winter blast 2009 and ben folds

Last Sunday we surprised Mary Kulp with (free - thanks to one of Adam's friends from high school being married to the percussionist) tickets to see Ben Folds in concert at the Ovens Arena.  This surprise required major scheming between me, Adam, Dave Kulp, and our entire lifegroup (seeing as we usually have lifegroup on Sunday night at the Kulps house).  Sunday arrived and so did Winter Blast 2009.  Charlotte's first predicted snow in March in 10 years.  We arrived at the Kulps around 5:45 in the rain and left around 6 pm for Ben Folds in the fast-falling snow.  After a quick dinner at Chipotle we knew we were in for an adventure because the parking lot was covered with almost an inch of snow (in less than an hour!). 

We made it to the concert and enjoyed a great show - Miniature Tigers opened the show, followed by a college acapella group, and then Ben Folds. I had only ever heard the Ben Folds song Brick from the 90s but who was I to pass up a free concert.  Plus Ben Folds is Mary and Dave's favorite singer of all time so I had to see for myself. (Adam - we may need to work on your posing angles.)

By the time we left the concert there were several inches of snow on the ground but the roads were mostly slush.  Look at the picture below - does anyone see Mary's gloves? After like 5 minutes of searching Mary gave up on her gloves but once inside realized they were in her hat - hilarious.  All in all, winter blast 2009 resulted in about 4 or more inches of snow which was pretty fun and the concert was a great adventure.

buy our condo please!

Stop!

Our condo is on the market. Do you want to buy it?

valentine's day 2009

This year we had the best Valentine's Day ever!  Adam, Dave, and Tyler arranged to have a chef that Tyler knows from Johnson and Wales cook a meal for us.  It was such a fun night!  Adam and Tyler rearranged our furniture to maximize our space and it was decked out with balloons, candles, and roses for the ladies.

Adam, Jonathan (our chef), and Tyler... Mary, me, and Dave the Dyers... Jonathan at work... Mary, me, and Carrie We sat down at the table with our wine (1 glass for me) and we were served several fancy (and surprisingly delicious) courses.  I was a little afraid that I would hate all the food as I am the world's pickiest eater but it was so good!  Here is what we ate:

• *Blistered Sweet Corn Soup with Rendered Bacon
• *Mesculin Salad with Toasted Almonds, Red Wine Vinaigrette, and Roquefort
• *Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Basil Chicken Roulades with a Rutabaga-Potato puree, and Asparagus au beurre
• *Flourless chocolate cakes

Can't wait to do it again next year!

a girl and her dog

Caleigh's new favorite spot is on Bailey's bed by the window.  She loves to 'play' with her doggie (dog-dog).  Her version of playing with Bailey includes:

• -putting her feet on Bailey (as seen below)
• -picking up lint balls off the ground and putting them on Bailey's nose (yes there are lint balls in our house - mostly dog hair, and Bailey usually ends up licking these off her nose which is a helpful way to clean the floor, and let me say that I have only observed this once so don't go turning me in the child protective services for letting Caleigh pick up dust)
• -grabbing Bailey's tail or trying to climb over the top of Bailey while she is laying down
• -sticking her finger in Bailey's butt-hole (I freaked out of course)
• -letting Bailey lick her food and then eating it (this I do not approve of)

Bailey doesn't usually mind the attention - she is very sweet with Cals and often gives her too many kisses (so that Caleigh has to block her face with her hands or say ahhh-duhhh which is all done); although she didn't really like when Caleigh put her finger in her bottom - can't say that I blame her.

