26 Weeks

Hello, All.

Beth, here, at 26 or so weeks.

The little gal inside is almost 2 pounds at this point and around 14 inches. They tell me she can hear pretty well at this point, can tell whether the lights outside are on or off, and is developing more regular sleep patterns. She's practicing the movements of breathing, and is also now able to open & close her eyes. I wonder what she thinks of the place.

Hands and feet are very active & may respond to touch at this point. I wonder if that is what's happening sometimes. She'll be kicking up a storm -- where my belly looks like a jumping frog in a water balloon -- but then if I put my hand on it, she will stop moving. Wouldn't it be great if that trick worked for the rest of our lives...

I just read that her feet are 2 inches long. Inconceivable! Can you imagine? No way......

I asked Tory to take me out last night. With all this work around the house & outside, I haven't been able to wear some of my super cute new clothes. Not that that was the whole reason for going out, but I have to admit that was a pretty big part of it. :) Given the fact that I was actually wearing make-up & had my hair down, I thought I'd better seize the moment & get a picture. The first one I tried to take of myself, the second is one I bribed Tory to take. (While he was mumbling about me correcting my retarded posture.)

If you can't tell from the above pictures, I find photos just a bit awkward these days. I've gained 9 pounds so far, which is pretty low for almost 27 weeks, but is still 9 pounds I'm not quite used to yet.

The Lame Schmuck

I've been getting a fair share of lectures about not blogging lately. It's been about 10 weeks I guess. So here is a little explanation if it helps any --

I'M NESTING LIKE CRAZY!

At first it was just an avoidance of our computer because of the time factor. (It takes about 10 minutes for a picture to load to the blog.) And I just don't have much patience for sitting around like that -- especially when the nesting bug hit. I've been keeping really busy with the house, the yard, and the garden and it feels great. We also went on a 10 day vacation to Maine, and then my sister & nephew and I went on a little vacation to our parents home in Rolla. If I can keep the blogging up (now that I'm back), I'll post some of the favorites from the trips.

My mom came up for about a week after we went to Rolla and helped me immensely. We painted a few rooms and moved all kinds of stuff around. For about 5 days we were intense in our pursuit to get things done. Tory was out of town which made it even easier. THANK YOU, MOM! There is no way I could have even handled the mental enormity of the task, much less the physical, without that help.

I've kept the momentum from her visit and proceeded to redo the bathroom. Yet to come is the hallway, basement, and upstairs bath. Then if I have any energy left, the two guest rooms. But we'll see how far I get.

Sorry to all who were checking the blog and coming up disappointed. I will try to be more diligent. But please, if you check it, leave me a comment or something so I know that someone is out there reading. It provides great incentive to keep it up!

Sweet Corn!

This past Saturday morning was our first big picking of sweet corn. Pop did most the picking, and I was the "runner" -- exchanging his full bucket for an empty one and taking the corn back to fill up trash bags. I'm still not sure who got the better end of that deal. :) In a matter of two or so hours, we had seven trash bags full. I piled them all in the back of my Matrix & headed home. We picked about 1/3 of the corn that day, so there is still lots more to come.

I had commitments Saturday afternoon & evening, and I knew I wouldn't get a chance to freeze the corn until Sunday, so it all went to the cool basement. Perfect spot. Made me a little thankful the basement flooded last year -- now we have one of those air conditioned spaces you can trash and then clean up.

Sunday morning the process began. First step was to clean up all the corn. Some call this shucking, some call this husking. I'm more of a shucker of the husk I suppose. My two life-savers Nicole & Jess came over, and we made a good time of it. Thank heaven for rubber gloves!!!! Without them, I am usually timid and inhibited when it comes to pulling the husk away -- you just never know if you're going to impale a worm or get your finger in his poop trail. But with the gloves there are no worries and it goes much faster. That whole process took us from about noon to 4 or 5pm. Good times.

So by 5 pm, half the counters in my kitchen were piled high with sweet corn and the bulk of the work was still to come. Next call was to Pat, my mother-in-law, who is a seasoned corn-freezer. In fact, when she was 9 months pregnant with my brother-in-law Cody (3 days before she gave birth), she was taking her trays of corn down to the freezer, and fell and broke her leg! Talk about bum luck!

Pat came over & led the remaining troops of Nicole & myself. Nicole stood at the sink & washed the corn with a brush, making sure to get rid of all the silks she could. Those nasty, nasty silks... Then they got passed to Pat & I, who cut the kernels off the cob and into a skillet. Pat likes to hold her cob in one hand at an angle & cut them off that way. Which is how I used to do it -- but I was always slow and inhibited by the thought of slicing right through my thumb muscle. But she taught me a new trick that she got out of a catalog.

