Only in Georgia

Our one day playing out in the snow reminded me of one of the reasons I am thankful I live in Georgia- while I do miss the snow from time to time, I can see how it would quickly get old. Especially with kids. As if the effort it took to bundle the kids to go out and play wasn't enough, the wet mess that was brought back inside afterwards was the straw that broke the camel's back. I felt like a bad mommy for not letting Drew go outside to play in the snow that still remained on the ground on Thursday. I tried to make myself feel better by reminding myself that we're going on a ski trip in a few weeks and that he'll get another chance to play in the snow then. But still, the opportunities to play in the snow are so few and far between, so when I saw that there were still patches of snow in our backyard even on Friday, and that the temperature was 50, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to go outside and play without having to get so bundled up, and with a lot less snow to trudge back inside!

James was not a fan of the snow, as you saw, so I waited until the little ones (yes, plural, we were graced with the company of Alyson yesterday, who was also not a fan of how the snow made her boots "dirty") were down for naps then Drew and I ventured out with only thin jackets and mittens. Thankfully the warm temperature meant packing snow so Drew and I built a snowman.

The tip of a carrot and some raisins

Then we had fun playing in the various remaining pockets of snow.

We were still a bit wet, but only our shoes and mittens needed to dry, instead of piles of jackets, pants, hats, scarves, etc.

Our backyard is shaded by our house most of the day and only gets a bit of afternoon sun, which has allowed the snow to stick around. Even today (Saturday) there is still a small amount of snow back there, though it's disappearing quickly. School was cancelled for me yet again on Friday; initially I was surprised, but my backyard reminded me that shady patches could still be dangerous. Sure enough, I ran a few errands yesterday and was surprised by just how much ice remained on some parts of the roads. I actually ended up being surprised instead that schools in the county I live in (I teach in a different county) were not cancelled yesterday after I saw a couple icy school parking lots and large icy turning lanes just outside of a nearby school. But still, all I could think was, "only in Georgia would we have temperatures below freezing for days followed by temperatures in the 50s!" It sure was fun to play in snow and not worry about being cold!

Snow day

I'd be surprised if someone hasn't heard that Georgia got snow on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure we're the joke of the nation right now (and beyond, probably). It truly was a chaotic mess with people stuck in gridlock for hours (a friend was stuck for nearly 11 hours!), having to abandon cars and walk miles to get home (or to whatever shelter they could find), students stuck on buses for hours or at school overnight... sigh. What a mess.

I actually got kind of mad about it. I, thankfully, wasn't one that got stuck or had children I couldn't get to, but I can only imagine if I had been; this mess shouldn't have happened. I mean, no, Georgia doesn't have the equipment to deal with snow and ice, nor do the people have experience driving in it. But here's the problem: Jason says no one knew snow was coming. But if that's the case, why did I message my nanny at 4pm the day BEFORE and tell her it looked like snow was in the forecast, then at 9pm that same day to tell her to be sure to bring gloves because she might get to play in the snow with the boys?? I knew snow was coming before I got home from work so it's a lie to say the mayor, governor, school officials, etc. didn't. They say it came harder and faster than expected, and that may be, but seeing as Georgia is always already under-prepared for snow, doing what could have been done (pretreating roads, pre-planning for school to close early) would have at least alleviated what would already have been a mess. Sending the entire city home suddenly at noon obviously wasn't a good plan. Gridlock continued for more than 24 hours on some interstates!!

Regardless of the where the blame falls for this chaotic mess, a lot of people were really in truly precarious and dangerous situations, so the laughing and joking  isn't kind. We band together to help people who are victims of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., and, for us, this was kind of the same. I am proud to say I saw so many stories of people out there helping, including my friend Cassie's husband who passed out food and water on the highway since he lives just off of it.

Anyway. I truly was blessed that the worst I experienced was an hour-long drive home (instead of my normal 25 minutes). I am so thankful Cassie stayed with us instead of braving the roads (and that her husband was smart enough to plan ahead to have their daughter picked up from daycare early by her grandparents, where she stayed safe and warm with them). When Cassie did finally get home she said she passed many abandoned cars and was so thankful she wasn't one of them. Instead we were warm and cozy at home. The snow stuck so Wednesday morning the boys and I had fun playing, followed by baking cookies!

And, if you can access it, here is a video of me and Drew jumping on the trampoline together. [I finally remembered why I thought to check to see if we were being watched... I kind of wanted to jump really high by myself once Drew got off and so I wanted to see if I would be noticed. ;P]

Peanut  butter! Daddy's favorite!