at the mall

Last week Caleigh and I went to the mall to Stride Rite to get her sized for some walking shoes since now she is outside walking at the park, in the stores, etc.  At Stride Rite she did ok getting her feet measured but clearly she gets her shoe size from my side of the family.  Her foot is a size 3 wide which is really small in the realm of walkers.  Basically all of the shoes for walkers start at size 4.  The only shoes they had for a size 3 or size 3.5 wide walker were these white orthopedic looking shoes which would not fit onto her foot because her instep is so high (the same reason I can't fit into any ski boots!).  So basically she has tiny fat square feet and no shoes will fit her.  After that we headed to Nordstrom to see if they had any other brands she could try on.  While we were walking I decided I would partake in a blow-pop.  Of course Caleigh's sense of hearing is about 100x magnified, especially when it comes to food, so she heard me unwrap the lollipop and started furiously banging her chest (which is how she signs please) and whining.  In general I am not so quick to give in but we were at the mall and I thought it would be kind of funny to see what she did with the sucker.  She put it right in her mouth and went to town on it.  I was thinking this is a fun snack - it is contained... it is pretty cute...

Well, we didn't find anything at Nordstrom so we left and by this time I wanted the rest of the blow pop and Caleigh was getting to the gum part so as we were walking out the door I said, "Caleigh give that to Mama."  Of course she wasn't giving up so easily and turned her head and arched her back but I just took it out of her hand.  Whoever started the phrase "like taking candy from a baby" had clearly never tried taking a blow pop from a 14 month old.  Caleigh went berserk - she was screaming as if I had slapped her or something as I am attempting to casually exit Nordstrom and the rest of the mall.  She was certainly drawing attention.  She was also a huge sticky mess - her lips and around it was all red and sticky, her hands were SO sticky and gross.  It was an experience to say the least.  Is it obvious I am a first time mom? 

spanking

Sunday morning was a sad day because I had to spank Caleigh for the first time.  We have been popping her on the hand, but we had to escalate it on Sunday.  Here is the story:  Caleigh was playing in the living room while I was getting ready for church.  When I came in to see what she was doing she had the remote control.  She is not allowed to play with the remote so I said, "Caleigh, give that to Mama."  Caleigh shook her head no and turned around to walk away.  So I popped her hand (we only have been popping hand/ spanking for direct disobedience) and she just looked at her hand and tried to go about her business.  She was totally unfazed - in the past popping her hand has generally been working.  Once again I said, "Caleigh, give the remote to Mama."  And once again she shook her head no, so I popped her hand again - which she totally didn't care about.   So one more time I said, "Caleigh, give the remote to Mama" and she shook her head no and turned around to walk away.  She was only wearing a shirt and a diaper so I said, "Now Mama is going to pop your leg because you disobeyed."  So I popped her leg and she totally lost it - she went beserk crying.  I honestly didn't hit her hard at all but I think she was shocked that I would actually pop her.  After that I told her how much I love her and that I forgive her for disobeying and I held her until she stopped crying.  I honestly felt SO bad about spanking her but I know it was the right thing to do.  I love the book "Don't Make Me Count To Three!" by Ginger Plowman.  It is a great book about biblical training and discipline.  I believe that if I wouldn't have spanked her, then I would have been being disobedient to God.  This except was really helpful, "It is worldly thinking that says, "I just love him too much to spank him."  Ask yourself this question: Who benefits from your decision to not spank your child?  Certainly not the child.  Proverbs 23 makes it clear that failure to discipline with the rod places the child at risk. (Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.  Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death. Prov 23:13-14)  So who benefits from not using the rod?  You do.  You are delivered from the discomfort of spanking your child.  You are delivered from inflicting pain on one who is so precious to you.  You are delivered from the inconvenience of taking the time to discipline the right way.  But God says, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." (Prov. 13.24)

snow day!

Last Wednesday it 'snowed' in Charlotte and we had a snow day.  The only time I think a snow day is definitely fun is if there are blizzard conditions outside and Adam is stuck home from work - but that never happens.  We got maybe 0.25 inches of snow.  By the time we played outside in the 'snow' we had to go to the shade to actually find any snow but it was cold.  This is the sunny part of the yard.

