Will the Ring Test finally be wrong?

In my family there is a crazy tradition done during pregnancy by my Grandpa, and previously by his dad. It's typically done when the belly's sticking out a little more, but we tried it on me yesterday when the family came over for Aunt Cindy's birthday. It's called the Ring Test. You take a the wedding ring off of the pregnant one and tie it to  piece of string, preferably sewing thread as it's lighter. Have her lay on the floor and suspend the ring just over the baby, once the string/ring completely stop moving, it's held still.  The ring will eventually start moving again in one of two ways, back and forth - indicating a boy. Or in a circular motion - for a girl. 

I know it sounds crazy, Ben couldn't believe that we were all doing this and totally buying into it - However, Papa is 5 for 5! Tiffany, Jake, myself, Makenna, and Brendan - were all right on! We tried mine twice and both times got the same result. Papa wants to try it again because it took forever to get moving - he thinks my bump isn't big enough - and because he wanted different results. 

According to this - it's going to be a girl.

Ben and I are both okay with whatever we have, just wanting it healthy! Obviously, if one could 'pick' there's usually a preference... If that was the case, we both wanted a boy first - I think me even a little more than him. Ben thinks we're all crazy by even playing along with this ring test notion, but hey - every time it's right we get a little more into it and it's totally for fun so it's not hurting anyone! (I will say though that it only works - as in the ring will only start moving again over the belly - with the pregnant woman's ring... Something about the metal absorbing her energy and then making it move again when close her body? )

Anyway, Ben said he will go to Papa and apologize in person for thinking he was crazy and doubting him if it turns out to be a girl. And then joked (because it's Ben) and he'll burn him at the stake for being a witch. :o)

November 5th we'll know for sure!

already a pain!

So I haven't posted in a while because a TON has happened and I wanted to do it all justice with posts, but now it's been too long and if I don't write it now - it's never going to be on here, and then I get in trouble

Wednesday: We met my new doctor, love her! Got some blood taken and then an ultrasound of our little 'lime'. (We tossed our printer/scanner in the moved. It never printed and it only scanned after an hour of messing with it - that's why you don't get to see the picture yet) Baby was kicking and moving all over the place! Came home and unpacked some more!

Thursday: Unpacked, bought shower game prizes... unpacked some more.

Friday: I went back to the doctor's for a screening. Ben wants to be mentally prepared, if there were any problems with the baby, before it's born. So we opted to do the tests, usually they take blood at 12 weeks and then again at 15 and then if some indicator comes up, you can have an amnio done to "know for sure". However my doctor loves another test that they can do as long as you're just before 13 1/2 weeks. I had only a couple days to get in and thankfully it was no problem. They do an ultrasound and measure the thickness of the back of the baby's neck. If it's enlarged and they get indicators on the blood work - then usually that means there's a problem. This method is far better at detecting than the blood work and you eliminate something like 90% of the 'false positives' that lead women to get the amnio when their baby's fine. No big deal, takes 25 minutes, in and out of there! WRONG! Ben was exhausted so I didn't wake him, but now regret that he missed the show. The "little booger" as it was affectionately named by the ultrasound tech would not cooperate! Every time she'd push a little on my tummy with the wand it would throw it's head back, arch it's little back and kick it's feet straight out. It did this over and over (looking just like it was throwing a fit!) She was cracking up and just kept telling me I was in for it! Once it got tired of this little trick, it would flip back and forth putting it's head from the left side of my belly to the right so she'd have to keep chasing it with the wand. Finally for the final trick, it turned around, flashing it's little neck letting us think for a moment we had a good shot at getting the measurement, only to flip upside down and hide it's little head behind my pelvic bone so that we couldn't see it at all with the wand. Now, obviously it has no idea what's it doing or what a pain in the rear it's being for us - but how coincidental! God's preparing me all right - he's warning me now I might have a wild one! Darn Ben! I've heard all these stories about how hard headed he was (still is!) it looks like it's taking after Daddy! I was good, I was hoping it was good enough to even this kid out, but it's not looking like it.

