Ultrasound

Today, we had the ultrasound for dating purposes. The scan was scheduled for 7:30 am so Maggie was able to go along. She was not very impressed, but was excited to "Go to Mommy's work and see the Doc-tore. The doc-tore make Mommy feel all better."

The entire scan took about 20 minutes and I couldn't tell you what I saw, though the tech pointed out my uterus and ovaries. She pointed out the yolk sac and said "I think that's the baby" which was also the last thing she said until it was over. I didn't say anything as I didn't want to interrupt her and kind of expected her to say SOMETHING. When she was done, she asked when my appointment with Dr. McCracken was and told me I could go. I was a bit worried -- all I could think of was something was wrong, but surely they wouldn't make us wait 2 weeks if something was wrong, right??

I debated for a few hours at work, but ended up calling Nurse Shelly just to see what the process was, would someone call us? Or would it really be 2 weeks for us to find out anything? She was a bit surprised that the tech didn't even tell us she saw a heartbeat, but also mentioned that the baby's size is about 10 days behind what we expected. She guessed the due date would be mid-January, but said Dr. McCracken would view the scans early next week and actually set the due date (though I rather wish they would get rid of "due dates" and make it a due week or even 2 weeks). Knowing there is a heartbeat makes all the difference to me at this point and allows me a comfort level to allow this pregnancy to become "common knowledge."

We did not get a photo of the baby (though from what I've seen on-line, it rather looks like a polywog), but did find out Billings Clinic will do either a print out or a CD of the ultrasound, so we do have that to look forward to for the future ultrasounds -- as I know there will be at least 2 more. One in 6-7 weeks for the genetic testing and one around 18-20 weeks for measurements and possible finding out the gender. That is Rocky's decision this time around, but I think he is leaning towards not finding out again. It was really fun to hear "It's a girl!" when Maggie was born and maybe this time around Rocky could be the one to make the initial announcement.

Maggie is still insisting she would rather have a puppy or a kitty "for Otis." As we will be getting a fence (starting to go in next week -- WOOT!), the puppy will probably follow soon after.

Maggie-isms

We had a bit of a back-slide this weekend with pooping on the potty. I'm not sure if it was because we let Maggie do her own thing quite a bit or just Maggie being lazy. The back-slide continued at daycare Tuesday. Rocky picked her up and she told him on the way home that she "pooped in my pannies". Rocky asked her why, to which Maggie replied: "Dad, I have lots of underpants."

Memorial Day Weekend

We enjoyed a nice quiet weekend at home.

We had a fire. (This photo is actually from Mother's Day and the fire pit was my Mother's Day gift. Maggie got to roast her first marshmallows and I got to enjoy them!)

Saturday, we went to the Beartooth Nature Center in Red Lodge. Maggie loves seeing the animals. It was family fun day, so she also got a bear paw painted on her face:

Monday, we did some shopping for some outdoor furniture (which we didn't find), but in addition to purchasing some flowers and pots, Maggie got a slip-n-slide, Diego style. While she didn't really get the concept of a slip-n-slide, she did enjoy running down the slide and jumping into the little pool at the end. Soon, though, she gathered her toys and played as though it were just a swimming pool. We need to train her on the sprinklers, though.

And we had hot dogs. Maggie decided she wanted hers in a bun, just like us:

Working Mother Dilemma

I enjoy my career. Notice I said career and not job. Maggie has been in daycare since she was 8 weeks old (which still seems much too young, now 3 years later) because I had to return to work -- I didn't have FMLA protection at the time, nor did I have much vacation time. Now, some days it is hard to drop her off, and some days it's not. And now she has preschool, which she just loves. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on part of the excitement of Maggie in preschool. I don't get to drop her off or pick her up from preschool and by the end of the day what she did in preschool is confused with what she may have done in daycare or may have done yesterday, or last week.

This week is the last week of preschool for the year and tomorrow is the last field trip -- to the zoo. I wasn't planning on going along and Rocky can't go either. With the new baby, I really can't afford to take extra time off "unnecessarily." But is this unnecessary? I love going to the zoo with Maggie. She loves animals and I get such a kick out of seeing her around the animals. I also enjoy seeing her interact with the other kids. I'm fortunate to work in an office that affords me the luxury of being able to be a part of both the working world and Maggie's preschool world.

On the other hand, it's probably good for Maggie to go to the zoo without Rocky or me for her to hang on. She has already told us that she needs to bring in her car seat tomorrow -- so I'm sure her teachers told her on Thursday and she is very very excited about going to the zoo and I doubt it will scar her for life if I'm not there.

