Ultrasound update and more

'Ello there! Just wanted to stop in and tell you about our ultrasound we had on Friday.

First up, I only gained 1 pound since my last visit. Grand total: 11 pounds. The baby is measuring right where she should be. She weighs 15 ounces. I'm not sure on the length. Her heartbeat was 124 bpm. We saw the four-chamber heart pumping, the stomach, the kidneys, the spine, and all sorts of other cool stuff. It was amazing to see her in there moving around. At that moment, she was head down with her legs up and around my belly button. The doctor seemed to deem everything as normal and working beautifully. We didn't get to see Raina's face because she was facing towards my back, but that's okay.

My favorite part was when we saw her little hand waving at us.

The latest baby dream went a little something like this: It was our first day home with the baby, who was a boy (again). He needed his diaper changed, and it was the first poopy one, so I called Kevin over to come and help me so he could learn. I set the baby on the floor in this tiny, wood-paneled room, and looked up to see if Kevin was coming. When I looked down, the baby was a white piece of paper cut out like a gingerbread man. He had brownish yellow stains on him, which was the poop. We got him all cleaned up (at least I assume, because I don't remember this part of the dream), and put him down for a nap. Then the next thing I remember about the dream is sitting around a table talking to people, and all of a sudden thinking, "Oh my gosh! I have a baby! I can't just sit here! I need to go make sure he's okay!"

My parents came up on Friday night and stayed until just about an hour ago. My mom and I spent almost all of yesterday baking cookies (and this is after reducing our numbers from last year). Meanwhile, Kev and my dad worked on the baby's room. They tore the carpet out, and tried to find a way to put an overhead light in the ceiling. The ugliness and uselessness of the room in its present state is more than enough to motivate us to get the new trim and carpet installed ASAP. Maybe (just maybe) over Christmas break I'll spend some time painting the trim, since it should arrive by then. Then all we need is some carpet, a closet organization system of some sort, and we're ready to move in!

Today, my brother, Kathy, and Zach came up to celebrate my dad's and my birthday. We had quite the feast (ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli, fruit salad, bread), and now we have quite the leftovers! 'Twas grand times.