People Are Noticing

Today was a milestone day. So far only friends and family have been brave enough to comment on the baby bump. At the store this afternoon the sales clerk asked when I'm due. I'm officially pregnant-looking not just pudgy!

What We've Been Making

First, in case you haven't heard . . . we are having a baby girl! Angela (Rose?) is growing and developing nicely and we are relieved. Ryan isn't into the baby planning so much, but he does talk to my stomach sometimes. Granted he's usually plotting with Angela against me.

Also, my appetite is back with a vengeance. It's SO NICE to enjoy food again. I can't get enough and read cookbooks and watch cooking shows on TV. Because I've had extreme heartburn I can't eat too much at one time, so it leaves me hungry a lot of the time. Maybe that's the problem. At any rate, Ryan is on break following his first semester (hooray! one down, five more to go), so I decided to celebrate with a really complicated, rich, dark chocolate cake:

Seriously the most chocolatey cake I've ever eaten in my life. It wasn't that sweet, just rich and creamy. The filling is basically a pudding. Ryan had one small slice and stopped because it was that overwhelming. It's a Cooks Illustrated recipe, so you need a subscription for the recipe. However, Baking Obsession posted the recipe here and the directions are slightly easier to understand. (NOTE: we used a cup of water in place of the brewed coffee)

In other news, Ryan tells me that BYU's first football practice of the season was today. It's probably for the best that we're having a girl because I think Ryan would be teaching plays to my tummy if we were having a boy.

Dear Walmart Patron

Dear Walmart Patron,

I did not have a camera ready when you crossed the street, else I would be sending it to that people of Walmart website. Lucky you. I can only assume that you realized you were wearing a white shirt without a bra. Maybe if I was that busty I would be more eager to show it off too. But what I'd really like to know is why your father (who was accompanying you) let you out of the house wearing a see-through shirt. Or was that older gentleman not your father? You know, I'm not sure I want the answer. Forget I even brought it up.

From,
A Concerned Citizen

No News Yet

I had an ultrasound today, and I am 15 1/2 weeks. I knew the doctor probably wouldn't be able to see anything, but we were hoping. Our little one is measuring a bit small, making things more difficult, and he or she is awfully shy, adding to the trouble. We did get to see some little arm and leg flailing and a bit of wiggling! The good news is that the doctor is going to send us to a radiology lab in three weeks for an official ultrasound. I have been waiting years for this appointment, and I think I can certainly wait three more weeks.

In case you're wondering, I have no inclinations or intuitions either way. Ryan says that he doesn't either. However, several people claim to have had feelings on my behalf. With the exception of my sister-in-law, everyone is betting on a boy. What do you think?

I Had the Craziest Dream

Ryan cringes when I start off a conversation that way. He thinks my dreams are always crazy and does not really care to hear them. Of all the things I prattle on about, it's the topic he cares about the least. It's true that I often have vivid dreams but I've had some odd ones even for me lately. (I'm told this is normal with pregnancy)

So. I really did have the craziest dream last week. I was at a party (a nice party, like at a church friend's house) and I found myself thoroughly enjoying a Corona. It tasted like Squirt. My friend politely asked me if it was wise to be drinking. "Oh yes," I said. "My mom told me that it was okay if I only had one." The friend gave me an odd look and walked away.

Do you ever have dreams that are so weird, even your dream self can't take it seriously? Dream Christie started giving this whole Corona thing some serious thought. I remembered that I was pregnant and wondered why my mother (who is a nurse!) would tell me it was okay to drink one. Was it really okay? Somehow, it just didn't seem okay. Then I remembered, "I'm a Mormon! I'm not supposed to drink! Pregnant or not!" I was still puzzling over whether they were going to kick me out of church and if I'd killed some of my baby's brain cells when I woke up.

But what I really wanted to know the next morning is . . . do Coronas really taste like Squirt? Because I'm not really going to try one, but now I'm curious.

My Grammie's Piano

I don't post much about my dad. There are a lot of intricacies in our relationship that are best left off the Internet rather than trying to explain them. Gift giving is one of those intricacies. We struggled. I never seemed to get him what he wanted, and he gave me some pretty odd ones. I'll leave it at that. He did have at least one very great success.

When I was about seven, I started trying to teach myself to play the piano. When my parents caught onto my interest, my grandmother very graciously gave us her Wurlitzer upright. I loved that piano. It made me sad when my parents decided to get a baby grand. But that baby grand was pretty awesome, so I didn't dwell on it too much.

My dad, however, didn't want to part with my grammie's piano. He knew that it would be awhile before I'd be able to afford a piano for myself, so he kept it. He put that piano and a few items of furniture in storage until I could use it. When we graduated a few years ago, it was one of the first things he asked. "Can I ship your piano to you now?"

I won't go into detail about the nightmare that was getting our piano up to the second floor apartment so that it could sit there unused for a year (I was so paranoid about bothering the neighbors I only played on Sundays with the damper pedal on). However, it now sits in our house where it's played and loved. It just looks like it's supposed to be there. If my dad hadn't gone to the trouble of storing it all those years (and shipping it all the way to AZ), my precious piano and I would never have been reunited. And the primary would've been without a sub for a few weeks since I would've forgotten how to play.

The Big Announcement

I've struggled with knowing just how to write this post. Once upon a time I thought that I would be typing in all caps and using a zillion explanation points. After all the trouble it has taken us to get here, I feel much more relief and gratitude than I feel excitement. Yes, we are finally expecting.

Because I'm past 12 weeks now, I finally feel confident enough to spread the good news. There is ONE and only ONE little bean in there. No triplets this time, and I can't say that I'm disappointed. The little Black bean is planned to enter this world on December 24th. I'm not kidding. Since we already have Christmas, our anniversary, and my birthday . . . someone must have figured December just wasn't busy enough for us. Yet, I can't help but feel this is how it was meant to be.

In the mean time, Black bean has been sending signals to me that he or she HATES veggies, since I've hardly been able to stomach any for months. I figured this meant that we definitely have Ryan's genes in there, but I've also been anti-sweets. That doesn't sound like either of us. Either way, I seem to be dealing with food better than I was and hope I keep feeling like myself again. Even if it is little by little. While I thought I'd never ever be able to do daily shots (ha! I've been doing two-a-days), I found I'd rather give a shot than vomit. Vomiting is definitely in my top five greatest fears.

My next appointment is in three weeks, and I'm hoping the doctor can determine the gender. Since it will be just shy of 16 weeks, it may be iffy. Now that the news is out, I'll be better at keeping everyone posted. We're so grateful for the support and prayers during this "process," so thank you all!