Tick scare...yet again.

This morning while petting Indi, I removed a speck of dirt. But suspicious of said speck of dirt due to tiny movements, I took a closer look. A tick. The tiniest damn tick I've ever seen!

Here's the tick next to a bobby pin for comparison and a close-up shot.

Unfortunately most ticks don't come with "dog tick" or "deer tick" labels that are clearly visible, so in my book, they're all bad.

Damn ticks. Now I have the heebie jeebies.

The Two Coreys

So sad. I'm not sure I can ever watch "The Lost Boys," "License to Drive," "Dream a Little Dream" or "Lucas" ever again. Happened to catch a few minutes of A&E's new show "The Two Coreys" (I thought A&E brought us quality tv...) and all I can say is "Oh my..."

What a waste. Corey Haim was such a cute young actor - yes, I had a crush on him - but boy, oh boy, he has gone down hill and then some! What an irritating has-been. Again... so sad.

Corey Feldman, on the other hand, seems to be doing alright for himself. Married and newly vegan, and he has an awesome house to boot!

Seems "The Lost Boys" is reaching it's 20-year anniversary and the two actors decided to get together to promote it. 20 years. How old am I?

But enough of that. What a stupid show.

Best ice-cream!

Look for Full Circle ice-cream at your grocery store. The neopolitan flavor is the best! It's creamy and tasty and so delicious!

It's so yummy that while I haven't had any real cravings for the past five months, I might just have to develop one!

The boys

And this is why we moved - a chance for Joe to play gee-tar with his friends. From left, Jason, Mike and Joe strumming and drinking beer. So, I may not be winning the paparazzi Pulitzer prize anytime soon, but not bad for a zoom lens and a bedroom window. At least I'm stealthy!

Halfway there!

This weekend marked the 20 week point in my pregnancy. Halfway to baby time! Hard to believe that 20 weeks from now will be December. Seems like we should be out shopping for Christmas already!

To celebrate the milestone, Joe made dinner for me - yummy pasta with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, sweet italian sausage and loads of fresh mozarella - all the finest things in life (and in a pasta dish!). After that, it was time for Neopolitan ice-cream (cos sometimes you just want some strawberry AND chocolate ice-cream) and hot fudge and a movie (Talladega Nights - not nearly as funny as I thought it might be, in fact I found it to be rather boring).

Friday night, we went to dinner at Maggianos with Kim and Mike and their baby Tristan before going to the Bodies Exhibit. Without going into too much detail, the exhibit feature real human cadavers that have been specially preserved to show the different parts: skeletal, muscular, nervous, etc. It was fascinating! The cadavers looked more like plastic than anything real (due to the preservation process) and it was just amazing to see what's actually inside your body - I've always been amazed at how long the large intestine is and how it gets scrunched up in your torso. For me, now, it was more fascinating as all my innards are scrunched up higher due to the 10 inch long baby that is takin over my lower half!

On the baby side of things, I've been feeling her move a lot more lately - used to be 2pm and bedtime were her active times, now I feel movement at random times during the day. Some times there's just one movement, others a series of 4-5. The best way to describe is to say it's like a little blip in my belly.

The most unusual sign of pregnancy is Indi's protectiveness of me while we're out on our way. The world can rest assured that no old ladies walking, nor trashed plastic bags will attack me while Indi is by my side. This morning she stalked a plastic bag as we neared it on the bridge. Her ears went back, she hunched down and walked slower. I can only imagine she senses that I'm more "fragile" or something, but it's definitely new and endearing behavior for her.

Early belly shot

Found this picture from a few weeks ago while Joe and I were visiting folks in Virginia. This picture shows me showing my friend Cate the finer points of where the baby is. Judging by her much more pregnant belly, I think she already knows! Her little boy, Devin, is due in September.

New bed for Indi?

The other night while I was putting clean sheets on the bed, Indi decided that she MUCH preferred our down comforter to her foam filled bed. She made herself right at home - but not for long! Sorry girl, no dogs allowed in bed!

Typos at Lowes

Spotted this (and others like it) typo while walking into Lowes. Apparently, it's a good weekend for a sale?

Our weekend

Had an enjoyable weekend with Joe's parents who were in town for his mom's birthday. They arrived on Friday afternoon and we had a low-key dinner at home - yummy burgers followed by even yummier lemon yogurt cake.

Saturday morning Joanna and I went to the water aerobics class while Joe and Richard worked on chair rail for the baby's room. Later in the afternoon we went to eat dinner at Rocky Mountain Firebirds and I had yummy salmon and then ate chocolate while we watched "Live Free or Die Hard" - we all really enjoyed it!

