9PM, and we're not sure we'd be back in time. but we may try it in the next few weeks when we get back from nashville. i did fix the ultrasound pictures, so if you couldn't load them before, you should be able to now. it may take about 11 seconds to load them, but they were taking like 10 minutes, so if you want to see them, they're available. friday, june 21 entry *family spotlight page updated* *also - i have finally overcome my stupidity and figured out how to fix the ultrasound pictures. if you had trouble viewing them before (they were huge, i know), try now. it's much better, i promise* what an eventful night we had last night. keith and i went out for my birthday dinner (a day early). we went to houston’s, a premiere steakhouse in winter park. i had the biggest steak – 16 ounces of new york strip heaven (plenty left over to doggie bag). the restaurant is so nice; it sits on a big lake, and the back wall is glass. so we got to get all dressed up and go out to a nice dinner, and then we went to the winter park village. the village is a little conglomeration of shops, high end restaurants, and a movie theatre. we walked around and went to the marble slab creamery, only the best ice cream place in the world. we shared an ice cream, and then headed home. i had a wonderful time. we don’t go out much, so it’s a real treat when we do. and a date with my husband is the best present! it's not too often we spend that much time together. i loved it. but – on the way home, my car died. keith managed to get it into a dry cleaner’s parking lot, but the power steering was completely out, and the car was smoking and overheating. so he popped the hood and took a look – thought he knew how to fix it. we hoofed it across a six-lane highway to a used car dealership, and asked for the wrench keith needed. they didn’t have one, but they let us use their phone. so we called one of keith’s friends from school, our very nice neighbor, who came all that way and picked us up. he brought keith the tool he needed, but we still couldn’t get the car to run. by this time, i was getting panicky because keith had a 9:00PM class, and it was after 8 already! so our neighbor took us home, i dropped keith off immediately at his class, then i went and waited for 40 minutes for the tow truck. so the car is home now, dead in it’s parking spot. here is the weird thing – we just got keith’s car fixed wednesday, and thursday mine breaks down! we can’t seem to get both of them working at the same time. i am sick of old cars. but all is well, the car is home, and i had a fabulous birthday dinner. and, keith still has his perfect attendance. another weird story, we got up a few mornings ago, and our front door was open. not locked or anything, just standing open a few inches. kind of spooky, but nothing was missing and we never heard anything during the night. don’t know what happened there. no big plans for the weekend. i will be working on saturday to make up some hours for our trip to nashville, coming up in a couple of weeks. i am hoping to drag keith to some baby stores on saturday, but we will see. he has been shopping with me the last two weekends, so he may need a break. of course, if it’s for the baby, he’s more excited about it. so i may be able to talk him into it. ps. i'm updating the family spotlight today, so check back! wednesday, june 19 entry today is a fun day. we are having our monthly birthday party at work, and this month is only kathy’s and mine (kathy is my work friend). we’re the only two! and they bought this huge carrot cake with our names on it. it is almost my birthday! i always love my birthday. it is in such a good month. june is one of the best months. i am still young enough to get excited about birthdays, i guess. i don’t know what keith is doing for my birthday. we balanced the checkbook last night, and judging from the balance, i’m guessing not much. we will probably go out for dinner, but he has a class the night of my actual birthday. so i don’t know. i have really been wanting a steak, so maybe that will be a good birthday present, a big steak dinner! last night i spoke on the phone for a long time with a loan counselor in nashville. everything is so confusing, all the percentages and numbers and different kinds of loans. i can’t comprehend it all. we haven’t decided anything yet, i guess, not even on buying a house right away. everything is up in the air, as usual. living on the edge, i call it. you never know where you’re going to live tomorrow. some say it makes life exciting; i say it’s giving me ulcers. keith’s on the downhill slope now, only a few days left of school. he took his midterm for his last class yesterday, and did great of course. he’s ready to move on. this last class isn’t as fun as some of the others. he is doing post-production, which as far as i know is putting the sound effects and voices in a movie after the video