Mystery bird

Points to the person who can correctly identify this bird, last seen in a tree behind out house. I've scoured birding sights online, but short of going through lists hundreds of birds in length, I give up and ask for help!

Our little jumping bean

This morning Joe and I went for a second ultrasound. We got to see the baby moving around, saw its little hands and fingers, part of its spine, its skull, two arms and two legs. The best part was seeing it move around. One moment, it was still; the next, it sprung up, just like a little mexican jumping bean! BOING! Perhaps it had hiccups.

In this picture you can see the head and four little fingers like the baby is sucking his thumb. You can also see bones of the other arm (closest to you).

Probably no more ultrasounds until the end of July when I'll be at 20 weeks and when we'll find out if our little bean is a he or a she!

A little light reading

This afternoon, after a little while in the sun, Indi came inside and decided to do a little light reading. As you can see, all the excitement was just too much for her.


Before too long, the book's drama got the best of her.


She says tomorrow she might some Tolstoy. War and Peace, anyone?

No more barren wasteland

This past weekend, Joe and I tackled a LONG overdue project - we spruced up our front flower beds. No more boxwoods (they were dying and ugly) and no more weeds. We have otto luykens, emerald-n-gold euynomus and loropetalum. I also added some annuals to planters on the front steps, along with three "empty" planters that will hopefully bear some basil, poppies and lavender. I'm just glad the boxwoods are gone!

Mmmm... peanut butter!

Classic Indi pose

Baby news!

So, this post is a little late... about 10 weeks late, but better late than never! Joe and I are going to be parents in December (early December - the 7th - but yes, "a Christmas baby")! I'm 10 weeks pregnant and am doing well (despite a week of sinus junk, bronchitis and laryngitis). Salad is still mostly looked upon as evil, pasta is always appealing and tonight I'm craving chicken casserole (something I've never made, nor craved). I take each food-day as it comes and Joe is very understanding - "whatever you'll eat is fine with me."

Below is a picture of our little baby (taken at our first ultrasound at 8 weeks) - in this picture, the baby was the size of a kidney bean. According to my books, today the baby is the size of a plum. Good thing, given the many ways women can react to pregnancy and foods, they always describe the baby's size in terms of food!