What is going on this week!???

Ellis and I are having the worst week -- I just keep thinking about the fact that we have a 3-day weekend coming up, and that seems to help. So, it all started with Ellis catching a cold this weekend. He NEVER gets sick (very much unlike me) so it is rare that he gets a bad cold. (Thankfully, I haven't caught it yet but that is just shy of a miracle and, given the week we've had, I'm still waiting to catch it.) He also mysteriously got bitten about 50 times (no, I'm not exaggerating) by mosquitos in our backyard this weekend. They've never been that bad.

So, anyway, Ellis had not been feeling up to par and I drag him all around town Saturday for DAY THREE of the crib shopping disaster. We can't seem to find one we like out there - if you don't want a convertible bed, your options are limited to about 3-4 cribs per store. Anyway, we're taking a break from that whole shopping mess.

So, Monday evening, I come home and my car just literally dies in the driveway. Needless to say, I am REALLY thankful it happened at home and not in the office parking lot or some random place. But the battery just went dead out of nowhere. This is/has been a very busy week at work for me, so it was the WRONG week for my car to die. And when we got in the house, we discovered that the air conditioning upstairs was not working - and it was about 90 degrees up there. The coil on the A/C unit had frozen over again, so we had to turn it off and wait like 4 hours to turn it back on. I couldn't go to bed until about 12:30 when it had cooled.

My parents were so very nice to give me a ride to and from work on Tuesday (Ellis had meetings and couldn't do it). And the A/C guy came out and fixed the A/C unit without our having to replace the units which was what we really feared. Then, Ellis and I took my car to be serviced yesterday - turns out the brake pads were completely worn to, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the car died.

So it seemed all was better when I was driving home in my newly serviced car to a cool house yesterday afternoon. I had to leave work early to get the car, so I brought a ton of work home that I needed to do. I go upstairs to the office to turn on the computer so I can start working. And the COMPUTER ... WON'T ... START. It would turn on but just the fan would run and the hard drive wouldn't kick in. We had a violent thunder/lightening storm Monday morning and I though - NOOOO, this is not happening. After spending over an hour on the phone with the Gateway tech support person (who was incredibly helpful and went outside what they normally will do when your warranty has expired ... which by the way - JUST expired 2 months ago. Sigh.), we concluded the thing has to be serviced. In that hour or so, I learned all kinds of things about mother boards and controllers and hard drives and crap. All I kept thinking is - WHEN am I going to have my computer back and CAN I PLEASE have all my info on the hard drive back?

We think there was a power surge that came through the phone line Monday morning during that storm and fried a controller or something like that. Luckily, the surge protector we had protected the computer from being completely fried. But I do ALL of our accounting in Quicken on the computer and kept thinking, "I have got to back this up. Got to back this up." But did I??? NOOOOOO! Thankfully, learning from Jennifer's episode (see link to Alex's blog to the right), I had just finished burning all of our pictures on CDs. But there really is a good bit of information on that computer that I WANT. The least being access to the friggin' internet. So we are off to find someone to service the thing and crossing our fingers the result is good.

So - there you are. Here I am at 7am in the morning, trying to get some work done (you can see from my writing this blog that I am already procrastinating - -but I needed to vent) before I have to travel to another county for court this morning - in what I can only suspect will be a downpour of nasty Ernesto weather - wishing that this week would just end!

On a good note - our son's kicks are getting harder. Sometimes he kicks hard enough that it catches me totally off guard and I can't help but laugh. Last night, I felt him actually push on my stomach - which was a very weird feeling. I'm hoping Ellis will be able to feel him soon. Every time he gets active, Ellis will put his hand on my belly - and then the little guy stops! I told Ellis I think his hand is so warm that it puts our son to sleep! :) (I love saying "our son".)

Anyway - the curse of the fried computers has passed on from Jennifer to me. If you have any precious computer info - back it up TODAY! :)

Belly Shots

Here is me at 20 weeks. I swear my belly gets bigger every day! :)

ITS A BOY!

Yes! Maternal instincts were right - I've had this feeling that the baby was a little boy since he was around 8 weeks old. And that feeling was confirmed today. Ellis and I will have a son in about 5 months!

Today was such a wonderful day. I went to work this morning, but must admit I did not get too much done because I was very nervous for some reason. I think I was just so excited for the appointment that it made me nervous! Ellis and I went to lunch first and then off to the appointment at 1:00.

The ultrasound lasted about 30 minutes. We checked all the vital organs, bone structure, etc to confirm that he is a healthy, growing boy. (I had the basic genetic testing - for down syndrome, cystic fybrosis other disorders - done last time and the blood work came back negative!) Our son wanted to make sure we knew he was a boy right away. The first picture posted above is the first one we saw. The ultrasound technician said that she usually waits until the end to tell the parents what they are having, but said it was too obvious for her not to go ahead and tell us its a boy! He was basically in a position such that he was sitting on the ultrasound probe, so the picture is taken looking up as if he is sitting on the picture. I love the little foot picture too (yes, he has 2 legs and feet and 2 arms and hands!). I always find the pictures of babies at this stage kind of spooky because the fluid behind their eyes comes up black in the ultrasound. But he was just a-kicking and moving during the appointment. I had a coke at lunch to make sure he was active (and wow was he!). At one point, he started kicking me with his foot and I felt it while watching it on the ultrasound - which was wonderful!

