The Emerald City....Seattle!! Aug 22-26

I was given the opportunity to go to an ultrasound seminar in Seattle for work. We covered the musculoskeletal systems (basically all of the joints in the extremities), which is a new and exciting direction for ultrasound. I was beyond excited for the opportunity and Joe was able to get school/clinicals off to come with me.

We were able to fly out of Sun Valley, seriously a third the price from flying out of Boise, sign me up!! We arrived Wednesday around 6 pm, met up with our transport, and headed to the Marriot in Lynnwood, WA. The expenses were covered by Philips (the company we bought the ultrasound machine from) and they gave me a $25 meal voucher for 3 days and breakfast passes at the hotel. So we went to a nearby Italian restaurant called Bucco de Beppo's. It was pretty descent, and we were able to not spend so much money on meals. The next day we went to Anthony's Fish Bar, which was good, but not as great of a price, so we went back to Bucco de Beppo's the following night. 

The only bummer part of the deal was I was in a seminar 8-4, so the day was interesting, but Joe was stuck at the hotel with no transportation. He was quite a trooper. I loved being with him, and being able to enjoy the time together. We went swimming at the pool when I would get off, a huge relief to the prego lady.  

Finally Sunday arrived, the first day that I didn't have a seminar to attend, and we were once again, without transportation. But Joe's older brother Mark lives an hour away, and so he met up with us at noon and we were able to spend some time with him. He took us to look at a house boat he wanted to buy. He decided that would be cheaper than renting an apartment. It was interesting to see the boats, and see the crazy huge boats that were SO expensive. Mark's was quite a bit smaller, but I think it will be fun for him.

We drove down a few hours later to downtown Seattle, where Joe and I met for the first time. We walked around Pike's Market Place, this was Joe's first time since elementary to visit it. He was like a kid in a candy shop. All of the fresh fish, oyster, lobster....the list goes on and on. I was in heaven with the fresh fruit and flowers. Seriously...some of the best tasting nectarines EVER, and the pretties bouquets for such a great price. 

Here are some pics of Joe at the fish market, where they throw the ordered fish. 

Joe eating a fresh oyster...so wiggly and jiggly, I couldn't handle the idea. But he was IN HEAVEN!

LOL, Mark thought it was pretty gross too...

Joe and I overlooking the Puget Sound...

Mark and Joe overlooking the Puget Sound...

We walked what seemed like forever, up a steep street no less, to see the Space Needle. Last time I was there we didn't have time to see it. Being prego, my round ligament was giving me some issues, but we made it.

 I am going to be honest, a little disappointing. It's not worth it, Pike 's Place has definitely all of the attractions. But it was still neat to see the City. By the time we got back to the car we were exhausted and hungry. 

So Mark drove us to our hotel and we enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing. We flew out early that next morning to Sun Valley, and Joe headed to Twin Falls for his first day of Fall Semester Classes. What a fun trip!! It went way to fast, but it was a great break.

We LOVE Seattle, and would move somewhere like that or Portland. If it weren't for our families and our desire to be close enough to see them regularly, we would be gone!! 

Our baby girl's update.... 5 months

We are beyond excited to have Adaline Mabel (yes, we chose a name) in our lives. She is very active every time I scan her. I can feel her move, especially at nights when Joe and I are snuggling. I can’t quite figure out if it’s because she can hear his voice? Or is it because she feels too hot with him so close. LOL, either way, she makes me laugh a lot and I will admit I feel a little jealousy at the idea of her being a daddy’s girl already.

Once again…no camera = no pictures…. Something we KNOW we have to remedy before Addie gets here.

The first 12 weeks passed with hardly any pregnancy symptoms, just exhaustion. I felt pretty lucky especially having to work such a stressful job where I am on the go all of the time. But then things started to change at week 13 and I started having stomach problems in the morning. I guess I have to do everything the opposite of most women. Luckily by my 10:00 appointment at work the symptoms pass. I started to feel her move around 18 weeks and that was only occasionally, but ever so exciting!!