I pray everyone is still staying safe and warm out there! We still have a good bit of snow on the ground and schools and offices are closed yet again today (Thursday). I joked with my mom that I think school will be closed until March. I don't think they will make the same mistake again... for a little while, at least.

Wordless Wednesday: Dreaming of a White Christmas

Our Winter Wonderland

It's hard to believe we still have snow on the ground here! We are on our fifth snow day now. Funny thing is Monday is a holiday for MLK Day. That means we will have had 10 days off! What would we have done if we'd known we'd have 10 days?

We're getting a little "cabin fever" around here so my mom, Drew, and I ventured out for a little wintry walk. I can't believe there is still this much snow on the ground here! This is pretty much unheard of in Georgia. It's not uncommon for a patch or two in shaded areas to stick around for a few days, but 5 days after the snow fell this is what we look like:

That's not our house but a random neighbors. Can you tell that the snow is covered in ice?

That's really been the issue. It's isn't that we have snow, but that the roads are icy. And even a northerner will tell you ice is dangerous to drive on. We keep getting just enough melting during the day to make the roads worse again at night (and in the morning, when we ought to be leaving for work). We drove out to get some Mexican last night to relieve some of our cabin fever, and there were several patches that were still pretty bad, even in the less than 1 mile of driving on frequently traveled roads. The salting trucks have been focused on keeping the main interstates clear, so the rest of the Atlanta-area is pretty much just stuck waiting for some sun and warmth.

Here is our house. Our front yard gets a little more sun than others, so we have a little melting, but you can tell there is even still some ice in our driveway.

And here are Drew and I, red cheeked after some chilly fresh air. It was so good to get out though!

Snow Day!

Believe it or not, Atlanta is getting more snow! Our area reportedly got 9 inches last night! Looked more like 6 to me, but 6 is a lot more than I've seen *here in a while. We of course had to take Drew out in it. He's seen more snow this winter than I ever expected!

At this point there was actually a hard ice layer on top of the snow

Drew was rather indifferent to the snow, but our animals were not fans...





I was off work today and will be again tomorrow, with the possibility of being off once again on Wednesday as temperatures aren't supposed to warm up enough for anything to melt. And I know you Canadians will probably scoff at the ridiculousness of school being closed 2 or more days just for a few inches of snow, but remember that Atlanta just isn't equipped with proper snow plows and salting trucks in order to make the roads safe. The sun is our best and most reliable way of de-icing the streets (and it looks like we won't be seeing much of that until this weekend! Temps continue to remain below freezing all week!).

I am cherishing every little bit of extra time I get to spend with Drew. I made it through my first week back to work better than I thought I would, but I'm still more than ecstatic that I get to have a few more days at home with him. The job is going well. The staff has been very friendly and welcoming. The job is fun and rewarding. And I'm fairly easily able to take the breaks I need to in order to pump. I'm really enjoying meeting all these children from other countries and getting to spend a few moments getting to know them. The staff I work with is just as international as the kids, which is fun. I have to admit that I find it strange that the fact that I've lived in Canada, Singapore, and Costa Rica is simply met with "oh, that's nice, anywhere else?" ;) The only thing I don't like about the new job (besides the fact that I have to be there :P) is the hours- I work 8 to 4. I'd rather have earlier hours so I could have more evening time with Drew, and it would also help to avoid the horrid I-85 traffic. But, as that's just about my only complaint, I've been sending up a lot of thankful prayers because I think I'm in just about the best place I could be right now.

Stay warm everyone!

Wordy Wednesday: Oops

So I was just about finished with this incredibly wordy post when it occurred to me that today is Wednesday! Oops! It would be just like me to have way too much to say on the day I'm not supposed to say anything at all. Oh well, here's a very "Wordy Wednesday" for ya' (originally titled "Of Christmas and December and wintry things)!




December is officially here and with it brings the start of the Christmas season! I, like just about everyone else (except my husband), LOVE Christmas, and it is so exciting to be coming into it this year with one extra smiley face to enjoy it with. I can't wait to start some of our own little family traditions, starting with holiday decorating of course!

Mommy is so silly!

Oooo, what's this?

Can I put the star on top, mom?

Actually, maybe I'll just grab a few more of these shiny things...

I may have gotten a little carried away by the Christmas spirit and started decorating the baby...