Toward the end, I asked the ultrasound tech if she was sure it was a boy. She said, "oh yes, its definitely a boy. If you have a girl, I'll personally come to your house and repaint your nursery and I hate painting." Then she took the last picture I posted above! Needless to say, Ellis is a very proud father of his son already!! :)

We celebrated by going and buying our first little boy outfit. I have resisted buying anything for our baby yet - but wanted the first thing we bought to be after we found out if it was a boy or girl. Above is the picture of clothes we bought him. SO CUTE!!

We are both so thankful that he is healthy and everything looks good!! (I'll reveal the name when we come to a final decision, which should be soon!)

Baby Movement

Yea! I'm so excited that on Saturday morning I finally felt the baby move! I'd been told it feels like bubbles or butterflies in your stomach and had been concentrating hard to to feel something. Saturday morning, I woke up and was laying on my back for a minute before I got up and felt the unmistakable little pokes in my stomach. (I was laying there holding my stomach, trying to feel something.)

Now, I finally know what all mothers are talking about. Its like bubbles popping against your stomach on the inside, although I told Ellis that it felt more like something flopping around inside me and hitting my tummy. The baby kicked around for a few minutes that morning - then I felt him again Saturday night and a couple times yesterday. Now that I know exactly what it feels like, I can feel the baby without concentrating too hard.

It is so wonderful to feel more connected to the growing baby inside me. And Thursday is the big day when I can finally figure out whether to use "he" or "she" on this blog! :)

Its a boy!

My sister-in-law's sister (who is due one week after me) just found out yesterday that she is having a boy! (Fooled you, didn't I? You thought the post was about us!) There goes my theory that they would have a girl and we would have a boy so that Steve and Mary would have a niece and nephew in January. Ellis is determined this is another sign that we are, in fact, having a girl! :)

I'm so ready to know what we are having. (And I'm tired of other people telling me that I should not find out - that it spoils the "surprise." I even had a CVS clerk this weekend tell me that I shouldn't find out and that the doctor told her the wrong sex when she did --- 22 years ago!) Anywho -- frustrating that Kristen just found out and she is a week behind me in pregnancy, and I still have to wait another week! Grrr!

And, no, still no baby movement. Although I concentrate really hard to feel something!!

Furniture Dilemma

Aaaah! Ellis and I went baby furniture shopping Saturday. I can not believe how many choices there are - colors, convertible or non-convertible, different shapes and sizes. Yikes! I found my self asking the saleswoman where the changing table was - I had no idea it was like a big piece of furniture that you could put a hutch over that made it really not look like a changing table at all. (I have SO much to learn.)

I did pick out the glider chair for the baby room though (well....I'll have to pick out the fabric but its a step). I officially won the "why don't we just put the old La-Z-Boy in there - it rocks and reclines" war that Ellis was trying to win me over with. Sorry - but a beat up, tan La-Z-Boy wasn't making it in Baby Farr's room! :)

But, WOW, I cannot decide about the crib to get. Convertible or not convertible? I know a convertible makes more economic sense but it so big and doesn't really "look" like a crib. And when the kid is old enough, he or she will probaby want a totally different looking bed for its room... I don't know. Plus, Ellis and I always get drawn to cherry finished furniture - everything in our house is cherry. So, yes, honey, I agree the cherry crib furniture is very elegant and nice -- but could we agree on a different finish, please??

God knows what we're going to do when we have to pick out a stroller!!

Have a Safe Trip, Mary!!

My sister-in-law, Mary, is heading to Honduras for about 5 months to spread her talents in social work to the people of Honduras (you go girl!). She is taking off Wednesday and will be gone until late January or early February. Its something she has wanted to do for some time and (as timing would have it!) as soon as she got her plans in order, both her sister and me announced we were expecting! (Her sister is due only about a week after me.) I am so happy Mary decided to create a blog, and hopefully, she'll have opportunities down there to keep all of us up here posted on her travels. So... new link to the right titled "Mary's Adventure" links to her page! :)

Ellis and I were able to visit with both her and my brother, Steve, when all of us got together at the beach for an extended weekend last week with my parents. We had a great time -- Thanks Mom & Dad for letting us all stay with you for a few days!! Since Mary will be gone when Baby Farr is born, she and Steve went ahead and gave us baby gifts! Yea! So, Baby Farr got his/her first baby gifts! Thank you so much, Mary and Steve!!!! (That night, I held up one of the onesies that said "I am an elephant and I am very big" (that makes me laugh every time), and told Ellis, "Can you believe we will be responsible for something this small in just a few months!!?)

So, next time we see Mary, Ellis and I will have little Baby Farr with us. Please keep Mary in your thoughts & prayers this week as she gets settled in Honduras. I hope you have a WONDERFUL time Mary! Please keep us posted on your blog!