When I was 20 weeks, we went to Bancroft to my Grandpa and Grandma Neibaur’s home for a family reunion. It was fun to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins, and more. My Aunt Jackie and my mom put on a baby shower for me and my cousin Sydney, who is also expecting a little girl soon. Another cousin, Morgan, is expecting a girl just after us. 3 little girls within 4 months of each other!! It will be so much fun to have so many cousins close to Addie’s (our nickname for her) age. And there were a few babies born in the spring/summer. What a growing family!! At the shower we played fun active games, opened presents, and enjoyed the conversation. We were given so many cute clothes and accessories. Seriously, Adaline will be so stinkin’ cute with her wardrobe. We LOVE having such a sweet and giving family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many excited for us.

But I am going to be honest…I woke up Saturday morning to drive to the reunion and was so sick! But that has seemed to be the norm for me in the mornings, so we headed out. But it didn't pass and seemed to get worse. Driving in a car for 3 ½ hours was brutal. By the time we arrived, I felt horrible physically and worried about offending others because I just didn't feel like socializing at all. By the time the shower was over in the afternoon, I decided to lie down…and then it happened…chills & aches in addition to other symptoms and I knew I had the stomach flu. It made me a little nervous because I couldn't hold down water for quite awhile after that. But later that night I was able to keep some Gatorade in me. We headed home Sunday and I started to feel a little bit better. It took me half the week to be back to normal. But it seems that since that time, I haven’t been feeling the morning sickness as much and am crossing my fingers that I have passed that stage.

We went in for our fetal anatomy survey ultrasound at 22 weeks (Aug 9^th), a little later than desired, but with me being the only ultrasound tech except for a Boise Tech covering once a week, it’s hard to schedule appointments. It was fun to be able to relax and just enjoy watching the ultrasound. Joe always gets a big kick out of seeing how active Adaline is. I felt so bad for the tech because I KNOW how hard and frustrating it can be. But Addie is a doll! I know that I am prejudice, but the more I see her, the more I love her, and just can’t wait to see what this little spirit is going to be like. I am a little worried she is going to keep us on our toes…I can feel her little movements quite often now, and wonder what she must be doing and thinking. We love our baby girl!! She is so big…seriously! She is measuring 7 days ahead, which puts her in the 96th percentile....But everything else was looking perfect, so I didn't worry about it to much. But then I had my doctor’s appointment on the 12^th, she had me take the glucose test they usually do at 28 weeks. Oh my goodness, I was so scared!! But I passed with room to spare. I keep praying that things will be okay. My weight has been a huge concern even before I became pregnant, and therefore is always a threat for pregnancy problems. SO far everything is great, except for her measuring big. My only consolation is that everything is measuring the same…so she is proportional. Although I do have to laugh because she has a round head...just like her daddy did. His mom called him "her little apple head". I think it's adorable.

We haven’t put together a nursery yet. It has been driving me CRAZY because that is all that I want to do. I have so many ideas and I am itching to get things started now while I feel good. But we are still undecided as to whether we might move. We are trying to figure out ways to save money, and might need to move somewhere a couple of hundred dollars cheaper…if we can find it. It’s SOOO expensive here. My manager just had her baby and has been giving me ideas…pretty much an average of $50 a day for day care. YIKES!! There is no way that is going to work. We are hoping to find someone in the ward that will help us out for a lot less. I have to work 10 hour days four times a week, and Joe will be doing the same thing. So if we both have one day with her, that still leaves us 3 days uncovered…the idea makes me sick again ;0)  I hate the idea of doing day care, and know that it will only be until Joe graduates and gets a job somewhere. Hopefully then I can drop down my shifts significantly... I am a drama queen, I know, but it tugs at my heart when I think of missing her first giggle, roll, word, EVERYTHING. By the time I get home at 7 pm, she will be going down for bed soon. And then I expect we will be up with her at night, but then we will drop her off at 7am. That doesn't allow a lot of fun time…. Oh well, we will do what we have to.