And I seem to go through this with so many things that involve Maggie. I know I do not have to be there for each and every thing she does. I know even if I stayed home, I wouldn't get to experience EVERYTHING with her: she likes to play by herself (sometimes) and eventually, she will go to school.

In the end, I probably shouldn't go along and she'll be fine.

Euphemisms

So, the rabbit died.



“Oh, what have I done?
I killed da wabbit.
Poor widdle bunny
Poor widdle wabbit!”

It looks like I am …

-gravid
-in a delicate condition
-have a bun in the oven
-knocked up
-up the duff
-preggers
-Preggo, not Ragu
-breeding
-not-too-shabby with child (working on great)
-propagating
-in the family way
-expecting
-awaiting the pitter-patter of little feet (again)
-eating for two (1.02?)
-prolific
-fruitful (or fruity anyway)
-fecund
-anticipating my lying-in
-gestating
-in an interesting predicament
-increasing
-feeling like a defective typewriter

We found out last Wednesday and told the family on Mother's Day (rather appropriate). We have an ultrasound scheduled for 2 weeks from today for dating and at that point will start scheduling all of the other fun tests that go along with being "of advanced maternal age." We did tell Maggie, as we thought it would be cute to have her tell the grandparents. Well, she:

• Told Grandma Bonnie: "I'm going to be a big Man!"
• Told Grandpa Rich: "I'm going to be a big Spider-Man!"
• Told Grandma Alana (with MUCH prompting): "I'm going to be a big sister." She was less excited to announce this than the announcement about becoming Spider-Man.

She has also told us that she would rather have an orange kitty or puppy. I'm sure she won't figure it out until there's an actual baby for her to see.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day! A day which, not surprisingly, means much more now that I AM a mother. Since Maggie's been old enough to hold a crayon, it seems daycare has created some wonderful Mother's Day gift, usually involving Maggie's handprint (which we unfortunately have yet to see something for Father's Day -- I think I'm going to have to get busy myself this year). This year's gift was no exception. The kids also made cards with a little poem, a handprint, a drawing of Mommy (I look happy in the drawing but appear to have a goatee ;) ) and list of questions the kids answered about their mommy. Here's Maggie's list, let's see how well she knows me:

My mommy has brown eyes. She has yellow hair.

My mommy likes to clean the house, read me stories and play the Mickey Mouse Club game.

My mommy is prettiest when she puts flowers and bows in her hair.

My mommy is 4 years old.

My mommy is funniest when she makes silly faces.

My mommy's favorite color is yellow.

I like it best when she cooks chicken nuggest and French fries.

She cooks everything good.

My mommy likes me to help her read "the Cat in the Hat" and clean up the house.

When I am nice she says good girl.

When I'm naughty she give me time out.

She is special because she is beautiful.

I'm not sure if they just asked the questions and wrote down their answers or if there was any prodding (or listening to other kids' answers -- as Maggie has never had a time out at home), but it's sweet and special anyway.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there, and especially my Mom and my Mother-in-law! I love you!

Field Trip!

One of my favorite parts of Maggie being in preschool is the field trips. This last week, they went on a field trip to Gainan's, a local nursery. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the pretty flowers. They got to touch cacti and a Venus Flytrap, which Maggie thought was really neat.

Planting a flower with Miss Suzanne

It was a little like herding kittens getting the class photo together.

After Gainan's there was time to go to the park. The kids really loved the merry-go-round!

There was a slight breeze in the afternoon, so we fixed Maggie's princess kite (it had broken in a high wind a few days earlier) and got it soaring!

It was really a beautiful day!

Home from Yellowstone

We had a really great trip to Yellowstone. The cabins were nice and the weather was GREAT. We probably could have camped, but it was nice to shower each morning. We didn't get to picnic as most of the picnic areas were still covered in several feet of snow, so we splurged and ate most of our meals in the restaurants.

It was opening weekend for most of the park. There's only one road (the road to Cooke City) that is open year round. This weekend, the roads to Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake opened. It was also the first weekend the hotel and cabins were open and we were the very first to check in. We were asked if it was a tradition for us to come on opening weekend. It is now!

As with most trips to Yellowstone, we did a lot of driving. Maggie (and we) got a little tired of it, so Saturday afternoon, we just hung out in Mammoth (plus gas is a lot more expensive in the park!)

I posted most of the pictures on Facebook, so rather than duplicate my efforts, just click here and see the photos and comments. Rocky hasn't downloaded his photos yet, so I'll add those later. He got some great shots of elk and bison and even some bison calves -- which are adorable, but I wouldn't want to piss off Momma Bison!

It was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to go back. Rocky and I have started talking about working there after retirement (or winning the lottery, which ever comes first).