is already done. they are doing voice-overs to the movie ‘spaceballs,’ and inserting different sounds – for instance, if an actor’s jacket rubs against something, then they have to record the sound of a jacket rubbing, and insert it into the film. i guess it’s tedious work – they do about 30 seconds of film in each 4 hour lab. he’s not loving it. but he’s got less than 2 weeks left, so it’s bearable. everything is going just fine with the little one. i’m feeling much better this week as far as being exhausted goes. last week was such a nightmare. the bigger he gets, the more sore i get in terms of stuff stretching around and moving, but at least i can keep my eyes open at work. last night i was really quite sore, i think from stretching ligaments, so i parked it on the couch and watched “american idol” on fox. what a show. i’m hooked. i had to record “the mole” because it was on at the same time, and i have to watch “the mole.” it is probably my favorite reality show. i could so do that. i tried to apply for it last season, but i never got all the papers together. man, i could do that! monday, june 17 entry talk about reality check! last night keith and i were watching maternity ward on TLC, and there was a lady who gave birth to twins that were about the same gestational age as our baby is now. i couldn’t believe it. they were so big! i didn’t really grasp how big our little guy is already until i saw those twins. he’s so much an actual little baby! i’m so excited. i have never been so excited about anything in my entire life. sometimes i can’t even sleep, i just lay there and think about how exciting, and how much work, it’s all going to be. today begins week 23 for us. we are six and a half months along. seems like so long to wait to hold him! but it’s worth the wait – we don’t want to meet him too soon, because he’s still got a while more to bake. i decided i was right about my suspicion that last week was a growth spurt for the baby. all weekend i felt him moving, more than ever before. about 9PM each night, he’d start up with the kicking. not little flutters, but actual kicks. in fact, i felt him on the outside of my stomach, which i have never felt before. but he would stop moving every time keith would try to feel him! naturally. so i was bummed about that, but if he keeps moving like he was this weekend, then keith will have ample opportunity to feel him doing his happy dance in there. it’s such a cool deal. pregnancy is so neat. i have been so blessed – what an uneventful, fun time. no sickness, no complications, just a healthy little guy and me feeling pretty great. friday i had my first set of braxton hicks contractions. just little practice contractions, but it was still odd. i decided i better do plenty of research to make sure that was exactly what i was feeling, and it was. i read so much about them. just harmless little contractions, kind of like a warm-up for the big event. they made me a bit sick at my stomach, but they weren’t painful. we went to a different church yesterday. let me say this – since we have been in florida, we have visited several churches, congregations ranging from under 100 to over 5,000. and each and every single one we have been to makes me realize just a little more how awesome my mom is at leading worship. most churches have no flow. even the churches with the huge orchestras and choirs aren’t that great. so kudos, mom, on a job done wonderfully. i miss it. but the church we visited yesterday was my favorite of all the ones we’ve been to. it was small, probably just over 100 in attendance, but the people were friendly. it is the first church that we have visited where people have spoken to us, imagine that. we’ll be going back next week for another round. another weekend over!
sunday, june 16 entry happy father's day, dad! and even though it isn't official yet, a happy father's-to-be day to my wonderful husband. this time next year he will be a father to an 8-month old boy! hard to imagine. but wonderful to imagine! friday, june 14 (YAY!) entry i am convinced that my body temperature runs at about 110 degrees nowadays. i am so hot! especially at work – it’s the worst. the air is on 65 degrees, and i am sweating. at home at least i can turn on the ceiling fan and lay right under it. most nights i freeze keith out. when i wake up in the morning, he is huddled under the comforter, and i am laying on top of it! it’s all a normal part of the process, though. i have had a hard, long week this week. exhausted would be the word for me. my doctor has told me that when the baby has growth spurts, i will get more tired than usual. that must be what is going on this week, because i am like a zombie. i can tell he’s growing, too, especially when i lay down, because i can feel his weight moving around. he’s getting bigger! and the bigger the better, because that means he is healthy. i’ve been in contact