Ultrasound Pictures

Here's two sets of pictures (from two different ultrasounds).

First is the five-month ultrasound, when we found out we were having a girl (June 2, 2006):


Second are two pictures from our seven-month ultrasound. She's getting big and you can see her facial features very distinctly. When we were actually having the ultrasound we could clearly see her "drinking" amniotic fluid, moving her tongue and swallowing. Pretty cool! All that drinking of course... filled her bladder... which leads us to the second picture. In this picture, we had asked the ultrasound tech to double check for us that it would be a girl.. and lo and behold, she gave us quite a show. It's rare, but not unheard of... but the second picture is (as you might have guessed) her peeing. It was very obvious and quite a surprise. There's definitely one for the scrapbook and embarrasing story telling time as she grows up!

First Pictures Announcing the Little Spencer

So, I promised pictures... (with more to come).

The first picture is of the homemade cards Ian wrote (and illustrated) for our parents and grandparents. They were disguised as "Happy Easter" cards and given to them around Ian's birthday. But when they were opened to the inside... SURPRISE SURPRISE! Most included little sayings about how we wanted to celebrate not only Easter, but also celebrate how OLD they were getting because soon they'd be called "Grandma" or "Grandpa" or even "Great Grandma". This was probably to throw them off from what they would read next. Then on the right side the cards also had a little pocket that contained a copy of our first ultrasound picture (which is the second picture) .

We called her our dancing bean, because she was about that size. But really, she looks most like one of the characters on the video game "Worms". And boy did she move. Dancing, wiggling and giving quite the show. Now, it's not so surprising (because she's continued doing that since then)... but at the time, we thought "Is that normal? Do babies move that much?".

Oh and a funny story to go with the set of cards we gave to Ian's mom and G&G (his grandparents) ... because Ian's birthday falls at the very end of March (the 31st to be exact), we ended up celebrating his birthday on Saturday, April 1st. So when the cards were distributed... there was quite some surprise along with some doubtful "Wait.. really?!?" Let's just say a couple of unnamed siblings were unsure if the surprise announcement was a real announcement or an elaborate April Fool's joke. I guess you can't be caught gullible in the Spencer family, but to give them credit, I could see this kind of joke being pulled off in the family, and by Ian too.

Update on Our "Visitor"

I was in the baby room (I don't even remember what for now.. maybe to close the blinds for the night)... and lo and behold, I spotted our "visitor" from last night. He was lazily lounging under the crib (by some cardboard boxes that I had stashed there for now). I called Ian over with a "I found him!" So Ian comes over in a couple of seconds with a flattened box in hand (from our paper recycling)... might I add he did not RUN over, Ian just walks nonchalantly in the room and says "Where?". Of course I point the "visitor" out and Ian says "That looks like only half of a cockroach". (Remember, I said he was small) But I assured him that was the whole cockroach... otherwise we have bigger problems - like what is in our apartment that would eat half a cockroach and leave the other half there.

Well to make a not so long story not so long, Ian just reaches over the cockroach with the flattened box in hand (note: the cockroach doesn't move at all) and just puts the paper on him and smooshes him (still the cockroach never moved, it acted like it was dead). Ian lifts up the box to check and then the cockroach moves... but sort of just wiggles a little, it's definitely still alive. I'm thinking.. "Hey, what gives, he was all fast and scurry yesterday!" Then Ian proceeds to put the box back on top of him and pound him with his fist a little, just to squash him more. And that was the fateful demise of our "visitor", who was then promptly flushed down the toilet, just in case he got any ideas of reviving later. BUT of course, all the while I'm thinking... so what was up with last night... Ian comes to kill him and it's so easy.

At least now Ian can't call the cockroach the Phantom cockroach, and I guess that just means Ian will continue to be the bug killer in the family. Frankly, I am ok with that.

One Rough Night

Yesterday was a rough night for me (and so subsequently Ian too). There was many factors that made it very sleepless for me, which usually means I keep Ian up. He's a very light sleeper, especially compared to me (who usually can sleep anywhere at any time of the day - naps are my friend!) And of course in the couple hours of sleep I do get sleep, I tend to snore (a new thing since I've gotten pregnant)... And I don't think I snore lightly either. Sometime actually I think I snore so loud and I've finally gotten to sleep and am so exhausted, Ian can't wake me or move me in any way so I stop. Poor tired Ian.