So anyway, I'm virtually upside down on this bed hoping gravity will toss that kid out from under it's rock when the tech apologized but said we had to do the rest of the ultrasound the "other way" if we were going to finish... So she leaves (still laughing) and my first words talking directly to the baby were "You're a poop already!" So we start the internal ultrasound only to have the baby switch right when she gets it on the screen. Without missing a beat she grabbed the belly wand, flipped the switch on the computer to make it work, found it and paused the screen before it could move again. Thankfully it was a good enough shot to get the measurement we needed (she'd tried this several times before and couldn't ever get a clear enough measurement that she was comfortable with). She said she can't tell me anything for sure, but that the size looked "good and very typical"... She thanked me for the entertainment, told me to get my sleep before I could feel it tumbling around in there, and let me go. On my way out I was smiled at by just about every nurse and told good luck... She shared the story while I was getting my blood drawn. When I got home Ben was half awake, I tossed the pictures on the bed and 'yelled' at him, "It's all your fault, the baby's just like you!" {trying not to laugh!}

He thought the story was great!

Saturday was Emily's shower here at the house and then yesterday we spent the day at Emily and Jared's watching football! I love football! (Em and I did break away for a quick trip to the Supermall so I could get a 'belly band'! It's great! I can now leave my top buttons undone on my pants and the band covers them like a little under t-shirt/cami. It made today so much more comfortable being back at work!

There it all is... Now I'm going to bed!

So far...

My house is still littered with boxes - most empty, others full and I'm hoping they'll just disappear!

A freaked out cat that can't handle ceiling fans and howls at the top of the stairs because he's too much of wimp to go down them!

A big grocery shopping trip with my Mom who's helping me 're-learn' how to cook again. (I haven't made meals consistently since January! With busy season not being home, then putting the condo up for sale and not being able to be messy, and then moving - I couldn't put a week's menu together on my own right now if I tried unless we could have tacos three times, and then spaghetti twice)

Another ultrasound today, showing us a very active baby with a strong heartbeat! 

And a husband counting his days in his district after being told he got his transfer! We've known he got it but we finally got a date for his official move. (The last guy waited 6 months, they have to find replacements for district positions before moving to specialty type units - they're way too understaffed already to just go plucking guys off the streets)

A much needed 2 hour phone call to Moses Lake!

Up next: finish putting things away (or hiding them in closets), shopping for Emily's baby shower that will be HERE on Saturday. Friday morning I go back to the doctor's for some pre-screening for genetic and birth abnormalities - I'm a little nervous for those. I 'know' that everything will probably be fine, and then I think of all the other pregnant women that think the same thing and hear tragic news.... I've been told this new found anxiety and worry (and memory issues) comes from being pregnant - yippee, just what I wanted!

My Generation?

Lindsay Lohan: "I really cannot bite my tongue anymore when it comes to Sarah Palin," "Is it a sin to be gay? Should it be a sin to be straight? Or to use birth control? Or to have sex before marriage? Or even to have a child out of wedlock?"...
"Do what you know is right in your heart, vote for Obama"...
And then my favorite part:
"In the words of Pamela Anderson, 'She can suck it''

Really? Somehow this girl thinks that her recent switch to homosexuality and her release from rehab has made her the one who's moral compass is the one to synchronize with. In her rant on Palin, she's urging people to vote for Obama, because Palin personally believes that homosexuality is wrong.

The religion of our candidates alone is NOT the reason I believe we should vote for one or the other - we are in a war and an economical crisis here... I personally hope that the person in charge of our country seeks God for wisdom while making decisions, but that's me!... However, conservatives are not to be convinced that a radical Muslim upbringing, and separatist 'christian' teachings of 20 years with pastor J. Wright should weigh in at all when it comes into Barack Obama's decision making, yet the Christian beliefs of the GOP, VICE presidential candidate qualifies?
I thank God he sent his son to teach us compassion, love, forgiveness and grace for the sins we commit... And know that we can love each other while not agreeing or condoning those sins. Palin never attacked this girl personally, just disagrees with choice she chooses to make.

I love that Lohan continues with such an intelligent comment about what she thinks Palin should occupy her time with... A classic from yet another 'moral icon.'

Brilliant! Lord, help my generation!
Oh P.S. After this rant, Lohan tripped in a doorway while walking - but assumed she was tripped by a photographer - so she turned around and punched them in the nose!

...So I was thinking about joining the LL fan club - anyone in for a group discount?

Home Sweet Home

It's finally done.. and finally ours! We got the keys yesterday afternoon! We went into the house, ran around like little kids and I ended up laying on the floor inside my new gigantic closet! Seriously, my closet is the size of the 2nd bedroom at the condo! It's going to be full with all of Ben's uniforms shortly - between the Marine Corps and King County, and then with all his normal clothes that he never gets to wear becuase he's always in uniform - that closet won't seem as big before too long... We love it! It was kind of a bummer not to be able to actually stay there last night, but very soon we'll be sleeping at HOME!