And here we are in the shade in the same yard 'playing' in the snow.  Caleigh is not a big fan of snow, or being bundled up so this was just not a good combo for her.  Doesn't she look thrilled to be outside playing? She discovered it was slightly more fun after she took off her mittens. But she was not thrilled. We did have a great time hanging out with the Kulps, Hunts, and Garrisons, but I hated to miss my Wednesday morning bible study.  All in all it was a pretty fun day!

5 months!

I haven't been doing as good of a job taking month to month pictures as I did the first time around, but I am starting now.  Here I am at 5 months pregnant...

It was actually encouraging for me to take this picture of myself because I feel so huge and super pregnant already and have no idea how I will make it to 40 weeks.  But once seeing this picture I feel so much better about myself - I am not as big as I feel.

super bowl party!

1 year ago: super bowl 2008

and a year later, super bowl 2009 (take 1) super bowl 2009 (take 2 - much better) We had a great time with our lifegroup and other friends at the Krugers for Super Bowl 2009.  If only the Cardinals could have pulled out the victory.  Oh well.  Maybe the Panthers will be there next year - better start dreaming now.

funny story

This is a crazy story and I am basically copying this post from Katie's blog.  Here's the background: I went on a Summer Project with Campus Crusade in 2002 in Branson, Missouri.  One of my roommates was Katie Wentzell (now Carrington) and we became great friends while we were there.  She and her husband live in Raleigh, NC.  Katie sent out a mass email right after her daughter Brooklynn was born announcing her birth and I responded to her email telling her that I had just had a little girl too.  Her daughter, Brooklynn Grace (same middle name as Caleigh) was born 12 hours after Caleigh!  I hadn't even known she was pregnant and it turned out we gave birth within hours of each other, both had girls, and gave them both the same middle name.  

So, fast forward about a year.  I find out on Katie's blog that they are expecting again!  Funny, because so are we!  This time it turns out that Katie is due on June 23rd, 1 day after our due date of June 22nd.  We also had our level 2 ultrasounds on the same day (January 22nd) and both found out the sexes of our babies.  Katie is having another girl and we are having a little boy!  Isn't this so crazy?  It is so fun how God makes lives intersect on this side of Heaven.  Katie - we are so thrilled for you and feel like we are basically living our lives next door to you even though we are in different cities.  Congrats and I am in agreement - let's have our babies on the same day this time!

"i love jesus, but i drink a little"

This is hilarious.

random things about Adam

Adam's 25 random things about himself that he posted on Facebook:

