Did you know...

...that you can grow green onions with only the whites. Simply cut off the greens, stick the white parts in a cup of water, and watch the greens re-grow! We have started a few batches and it's amazing how fast they'll grow.

You can see on the right side some that we've just started. The ones on the left have been growing about a week. Just trim off the green onion part and the rest will just keep re-growing! Amazing.

Good day at work

I'm sure most of you reading this know, but just over a year ago I left my job at Merck (not by choice but due to a layoff) and thankfully got hired to work for Qiagen, a company that makes diagnostic tests. Due to this, I now call on Ob/Gyns, which is a welcome change to calling on primary care docs (who are too busy to talk to reps and too pulled in 20000 directions to care). Anyway, now that I am pregnant it is fun to talk to the nurses and docs about this, and today I had a lunch and was mentioning that I cannot wait to see my baby again (I have a doc appointment myself on Thursday) but that I wasn't sure if I would get an ultrasound since I'm only 16 weeks along. Well the doc offered to do an ultrasound right then & there! SO NICE! I figure once I start to show more (still only look bloated) I will get more offers like this. My mom is concerned that ultrasounds might hurt the baby, but I was assured that it is only sound waves and it does no harm! Just a little picture to what's going on in there. Anyway, baby Peden was moving a lot today (might be because I ate some jalapeno chips with my sandwich at lunch) and even waved to me today. SO CUTE. Baby is measuring 17 weeks (even though I'm only really 16 weeks) so it looks like he/she has had a little growth spurt!

I still haven't felt any movements but I know it's coming since the baby is moving around like crazy in there.

Days like today- I LOVE MY JOB!

168 days to go... God is preparing us!

Good morning! It is Sunday morning and we had a nice evening last night (although we did get stood up by our friends who were supposed to come over for dinner... we forgive them). We cooked some grilled tomatillo and chicken tacos and watched the movie Gran Torino-- it was a really good movie. We got in bed about 11pm and then at about 3am woke up to the sound of our dog Delkus throwing up. LOVELY. I swear there is not much worse than waking up to that heaving sound. Anyway, my wonderful husband Davis knows how sleepy I've been since pregnant and how much my gag reflex is working, so he got up to clean up the doggie sick. Then at 6am, again we wake to the sound of our dog heaving out his dinner. And again my wonderful husband gets up to clean it up, although at this point I'm wide awake from all the ruckus plus I had to empty my bladder. Now I'm up and ready to greet the day and it's Sunday at 7am. Oh well. I figure 'sleeping in' is a thing of the past. I don't even remember the last time I was able to 'sleep in'. I think once you become pregnant God shrinks your bladder so that you quickly become used to getting up several times in the night. That way after baby comes it doesn't hit you quite as hard (although I know we'll never be prepared for what's in store for us!). Anyway, poor exhausted Davis is volunteering this morning to cook breakfast for the Ronald Mcdonald house, so he'll be awake any minute to get ready to leave for that. I guess I'm going to finish up our laundry and make myself some breakfast. Have a great Sunday!

Here is our latest ultrasound picture (12 weeks 5 days). More to come!

Baby Peden! Coming January 2010!

Well I figured since most everyone knows our happy news I might as well write a little blog about the fact that we are pregnant & expecting our first baby in January 2010! It is so amazing to think that there is another little human being growing inside of me, it is the most strange yet miraculous and wonderful feeling in the entire world!
We tried for a few months and so when I went to ride the MS150 bikeride in May I knew there could be a chance that I was pregnant! I finished (albeit exhausted) the bike ride in the pouring down rain and felt a huge amount of pride and accomplishment afterwards! A few days later after my . still hadn't arrived, I decided (against Davis requests that I be patient) to take a pregnancy test. You see, since we knew our current house was not going to be large enough to withstand our growing family, we had decided to renovate! That night we had met with an architect to discuss plans to build an addition, add bathrooms, and do a major overhaul on our home.
After the architect left, I decided to POS. When 2 lines came up, we were both in such shock we could barely believe our eyes! Davis was very cautious in his excitement and suggested we 'take another one in the morning just to be sure'. Well after a sleepless night (I was just too excited) I took 2 more tests, one digital, and one old fashioned, both said + (well one said PREGNANT the other had the 2 lines indicating we were in fact pregnant).
The first trimester has been quite eventful, and thankfully we are somewhat 'out of the danger zone' and now have started to really enjoy this miracle! It truly is that, and when we see the ultrasounds it becomes even more clear to us what a huge miracle is going on right here in our lives.
As much as a full home renovation would have been a very fun and exciting thing to do, we decided against it. The contractors we had come bid the project gave us widely varying bids as to how much and how long this would take, and we don't have time for delays & more cost!
SO, we discovered a neighborhood not too far from our home here in Dallas at the Enclaves at Wyrick Estates where we are now building a custom home for our growing family. We are having a great time during the process of picking floors and countertops, brick and mortar. We really feel like this is the best thing for our family and it is the perfect solution to our only major marital argument: suburbs or city, old house or new? We got the new house Davis wanted and it's in the city like I wanted! Voila! Crisis averted!
This weekend Davis' parents came to town for a visit and we were able to show them our future lot and the model home which solidified our decision to build a new house. They gave their approval (as did my mom a few weeks ago) so we feel like since our wiser parents have given the blessing this is the best decision for us!
As for the baby, we have another appointment on July 30 and some more prenatal testing done at that point. Then 3 weeks later we'll have the 'gender appointment' where we'll find out if we're having a son or daughter. Davis is hoping for a boy, and I think it might be a girl. Either way we're having a baby and we are so excited about the year to come.