The Results are In...

That's right folks. According to my doctor there is a "200% chance" we are having a girl!! We couldn't be more excited. In addition to her "goods," we also got to see the two sides of her brain and the four chambers of her beating heart, and the doc measured her head, stomach, and thigh bones...her legs and head are measuring about 4 days ahead of the rest of her! Overall she is in the 51%, meaning she is exactly dead on target for her "age" development wise. We didn't get as many cute pictures from this appointment as we did from our last one...a few face shots that look mostly like Skeletor from the old 80's He-Man series (I'll post pics when I get them scanned into our computer!). The doc tried to get a good profile but just couldn't get the right angle...I think he was irked that she trumped his ultrasound skills, so he wrote a note in our file to give us a freebie ultrasound at our next appointment, just so that we can get our cute profile! Yay!

And we already have a named all picked out (in fact, it's been picked out for a while...it was the boy name we were having trouble with, and now we don't have to worry about it!)...

Alina May

Besides sounding really pretty, Alina is a mixture of Alex and Kalina (my "Russian name"). We'll call her Ali for short (a mixture of Alex and Kelly), and May is after my maternal grandmother. We are very excited that we have picked a name with a little bit of Russian flair to honor Ali's dad's side of the family, and a little bit of Southern charm to honor her mom's side.

I've been slowly but surely acquiring baby gear, sale by sale. My latest score was a cute sling that will help me keep my hands free while wearing Ali around. Here's a pic of me trying it out with a very patient kitty.


And finally, in some non-baby-related news, we had our first good spring-time Texas storm! True to form, the clouds blew in and out in about 45 minutes, but not before giving us a solid hail storm. Check out the footage!






Hope this finds you all well! I'll post updated belly and ultrasound pics soon!
KC

2nd Tri

Well, I've officially made it into the second trimester! General opinion on when exactly that transition takes place varies. Some say it's the 12 week mark...I think because that's three months, which is 1/3 of the traditional "nine months" of pregnancy. Others say 13 weeks because that's closer to 1/3 of the actual 40 weeks of pregnancy (with an extra "bonus week" as my cousin put it). So, I waited until 13 weeks, 2 days...as close to actually 1/3 of the 40 weeks as I could get!

I can already tell that I am a prime candidate for the return to "normal" that all the books talk about. I stayed up past 11 three nights out of the last five! I've been able to go back to eating pretty much whatever sounds good to my husband (instead of the other way around). And I've started to long for exercise again.

I have also realized that I am NOT one of those women who will be at 20 weeks and you won't even be able to tell they are pregnant. (Seriously. I had a friend like that. NO bump at 20 weeks!) For your viewing pleasure, a shot of my beginning-of-second-trimester bump (sorry it's kind of fuzzy):
...and I love it! So far (ask me again in the middle of the Texas-summer-third-trimester), I am loving being pregnant! And I have a feeling I will LOVE my 2nd tri.

It's so hard to wait four weeks between every appointment...I'm halfway there. Two more weeks and we'll get to see Cosmo again...and MAYBE find out if Cosmo's a he or a she. Yay! Oh, and in other Cosmo news, he/she already has distinct fingerprints! That kid is amazing!!

Hope all is well with all of you!

#7: I'm 30! (and I love it!)

That's right. Last Wednesday I turned the big 3-0. After hearing so many horror stories about the angst and drama that accompanies this big day, I was determined not to let myself fall prey to those feelings of "I'm soooo old!" In all actuality, I am delighted to be 30!

Don't get me wrong, I loved my 20s. I earned 2 degrees, had 2 fulfilling careers, got married, traveled to exotic locations, bought a house, and became the proud momma of two adorable cats and the proud momma-to-be of one adorable baby. But in my mind, 30 marks the turning point into actual adulthood. I think people will take me more seriously now that I'm a 30-something.

Alex was traveling the day before my birthday and was not scheduled to land back home until after midnight. But, being the amazing man that he is, he finagled his way onto an earlier flight, and made it home at 11:56, just in time to spend the last four minutes of my 20s with me and to see me into the official start of my 30s. I love that man.

