Hmmmmm...

How to best deliver the big news?? First (and most important) let me say that the baby looked perfectly normal on the ultrasound ... the doctor showed us her wonderful brain (full of geography knowledge, I'm sure), her spinal cord and all 4 chambers of her heart. He said they can pick up lots of abnormalities at this point but that everything looks great. Needless to say, we were thrilled! Ok, onto the rest of the news ... as it turns out, most of my family and friends were wrong as we're having a beautiful baby girl :) We would have been happy either way, though! Her name (which has been decided for awhile; we just weren't sure we'd need it) will be Annie Catherine ... my grandmother's name was Annie (she passed away four years ago, but I talked to her about naming a future baby after her before she died), Anthony's grandmother in Scotland is named Annie, and my paternal grandmother's middle name is Catherine. We'll call her Annie and thank God for her every day ...

Landlocked Land

for the record and with less than 48 hours to go, general consensus among family and friends is that we can expect to see a little boy on the ultrasound on Wednesday ... shall see but am halting all attempts to read own intuitive feelings regarding sex of baby because honestly do not know!!
after Sunday afternoon errands (including Wal-Mart) decided to come home for quiet time before football games ... took up new challenge ... New York Times Crossword puzzle always in our Sunday paper but have never been brave enough to try it ... self's crossword puzzle skills much more in line with People magazine's puzzle. anyway, sat down with PENCIL and NY Times puzzle and was instantly and overwhelmingly stumped ... with roughly 145 clues and possible answers was only certain of one: "urgent transmission, for short" -- confidently filled in SOS ... however, with the next clue being "landlocked land" how on earth is one to know the answer is "Laos??" (in case readers are curious, solution to puzzle was printed two pages prior to puzzle so gave solution to Anthony so he could participate) goal now is to think of one answer each day, making puzzle last roughly 5 months ... perhaps by then will know answer to "galoot-like"

Pink or Blue?

hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
baby update: the date to (hopefully) find out the sex of our baby has been moved up to Wednesday, November 30, at 2 PM ... cautiously excited but will be 20 weeks by then, which is halfway through the pregnancy and apparently a good time for seeing all the important (and relevant) body parts ...
have just received Christmas issue of "Real Simple" magazine, a magazine I really love ... however, had to spend 20 minutes removing all annoying and strangely huge ads from magazine ... full page slick ads for cars, an entire Gap gift-giving guide (kept that one) and more perfume/cologne ads than care to count ... perhaps advertisers should send all that money to the humane society ...

On Hiatus

will be away until Tuesday taking care of wonderful niece in Fairhope ... very much looking forward to it ... Happy Early Thanksgiving to everyone! as for our family, we have much to be grateful for this year ...

The Goblet of Fire

have just returned from humbling trip to church ... main concern prior to leaving house was if shirt self was wearing was too small due to new baby girth ... checked all angles in the mirror for at least 10 minutes as getting dressed has become constant battle of pregnant size versus clothes ... chosen shirt fit three weeks ago but is a smidge tight now; nonetheless realized church was about Jesus not (shock) my wardrobe ... self can be so shallow and vain ...
know not everyone out there is Harry Potter fan but must report that new movie is FABULOUS ... disappointed, though, as full-capacity audience was dressed as normal people ... no witches or wizards in the bunch ... perhaps self should have worn 12-inch-tall Sorcerer's hat from DisneyWorld ...

The Wonderful World of Harry

(** must begin by wishing our sweet Mary Barclay a happy 7th birthday!! have 10 new tennis balls and a birthday milkbone all ready for when Anthony gets home ...)
had dream last night that we're having a little girl ... had dream the night before that I was going to the hospital to be induced because I was past my due date ... hmmm ... wonder if I should expect a pregnancy-related dream every night from here on?
have pre-purchased tickets today to see "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" tomorrow night ... am very excited to have opportunity to go to theater seven hours early to wait along with fans dressed as witches, wizards, Hagrid, etc. to simply get a seat ... Anthony and I have (perhaps ridiculous) hope of getting two seats together. wish self could say movie will be Jack/Jackette's first theatrical experience but would not be truthful ... baby has already been exposed to "Saw 2," a frightening and psychotic thriller of a movie with disturbing but entertaining qualities ... oh well ... have read that baby cannot yet hear anything going on outside the womb ... good thing as "Saw 2" might have made him/her stay in womb forever. wow, that in itself is a disturbing thought ... as is now, each day is a new adventure in closet trying to determine what still fits and what is too uncomfortable to even zip up, etc ...

