The Furry Gang

Since I posted a picture of the two minpins (black is my parents', red is my sister's), I thought I should include a few of our hefty friends, Murray (tortishell) and Fred (tabby). Together, they represent over 26 pounds of cat. A diet may be in order.

Waving at your fanclub, like a rock star

My buddy is waving to us from the ultrasound a few weeks ago. It's like take your child to work day every day for me, now. Can I just say that I am counting down the days to my maternity leave? 62 business days. My company has a pretty generous timeframe for leave, which Jose does not believe I will have the patience for. It is very likely he is right, though the idea of not being at work for 8 months is pretty liberating.

Belly Blog

By popular demand, a belly shot. This was taken at 20 weeks. Although I'm only at 22.5 weeks today, I can tell you that the belly is noticably bigger. The person in there is not a morning dog. There's a lot more activity at night, especially when it's being read to. Stories are very exciting, apparently.

Year of the Golden Boar

Happy New Year! I ate a lot this weekend, even after my incredible weight-gain this past month. I'm now officially Large and In Charge enough to need a preggo massage (already scheduled for this Saturday). The fetus has been growing fast and has been very busy this last week and a half, roaming around during the day, at night and whenever else that suits it. I'm looking forward to our Hawaiian Babymoon in a few weeks, and getting out of the artic temps Michigan has been rocking these last few weeks.

The saloon is full of taxidermy from all over the world. Of course there are deer and moose, but polar bears, cougars, sharks and lions as well. And a Texas saloon would never be complete without its armadillo races.

My friend, Armund Armadillo, was a champ. And photogenic.

After a 10 hour day on my feet in an enormous convention hall manning the corporate booth, I get to the saloon and get handed an armadillo. And I'm totally not on drugs. And it is truly the most surreal experience I've had in a while. Trade shows are really exhausting and strange, even if you aren't pregnant.

Bumper (black minpin) and Willie (red minpin) are enjoying an afternoon nap.

9 weeks ultrasound

This blob is the embryo at 9 weeks. Back then, it was still so busy growing that we were able to hear the heart beat without it swimming away from the doppler.

Now, it's nearly impossible to get a bead on the fetus, as it is having quite a good time floating around and away from the ultrasound and doppler instruments.