Hi there, New Baby!

We had another ultrasound today and it yielded a precious profile shot of New Baby.  We also got a 3D/4D and got to see a realistic image of our little angel.  Despite only being 22 weeks & the baby being pretty much skeletal & no fat, we got some great images.  New Baby is healthy & everything looks perfectly normal.  I'm also showing no signs of high-risk pregnancy & the specialist was pleased with how things are progressing.  And once again, we managed to avoid any crotch shots -- the suspense is getting harder & harder! 

Happy iPad to me!

Well, actually, its Happy Birthday to Me....Happy 30th Birthday to me, to be exact. But rather than have a blow-out party which seems waay to "mid-20s", I wanted to lay low this year. After all, its kinda hard to ring in a new decade of life with pregnancy fatigue & sparkling water! So I bartered with Ben and we decided to scratch the par-tay and get me an iPad instead. Ben did a bit of fundraising with our parents & siblings (& Sally!) so it was a group present. Unfortunately, the iPad 2 is on backorder until early-to-mid May so my shiny new toy is not quite mine yet. So now, I'm just eagerly awaiting Fed Ex to ring my doorbell and present me with my much awaited skinny brown box.

In the meantime, I received a deliciously gorgeous Edible Arrangement bouquet from BFF Alisha, Alex & Ethan. It was beautiful & yummy - especially the chocolate dipped apple wedges.

Ben also brought home a beautiful tulip arrangement which has continued to bloom each day. I love fresh flowers!

Unfortunately, I was sick with terrible sinus issues the week of my birthday so I really wasn't able to enjoy the day as much as I would have liked. Instead, I sent Jackson to Bebe's for a few days and I spent most of my time laying around trying to clear my head, ears, throat, etc. We postponed my bday dinner & opted for homemade potato soup. Welcome to my 30s!

Art Project: Dying Eggs

I pretty much expected Jackson to be all about coloring the Easter eggs.  Usually his eye light up at anything that has potential to be messy - markers, ketchup, finger paints, Sharpies, lipstick, grape juice, etc.

 However, despite the bold colors, fizzing bubbly color tablets & the promise of stained fingers, Jackson gave the egg dying set-up a once over and went back to color his Grover coloring book.

The one aspect of egg dying in which Jackson wanted to participate was the messiest - of course!  He wanted to help get the eggs out of the colored water, using the dinkiest metal loop that barely even fit around the egg.  After multiple attempts, dropped eggs & cross-contamination, all eggs were safely drying out of reach of 2 little hands.

The final result -- a menagerie of speckled-dotty-textured-mottled-brightly colored eggs! 

Dr. Benjie

Since I have a history of preterm labor and my doctor could not determine the cause or any risk factors, the only way to reduce the risk of a recurrence is to take weekly progesterone shots, from week 16 to week 36.  Those who know me well know that I have major needle fears, as in hyperventilating-I'm-gonna-throw-up-and-pass-out type of fears.  So the news of weekly injections for 20 weeks was pretty traumatic.

But have no fear, Dr. Benjie is here!

Rather then shell out hundreds of dollars for the porta-nurse to drop by and prick me in the butt each week, Ben was adamant that he could administer the shots himself.  (In his defense, he did give himself allergy shots for years; however, he was quite eager to do the job.)  Dr. Heidtman was very supportive of showing Ben how to give the shots and said it was somewhat common for hubbies to do it. 

To compound my fear, the compounding pharmacy where I had to pick up my serum made a unnecessarily big deal about these being intramuscular shots & the 1 1/2" needle had to go all the way into the flesh.  And the helpful annoying pharm tech pointed out that she'd "heard" these shots were really painful so she gave me a lower gauge needle (i.e. bigger) so it would go in faster.  Thanks for the tip.

So the fateful day rolled around.  I got home from bible study and faced the inevitable.  Ben was a bit too excited.  He made a especially big (and unnecessary) show of washing his hands, disinfecting the the vial, loading the weapon syringe and prepping a cotton swab.  I was armed with my US Weekly, laying on the bed so he would have access to target.  Trying my hardest to be distracted with Hollywood's latest gossip, I honestly did not even realize he had given me the shot.  I didn't feel a thing - no the prick of the needle, the sting of the meds, nothing. 

And of course, I assumed he'd done something wrong since it went so smoothly.  After a chat with the nurse the next day, I was reassured that he most likely hit the right spot & some people just don't find the shots painful.  We are 5 weeks into the shots now and Dr. Talbert still have a perfect track record of pain-free pricks!

Friday Fun: Children's Museum

A year or two ago, a state-of-the-art Children's Museum opened up in downtown Greenville.  Its the 7th largest in the country and we've been wanting to check it out for some time.  A few weeks ago, Julie & I took the boys & they had a ball!  I will say that the activities were a little limited for the young toddler set but there were plenty of things to wear these two out in less than 2 hours.

Shopping in "Bi-Lo".  He didn't understand the concept that its

pretend shopping so you have to put it back once you ring it up.

They LOVED the splash pools...and we loved the water smocks they got to wear. 

They looked like little angels in a Christmas pageant!

Riding the "horsey"

Its official...

Its official....my remaining days in the working world are numbered. I have officially let Fabric Editions know that my last day will be June 16!!  Yippee!

I have had the privilege of working for a very flexible company doing a job I love for nearly 6 years.  They very graciously let me return to work post-baby on self-directed schedule of 2 partial days per week, with the flexibility to take off time as needed, no questions asked.  Its bittersweet to willingly walk away from a job that I enjoy and that serves as a means to the much-needed "me time".  However, Ben & I both grew up with stay-at-home Moms, and we both knew that we wanted that for our children as well.  After much thought & prayer, we decided that now was the time to make that transition.

Now that I have put a date on my impending departure, it can't get here soon enough.  Its like how you feel at the end of a long semester in college -- the end is in sight & you just can't wait to check out.  If it wasn't for me wanting to complete a current project before I hit the road, I would totally be out of there sooner.  I am so excited about a fun summer with just me & Jackson before New Baby's arrival!

I mean, who wouldn't want to spend more time with this little rascal?