hello kitchen . . sorry it has been so long!

i'm finally getting back to cooking. i have apple spice bread in the oven right now. ok, it's a new mix from trader joe's but it's a big step from the last few months. i can't wait to have a nice warm slice with butter & honey. yummy!

i had to take my own pic this week. chris is working mighty long hours trying to complete his quals and gearing up for may & i just can't stay in work clothes until 10pm.

this saturday we'll be finding out who exactly is in there stretching out my clothes. we have an ultrasound appointment at 10am and i'm SO excited! (we're going to a clinic out in town) we also have a quick check-up this thursday with my midwife on base.

thoughts of summertime are starting to creep into my brain teeny bits at a time. the house is quiet with chris working such long hours. i'm craving his attention. this weekend will be great for us to spend time together and maybe do a little planning. ceiling fans were installed yesterday and we'll (or i'll) probably do some painting in the next few weeks.

my chi-o girls are trying to pick a weekend for our 2010 reunion (originally it was set for july 10-two days before my due date). with baby cooley #2 on the way in august, we might be meeting in nashville in september (which will be beautiful). this will be a bit of a different reunion with two newborns. crazy fun, though, as always.

oh, bread is done . . smells delicious!

dear baby - so what have you been doing in there? i'm glad that placenta is taking over now - the sickness was exhausting. i'm excited to be able to call you by name soon. not sure why, but i really have the urge to buy you a nice little monogrammed romper. hope you don't end up hating pics of yourself in it when you're older. i'll try to keep it low key.

the news is out . . at least at work

well, i was able talk to my CO today and tell him about our baby news. his response - "well, oorah susan!"

now i can let my belly show, yah!

dear baby - chris is off on a cross-country this week and hopefully will have some good luck in las vegas. we're going to find out who you are on sunday . . and maybe chris will let us use some of his winnings to buy you something cool!

New Job: Things to do=lots, People to meet=oodles, Maternity benefits=zero

found out today that working as a govt civilian might be a great opportunity but it doesn't exactly support the newly hired & expecting employee. bummer. basically my benefit is that i get to use all of my earned sick time and then my accrued vacation time as my maternity leave. if my doctor recommends that i have additional time off after that, he has to write a note which i can then use to request leave without pay. now isn't that generous?

i had full intentions of telling my co today but by the time i got up the nerve to go talk to him, he wasn't in his office. guess i'll try again tomorrow.

our trip to salt lake city was fabulous! it was so great to see some of our USNA friends. it's just one of those groups of people that seem to recharge you as a person after getting to spend time wtih them. thanks guys, we had a blast! chris loved the snowboarding and i had a very relaxing massage. if you are looking for a smaller resort to go to, definitely check out 'solitude'. the only glitch in the trip was a quick bout of motion sickness driving down the mountain one evening. yikes!

"i didn't let myself go, i'm just pregnant"

this is the shirt that chris says he wants to make for me . . . how sweet. must admit, i'm still in the "is that really what i look like?" stage when we take these weekly pictures.

no more sickness, but some serious sleepies come 6pm. man, if i happen to fall asleep on the couch, i'm out to the world!

i am thankful for two days off this week and then we are heading on our snowboard trip to salt lake city with USNA friends. i cashed in my lift ticket money for an 80 minute massage on sunday, can't wait!

SEC Football

I'm sitting here watching the SEC Championship game in my new black loungey pants and just finished a mug of Mighty Bites cereal. The only thing missing is Chris (he should be home soon & it's breakfast for dinner!). Life is great these days, just mighty sleepy. If I make it to 9:45pm I'm up late!

Baby is in the 13th week now. Wish I could peek in there and see what he's up to. Chris was pretty shocked when I told him baby's teeth are developing right now. He's definitely stretching out - I was actually suprised by how round my bump looks in this pic (was extra bloated that evening). Our news is pretty public now but it all is still sinking in. Wonder how long I'll be able to keep it off of Facebook.