Her (or Him if you really want to be fair)

As i began to write my a new blog post, i realized all i was doing was bitching and moaning about all the symptoms I have been having over the last week or so and how they are gradually getting worse.

UGH...

After considering this for a while, I realized there was something much more interesting to talk about.

My baby and the miracle of life.

I have been following the overall development of my child and it is just so amazing.

How does a bunch of cells know to develop into a complex human being....

How does it know to form a heart or eyes or ears...or fingernails...

Here I am at my 5th week and my baby is merely the size of a seasame seed and already she (cause yes - its a girl!! I swear it!) has a two chamber heart and a tube that will later form the spinal cord. By the time I go for my ultrasound in two weeks, Little Baby will have a heart beat.

If I am really blessed there will be more than one heart beat (and I mean that half sarcastically). Though, even with the medication i was taking, it is somewhat rare for twins.

I am so thankful for this blessing we have been given.

thank heaven for little girls

I had some very special visitors this week. My cousin Melissa with her two little girls stopped by my house for some beach time and yummy brownies. Of course Sophia (the older of the two) made it perfect clear that the brownie was temporary...until the ice cream truck comes by. I was in my element with those two... i am SO ready for this!

to be or not to be

I was so busy last week, I had no time to sit and write, although my heart desired it so. I'm still taking Grandma for 1 afternoon a week and last week was particularly difficult. She was in rare form, asking the same question over and over again.

How did i get here? (my house)

I brought you grandma.

Oh ok. Grandpa knows im here?

Yes. I spoke with him.

Well, what is he doing?

He's taking a nap. He doesnt feel well. (Grandpa has cancer).

Oh ok. And how am i getting home?

I'm going to take you to Lilly's (my aunt) for dinner and Grandpa will be there waiting for you.

Oh ok... what time?

...........

This was an on-going cycle we took every 5 minutes for about 5 hours. I couldn't get her to sit still for anything so after making cupcakes, bread, sweeping the whole downstairs (including the porch), folding 3 loads of laundry, and making a marinade for the chicken i was cooking later..... I finally gave up and let her putz around the house while I sat for a few minutes. I couldn't keep up with her.

My dad came to my rescue. He showed up just as she was settling on the couch watching "A Baby Story" on TV with me. We were enjoying the videos of small babies popping up on the screen.

Rob and I have been trying for about 3 months now with the help of some really awesome medications from the doctor. We've been patient and we know this sort of thing takes time. And despite her her ability to retain anything anyone says these days, I still enjoy engaging her in my hopes and dreams; one of them being my desire to have a child.


Grandma, Im trying to ger pregnant.

Really? How old are you?

Im 32.

Oh you're too old to have babies now.
(coming from a woman who had 4 kids before she was 30).

I knew that was coming actually, but it's always funny to hear her say it and see the expressions on her face.

That was Thursday at around 4:30pm.


.................


What i didnt know was that 10 hours later my life would change forever. I woke around 2:30am, as I do most nights, to go to the bathroom. It's pretty par for me. I decided to take a pregnancy test. I was due on Monday and I told myself I would wait til Friday morning to test. I thought this day would never arrive. I had waves nausea all week. And the heartburn...omg. But I convinced myself it was all in my head and I knew that the medication made my PMS worse than had been in the past, including feeling sick to my stomach.

I wasn't pregnant... i couldnt be....

or so I thought.

I sat there (on the toilet) staring at the little white stick in my hand, when all of a sudden two lines began to show. I blinked.

Was I dreaming? Was I seeing things?

UM HOLY @#$%#@$!!!

GUESS WHAT??????????????

Happy Birthday Polly!

My dear friend Polly. Thank God for you! You appeared in my life out of nowhere....just when i needed you most. THANKS for showing me the light.

BEWARE: MOOSE CROSSING NEXT 10 MILES

Beware: MOOSE CROSSING next 10 miles.

This was pretty much on every major highway north of Massachusetts and had us giggling the whole time. One sign we saw (which i didnt get a picture of) said: BRAKE FOR MOOSE: It could save your life.

We did in fact see a moose and a bear during our weekend in Vermont, which was pretty cool. Though, they were both WAY at the top of a ski slope at Cannon Mountain Ski Resort.

Below are a series of pictures from our weekend. Overall we had a WONDERFUL time.



Local is a major theme in Vermont - which THRILLED ME to pieces. They have so much to be proud of: dairy, maple, and unusual artisans spanning across the countryside. One of the things that really amazed me was their sense of humor. Advertisements are witty and eye catching - almost cheezy but tactful. You'll find restaurants serving local meats, cheeses, wines, beers and so much more. You'll also find maple farms selling other local farm products and vice versa. It was a true cooperative.

Speaking of cooperatives, did you know that the Cabot Cheese Factory is actually a cooperative of more than a 1000 dairy farms. The factory itself is, in fact, in Cabot, Vermont, but the farmers who belong are from all over. Facinating. The $3.00 tour of the Cabot Cheese Factory was pretty cool. They make this butter that is out of this world. We bought a few blocks of cheese - mostly the private collection stuff that can only be bought in their retail stores in Vermont. On the way out of the town we stopped to pay tribute to the most important contributors in the Cabot Cooperative.

And What's a vacation in Vermont without a stop to Ben & Jerry's. Sorry to say though, we missed the "FREE" scoop day by a few weeks. But out of all the tours we took in Vermont, this was by far the most entertaining and witty. The story of Ben & Jerry is quite amazing. After the tour we spent time in the gift shop and purchased a much needed cold, refreshing ice cream.

One of my other favorite things we did was Franconia Gorge State Park in New Hampshire. Our Inn (which I'll talk about next) was not far from the New Hampshire border - near Littleton. Franconia had quite a few things to do, one being the Flume Gorge hike. We hiked uphill to the gorge from the visitors center (I complained the whole way cause i hate the heat) which was about a 1/2 mile. Then we hiked through the Gorge (as seen in the picture) up the stairs to the top. Once inside the gorge the temperature dropped DRASTICALLY. We took our time through this area - or at least I did. Here's a couple more pictures I snapped.







More to come.....

more pictures

We leave for our honeymoon tomorrow morning. I'll tell you all about it when we get home. Here are some more pictures for you.