with several realtors in nashville recently. we are starting to set up some appointments to look at houses while we are there in the next couple of weeks. i am excited about seeing the area. i have spoken with several realtors, asking them when we need to buy a house to have it closed and ready by november. they tell me if we sign a contract now, it will be ready to close by late october. i can’t believe it takes so long to work out the details, but i guess with all the paperwork and legal documents and loan stuff, it just takes a while. so we may find something great while we’re there that five days, or we may not. the weather here is in the mid-90s every day, and the air is thick with humidity. and to think, it hasn’t even gotten hot yet– it’s only june! july and august are the real cookers. it makes walking the dogs a miserable task. we walked them only halfway around the circle last night, and i was hot and unhappy by the time we got back to the apartment. no wonder our electric bill is so high – our AC pretty much never shuts off. a lot of people live here for the nice winters, but it’s not worth the hot and humid summers. i’ll take four seasons any day of the week, thank you very much. wednesday, june 12 entry yesterday we got an unexpected blessing - a check from keith's oral surgeon who took out his wisdom teeth. we had to pay something like $120 as a co-pay for the $1000+ surgery, and for some reason, they sent the money back to us as an over-pay! looks like our insurance stepped in and paid more than we thought. it was a real blessing, because now we can get an alternator for keith's car! it has been down and out for several weeks now. it's not that bad having only one car, but i feel bad for keith having to walk to class, over a mile each way, in the florida heat. so he is going to buy the alternator and get the car fixed sometime really soon. don't you love those unexpected blessings? still nothing new with the little one. we have 19 weeks left until our due date, which means technically in 14 weeks we will be full-term and he can come at any time. the countdown's getting lower! no other news. a few big things coming up for us - of course, my birthday on the 21st (i'll be 23, can you believe it?), then laura will arrive with other members of keith's family on june 30. next is keith's graduation on july 02, and my next ob appointment that same day, and finally our trip to nashville. sounds like fun! tuesday, june 11 entry well, good news. keith got his attendance fixed. what a drama! you'd think he was trying to move a mountain, which is about what it takes to get any help from his school! they drive me nuts. never bothering to call back or meet with you or be any help at all. except his placement lady, who has been really good so far. she is the one who made "the call" to get his attendance fixed. so that was nice of her. while i was home visiting last month, kyle coined a phrase that i am beginning to use more and more - cankles. i told him that my ankles were swollen as big as my calves, and he said, "cankles!" and he was right. my ankles have melted into the rest of my leg. yesterday when i got home from work my feet looked like marshmallows. they don't hurt necessarily, but they are definitely swollen. after dinner i usually hit the couch and get them elevated so that i can fit into my shoes for work the next day. pretty crazy. nothing new with the little one. he's doing just fine, as far as i know. i feel great - exhausted, but that's not too bad. i'll take exhausted over sick. i have fallen in love with my bed. everytime i lay down, i am so happy that i smile. keith took his first test in his new class yesterday. the instructor is really awful; he doesn't teach, but expects them to learn by reading some terrible manual he wrote. he told them that the average on the test was a 73. keith studied like crazy and got a 96! a high A. i was so proud. he works like crazy at his schoolwork. he is still doing great, but i think he is ready to graduate. he is excited about getting a "real" job. i updated the family spotlight page. check it out. and if you received the survey and don't mind filling it out, send it back to me. i need more material! saturday, june 08 entry *update* check out this week's family spotlight, with my dad. we had a fun day today. we did some running around - i had to return a maternity shirt to babies'r'us, and we hit the mall for some browsing. keith picked up a pair of flip-flops, desperately needed, at the gap. we looked through baby gap, gymboree, all the various baby clothing stores to get an idea of what we want to buy for the baby. we hit a fantastic sale at the children's place, and picked up a jean jacket with matching button up plaid shirt and a one-piece polo striped outfit. very cool. we got all three items on sale for a few dollars each. i was really excited - our first boy clothes! and