1. seinfeld is my favorite show; everything in life can always be related to an episode. for example: tonight at dinner, lindsay and i were talking about medical charts, and i brought up the episode about how elaine and kramer were trying to find out what the doctors wrote in their charts.  kramer was dr. martin van nostrand and he tried to obtain elaine's chart.
2. fantasy baseball is the greatest inventions of all time; i usually play in 2 or 3 leagues
3. growing up in dayton, oh, we used to go to cincinnati reds games all the time; i miss that a lot and they are still my favorite team, my favorite player of all time is ken griffey jr.
4. for some reason i called my shoes bushes when i was a baby and i used to hide my church shoes every sunday morning so i could stay home from church.
5. my greatest regret in life was not paying 200 yuan (about $30) to play with the panda cubs at the panda refuge in China
6. i grew up watching wrestling and i thought that Hulk Hogan was so strong that all he needed to do to hit a home run in a major league baseball stadium was bunt
7. my wife is an amazing cook but she will never admit it
8. my two favorite sports to play now are golf and skiing, although you don't really "play" skiing
9. i am in love with skiing; to be outside, in the cold, on a mountain, and in the powder; there is nothing better, i wish i could ski more but we live in the worst state for skiing
10. the worst smell in the world was when my mom cleaned the coffee pot by running vinegar through it; absolutely horrendous and lindsay is barred it
11. everyday in high school my mom packed my lunch and wrote my name on the brown bag; i had a ham or turkey sandwich (sometimes on a hoagie if i am lucky), chips, swiss cake rolls, an apple or banana, and a coke.  i had this everyday and i still do
12. my roommate in college my freshman year was crazy, one time we played "poop dollar" on franklin street; one of the funniest times of my life.  the game is exactly what it says, you put poop on one side of a dollar and place said dollar poop side down and watch people come by and pick it up; their reactions are priceless; the game was over when an old lady picked up the dollar and put it in her purse (yes, its harsh but we were in college)
13. i say "that's what she said" entirely too much (it can be said after almost any comment)
14. unlike Lindsay, i really love our dog, she is really sweet and i love that she is protective, she is also really good with Caleigh
15. besides my wife, caleigh is the most beautiful thing i have ever seen, she stores all of her cuteness in her cheeks
16. the best time of my day is when i come home from work and the first thing i hear is "da-da"
17. i hate uppercase letters; i think it is a waste of time 
18. my first car was a 1988 chevy camaro, it was white with red cloth interior; the chicks digged it; it also had sweet rims with wide tires
19. i'm not a big reader but the book i have read the most, besides my bible, is goodnight moon, i read it every night to caleigh, along with her bible
20. i'm proud to admit that i am a lite beer guy, miller lite, bud select; i hate dark beer
21. my goal in life is to heli-ski; basically a helicopter drops you off at a random mountain top in alaska or some other backcountry mountain, and you just ski your way down; super crazy and super amazing
22. i love the cold weather; i hate the winters in north carolina, way too warm; i could live in colorado or a big city like chicago or new york
23. one of my greatest summers ever was when i spent it with campus crusade in east asia; i saw God do some amazing things in my life and in the lives around me
24. the music i listen to is alternative: jack's mannequin, shiny toy guns, snow patrol, angels and airwaves, coldplay, killers; i love xm radio
25. this has taken me (Adam) one and one half hours to finish

random things about Lindsay

My 25 random things about myself that I posted on Facebook:

