Giving it the finger...

As most of you know, we had a "manditory furlough" over the Christmas holiday from December 23 - January 3.  This means: 3 paid holidays and 5 days unpaid.  To top it off, I had not one, but TWO projects due on the 7th, and of course, they didn't bother to move those deadlines for us.  So, now, instead of having 2.5 weeks to do our projects (more than enough time), we had 4 days.  Then, I happened to get sick last week and had to stay home Thursday because I just wasn't feeling up to work after vomiting all night long.  Needless to say, one of my projects slipped because PM for one of them is pushy as they come and somehow always manages to find a way to get his stuff pushed to the front of your agenda.  Well, I didn't finish one of my projects because instead of having 3 days to do it, I had one.  I planned to work on it some this weekend, then thought about it more and decided to give it the finger... While I feel sort of bad for the PM on this one (he's a great guy), I know I'll get it done before the ACTUAL deadline of this Friday, but I am NOT giving that place anymore of my free time away from my family.  Instead of working tonight, I read books and watched a movie with my daughter. I have to say, that is time MUCH better spent! :)

Boy or Girl?

When I was pregnant with Isabelle, I had this stong gut feeling the entire time that she was going to be a girl, and even though we waited until November 20, 2008 to find out for sure, my gut proved to be correct.  This go around, I have had absolutely no strong gut feelings telling me either way what Little Lumsden #2 is going to be...  Here are some of my uncertainties.

It could be a girl because:

• I was completely miserable this time around and several of my friends experienced this when they had a second baby of the same gender - smooth sailing the first time, rough seas the second.
• During the ultrasound yesterday, Little One was very stubborn, very much like Big Sister was.  Little One did not want to move to let the ultrasound technician take the photos of her face, making our visit extra long...
• I have had recurring dreams about having 4 little girls that look just like Belle and one little boy that looks just like Nick (at the end of the line)
• And finally - the Chinese birth prediction chart says another girl.  Laugh all you want, but this thing has been right for everyone I have checked since I was pregnant with Belle, (except for my cousin, Fawn, and that's because I screwed up and put her due date in February when it was really March or the other way around).

On the other hand... It could be a boy because:

• I was completely miserable this time around (from week 4 until week 15!) Since this pregnancy has been so different, there's a chance Little One is actually a boy.
• I feel like I am carrying MUCH lower this time around.  I don't remember having this much difficulty bending over this early on with Belle.  This time around, I feel like there is always a baby in the way where I need to bend.  However, it could be because I didn't have a 2 year old to pick up after constantly the first time, so I did much LESS bending! :)
• The heartbeat seems to be a bit lower than Belle's was - I didn't write down all her numbers - I am going to try to get them from the doc on Thursday to compare. But, if I recall, she was around high 150's, low 160's the whole time (which the docs told me was consistent with a boy, which was the ONLY thing that made me doubt that she was a girl... but they said that at about 36 weeks, so I didn't have much time to doubt).  This one has been pretty consistantly low 150's - still consistant with a boy, but could still be a girl.
• And finally - everyone seems to be wishing a boy on me this time around... and some keep wishing TWIN boys on me... But, rest assured, there is only ONE in there! :)

Here are some "pictures" from our 20 week visit yesterday.  Yes!!! We have made it halfway!

 Sticking butt in the air.

 Two little feet!

The thinking pose...

 Great profile pic.

And finally, 20 week (and one day) belly...

Stressful

Why does searching for a new job have to be so stressful?  I mean, it's part of life, right?  We all do it... We work, we gain experience, we move on.  That's the way the world goes round.  So why does it become so stressful and feel so overwhelming each time we start updating our resumes to start looking for a new job???

Ugh. I hate this.  Anyone out there want to just hire me? I don't even care if it's related to Civil Engineering at this point... Just something less stressful than the instability of where I currently am...

Prayers for a Friend

I couldn't sleep last night thinking about friends who lost their one of the precious baby boys yesterday.  They were born extremely early and Logan got an infection while in the NICU.  He fought for almost two weeks, but lost his battle yesterday.  I cannot even begin to imagine the pain they are feeling.  They also have a two-year old little girl.  How does one begin to explain to a two-year old that their baby brother has gone to heaven?  Words cannot express the sorrow I feel for them...

Please keep the Gutchak family in your prayers while they try to remain strong for their daughter and their other little boy, Landon, who is still fighting the good fight...

Christmas

We had a wonderful little first Christmas in our new house!  Although we missed being with family, it was definitely much more relaxing to be home and not driving around the great state of Michigan trying to see everyone!  We got to start some Christmas traditions of our own - including feeding the raindeer so they can find their way to our house and making Christmas cookies for Santa!  Belle had a blast and so did we.  Enjoy some of the pictures. :)

 Making cookies with Daddy for Santa

 Feeding the raindeer so they know how to get to our house.

 Good morning! Merry Christmas!

 Checking to make sure Santa came.

 Jake and Elwood opening their presents.

 Feeding her baby.  She's going to be SUCH  a great big sister! :)

Helping Daddy feed the birds.

16 and 18 Weeks

16 week baby bump

18 week baby bump (it's flying by...)

Little Angels

When we returned from Michigan last Monday, I witnessed two of the sweetest gestures from two of the smallest people on our flight... I am proud to say, one was my daughter.

When the plane landed, we were, once again, stuck on the tarmac. After about 15 minutes, a baby a few rows in front of us started crying. Belle was very concerned about the upset baby and wanted to give the baby her blanket to "make her all better". It was the sweetest thing, considering my girl never leaves home without her blankie!

After we got off the plane, we were at the luggage terminal and a little boy, no more than 3 or 4 was waiting with his grandparents and signing to the grandmother like a pro. Each time he wasn't sure she caught it all, he would repeat his signs. It was absolutely amazing to watch the interaction between the two of them. So much love with absolutely no words.

Thank God for these Little Angels!