stylin' ones, at that. nothing too cutsie for our son, he will be a super-cool surfer-dude rock-musician baby. i have already begun the search for the perfect homecoming outfit. i want to find the exact one to bring him home in. this could take a while, but it will speak to me when i find it. we have plans to return to the same church tomorrow that we visited last week. we will see, that is all i can say. i am resistant to change, apparently, and after many, many years at the church in bentonville, i am in a desperate struggle to find something remotely similar. not finding anything is wearing me out. i am disappointed, to say the least, in each church we've visited. and the search continues... friday, june 07 entry today was our regular monthly checkup. everything seems to be just fine. the doctor is really pleased with my weight gain - 13 pounds total. not too bad, but when you consider that the baby only weighs 1 pound, it makes me nervous! the doctor told me, and i've read this in books, that i've gained at least a pound if not more of blood volume, plus my uterus and placenta add a couple of pounds. so it's not just a bunch of fat sitting around, but still, we will try to gain less this next month. i heard the baby's heartbeat again. it gets stronger and easier to find each month. he was wiggly today, and kept moving away from the doppler, so the nurse was chasing him all over the place. i also took my ultrasound picture in to make sure that he was a boy, and that i wasn't seeing a foot. every nurse looked at it and told me the same thing - boy. so now we are confident, and i am excited about going out and buying our first official "boy" thing. maybe an outfit. my next appointment is july 2nd - same day as keith's graduation - and then we start going every 2 weeks. no other news - ready for the weekend, that's for sure! wednesday, june 05 entry *update* our so-nice neighbor has scanned the ultrasound photos for us. click here to see our little guy. hopefully the page won't take too long to load. i guess keith and i have made a decision of sorts. we have extended our lease on our apartment until october 31. this means that the baby will be born here in florida. that works out best for our insurance for sure, but i really wanted to be closer to home. either way, it will be fine. then after my maternity leave (6 weeks) we will move elsewhere. the “elsewhere” remains to be seen. so our last day in our apartment will be october 31, halloween. i was blowdrying my hair this morning when i realized – if our baby is late, he may be a halloween baby! we’ll name him demon. just kidding, just kidding. i work with a lady named linda, whose daughter stefani just had a baby yesterday. she has kept an online journal of her pregnancy since she found out she was pregnant, last september or so. i have followed it since the beginning, and we have emailed a bit. she had a 10 pound, 15 1/2 ounce baby! almost 11 pounds. she had a c-section because he was so huge. we found out this morning. i was so excited that i treated the baby and myself to two danishes in celebration. one danish is a treat, two is a party (please, no remarks about what i eat or weight-gaining, i beg you). the baby likes the sugar. he dances around when he gets a lot of sugar. in fact, i had a little cup of coffee last night, my first trist with caffeine since i’ve been pregnant, and let me tell you, i had to keep flipping sides once i went to bed because he was shaking it up in there. a little caffeine does him a whole lot of good. it was funny. i almost thought he was moving enough so that keith could feel, but not yet. when i got home monday from work, keith had gone on a sort of cleaning spree. he had reorganized all of our storage closets, and had gone through all of his clothes and put up his winter clothes, and made a pile for the salvation army. so we went through all of my clothes, too, and boxed up all my non-maternity clothes and winter clothes. i also sent some stuff to the salvation army... total, we sent three bags of stuff! so now we have so much more room in our closet, and all of our boxes and baby stuff is neatly organized in our upstairs storage room. i like the feeling of accomplishment. monday, june 03 entry today begins week 21 in our pregnancy. i have my monthly ob appointment this friday. i always look forward to my appointments. i learn something new about our little one each time. speaking of something new, yesterday i felt what i am certain were hiccups. the baby hiccups in the womb to practice its breathing for when it comes out into the ‘real world.’ it was neat. saturday we ended up having a pretty fun day. we went and picked up our crib, and while we were at babies ‘r’ us, we decided on a few other things, too. we decided to get a pack-n-play, which is a playpen, bassinet, and changing table all in one. the one we picked out is a john lennon version, with music, vibration, and other cool features. we also tentatively picked out this bedding. it is nice to have some things picked out, so we know exactly how much we need to save. we are just buying things as we can. i can’t believe how many things a little baby needs! after we went to pick up the crib, we went to a matinee showing of spiderman. it was a good movie. i haven’t been to a movie since monsters, inc. which was many months ago. so i really enjoyed it. i had a fun day. yesterday we went to a church called full gospel assembly. it was strange. the worship was so great – a young guy led with his electric guitar, and it was really contemporary and anointed. but they had a weird special speaker that i didn’t like. we are going to go back next week to hear the actual pastor. i bet he will be better. it was a good experience over all. keith went to check up on his grades the other day, and guess what? they have him marked absent on his second day of class, way back in july. i am so mad! he was not absent. so that will blow his perfect attendance record if they won’t fix it. he has been to see the lady three or four times to get her to change it, but she is rude and won’t help him out at all. so i am just praying that it gets fixed. he has worked so hard to keep perfect attendance. i mean, he dragged in there the day after he got his wisdom teeth out! give the boy some credit. and lastly, we are still doing the name struggle. our poor son may never have a name. we can’t think of anything we like. we are open to suggestions at this time. i think the only one who gives suggestions is mom, except for my dad, who is so far the only person who has suggested that we name the baby after himself. “name it terry don,” he said. ps - a huge thanks to cousin chad for his sports medicine knowledge... he tells me that some pickle juice or a few spoonfuls of mustard will get rid of these leg cramps. definitely going to be trying that! those sound better than a banana, anyway. oh, the quirks of pregnancy. saturday, june 01 entry saturday... i normally don't update on saturdays. but today i feel so bored and restless. i got up early, because keith mocked me last night and bet me that i couldn't get up before 10AM. i proved him wrong, but now i don't think it was worth it, because i'm still tired and i didn't win anything. i actually slept very well last night. i had a rough week, because my sleep was plagued with leg cramps. i was up and down 3 or 4 times every night with awful leg cramps. thursday night i was hopping around the bedroom on the inside of my right foot, because i literally could not get my ankle to straighten out, the muscles were so terribly cramped up. i don't know what causes them exactly. i have read that it is totally normal for me at this point in the pregnancy, and that sometimes the cramps are lessened by eating bananas (it's the potassium). if only i could stomach a banana. last night was fine, no cramps, great sleep. it's been nasty weather here lately. several huge thunderstorms. yesterday on the way home from work, i had no visibility. i was crawling along with my flashers on, and drove right past our apartment complex. i had to turn around and come back. so it has been nasty weather. but it helps keep it a bit cooler, so i don't mind. it rains so infrequently here that i look forward to it. keith and i are thinking of planning a trip to nashville in july, to spend a few days looking around and talking with a realtor. we were there 2 summers ago, and i really liked the town. it seems clean, not like a big city. we want to get better acquainted with the suburbs. maybe that will help us make some decisions. i am feeling better, never got that cold i was fearing. i wonder if maybe part of it is my allergies, coming alive with the summer. that is probably what it is. the sad part is that i can't take any medications for it, because of the little mister. so i will sneeze and snot through. speaking of the little guy, i have spent so many hours poring over the ultrasound photos. i sure hope that nurse knows what she's talking about. i don't want any surprises! when i look at it, i see a boy. but when i look longer and harder, i see that maybe, just maybe that little boy is a girl with her foot in the way. i have an appointment this friday with my regular ob/gyn, and i will take the picture and let her take a look. i am sure she will say that it's a boy and i'm crazy, but that will only be reassuring. keith is gone right now to class to take his final for his may class. i can't believe he only has one month of class left, and he will be a for-real college graduate. i am so proud of him. he still has his perfect attendance and straight a record. any studio is going to be lucky to get him, with his work ethic and knowledge. i think he is going to do just fine out there in the "real world," even though it's kind of scary for us right now.