1. I am thankful for the saving grace that is mine through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - I should tell people that more often so I am starting on Facebook.
2. I am a closet introvert.  I am not ashamed to be an introvert - I love it, but I think that most people would think that I am an extrovert.  I thought I was until my sophomore year in college.  I can only take large groups and small talk for a very small amount of time.
3. I really like working part time as a pediatric pharmacist at Levine Children's Hospital.  It is the perfect balance of being at work enough (16-24 hrs/wk) to feel like I have a work life and of being at home to feel like I have a stay-at-home mom life.  It can be a little lonely sometimes when I feel like I don't totally fit in either place.
4. I am an extremely picky eater.  Caleigh eats more variety and green things than I do.  Typically I have an idea in my head of what I want to eat and I will be disappointed with anything else (which annoys Adam to no end).
5. Rollerblading is one of my favorite things to do.  I have been known to rollerblade at the park with Bailey to try to wear her out.  Unfortunately it is not recommended during pregnancy - otherwise I would be doing it with Bailey on the leash and Cals in the jogger.
6. I love being pregnant.  Not the big and uncomfortable part and not even the being able to eat anything part.  I love how strangers always seem so in awe of pregnant ladies and how they treat it with such honor and amazement.
7. I don't clean.  I mean, I cook and unload the dishes from the dishwasher.  I do laundry.  But I don't do any deep cleaning. - On my days off i don't feel like cleaning is my job - I would rather just enjoy being with Cals.  If I stay at home full time at some point maybe I will try to get better at cleaning - but probably not.
8. I am obsessed with jeans.  Mostly designer jeans which I get to buy once a year in the fall.
9. I don't like lunch food.  Actually I loathe lunch in general unless I am eating out.  My ideal day of food is a bowl of cereal for early breakfast, brunch at 10:30 or 11ish consisting of eggs, bacon, grits, etc., a snack at 3 or 4ish and then dinner.  I try to avoid lunch at all costs.
10. I love cold weather and I wish we didn't live in such a warm climate.
11. Adam has made me so much more laid back than my personality would naturally be.  Now I almost consider myself a laid back person.
12. I love to golf - it is one of my favorite hobbies.  When Adam and I lived in Nashville I would get off of work at 4 (on a good day) and we would go play 18 holes of golf and then have a late dinner at 7:30 or 8 (GREAT memories of Nashville).  My best 9 hole score is 43.  Best 18 holes in 90.  I played regularly until I was 6 months pregnant with Caleigh.  It is so expensive to play in Charlotte.
13. I rarely paint my own nails.  I get a pedicure at least once a month - even if I have to save all my allowance money for it.
14. I would love to take art classes.
15. I don't like my pets.  We started with a cat, Riley, when we first got married and then we got our boxer/lab mix, Bailey, about a year later.  We gave Riley away when I got pregnant with Caleigh and now I want to give Bailey away.  I think I love our pets for about a year until the newness wears off and then I am just done.
16. I dream of living other places - Seattle (I love the rain!), Chicago (I love the cold!), New York (I love the city!), Colorado, London, etc.  But I really don't want to move away from Charlotte.
17. I was extremely rebellious in high school.
18. I loathe musicals.
19. Country music is my absolute favorite.
20. I worked at a Wendy's in Branson, Missouri for a summer when on summer project with Campus Crusade.  I was the drive through girl because I was the only one who could count change fast enough.  I rationed myself to 1 chicken nugget or a couple of fries per day so I didn't get fat.  I still have my hat with flare all over it.
21. I love movies -  only seeing them in the theatre though.  Adam loves to rent movies and watch them at home but I hate it - so I do it out of love for him.
22. I also love TV - Alias was one of the best shows ever and Jennifer Gardner is one of my favorite actresses.  I would be em brassed to list all of the shows I watch now. (Amazing Race, Gossip Girl, House, Heroes, The Bachelor, 24, John and Kate Plus 8, NCIS, America's Next Top Model, What Not to Wear (sometimes), Lost, The Office, and Grey's Anatomy)
23. I always have a planner with the whole year ahead planned out.  I love to know what to expect and I hate surprises.  This is why I like to find out the sex of the baby when we are pregnant (like now!).
24. I love to read.  Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors.  One summer I bought all the classics - Jane Austen, etc. but I have never read them.  I read the Twilight series last month and loved it.
25. I didn't think I would be able to think of 25 random things but I did, and I could go on with more.  Apparently I am more interesting than I thought.

14 month update

I can't believe that I haven't done an real update since she was 10 months old - I am so behind!  It is AMAZING how much Caleigh has changed from 11 months to now, 14 months old.  She is such a little toddler now and no longer a baby.  

First time sporting pigtails... At 14 months Caleigh is:

• Toddling everywhere - walking around our house in circles keeps her pretty entertained for a long time.  She loves attempting to navigate hurdles and is pretty good at keeping her balance.
• Eating like a bird - she hardly eats anything anymore!  I think this is the cluster feeding stage of toddlerhood but often she will eat 1 or 2 bites of food and then she is just done.  We will often ask her, Caleigh do you want more?  And she just shakes her head no.
• Understanding so much!  She has started shaking her head no.  Sometimes it is helpful (ie Caleigh do you want some milk? ... shake her head no), sometimes it is funny (ie Caleigh do you want to go to Dada? ... shake her head no), and sometimes it is a little annoying.  She is also understanding obeying commands: go to your highchair, come to mama (having to discipline for this when she disobeys now that she understands it), lets go outside (she goes to the door), etc.
• Saying some words: dada (still revolting against saying mama - when we say, Caleigh can you say mama? she says dada extra loud and then laughs, it is like she thinks it is a game to not say mama), doggie (dog-dog), all done (still one of her favorites), silky (sounds like dil-ky which is her lovie that she takes everywhere), shoes (do-es)
• She has started to mimic our actions - for example I will use her brush to brush her hair and then when I give her the brush she will use it to brush my hair or her hair.
• She has also started to figure out where things go - for example she will go and get her winter hat and carry it around trying to put it on her head, or she will go and get her jeans out of the dirty clothes and walk around trying to put them on her legs, or she will see the high chair tray and put it on the high chair, and the most surprising was when we were at the Kulps and she found a kid sized belt and she spent a good amount of time trying to put it around her waist which is funny because she maybe sees Adam put on a belt once or twice a week and I don't wear belts (and neither does she)
• Caleigh sleeps from 7 pm until about 7:30 am.  She still takes 2 naps - from about 915-1030 in the morning and from around 130 until 345/4 in the afternoon.  On Sunday she goes without a morning nap and could probably drop it soon but I am not pushing it.