In any case the weather is getting cooler and it really is starting to feel like winter. Over the Thanksgiving holidays Jason and I had a fun, wintery date night. I knew my parents would love to spend some quality time with Drew, so we sent him up to the lakehouse for an evening and Jason and I had the night to ourselves. We found ourselves ice skating in Centennial Olympic Park- an outdoor ice rink in downtown Atlanta (with plenty of devices to keep that ice frozen!). I, being Canadian and all, love ice skating (though I do it so infrequently that I often need a good bit of time to warm up). Jason, however, despite his 10 years growing up in Wisconsin, does not ice skate. Nor does he roller blade or roller skate. Just as I used to tremble at the idea of trying to move whilst having my feet strapped together on one board (snowboarding), Jason hates the idea of moving his feet separately (except for walking, of course). He grew up skateboarding and in recent years has become quite skilled at snowboarding. For the sake of a fun evening and a happy wife, however, he sucked it up and put on some blades...

Do my feet still work?

Let me tell you a little story about snowboarding. My sister and I, boyfriends in tow, went out to Seattle one winter to visit our Aunt Sue and to do some skiing. Jason had never skied nor snowboarded before. Being a skateboarder at heart he decided snowboarding was the way to go. He took a few lessons and we hit the slopes. After getting off one lift we turned the wrong way and approached a slope. As we came to the crest of a hill we suddenly looked down to realize we were about to head down a black diamond- yikes! We realized we had turned slightly too far left, so we tried to quickly turn right and cut across a soft patch of snow to get to the slope we were originally aiming for. Well, that little patch of snow was a patch that was not often skied and was soft and fluffy. Not having enough speed at this point, we instantly sank. I can't even tell you how long we spent trying to dig ourselves out, moving ourselves only an inch or two at a time, before my sister and Michael came skiing by. Seeing us and thinking they'd come say hi, they skied right into the snow trap too. After easily a good 30 minutes of wading and digging the four of us finally freed ourselves, but Jason vowed he never wanted to see snow again. Several years later and now Jason's the one who insists we go snowboarding every winter. Ha!

So I was not overly surprised that, after spending the first 20 minutes or so whining and complaining about skating, he suddenly started to get the hang of things. And only a little bit after that he was talking about taking up hockey!

Jason is just the personality-type that doesn't give up (sometimes I call it stubborn). He said, "if I'm not falling, I'm not trying hard enough" (though he never actually did fall). Maybe I could learn a little from him...

I do have to say that there is something so endearing about watching a guy fumble around on ice skates. I could not get the silly smirk off my face as he teetered and tottered around on the ice. I guess it's something about seeing guys, who are usually so confident and sure of themselves, suddenly awkward and childish. Heehee!

Happy December!

Travelin' baby!

We're here in Tahoe!  Woohoo!  Floodling is going to be well traveled before he even arrives!  He's already been to Milwaukee WI, Chicago IL, San Francisco CA and now Tahoe NV!  Actually, he's even traveled to the beach in Jekyll Island GA.  Maybe he'll catch my travel bug!

Yesterday was a miserably long day!  The flight out to SF was 5 hours long.  We picked up Laura (yay!), got to see her place in the city, did a wee bit of sight seeing (Lombard St., Golden Gate Bridge), had some In N Out for lunch, then hopped in the car for another 4 hour journey.  It should have been much shorter than that but we hit pocket after pocket of traffic.  I was in soooo much pain by the time we got to our resort.  My back just can't handle being in cramped positions like that and not being able to stretch my legs out.  I find it funny that I am much more comfortable as long as I am up and walking around as opposed to sitting, it seems sort of backwards to me....  for that reason though it's a good thing I'm a teacher and don't have an office job!

I think Floodling wishes as much as I do that I could be on the slopes today!  He's been wiggling all over the place... "Mom! Let's get moving! Let's DO something!"  I've been hoping Laura would have a chance to feel him, but it's so hard.  He seems to stop moving whenever there's a hand (even my own) on my belly.  Not to mention it's hard for others to distinguish the movements from my pulse and breathing... it's kind of like "I think I felt something!" and I'm like "no... I don't think so....".  Jason has yet to feel him move too!  He's a shy guy I guess.

I do LOVE skiing and am really wishing I could be out there too!  Jason is snowboarding at Heavenly, which is one of the biggest ski resorts here in Tahoe.  He said the slopes were actually quite clear today.  We thought it would be busy with holiday travelers.  He said some of the runs take 10 to 15 minutes to get down!  Besides Mt. Baker in Washington, most of the resorts we do are in NC or VA and while they're nice, they're definitely not the Rockies!  As much as I'm wishing I could be out there too, I know why I'm not and that makes it a little easier.  Next winter though... I think someone will be getting Floodling for a few days while we take a ski trip that I can actually ski!! Any volunteers? ;)

Floodling is now the size of a papaya.  The website I've been using only gives weekly sizes up to 21 weeks.  From 22 onwards it's monthly.  I may be searching for my own pics from here on out... I guess we'll see.  Right now the papaya is for the rest of month 5- weeks 22 to 24.

