A Few Common Questions

On average, I see about 10 patients a day. That's 10 mouths, 10 tongues and 10 personalities. I work for a general dentist, which means, we see pretty much everyone and anyone. Overall, it's really great. Overall, I get to know a lot of people and families, and that is my favorite part. I will be at this practice for 5 years as of this December. Even though I only get to see most of my patients once every 6 months (for the good mouths-haha) you can really feel like you get to know someone in that time and really look forward to seeing them again. This is my favorite part of being a dental hygienist.

So, in getting to see on average 10 people every day to small talk or catch up with, I get to talk about babies a lot. Specifically now that I'm showing a bit, my baby. Here is what I have determined to be the top five questions and answers I get on a daily basis...

(these not just from patients of course, probably these are the top five questions I have asked expectant moms as well, and also maybe some questions some of you may have as well)

1. Do you know what you're having?

Thankfully, Yes! It's a girl!!

2. Any names picked out yet?

Actually, yes, now we do. We are trying it on for a few weeks before we decide to share though.

3. Have you been feeling good?

I have. I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed. A little more tired at times, but overall, I really cannot complain.

4. Any cravings or aversions?

Not really. I do get a little of the when I want it, I want it now moments, but no major cravings or aversions. I will say the only one thing that has been a little odd thus far is every time I see a KFC commercial, I am pretty sure I need it. That I have never seen anything that looked more delicious. I don't even really like fried chicken so I have not given into this one just yet although I have come close. I did have to have some chicken wings with mom & dad one night to help a little. Not quite the same, but, they were the tastiest wings I've had to date.

5. Are you going to continue working?

The answer to this is yes. I would be mostly crazy not to I think. I only work about 28 hours per week. That's four days. Jason gets to be home 2 of those 4 days with our little bundle. (That means only 2 days of childcare needed) One of the biggest draws for me in picking my career is that it is so flexible and wonderful for family life, which is so important to me. I have an excellent schedule and I would miss seeing a lot of the people and families I have come to know these past (almost) 5 years. I like to think maybe some of them might even miss me.

There are always more, but I feel these are the most common. I could talk about baby all day, so of course, I don't mind so much.

A Girly Picture :)

It's official...we're having a girl!!!! :):):):):):):):)

Not only that, but an apparently happy, healthy baby girl that weighs in at about 1 pound. It was so awesome to see her on Friday. Her tiny toes and fingers and even a yawn or two.

Now if only we could decide on a name....

Here are some girly pictures. A wave hello and tiny baby feet.

We love, love, love it!

An update

So....we showed up for our Dr appointment last Friday only to be told we had to reschedule our ultrasound!!! What?!?!! This must be a joke...we were too excited to see the baby. The ultrasound technician did not come to work. :( I had to work really hard not to break down in tears. It wasn't even entirely about finding out pink or blue...I just wanted to see the little bean and how much he or she had grown in 11 weeks since our last picture. After my regular check-up (which was all good), the Dr was so kind as to let us have a quick ultrasound, just not the full exam that we were scheduled for. So, we did get to see the baby! It was quite awesome....well beyond awesome really to see it swimming around in there. Little tiny hands and feet and some yawning or something that looked like it. Maybe just shouting "Hello Mom & Dad!" :):):) And we also got to see a very good looking umbilical cord....right between the baby's legs. So, the sex of our child remains a mystery. We are however going to get another chance as we have to reschedule the full ultrasound for another day.

I have been feeling our little bean kicking around a little bit lately. It seems to be getting stronger and I noticed it a lot more today. We can both hardly wait for Jason to be able to feel it too. The Dr said it would probably be another month or so for that. We are both very excited for that day to come.

An Irresistable Purchase

Hallmark comes out with their Keepsake Ornaments every year in July. I've never been a huge fan of them, although they usually have some cute ones. However, after working there, I have a new appreciation, and enjoyed my discount last year, so, now I want to keep up with the collection. I had to go check them out the other day...and I could not resist this one...

it was too perfect.

I can hardly wait for Christmas!

A Birthday Weekend

I had a lovely birthday last Sunday. Thank you to all of you who called, sent cards, emailed or texted! I loved hearing from you! I hope I will get to talk to you all soon.Mom & Dad and Dan & Ellen came into town and took me out to Texas Roadhouse for a very tasty birthday lunch. (yummy) Luckily Jason was even able to sneak out of work for a bit and join us! It was quite wonderful to have people I love share the day with me. I even got to talk to Melissa and even Nick for awhile later on in the day from so far away.