And of the house...

From the entry into the dining room/kitchen
From the kitchen into the Family room
From Family Room to Kitchen
Half of the Master bath
The 'loft' area at the top of the stairs!

Follow up pictures...

Nick's game:

I just realized my Seattle picture is bigger than the allotted space for the background I found - I'm going to have to play with that image a little when I get my computer back and set up!

Anyway - this weekend turned out alright (for me anyway!) Yesterday morning I went to see Nick's 1st Fall Ball game. He went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI's and even got a chance to pitch 2 innings, of which he had a few strikeouts! The Little League rules are that no more than 5 runs can be scored by a team in an 'at bat' so the first 2 innings were called for Nick's team with them scoring 5 each. By the bottom of the 3rd they were up 11-1 which qualifies for the 10 run rule to end the game but with it being fall ball, aka Instruction Ball, and the fact that it was gorgeous out, Dad said to let them play it out. (I'm not actually sure why they all looked at Dad, he's not coaching for fall ball though I know he's on the board...) The game ended with Nick's team maintaining that 10 run lead and a 16-5 final!
Afterwards we went to lunch and then Chris headed down to the appliance store while I got our Refrigerator, and Chris got us our new washer/dryer from the family for a house-warming gift(THANK YOU so much Dad, Chris, Gramma and Auntie Jill!!!)
Meanwhile Ben spent the entire day with his dad moving again! This time it was a little more difficult - emotionally. Ben's grandpa has made the move to an assisted living community. We're really praying this will help him to stay level with his blood sugar! He'll be responsible for making his breakfast in his apartment, but they have lunch and dinner served down in the dining room - so at least we'll know that he'll eat (as long as he gets down there while meals are served!) His diabetes and his age lately haven't been the greatest mixture and hopefully with everything he'll need at his fingers - he can stay off the road now! I don't know that my poor in-laws and husband can deal with another low blood sugar car wreck... There's also so many social things he can get involved in so Ben and I are really excited for him in that respect.

Friday my managing partner walked by just as our real estate agent called to tell me the condo was officially closed and heard me all excited. When I got off the phone, he gave me tickets (and a parking pass) to the M's/Yankees game. The weather was absolutely amazing for a day at Safeco Field. We got the view box tickets this time - out of the 3 places Steve has season tickets, these are Ben's favorite! Mine too, but sometimes the Terrace Club is nice - squishier seats, but nearly the view. We've gotten to go to I think 10 games in the last 2 seasons (courtesy of my work) and a few the year before on our own, and today was the very first game we've been to where the M's have pulled out a win! We found out while trying to exit the stadium when we ran into Lindsay and her family that every game they've been to we win - so next year when we decide which games we want to go to, I'm going to call and see if they can plan to go as well! We really just love going to the games for spirit of going to a game - though today we found it's far more fun when they win! Even with the Mariner win I am so bummed that my boys lost today! No, not the Yankees, the Seahawks. Football is my favorite and the Seahawks just choked this afternoon! I've only seen a few clips of the game and it was painful - I don't imagine I'll watch the replay! (Ben likes football because it occupies me while he takes a nap) :o)

Arby's has their Orange Cream milk shakes back so we stopped to get one and I think the sugar got to Ben, that or his huge stadium Mt. Dew - because he was totally unable to sleep when we got home, so he just left for work without a nap. I really hate it when he does that! However, after his back to back days of work at at night and Ft.Lewis obligations during the day last week (leaving him with 12 hours sleep total from Monday afternoon to Thursday night, after a weekend of moving) I know the guy can do anything!

I'm sure this is long enough... And if you've made it this far, you're great and I appreciate your attention to my ramblings! Pictures of Nick's game and the house later!

We no longer own a condo!!!

Sucker is G-O-N-E! It's bittersweet, no feelings about getting rid of the condo, just all the money that went away with it. However, one week from today I'll be moving into my new house!!!
We have our final walkthrough Monday and close Wednesday! (That means Dad and Chris get their garage back next week!)

Also Grandpa had his surgery on his spine on Wednesday and was up and walking within 5 hours - he's doing so well! Even got to go home yesterday!

Oh, and just to see if she really reads this: Hi Aunt Debbie!