He then took me out to breakfast (kolaches--yum!), my team took me out to lunch, and we met our good friends for dinner at P.F. Chang's before meeting our softball team at the bowling alley. What a great day! The "big" party was this Saturday. Alex planned the entire thing, and it was awesome! We (a group of about 25) took a tour of Lake Austin on a cute little party boat, complete with multiple deck levels, a great stereo system, and a kitchen for all the snacks. The weather was perfect for the outdoor festivities (gotta love early March in Texas)--a breezy, slightly cloudy 80 degrees. We ended the evening with dinner at Waterloo Icehouse.

It was a GREAT birthday week, and I am so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life to celebrate it with!!

Here are some party-goers on one of the boat levels with a shot of the 360 bridge in the background.
Here's a very happy birthday girl snuggled up to the mastermind behind the event:
And finally, the always fun group shot:

For more pics of the evening, check out the link in the photo albums section on the right. Enjoy!

Big News!

We're having a baby!

Alex and I started off the year in the best way possible, finding out on New Year's Day, January 1, that we are expecting our first child, and we couldn't be more excited!

I am just shy of the 2nd trimester. We had our second doctor's appointment last week and he gave us the official ok that everything is looking fantastic and that we could feel free to share our news. It has been so difficult keeping it a secret for so long...and hopefully that explains my lack of blogging lately--I really haven't had anything else on my mind for a while!

Here is a picture of our tiny little bundle of crazy joy, taken at 11 weeks, 3 days:

Isn't that amazing?! He/she already looks like a little person! And yes, we WILL be finding out as soon as possible if it's a "he" or a "she." I've added a little poll to the right side of the page--cast your vote! There's a chance we'll find something out at our next appointment, so you've got about 4 weeks to form an opinion and put something on record.

I mentioned a while back we were painting a room--that room is the nursery, and it's almost done. Well, the painting is totally done--we are going to add a chair rail, and then we'll definitely post pictures! Obviously we painted before we found out the sex of the baby...in fact, we started painting before we even found out we were pregnant! The color is blue-grey (Alex says it's like my eyes), and we think it will work great for either a girl or a boy.

In other news (which all suddenly seems secondary in our lives), work is going well. My company is struggling with layoffs and reorganizations, but my immediate group seems to be the island of safety, so I am counting my blessings daily that I got hired on with them when I did. Alex's company has remained largely unaffected, although the current economic environment has made his forecasting more challenging to say the least. He just finished his last report and we are both looking forward to a period of normal work hours and stress levels. He still has a busy travel year ahead of him, with a trip to Florida to present at a conference, his two annual trips to Germany, and a possible trip to Japan sometime this summer! (He's already been informed that his trips will need to be trimmed to one week max when the baby gets here.)

And I know you're wondering if we will slide in one last trip together, too, and the answer is yes! While our original plan for our yearly trip was to visit Machu Picchu, Peru, we quickly realized we'd have to rethink that...vaccines, rural South America, and hiking up a mountain aren't the best when you're pregnant. So the new plan for our babymoon is Hawaii! We have never been and are really looking forward to relaxing on the beach, snorkling, and swimming with sea turtles.

So check back often for pictures and stories about all the joys of pregnancy in Texas. I am due September 14th--just the right timing for me to be in my third trimester through June, July, and August. Yay!

Hope all is well with all of you!
With love,
Kelly, Alex, and Cosmo*

*Cosmo is what we're calling the baby--I had a dream before our first doctor's appointment that the ultrasound showed the baby as a little astronaut floating around in space. Russian astronauts are Cosmonauts...and there you have it. Cosmo!

Home Improvements (including #33)

After taking some time off of making big purchases for the house, we got back on the wagon this holiday season!

Here are the new bookshelves I've had my eye on since we moved in. I'm so excited--all my books and office supplies in one place now! No more having to go to the garage when I need a ruler or envelope! All that remains is picking a color for an accent wall, and I think I'll finally be satisfied with our office.
Also, crossing #33 off the list, the cat liter box! We ordered this cute little cabinet, which actually holds the cat litter box (you can see from the mat on the side there's a little opening there. I still need to "decorate" the corner, but we are so glad to finally have the cat litter box out of our third guest bedroom (especially since they decided to pee all over the carpet in that room and we're having to have it replaced! Boo! However, we are taking advantage of the "no carpet" in that room to start on #27, so stay tuned for pics of our first attempt at painting a room!).
Our final exciting purchase recently is a new TV! We've been stockpiling Fry's gift certificates for about a year now (it's pretty much all we asked for for birthdays and Christmas) and yesterday finally went and made our purchase. We got a fantastic deal on a floor model of a Christmas "special" and are thrilled!
Hope you can all make it by to visit sometime soon,
K.