another day, another sickness...

(This may be too much information so feel free to skip this post.)

So like I was saying in the previous post, this is the story of Caleigh's first scary sickness.  Starting 2 weeks ago on Wednesday before we went to Fairhaven Caleigh started getting fevers for no reason.  She had no cold symptoms or anything but she would feel warm and then we would take her temperature (always rectal) and it would hang out around 102.5 which is the highest she has ever hard.  The Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights before and while we were at Fairhaven (over the weekend of 1/17-1/18) Caleigh woke up each night with shaking chills and a high fever.  Here fever responded to Tylenol/Motrin and she would wake up a couple of hours later soaked in sweat from sweating off the fever.  We had taken her to the doctor on Friday (1/16) because of the fevers but at that point they had only been going on for 48 hours and they said she sounded a little congested.  (I didn't think that a little congestion that we hadn't noticed would be the cause of 102.5 fevers, but that was just me).  On Sunday night when we got back from Fairhaven she was still having fevers but she slept through the night and was afebrile by Monday morning.  Monday through Saturday morning (1/19-1/24) of last week she seemed fine and wasn't having fevers and was eating normally again.  

Here is where our story picks up from the nature museum.

When we got home from the nature museum Caleigh felt hot and I took her temperature: 103.3 rectal.  We gave her some Tylenol and when she woke up from her nap her temp was still 102.5 so we gave her some Motrin.  By 6 pm her fever had broken and she went to bed without a temp but wasn't eating anything and wasn't herself - she wouldn't play and just wanted to be held.  She woke up Saturday in the middle of the night screaming and she was burning up again: 103.5.  We gave her Motrin and she woke up at 5 am sweating off the fever.  When she woke up in the morning (Sunday morning) she was shaking with chills.  We took her temperature because she still felt warm even though she was shaking and it was 97.7 which is pretty low.  We tried feeding her breakfast but she wouldn't eat.  In the high chair she started shaking a lot and her lips looked a little blueish (I think from being so cold).  At this point we considered taking her the the ER but first called the on call pediatrician and found out that our doctor was on call.  We gave her some Tylenol to help with the chills and wrapped her in blankets and by 9 or so (after an hour of shaking) was finally a normal temperature.  We saw Dr. Ball at 11 that morning and with no other explanation for the high fevers (she had no other symptoms), she decided to put a catheter in her bladder and get a clean sample of urine to look for bacteria.  (I was not leaving the office without a urine sample or a blood count - I just knew something was really wrong with her).  The cath was traumatic for Caleigh - not because it was painful but because she was held down on the table while they did it.  She had leukocytes and bacteria in her urine, and with the fever, that means that she had a kidney infection (pyelonephritis).  Since she wasn't vomiting, they treated her as an outpatient and gave her a shot of antibiotics but said if she seemed dehydrated at any point she may need to be admitted to the hospital.