The trick is to use a bundt pan. You stick the tip of the cob in the middle hole, and then scrape the kernels into the pan. This is genius!!!!! It goes so much faster (and safer) this way. Pat was reluctant to use this method after spending her whole life doing it one way, but as a newbie, I'm embracing it fully.

After getting the kernels off, they get boiled with a little sugar & water for just a few minutes. Then cooled, then bagged, tagged & frozen. The result is a freezer shelf full of yellow loveliness and the reassuring feeling that for the next year or so, as long as you can afford your electric bill, you will not grow hungry. Whew! Thank you Pop, Pat, Nicole, and Jess!

GIRL!

Fruit for Thought at Week 16

16 weeks now.

I said before that my appetite was back, but that was premature. I was kind of just expecting it to come back, so I just said that. But it didn't come. Sick again. Until yesterday!

I ate everything I wanted whenever I wanted for the first time in months. I gave myself one day of that gluttony. One day later, I am trying to think more about fruits & veggies, but that first day was really nice.

Speaking of food... They tell me now that the kid is about the size of an avacado. ("They" being the geniuses on the world wide web.)

They also tell me that the home I've created for it is better than the size of a cantaloupe.

I think they were just trying to find a way to use the two hardest produce items to spell in the same paragraph... Here are some other things they say.

At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces, your babyis about the size of an avacado. In the next three weeks, she'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, though, doubling her weight and adding inches to her length. Her lower limbs are much more developed now. Her head is more erect than it has been, and her eyes have moved toward the front of her head. Your baby's ears are close to their final position, too. Some of her more advanced body systems are working, including her circulatory system and urinary tract. Her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, circulating her total blood volume through her body many times. (By the end of the pregnancy, this will increase to about 190 quarts.) The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, her eyes are moving (slowly), and she's even started growing toenails.

The Bump Begins

Overnight. I think it just happened overnight. I spent the first 15 weeks pretty much looking the same as usual, and then *boom* -- I looked in the mirror and there it was. I think a woman is generally in touch with whether she's got her tummy in or out. You're going out? Tummy comes in. Your staying in? Tummy comes out. But as of this past Sunday, I have released control to the kid. The Tummons-Tummy is out. ..... And I guess it'll be out for awhile!

Tractor Time in the Garden

Pop called me yesterday to see if I wanted to try to get the rest of the garden in. I headed to Planter's Seed & Spice to get the rest of the seed we needed (mostly corn & beans), and made it out to the farm around 6pm. Late! Pop was working the garden (the part we hadn't yet planted) with the tractor. And guess what???????
I got to drive a tractor too!!!!! I had to follow along in another tractor with something called a harrow. I thought (with the way farmers talk & name things) that it would have been called a smoother, but it's not. It's a harrow. When Pop worked the ground, it got it all stirred up with ridges & valleys, so I went along afterwards and the harrow smoothed it all out. This is me on the Kubota!

Keep in mind, this was the second time in my life I've ever driven a tractor. I think I did okay, considering. But I did take out a couple of stakes (see below)....

This is what the dogs do while we plant garden. They just go crazy with each other.

This is Pop using our planter. It's a pretty sweet little contraption.

Big [Little] News!

Probably most of you have heard by now, but in case you haven't -- WE'RE EXPECTING. Our first is due October 28th, which makes me 15 weeks as of Monday. First trimester was ok... Don't remember much of it considering how comotose I was. I traded the traditional morning sickness in for evening sickness, and had a hard time mustering up much tolerance for food past 3pm. But now, the appetite is back and I am up for Chinese, Mexican, Sweets & most anything else!

I've been to the doctor several times so far. We've heard & seen the heartbeat and everything appears to be in working order. So far it's a great kid -- doesn't talk back, doesn't run off, doesn't ask for money, and does everything I tell it! We had to borrow a picture of someone else's offspring until we can get a pic of our own. But they kind of all look the same at this point, so I probably shouldn't have even told you..........

This is a kid at 15 weeks:

And this is me at 15 weeks:
Stay tuned.... The treasure hunt is scheduled for my birthday, June 4th. We'll let you know whether we're looking at another Beth or another Tory!

KAT Nurseries in Bloom

I went out to the nursery today -- things are PHENOMENAL! Take a look at some of the fantastic plants. And the gorgeous sky. How refreshing.

Garden, 4-30

Here we are again just a week ago. Things are starting to look more like their grown-up selves -- take a look.......

POTATOES

ONIONS

CABBAGE

BROCCOLI

LETTUCE

MORE LETTUCE...

SPINACH

LETTUCE -- RED OAKLEAF

PEAS

the horses & the old barn