New York Trip, 2nd Ultrasound and Screening, Kobe Shoes!

So we're back home after visiting Jamie's extended family in New York.  Shweew!  Glad to be home!  The trip was quite enjoyable, and of course everyone fell in love with Connor and his cute personality and had a great time playing indoor basketball and baseball, cars, etc... for a full week!  Connor probably recieved more attention in that week than he has in the last year (and this kid is in no need of attention, let me tell ya) and averaged about an 11:30 PM bedtime, so what a relief it was to come home and get him back in school and back on schedule. (more about that below)

These are the new "Kobe" Nike tennis shoes we got him while in NY .... they are so cute and he calls them his "Kobe Shoes"!  Not sure they would be cute in a man's size, but very cute in a little-boy size!


It was good to get a little mommy-break (we stayed at a difference aunt's house than Connor and Jamie's parents) and we even made it into the city for a night on the town ... dinner, shopping, hotel and then breakfast in the morning.... nice!  On a sour note, I got extremely motion sick on the bus back out of the city and had to bail about 5 stops before where we were supposed to get off, leaving Jamie on the bus by himself with all our crap.  Luckily I made it off in time .... we'll leave it at that.  Gotta love making a spectacle of yourself in front of strangers... but isn't that what motherhood is all about like 75% of the time (starting with child birth) so I guess I'm used to it.

But, as nice as it is to have a little vacay from the norm, it's even better to be home to my own bed, bathroom, closet, kitchen, etc... (minus all the laundry, sorting mail, putting clothes away, and all the other crap you have to do when you get home)  Plus, I need to get back on the "eating right" train ... on-the-road and vacation eating will seriously do a number on your stomach and how you feel in general.

And we didn't have a second to breathe once we got home.  Monday morning was my early-pregnancy screening called a Nuchal Translucency (spelling... ahh, not sure about that one and too lazy to Google it).  It's a combo blood test/ ultrasound that checks the baby for Down's Syndrome and 2 or 3 other serious chromosonal abnormailities.  I went to a specialist, not my regular doctor, which was the same specialist we saw when I was prego with Connor. We received nothing but good news ... thank goodness. 

As a bonus, the ultrasound tech had some extra time to play around, so I got to see the baby for about 30 minutes.... unfortunately they didn't take a video this time like they did with Connor, which is a super-bummer because SOMEONE recorded over my ultrasound tape of Connor (which honestly makes me want to cry right now).  With all the extra ultrasound time, we spent a lot of time down south looking for any signs of a penis or otherwise.  They found maybe a penis, then a vagina, then a penis, then maybe a vagina (or the "three lines" as they call it) so basically we confirmed that the baby is DEFINITELY a boy OR a girl.  Ha!  It's just too early to tell for sure.  But now I'm even more anxious than before .. March 8th can't come fast enough!  It's just so amazing to see such a small creature living inside of your own body... there is nothing quite like experiencing an ultrasound of your baby.

So, as for today.... more exciting times.  Roads in the area were ice-covered all morning, making travel especially difficult and dangerous.  I never would have left the house this morning had I known the extent of how horribly bad the roads were.  There was basically no way out of my neighborhood, and even with an SUV with 4WD and even a "snow and ice" driving setting, I had NO control of the vehicle.  CRAZY!  It took me an hour and a half to get Connor to school (which doesn't even compare to how long many people were stuck out on the road) and saw many close-calls and scary situations.  Many men were out in their suits and dress shoes helping push cars up hills and back onto roads.... it made me proud to live in such a nice and helpful society .... and also scared to see how many dumb-ass people (such as myself) didn't bother to turn on the news this morning before heading out the door!!!


Coming soon.... belly pics (13 weeks pregnant and officially can't button my jeans now.... trying to hold out on the prego jeans as long as possible, because once I go the way of the comfort waistband, there's no going back!) and some great baby-finds on clearance at Target!  Happy Tuesday!