The Circus

This past Sunday, Matt and I went to the circus. We were front and center for the show. I saw that they were coming to town and through nostalgia of my last trip to circus in probably 1983, I instantly bought tickets. Turned out that was about the last time Matt was there too. A couple of things we learned about the circus:

1. It is just fine to go every 25 years or so- no need to make it a yearly event.

2. The zebras should be taken out of the show. All they do is spin around in circles and pretend to be dancing. Nothing fancy or special- their time could be spared.

3. There were a few groups outside the circus protesting how the animals were treated. To be expected. I did however watch a nature video not to long ago that showed the enormous strife and struggles of being a lion, tiger or elephant in the wild. Survival is slim, food is scarce, and if the rains don't come, your not gonna make it. If you have baby lions, tigers or elephants, good luck with that- their odds of survival are slim to none- no matter if the rains come or not. This video made the circus look like the jackpot for these animals. I do agree that the costumes were a bit much, but they looked well feed and happy as far as I could tell. One tiger did look a little grumpy but it added a little drama to whole show.

4. Taking a child to the circus is a spendy venture. It certainly is something that should be done, but man, $10 for cotton candy seems a little steep.

5. I did find the age of some of the circus performers to be a little troubling. There seemed to be quite a few children being tossed in the air. Seems like a hard life to break free of- not sure if it is necessary to enlist your 10 year old to a life on the road with a plastic wig and goals of being head trapeze thrower one day.

All is all, I do recommend a trip to the circus- it is a an experience worth having.

31 Weeks

This coming Saturday I will be 31 weeks along. Things seem to be going well. Lyla Belle is moving quite a bit, kicking and twisting around. Let's me know everything is going well for her. I had my glucose screening at my last doctors visit and everything came back just fine. All of my measurements are on target as well. Matt and I are in our birth classes right now. We are taking classes focused on the Bradley Method. I am really enjoying them and feel that they have really helped me understand giving birth. We also did our hospital tour this past week, which was nice. I am going to be giving birth in the newest labor and delivery unit in Portland. Everyone seemed really nice and the place was so clean and quite. We are going to be hiring a doula for the birth and are starting interviews this week. I feel like that is really going to help- we aren't planning on having any family in the delivery room with us and Matt and I are a good team- but hell... giving birth is not our forte. We need someone with a little knowledge on the whole thing. I just need someone to stand there and say, "yep, this is normal." Matt and I have no idea what is normal- I mean, our dogs wimper for 5 seconds and we think a leg is about to fall off. A calming voice of reason is exactly what we need in the delivery room.

July camping trip

Matt and I went camping out on the coast at Lincoln City, OR, July 25th - 27th. We went with two other couples and their kids and dogs. It was a really fun weekend and as always the dogs were overjoyed to have a beach to play on.

Matt dug a big hole to make a swimming pool for Charlie. He was so happy. He keep trying to drink the water though- one small little detail we forgot that he loves to do. He was so dirty and happy though. Alice was just concerned about the whole idea- there was no way she was going to step down into that hole. She just circled the pool like an overzealous lifeguard on duty while Charlie spun in circles.

Alice wasn't as scared of the waves as she has been in the past. Though she did run from a few. Pretty funny to see a 120 pound dogs bolting from a slow moving wave that is about 2 inches deep and then inching back to test the whole idea again. Charlie just bounded through the waves without fear as usual.

The chain reaction of events... Alice runs too much and gets lots of slobber which makes her foam at the mouth, much like she has a terrible case of rabies. All the sand of the beach then sticks to her foamy lips, thus causing her to get really thirsty which results in long strings of drool that she seems none the wiser to.
Look at that cute couple we found on the beach... ha!

It's a girl!

I had my 20 week ultrasound on July 2nd and found out that we are having a little girl!!! We are so very excited. We have also decided to name her Lyla Belle. We just like the name, it doesn't have a meaning at all. She looked completely healthy in the ultrasound and her size is measuring normal. They did say that my placenta was in the front which means it is taking a little longer for me to feel her move. I have just started to feel real kicks and movement. What a fun, yet bizarre feeling. She is getting to be a busy little girl and it's fun feeling her move everyday. Matt and I are getting so very excited to meet this little girl! This is me at 24 weeks:

I am starting to feel that I am getting bigger and bigger each week. That is taking a little getting used too, but it also makes me happy to know that I have a growing, healthy baby inside of me.

Just a little too much time to herself...

Matt came home from work one Wednesday to find that Alice had started a little project of her own and then apparently got bored and didn't finish cleaning up. I personally think that she looks a little remorseful about her actions, but it's hard to say...

Camping Trip- June 2009

Matt and I went camping at Nehalam Bay June 13 -15. We took the dogs of course and had a wonderful time. The weather cooperated and we were able to hang out on the beach and just generally enjoy time together.

Charlie loved running on the beach and playing ball. He had run and played so much by the end of the day he was limping and could hardly keep his eyes open. He's not used to running in the sand.

If this little girl could have smiled she would have been grinning ear to ear. She had the best time ever. Loved digging for drift wood, protecting our blanket from people passing and stealing everything away from Charlie. I swear she probably eat half the beach.

Baby News

I went to the doctor last Wednesday (June 17th) and all went well. We were finally able to hear the heartbeat which was great. The new doctor we are seeing also seems to be a lot better than the last- she seemed far more engaging and interested. Things really have gone well so far. I am 18 weeks and 1 day at this point and feel pretty good. I am pretty tired after the market each week but also realized that I need to get some new shoes with more support. The market is on a concrete surface and that is pretty hard on my hips and lower back all day. I am also working on figuring out nutrition and the right amounts of food to be eating and the right foods in general for that matter. I am going to have an ultrasound in the next couple of weeks and will be able to see if it's a boy or girl. I really can't wait to know.