Saturday night, a couple of our friends came over for a very fun game night. We definitely need to do more game nights. We have tons of games...anyone that might be interested in taking us on, please let us know! We love playing and I especially love getting the chance to see some of you. Here are a few of our gaming options...

Last Friday, I got to go to the zoo with 4 girlfriends from high school and 4 of their very cute children. It was incredibly hot, but also incredibly fun hanging out, catching up and getting to see the kids. The oldest of the 4 kids (my Goddaughter) is turning 3 this weekend. Happy B-Day Avery!! It's hard to believe. I will be very excited to be pushing around my own stroller next summer when we hopefully do this again. The questions is, will it be pink or blue?? We find out Friday....stay tuned.....more baby pictures coming soon. :):):)

Oh - and also so exciting.... We have a crib! My wonderful friend and co-hygienist, Rhonda, was able and willing to hand down theirs from her son Max who is 4. It looks super nice and I can hardly wait to get it all put together. She also gave us a gliding rocker with an ottoman which I know is going to come in very handy. (The cats already really love it) Thank you SO much Rhonda!! And thank you to Mom & Dad for helping me pick it up on Sunday! What a great bonus to a birthday!

Jason got me this t-shirt. (Best when read aloud)

A Camping Weekend

Here are some scenes from our camping weekend. We had a pretty good time although it ended up raining on Saturday and Sunday. :( Silly weatherman. Why do we ever believe him? The site was not all that it appeared to be on their website. Unfortunately, we had only port-o-johns (5 total for 50 sites) and the showers we were supposed to use had been condemned!!! Poor Ellen on her first camping trip. She was quite the trooper though I will have to say. There were other showers, so luckily we did get cleaned up after canoeing on Saturday. So, we had two gigantic tents for the four of us so that took up the majority of our site. We were also supposed to be "riverside" camping where we were told we could actually swim and fish from our site. Not true. We were actually on a bit of a cliff overlooking the river. It was private though...we could not see our neighbors...we wished that we could not hear them though after dark.

We definitely had some great eats throughout the weekend. Lots of delicious treats, especially thanks to Ellen's Fruity Pebble Treats and Chex Mix. We made hobo packs, Grandma G's Oven Ham Sandwiches and corn on the cob cooked on a fire (yum!!), eggs and bacon one morning and Shake'n Pour Bisquick pancakes with fire-roasted brats the next.

Saturday, we went canoing on the river after breakfast which was quite fun. The river was an

incredibly busy place being the 4th of July. We planned on hopping on a train to go see the fireworks in the valley, but once the rain started, we ended up throwing that idea out. Instead

we headed into town to possibly check out a movie but missed the showtimes so we headed to Damon's for appetizers and were able to watch DC's and NYC fireworks on the bi

g screen. We didn't miss out entirely on the fireworks and were actually able to catch a pretty good show before heading back to the campsite for the night.

Packing up in the mud and rain is never fun, but went quite fast. Dan was a pro at keeping the fire up by the end of the weekend, the best fire we had was actually probably during the rain. Good job Dan!

Overall, it was a great trip with great people. Dan and Ellen were fun as always to hang with. Thanks for joining us guys! We will definitely do it again sometime. Maybe we should even bring more people to fill up our big tents. ;) (Sorry I don't have pictures of those - they are definitely worth seeing)

Sometimes, the third time's the charm.

Another Camping Trip

We are going to Hocking Hills this weekend with my brother Dan and his wife Ellen. (It's Ellen's first camping trip!! So Fun!) I just packed up the car so we can be ready to go in the morning. Last time we camped, we realized we're not going to be able to camp with kids unless we upgrade our vehicle or get a trailer or carrier. It's unreal all the stuff you have to bring with you. Wonder why it is you can never get everything back in exactly the way you started? Like a suitcase on a vacation. Usually, all the same stuff.... At least if you don't do a lot of shopping. I can never get it all to fit just right the second time around. Makes me crazy!!

We're camping along a river, so I imagine it will be nice and shady. The weather looks like it will be absolutely perfect! There is canoeing right down the road, and of course tons of great hiking trails in the area, so it should definitely be a great weekend. We went back in January for Jason's bday and did some winter hiking. It's really beautiful no matter what time of year you go. Check back for pictures next week!

Happy Independence Day everyone!! Have a great holiday weekend!