On Sunday night she was still pitiful and having fevers.  Sunday around 11 pm she woke up with 104.5 rectal temperature and we panicked because the doctor said her fevers should be going down.  We went to the ER at this point but by the time we had waiting in that sickbed for an hour her fever had broken and so we just left and went back home.  We got another shot of antibiotics on Monday and started oral antibiotics on Tuesday.  By Tuesday evening she was back to her normal self.  Basically urinary tract infections are common in little girls because their urethra is very short and it is easy for bacteria to go up there.   Next week we will still have to get some testing done: a renal (kidney) ultrasound and a VCUG which is where they inject dye in her bladder and then take x-rays and watch to see if any of the dye goes backwards into her ureters/kidneys.  If the dye (and therefore urine) travels in the wrong direction it is known as VUR or basically urine reflux and can lead to kidney damage.  We are praying that everything will turn out normal and rejoicing that our little girl is back to her normal self!  

at the nature museum

On Saturday, after brunch at the Adams' house, I met Carrie, Mary, and their kiddos at the nature museum (part of Discovery Place).  We are not members, but they are and Caleigh and I were delighted to use their guest passes and visit this fun place.  I can't believe we actually got a picture of all of the kids (except Henry) in one picture where they are all looking at the camera - Carrie is pretty amazing like that - and we borrowed these pictures from her blog.  Introducing: Camilla, Maggie, Caleigh, Bennett, and Celia...  This picture was taken in the butterfly garden and there were quite a few butterflies in there.

Here is the aquarium where there are some fish and turtles and other fun animals. Caleigh loved the tree house especially. Caleigh's sickness started on Saturday.  She didn't eat much for breakfast and then I noticed at the nature museum her forehead started to feel warm and she was very fragile/grouchy ... thus is the beginning of the next post.

it's a boy!

We are having a baby boy!  We were so thrilled to find out it was a little boy!  I have really felt like it was definitely a boy and would have been shocked (but still happy) if it was a girl.  We wanted a little boy so bad.  Adam was always the one saying that he was fine either way and I was the one who was saying I really hoped it was a boy... and then he was beyond excited to find out it was a little guy.  

It is amazing how different he already seems from Caleigh.  He moves around ALL the time.  During the ultrasound he was moving around like a little mad man - doing flips and kicks and giving the ultrasound technician a hard time getting measurements.  He has been kicking me a ton already and Adam has already felt him kick.  During Caleigh's 18 week ultrasound she laid still the entire 45 minutes and sucked her thumb - which is the laid back, calm baby that she was.  So we will see what is in store for us this summer.  Everything looked totally fine except for my placenta was lying a little low and a little part of it was covering my cervix (called placenta previa).  We will have another ultrasound around 28 weeks to make sure that the placenta has moved up some (the doctor said it always moves up - it never goes lower and he was positive that it won't be an issue).  We are so thankful to God.  It seems too good to get what we actually wanted... see how much God give good gifts to His children!

strawberries

I have been having a major craving for strawberries for the past couple days.  Not just strawberry flavored things but fresh strawberries.  Good thing Harris Teeter has had them on sale for the past week or so.  I don't remember having many cravings with Caleigh but maybe that is because (as Adam can testify to) in real non-pregnant life my general mode of operation is to set my mind of one specific food and generally not want to eat anything else.  Yes, I am the pickiest eater in the world so I guess I can't blame Caleigh when she does the same.

Anyways - tomorrow is the day - we can't wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl!  I have really really been looking forward to finding out what this baby is - I think even more that when we found out with Caleigh.  It just seems like the second child really shapes your family and the direction it is going... will I be a mom of girls? (let's hope not all girls - I can't handle that emotionally...) or will I be a mom of both?  So fun to find out.  We can't wait!

President Obama

What a historic event to be a part of.  We didn't vote for Obama - but we will support him and pray for him.  I truly hope that he is an extremely successful president.

snow in charlotte!

It actually snowed in Charlotte!  I am shocked that the forecasters were right.  Adam and I both love the snow.  We just got back from Fairhaven on Sunday so we had our fill of sledding and playing outside over the weekend.  I worked on Tuesday and got to walk to the hospital in the snow - Uggs and scrubs and all...  It was melting by the evening but it was beautiful while it lasted!  I love the snow clouds and the look of the city when it snows.  I really wish it snowed more often but am thankful for our 1 snow per year.