This morning, Richard and Joanna left around 10:30ish and Joe and I grabbed some lunch at Five Guys (again, yummy burgers!), some paint swatches at Lowes and some groceries at the other Lowes.

Joe's out riding with Jason so I'm puttering around, trying to decide whether I want to work on my wedding/honeymoon album book or go for a swim at the indoor pool or take a nap. All good choice, but not so easy to narrow down.

It's a girl!

Joe and I went to the doctor on Monday for my 18 week ultrasound and found out that we're having a baby girl! She was very cooperative during the gender scan part of the ultrasound - the technician is pretty certain it's a girl, not because she was unable to definitely see boy parts, but because she saw the three lines they look for on girls.

We've already received a bunch of clothes from our friend Liz who was cleaning out daughter's closet, so we're well on our way to being ready for our new arrival. This weekend Joe and his dad are working on the baby room, adding a chair rail, and soon after that, we'll make a trip to Lowes for the requisite too-many-to-count paint chips from which to choose the final colors! All the fun that awaits!

Did I mention the fun of chosing a name? That has begun and is not nearly as easy as I would have hoped. We'll be keeping the name secret until the birth. We already have one baby name book, but I have a feeling this is going to take numerous books to sort out!

Enjoy the newest ultrasound picture!

Joe feels the bean!

After my doctor's appointment later this morning, we'll be able to say "he" or "she" instead of constantly refering to the baby as "it." But last night, Joe felt it!

The baby is most active around 2-3pm and bedtime (both when I'm laying down... for a nap or to read before bed). Yesterday afternoon, I thought I felt movement from the outside, so I told Joe the next time I felt a movement, I'd let him know. So, it's bedtime and I felt the flutter, so Joe put his hand on my belly and we waited. And waited. And waited. And sure enough, he felt it move - twice! We're very happy as most of the books say you *might* feel the baby between 16-20 weeks but most likely not until 20 weeks - and that's for the mom feeling the internal flutters or "quickening." I've been feeling the baby since 16 weeks and Joe got to feel it at 18! Woohoo!

Off to get ready for the big ultrasound!

Straddle your noodle!

Three words I didn't expect to have added to my vocabulary this morning but after attending my first water aerobics class, I can say it with confidence!

So, I went to my first water aerobics class, even after being "warned" by lady that it was (in hushed voice) "mostly older ladies." I had such a great time! There were 7 of us and the instructor (she and I being the youngest by probably 10-15 years) and we all chatted and huffed and puffed our ways across the pool for the hour class. I think I am definitely going to feel the burn in my arms and upper body tomorrow (those little weights are practically weightless outside of the pool but definitely pack a punch when you put them under water). I think it'll be a good compliment to my usual 2.5 mile walk each morning, adding some toning and a different style of aerobics. Next class is Monday and I plan on being there!

Oh, there was also talk (while we straddled our noodles) of the "unexplained chafing and rashes" that might be experienced after the class, but the instructor told us to tell our husbands to call her for verficiation that we did indeed get such chafing from an aqua class. Perhaps the class should have a PG rating!

Transformer underwear!

Yesterday afternoon, Joe played hooky (er, finished early) from work and we drove off to a most enjoyable time. First stop, the mall. I need a few more pairs of maternity underwear and found 2 3-packs on sale! Woohoo! Underwear on sale and underwear that is MOST comfy - couldn't have asked for a better deal! I think I will wear these underwear long after baby arrives!

After undies, we dined at PF Changs - we shared the honey chicken and the Mongolian beef (with brown rice and a side of broccoli) and then enjoyed the banana spring rolls with coconut ice-cream. Delicious!

After the meal, we drove to a different mall to visit REI for some bike parts. Seems these days, a trip for us is incomplete without a stop at some bike shop for some random bike part.

After REI, we went to see Transformers. (I told Joe he owes me big time: two days at a geeky computer conference AND Transformers!)

Now, being a Thundercats kinda gal, I told Joe to enjoy his "boy movie" and after sitting through at least 4 horrible "boy" movie previews, we settled into the feature film. I really enjoyed it! It was funny and fast and the fight sequences were pretty awesome! I'm sure seeing the cars and trucks and hummers and tankers transform into gigantic robots on the big screen and "in person" was way cooler than watching them do such tricks on a dinky cartoon tv show. Pretty impressive graphics! Joe enjoyed it too, so all was worth it! Definitely a fun summer movie if you're looking to enjoy a couple of hours with some loud action and crashes and explosions and not want to follow too closely to some intricate plot.

Speaking of intricate plot, I think we're going to netflix the first two Bourne movies in preparation for The Bourne Ultimatum, which opens sometime in August, I think.