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Not a fruit this week!!

So, Georgia finally got some snow yesterday and I got to have a day off!  Woo hoo! Yes, it wasn't even an inch of snow, but we know that #1) Georgians can't even drive in rain, and #2) there really is no equipment to make it safe to drive in snow (ie. no snow plows, no salting trucks, etc.)  So yes, even with under an inch of snow, we had the day off due to icy road conditions.

The day off was incredibly welcome after my busy and stressful week!  My News Team did a great job in their Wednesday morning debut!  However, cords got mixed up sometime between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning (who would touch those!?!?) and we could NOT get live feed in time for Thursday morning.  We had to run to the front office at the last minute to do announcements over the intercom... not a fun way to start out the morning (stressing and running around before 8:00 is not my choice of wake-up call).  Then I spent every spare minute I had the rest of the day Thursday playing with the cords until my fingers hurt from screwing and unscrewing cable wires!  I did manage to fix it though, ALL BY MYSELF!  Who knew I was so tech savvy??

So, with all that, the snow day was welcome... a day for me to chill out and again focus on taking care of myself!

Our baby is growing lots these days and is now the size of an onion!  I'm trying to figure out if I'm feeling movements now!  I think I keep feeling little flutterings and nudges, but I can't feel anything from the outside when I put a hand on my belly.  The sensations are so light it's easy to make myself think I just imagined it.... and on top of that it's not like things haven't been gurgly in that area these days... but I think by now I know what gas feels like as opposed to something else. I've read that people usually start feeling movement between weeks 14 and 22... but that first time moms are more likely not to feel anything until closer to week 20 (or at least not to recognize what they're feeling).  I've also read that "skinny minnie" moms tend to feel movements earlier than larger moms because the extra "padding" can kind of mute the sensations... and though I am by no means going to claim that I am fat, my pudge tends to accumulate on my tummy so I'd be kind of surprised to be feeling things so early.

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, her sweat glands are starting to develop, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

Don't forget to vote!! (Check out the right-hand column of the page!)

Not just dreaming of a white christmas

Jason and I are enjoying the wintery white north.  It's been snowing pretty much since we got here.  We had one day of icky rain, but otherwise it's been pretty, white, fluffy snow.... as pretty as it is though, I'm reminded more and more why I like living in the south.  Snow is miserable... it's cold, it's wet, and it's messy.  I remember loving it when I was little though... and I would love for our little ones to be able to play in the snow... go sledding, make snowmen, ice skate.... maybe just visiting my parents in Chicago every winter will cut it though! ;)

Our trip up to Wisconsin was fun.  We stayed in a time share resort for 5 days.  Jason got to do some snowboarding and the two of us played around in the water parks that were built into the resort... indoor water parks of course!  We also hit up one of the local Indian casinos where Jason won $80.  Woo hoo!  We lasted about 45 minutes at the casino though... can't really handle being in those places for long.

Now we're in Chicago visiting my parents and Laura.  We had a very nice Christmas yesterday, and it even started to snow again!  It's so nice to admire from inside....

The baby is now at 15 weeks and is about the size of a naval orange!  I've been enjoying clementines lately, it's hard to believe the baby is probably twice as big!  I'll be posting a new belly pic next week.  I find it interesting that my belly seems to grow and shrink day by day... I guess it won't be long until it's fairly permanent though (for a few months in any case).

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

Northward Bound

I'm sitting in the airport waiting on our flight to Chicago so I thought I'd update on my appointment today. I had to do a one hour oral glucose test today. It's normally done at 26 weeks but because of my CF and already being prone to diabetes I had to have it done at 14 weeks then will have to do it again at 26 weeks. This was my third time taking the test already this year. It's normally quite horrible, and today was by no means an exception, BUT I usually get an orange-flavored drink that's warm (because they forgot to put it in the fridge). Today's was lemon-lime and feezing cold. That helped A LOT! I will find out the results in a few days.

Otherwise everything is fine. We heard the heartbeat again. It's always  a reassuring sound. And she found it quickly today too! The heartbeat was in the 130s she said.

Well, we are now getting ready to head out. We'll soon be in the snowy north! Jason is excited about hitting the slopes and I guess I'm excited about getting caught up on some reading even though I'll miss the skiing. The doc says it's a no-no. :( I might hit the bunny slope one day but I know I should take it easy.

If I don't get a chance to later, I wish everyone a Happy Holiday!!