Happy 2009!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe New Year's! I saw this on a friend's blog and loved it.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Ran 12 miles without stopping. Did a half-ironman. Traveled for 24 hours straight by myself. It was a great year!

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? We were hot and cold. The resolution was to cook more at home. While I was training I was wholly unsuccessful. I had neither the time nor the energy! But after the race in May, we actually did pretty good for a while eating at home. It's definitely cyclical--we'll be really good for a stretch, and then really bad for a stretch. I made the same resolution for this year, so we'll see how it goes!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No, but a lot of my friends and family got pregnant!

4. Did anyone close to you die? No. We feel so blessed to still have so many of our friends and family with us.

5. What countries did you visit? China

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A new car.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? July 6--most "Happy Birthday" songs ever sung for A in a single day. :-)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Successfully completing a half-ironman.

9. What was your biggest failure? Getting back on the workout wagon after I fell off post-race...it never really happened.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Yeah--I injured both my feet in training. It took about four months for them to stop hurting.

11. What was the best thing you bought? An iTouch.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Alex's--he was the best pit crew and support staff ever through all my training and race craziness. He put up with me being gone all the time, and tired when I wasn't gone, he cooked for me, he picked up my lag on the chores...all around he was just great.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Eh, there were a couple, but it's not worth dwelling on. New year, fresh slate, right?

14. Where did most of your money go? Gear, travel, medical bills, and the house (not necessarily in that order).

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My trip to China and finishing the race!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? "Stronger" by Kanye. It was our team's song.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier

ii. thinner or fatter? fatter

iii. richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Working out for fun with A.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stressing about things I can't control.

20. How did you spend Christmas? With family.

21. How did you ring in the New Year? Next to A, surrounded by friends.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? Yes. I fall in love with A all the time for a million reasons.

23. Who was your 2008 hero? I think people do heroic things all the time. I can't pick just one.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Grey's Anatomy, the Office, 30 Rock

25. What was something you needed to do and didn’t get around to? Getting a water softener

26. What was the best book you read? It was kind of an off year for books, but I recently started Fear No Evil and it's good.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? I have no idea.

28. What did you want and get? An awesome bumper sticker.

29. What did you want and not get? A new car.

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Is it bad I can't answer this question either?

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Hung out with friends. I turned 29!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I have to say it was a pretty satisfying year already!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? haha...ummm...the same as it was in 2007?

34. What kept you sane? Alex is always the one who keeps me grounded.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? McSteamy

36. What political issue stirred you the most? The election.

37. Who did you miss? My family is scattered all over the country, and even though we had a FABULOUS reunion in July, I wish I got to see them all more.

38. Who was the best new person you met? I met several new friends and have grown close to them quickly!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: Patience, patience, patience.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Life is a highway, I'm gonna ride it all night long...

Merry Christmakkuh!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! I hope you all had delightful holidays and are closing out the year in style.

After getting Hanukkah started in style with an iTouch for Alex, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Mom and Dad. We had a full house Christmas Eve with siblings, nieces, in-laws, grandparents, friends of the family, and Godchildren! It was a Christmas Eve Texas style, with award-winning ribs, tamales and queso, and the always delicious olivye. We got in a lot of great family time, though it just never seems like quite enough. Santa was good to us this year--new tennis rackets to feed our growing addiction!

All else is well here in P-ville. Alex is constantly working to get two reports published on time. While it looks like the Brazil trip is on indefinite hold, Japan has now surfaced as a potential destination in 2009! I have signed up for my next Team In Training event: a century ride (100 miles) around Lake Tahoe in June. It's called "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride" and I can't wait!

May all your days be merry and bright,

K.