15 weeks of pure baby

We had another Doctor's appointment today. It was completely uneventful...but I kind of think that when you're only 15 weeks along you want it to be uneventful. The only cool thing was that we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler. That whoosh whoosh whoosh sound is pretty awesome when it sounds so strong! We were pretty proud of our little baby's heartbeat! We do have a date to put on your calendars...March 25th...that is when we will know whether to get everything out there ever made in pink or blue (totally kidding about that...we figure that we will dress our baby in purple so as to keep everyone guess as to what it is).
In addition to baby stuff Dereje and I have also decided that there is just not enough excitement in our lives (or maybe we feel like we're just not overextending ourselves enough) so, we have decided that we want a dog. Humane Society beware...it seems as though we are kind of dog snobs in the Humane Society world. Instead of jumping up and down at any cute puppy that presses it's little nose against the chain link fence, we are seemingly "uppity" by requesting particular breeds, and by particular breeds I mean a dog that won't eat my new baby's face because it can't control it's innate nature to jump on everything and give it love bites.
So, as you can imagine, this might take awhile...but I can wait until the perfect little puppy comes along (maybe he'll even be pokey for extra cuteness).
Until we actually do get the cutest canine there ever was...I will post pictures of the pets that we consider.
Coda: A Great Dane at the shelter who was, in my mind, adopted right out from under us. She was adopted on Feb 26th and, unfortunately, we chose today, the 29th to go down there to inquire about her. I guess is just wasn't meant to be...but she sure is cute. To console myself I have decided to pretend that she would be horrible with children and that she refuses to potty train for the rest of her life...humph, I'd hate to be the family that adopted her...okay, it's not really making me feel better.

Swerving down pregnancy road, pulling colorful toys with me

I know I haven't posted lately, but I have some really good excuses:

1. Every time I would go to post I would watch the dancing video and just spend all of my time laughing and making fun of Dereje
2. I tend to spend all of my spare time as of late deciding what the baby would like to eat next...it's kind of a full time job. One second the baby wants a Costco hotdog and the next second the baby is begging me for girl scout cookies (apparently I plan on being "one of those" mothers who is not even going to think about denying her child).
3. Lastly....hmmm, I don't really have a "lastly" so lets just pretend that I wrote down a really good excuse that has you saying: wow, no wonder she hasn't had time to post.

I have another Doctor's appointment on Friday, which I am really excited about (just because it's a Doctor's appointment...not because anything monumental is scheduled for this one)!
Dereje is busy studying DAY and NIGHT for his liscensing exam, but the next time I see him I'll make sure that I tell him that you say hi.
This past week my Mom bought our little fetus it's first toys!!!! You're never too young to start collecting cute/colorful stuff...man, there are so many words of wisdom that I have to pass onto my baby...I can't wait until he/she can fully appreciate my brilliance!

Honestly, I haven't stopped laughing since I made this...I think I'm hilarious

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I Heart V-Day

This was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple! Wooooo Hooooo. Last year Dereje and I spent Valentine's Day in Botswana at a benefit dinner for a local NGO. We were remembering about how very Botswana style it was. We got there promptly at 6:30 (the stated time the dinner was to start) and were, by far, the first ones there. In fact, the place wasn't even set up yet, so we got to sit and wait for a couple of hours until they were ready to start. I remember looking at Dereje around 8:30 thinking, "oh my god, I thought we'd be home by now."
We did finally manage to have dinner and listen to all of the speakers, and we actually got to leave around 10pm, just when all of the kids started to dance - just when I started to feel really old cause I was falling asleep in my plate.
This year was a little bit different. Dereje is currently studying very hard for his licensing exams, and I am very busy watching him study very hard for his licensing exam. So, no more dinners until 10pm (thank god)...instead, we have opted to go out to dinner over the weekend to celebrate Valentine's Day. But, just because we don't really have time to go to dinner doesn't mean that we didn't have time to exchange romantic stuff...
Like this hands free telephone thingy that Dereje gave me!
Yes, I may have flagged it, highlighted it, and, well, basically ordered it off of Amazon...but, honestly, I was so surprised (and delighted in my husband's good taste) when I got it! Dereje received (from his lovely wife) a new backpack to carry his school books in, and some new boxers because, frankly, I'm tired of washing the only three pair of boxers that he owns. So, really, we're pretty stylin' over here.
I also got a really cool gift from my parents for Valentine's Day. They gave me one of those jars from Costco that grows tulips. (Here's an online photo of what they look like when they're all grown up).

