Aviator perhaps

We have returned from our week in Colorado. We spent the time with Russ's family as a memorial to his dad. A good chunk of our week was in Colorado National Monument which is where Jim worked as a Park Ranger for a few summers and he and Jan met. Jim had grown up in Grand Junction which is just at the feet of the Monument.

Getting there was a bit harder than anticipated. In Denver we got on to our connecting flight and as they were removing the walkway to the door they managed to shear off a bolt on the door. This meant we had to get off the plane until they could figure out what to do. The answer? Cancel the flight. Evidently this was a rather large problem. We're glad they noticed and we didn't get up and then realize we were missing a bolt on the main door!

6 hours later we got to Grand Junction and I fell asleep immediately. What I did notice on both of our flights is that Monkey either really loves or really hates flying. Once we were up at cruising altitude he was kicking and punching and moving all about a lot more than usual. As someone who doesn't particularly like to fly, I'm hoping he liked it.

We spent a day in Aspen going up the mountain and hiking about (and a little hula hooping) . Hula Hooping is actually a bit easier now, as I just have to swing it around my rib cage and it sort of stays up for awhile by itself! That evening we spent in Glenwood soaking in the warm warm pools. We did a bunch of hiking in the Monument itself, explored Grand Junction, saw old friends of Jan and Jim's, saw a Mud Monster Truck show (really) and toured a neat little Alpaca farm. My hiking poles were AWESOME.




Today I had my 24 week appointment and all is still well. I'm measuring exactly as I should for this point of the pregnancy so perhaps Dec 22nd will be a realistic date.

Dreaming

Normally the night before a trip involving an airplane I dream about oversleeping or forgetting my license. Seriously, like every time. However, last night was rather different. Instead, I dreamed that the light rail had bathrooms and that I forgot my ID on the light rail, but it was ok, because it had bathrooms.

I don't think my brain is too worried about over sleeping but is about not having a bathroom because why? Oh yeah, I pee every 2-3 hours, day or night. Good work body.

Running on a treadmill

My wonderful friend Tracey told me today that being pregnant is the equivalent of running on a treadmill all day every day. Except at the end I will not be able to compete in any races. That sure does explain why I want nothing to do with anyone after about 9pm - I'm toast. I'm still trying to figure out the balance of activity vs. rest that is good for me and for kiddo at the same time. The trouble is each day is a bit different.

We have a crib ordered and pretty much have the rest of the 'stuff' for Monkey figured out. I convinced my mom that she really wanted to go shopping for a new dresser for my room in Grafton and that it would be so great if my kid had the dresser that I had as a kid. So we are getting a great free dresser that matches the crib (which is very much not free). The Babies R Us and Target registries are done! Complete! Go find fun things to get for Monkey! :)

We are getting ready to head out to Colorado this Thursday. This will be a sort of combo trip for us - vacation and memorial for Jim. We'll get to see a bunch of family and spread his ashes as he wished. We'll also get to relax (pool here I come) and go to the hot springs in Glenwood, do some hiking and visit Aspen to see if we can go up our mountain. The one we got married at. Where all this Monkey business started (hahaha).

Here are some photos of me at 23/24 weeks. There is some wiggle room on where I am really and truly at in terms of weeks. I'm going with 23 actually which feels more realistic, but we'll see when kiddo thinks he's done in there.

Wiggle Worm ahoy!

Monday afternoon I was sitting at my desk and someone very squarely poked me in the bellybutton. From inside. Yea! I emailed Russ right away and then sat quietly hoping for another little poke, but Monkey must have gotten comfortable because he didn't did it again. But each day this week has been a bit more and a bit more. It is definitely not like anything I have felt before so he must have just been to little or not in the right place before for me to feel him. And last night about 4am he decided to have a little dance party. Little. It wasn't too much but there was feet and elbows that time. Can't feel it from the outside yet, but we'll keep trying!

Woohoo!

I know I know, I'll wish the opposite later

So all my books tell me that by week 20 I should start to feel kiddo moving around a little bit. Well, I thought perhaps I felt something when we went to see Harry Potter but since then I have been paying attention and haven't felt anything that could be or even mistaken for movement. And when I tell people I am anxious to feel something inevitably they say, Just wait, you'll be singing a different song in a few weeks.

Thanks, I do realize that i am going to continue to grow but Monkey will be growing more making things tighter. And that he'll most likely elbow me in the lungs and the ribs and all of that but why can't I enjoy the little movements and looking forward to that now? Why do we always have to jump to the next experience? Anyways, I am looking forward to feeling movement and if he kicks me in the ribs that means he's still doing well so I'm ok with it.

We put a few more items on the Target registry and hopefully this weekend will finish those things up so we know what items we are looking at needing and wanting for Monkey. The current debate is what type of bike carrier to get...

Pack the energy bars and the stun guns

Today we head out to Babies R Us.

Energy bars for me, stun guns for Russ to aim at the sales staff.

Ok ok, kidding, sort of.

We've got a rough list of stuff to look at and see what things we need vs. things we want. And perhaps start the Registry (with a capital R) today. It was much easier to register for wedding gifts - ooo....I like that *click*.....ooooo....that would look good with the dishes...**click**....oooo...shiny ***click*** Now we have to be a bit more deliberate and informed about our choices. The Baby Bargains book is awesome, so thanks to those that recommended it.

To round out the day we're going to see Harry Potter in Imax tonight. Monkey's ears are developmentally fully functional at this point so we hope he likes loud sounds...

Russ got a new toy - the digital SLR camera he's been coveting for about 2 1/2 years. We (helped) to rationalize it by saying it will take excellent baby pictures - which made Russ very excited so it was totally worth it. Here are some pictures it took last week as a 'test run.'

And the answer is....

It's a baby! Wait, no, you wanted more than that. It's a boy! It was fairly evident like IMMEDIATELY so looks like that's the answer. Guess kiddo is just going to have to get used to the idea of the pink sheet savers I got yesterday. It'll be good for him.

Had a good ultrasound this morning and everything looks perfect. Kiddo was really comfortable down in the lower right corner of me and we had to do some dancing and drinking of cold water to get him to move around to get all the measurements.

Other than that really no news to report. Still waiting to feel any movements which is amazing based on how much he was dancing this morning.

Stay tuned for more fun!