Mean Old Wal-Mart

another Wal-Mart debacle ... had to stop for a few items and arrived to find parking lot only partially full ... felt heart leap with joy as self anticipated a very small victory over post-hurricane life ... parked car VERY close to front and hopped out ... only then did self notice barricades and security barring entrance to the Mart. SIGH. readers, prepare to be shocked: Wal-Mart is temporarily closed today due to "power issues." did not know Wal-Mart ever closed ... very sad morning as self joined other million cars heading down Highway 49 ... ah, the stories we will have for Jack or Jackette ...

The Fun Continues

have returned from Fairhope, which was magical fun taking care of niece ... discovered that during diaper change little girls can tinkle on you with the same impressive stream you might expect from a little boy ...
post-hurricane life continues here ... made inevitable trip to Wal-Mart two days ago ... actual shopping only took 45 minutes but was in line for over 30 minutes ... found self passing time by buying those little items they place at the check-out lines ... ended up with purse-size container of Tylenol, purse-size bottle of hand sanitizer and softball-sized magnets of Mary (black lab) and Hope (border collie) ... must exert more willpower next time.
spent yesterday morning creating baby registries at Target and Wal-Mart ... is shockingly challenging task ... initial try at Target yielded a CART full of baby items that I was apparently to buy not a registry full of baby items that lovely friends and family will buy ... had to begin again ... have more or less completed task with exception of registering for items like diapers, wipes, pacifiers, etc. that you actually have to scan in the stores not online ... the fun is beginning!

Captain Jack

well, have decided to move to Blanding, Utah ... article in our paper yesterday described this town as safest with regard to weather disasters ... now must find out where this is. yes, yes of course I know where Utah is (pretty much) but do not know where Blanding is ...
still trying out baby names but have eliminated some ... latest name is Jack Riley ... for Anthony, the move back to "Jack" was somewhat influenced by "Pirates of the Caribbean" on TV the other night as, of course, Johnny Depp's Keith Richards-influenced pirate is Captain Jack Sparrow ... still, for whatever reason we keep coming back to Jack ...
self (sorry, Chris) will be away from blogging for next few days as am going to Fairhope to take care of brand new niece until Wednesday ... until then ...

The Question Remains

false alarm, everyone ... turns out we were misinformed by the office staff when they told us they could determine the sex of the baby at 16 weeks ... they prefer to do that particular ultrasound at 20 weeks, so we'll do this all again on December 2 at 1:30 PM ... all was not lost, however; the doctor picked up the heartbeat today, said the baby weighed about 8 oz. and that everything looked absolutely perfect. really can't ask for more than that!

New and Important Tax Laws

has been interesting morning here at the Sheraton ... was in line at breakfast cafe for deliciously fattening cheese danish when found self drawn into conversation by stranger in front of me ... announced he had just been reading about the new and idiotic tax laws and how this was such an important time for tax laws ... looked at me expecting a response. now do not consider self to be moron but am not overly informed about or interested in tax laws ... if conversation had been about pop culture or perhaps any episode of Friends, would still be conversing with man ... when self did not make quick enough response man said "hopefully you didn't vote for Bush" to which I responded with the only thing I could think of: "President Bush is a special man." Man stared at me and said "Oh, is THAT what he is??" and stormed off ... whatever, it was self's turn at the danish counter since tax law man vacated the area. (to clarify, Anthony is very knowledgeable about tax laws, which allows for my virtual ignorance on the subject.)
must report on strange subject ... has anyone noticed commode flushing mechanisms have gotten frighteningly powerful?? first time self used hotel bathroom jumped up after flushing because sounded as if self was about to get sucked down into the plumbing. very scary and insane response more than a little mortifying but feared for life at time ... mechanism is at least as powerful as airplane bathrooms which always scare me ...
countdown to tomorrow has begun ... will baby be turned so can see private parts or will baby be shy?? shall see ...

Riley ??

another inexcusable absence from the world of blogging ... am currently in Birmingham with Anthony for an American Cancer Society conference ... have discovered wireless internet in hotel lobby and am writing from cozy little corner chair. has been very nice to be away for a few days in a town where there is no debris, blue roofs, etc. will return to Gulfport on Friday in time for dr's appointment that afternoon ... will have ultrasound and possibly learn sex of baby ... have moved down names list and have been trying out "Riley" this week. hopefully ultrasound will at least narrow name choices to either boys' or girls' ... is exciting prospect but know is not certainty.
am adapting to fact that can no longer fit into many of my clothes, at least not without holding my breath for an indefinite period of time ... feel this is not healthy for self or "Riley." am moving to maternity clothes while trying to avoid looking as if maternity wardrobe only consists of gigantic sacks ... will maintain some semblance of style despite increasing girth of self. hopefully will still have that attitude several months down the pregnancy road when self can no longer see feet ... shall see.