It's really neat to watch them grow. Right now my green stems are just over the tip of the jar, so I figure I'll have some blossoms by the middle of next week - some people may think that watching these things is like watching paint dry...but I think it's pretty much like watching tulips grow right in front of your eyes...It's way cool!

Guess what I got???

That stomach bug that's going around that makes you throw up everything that you've eaten in the last 10 years. It was awesome. The toughest part of having the stomach flu when you are also first trimester nauseous is that you never quite know what's up. A couple of days ago, when I was throwing up my innards, I was cursing pregnancy and the small alien that has inhabited my body and taken over all bodily functions. Turns out I should have been cursing my seemingly inability to wash my hands every other minute and/or not lick said dirty hands throughout the day...who knew?
Anyway, just when I thought I would never be able to enjoy food again (really the only highlight of pregnancy so far), my head finally came up for air out of the toilet only to discover that...I felt a little bit better. Since then I've had day to day improvement resulting in this morning where I was able to eat eggs and toast, orange juice and just a little bit of chocolate....ahhh, all is well in the world...maybe tomorrow I can go back to eating grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast...then I'll know that the alien inhabitation has resumed and I no longer have to worry about throwing up my pineapple and jalapeno pizza that calls me at lunch time.
I'm totally joking when I tell you my breakfast and/or lunch choices...no I'm not....yes I am...no I'm not (yes I am).

She be two!

For the last couple of weeks Ana has announced to anyone who will listen,"I be two on my birfday." If you ask her her name, you get "I be two". If you ask her what she wants to eat she says "I be two". The best part is that when you ask her how old she'll be on her birthday she promptly replies, "I be two". So, yesterday we celebrated Ana being two! She actually turns two tomorrow, but if you ask her she's been two for a day now...and if you look at her clothes they'll tell you that she's about 3, but who's counting.
In very much Ana style...she went to town on her cake...which took her all of about two minutes to finish. I think that she maybe would have taken a little more time with it, but we told her that as soon as she was finished she was allowed to open presents. With the glittering packaging and some of them not even wrapped but with bows around them beckoning her to play with them...Ana chose to lose the cake and focus on the onslaught of stuff.
Dereje and I got Ana this really cool outfit:We also got her some new puzzles, and I'm sure that you can imagine which present she preferred.
We'll just have to wait until it's raining in Texas on time and all she needs is a cool pair of galoshes and a cute skirt to go with them...then she'll be changing her tune.
Of course, the prize for "most captivating" present goes to her parents for some new signing times videos. The only issue is that they now have to explain to her that her grandparent's huge t.v. does not come with videos. To that, I wish them good luck, cause from what Ana tells me...once you go High Def signing times, you can't really go back. Happy Birfday Ana!

Let the nesting begin

Today I bought my first "baby" item - A nursing chair! And, it just so happens that I have the perfect person around to see if it's a "cool chair". I found it on Craig's list...it's one of those chairs that swivels and rocks, which definitely passed Ana's "cool test"...she implied through giddy laughter that she thinks it is the coolest thing that was ever invented! Ana was actually a huge help by really taking it upon herself to break in my chair. She decided to slouch and eat cookies in the chair...that's something that the chair should get used to.
She also decided that maybe she would nurse her baby doll in the chair, but then she got distracted by cookies...
She's seriously related to me.