Tuesday, January 03, 2006

5 Months and Growing

It's a boy! Although we would have been equally excited had we found out we were having a girl, today the ultrasound technician showed us "the turtle" which indicated that we have a little man in there. Jamie recognized the necessary equipment and did some interpreting.

In the photo it may be hard to tell, but I'd like to go on the record as saying that my sillohette, while never slender and willowy, and plenty "sturdy" before pregnancy, has changed drastically since August. In the last two weeks, I've gone from looking like I've had too many Christmas cookies to having quite the portly protruding middle. For the record I did have too many cookies, but that doesn't seem to be the cause of the belly.

As all of you who know me well will easily recall, I have a tendency to worry about any health "issues", so the last several months have been quite interesting for Jamie and me. Jamie has been very patient with my incessant nervousness, and I hope the little man has too. Otherwise, when he comes to greet us, he'll be one whale of a hypochondriac...but at least he'll come by it naturally.

From the ultrasound photos today it appears that contrary to Jamie's and my predictions, our child will have a fairly normal little nose. Since both Jamie's and mine are crooked (and in the same direction no less) we were a little worried that if this "beauty mark" was compounded genetically that our little one would have a nose on all but sideways. Knock on wood, that doesn't appear to be how genetics work. For those of you who've been patient enough to wade through all this minutia, thanks. This is my first post and I had to at least show I could compete with Moose (who is a fine writer for one not blessed with opposable thumbs).

Christmas #3 - Astoria

After a VERY LONG mid-day drive from the 'burg to Astoria, we had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Jude's house. We were joined by Judy, Anna, Poppa P, Penny P, Uncle Louie, Aunt Terri, and our cousins. We had a great dinner and visit with everybody. Aunt Terri asked plenty of questions and was often heard exclaiming, "OOH!! Tell me about..."

After dinner and after Terri, Louie and the kids left, we had our Christmas gift exchange. Everyone had a great time and lots of fun presents were exchanged. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time with Anna. She went home the next morning. We did get to see her on our trip home, but that's a different story, altogether.

Finally, we were able to catch up with our dear friends Tobi and Rachel. They have moved to the states from Germany and this was our first chance to see them since our visit two summers ago in Berlin. It was great to see them and catch up on what's been happening in their life.

Christmas #2 - "The 'burg"

We had a very nice time in the 'burg for Christmas. We had our traditional meal of Chicken Kiev for Christmas Eve and Mom's tasty breakfast roles in the morning. We also had great visits with Mom, Bob, Jon and Laci. Oh, and I got to hit up the Taco Time for a crisp bean burrito. Mmmm... That's some good eats. Thanks to our Roseburg family for making our time so enjoyable.