Well, to start off the rough night, I was completely tired from all the fun activities of Saturday (a baby shower and a celebration dinner with Ian's family for his grandparents' birthdays)... and so was tired all day Sunday... leading right up to bedtime. But my body was not tired. I had also taken a nap in the afternoon, so that might have thrown me off a little. I hate it when you're exhausted.. but either your head or your body is still saying "Sleep? I don't need sleep"

Then add a leg cramp (a charlie horse kind) that I had two days ago, but just won't completely go away. After a little bit of lying down in bed, I feel the cramp starting to get closer and closer to cramping up and I try little tricks to keep it from going full blown. This usually just staves it off for a few minutes and then I'm right back where I started. This on top of the fact that I'm not altogether comfortable in bed anymore because of my big belly, sleeping on my side (which I really don't like much, especially since it usually makes either some part of my body numb or my hip hurt) and having two huge body pillows for support while still trying to give Ian some room for his own tossing and turning that he has to do so he can breathe through the night.

Next, put in a sore throat I developed sometime on Sunday which by night is really hurting and sort of has that "spreading to the ears" feeling. So, of course, being mostly awake with a sore throat and not sleeping... I get up to get a glass of OJ. Of which then I discover a "visitor" - a smallish sized cockroach which is not as slow or as stupid as the few others larger cockroaches that have sporadically visited our apartment. (I'm talking like 3 in the last year, not a lot of them) He (I will assume) scurries under furniture and little gaps between doorways and the tile floor (where I can't reach him) whenever I finally find something that I can smash him with. All our other "visitors" met a very quick demise as they also ran off in the open and were pretty slow. So of course, the next time Ian gets up to go to the bathroom I let him know of the cockroach... but it is nowhere to be found. Darn. (I'd much rather Ian kill the cockroach than I) But of course since I get up three times more than Ian to frequent our bathroom, I continue to see the cockroach but only manage to scare it out of reach for a few hours. Double Darn. Ian's been calling our "visitor" the Phantom Cockroach because he has yet to actually see it. I think it will probably reappear tonight... hopefully in sight of Ian and finally meet its end!

But really the biggest thing keeping me up was my sore throat... which by this time today (Monday afternoon) has grown into a runny nose, snuffy head, no fever (which is very good), sneezing, somewhat sore throat cold. I guess the good thing is that I did have a prenatal appointment today and had my ObGyn take a quick look into my throat and she said it just looks a little red (no strep). Oh and on a slightly funny note, when I told her I had felt like I was getting sick and had a sore throat, she said "Me too". And then I told her I didn't sleep at all last night, she again said "Me too". So I guess I'm not the only one... but at least I'm not working.

Well that's enough of my nighttime adventures. Wish me luck for sleep tonight... because I want to get better soon.

P.S. I'm going to try to get Ian to blog sometime soon too... he probably has an interesting (And different) take on things like last night... we'll see, we'll see.

It's Starting to Look a Lot Like BABY

Today was a day of errands... and mostly getting out of the apartment so that Ian could get some much needed work done on a paper he is writing. I'm hoping he'll get it done before school starts back up next week, but we'll see.

First up on the list was stopping by a friends house to see if some clothes I had gotten for the baby would fit her daughter. A few items seemed to fit, but I guess I underestimated how fast kids grow and didn't realize that her daughter of just over a year and a half wouldn't even fit into size 2T (which I think is "supposed to be" for toddlers in their 2's). I guess I will soon see how fast kids grow!

Second I swung by church to drop off something for one of the Pastors and ran into my next door neighbor. Funny how I really haven't seen her since last Sunday, but I walk by her door everyday (sometimes even several times a day)... and only really see her when I'm at church.

Last, I made a trip to Walmart to get some last supplies needed to "finish" off the baby room. I got some lavendar fabric to make into curtains, which will hang on a wire hanger thingy from Ikea (that I installed myself!) and some 1/2" screws needed to finish off a shelf we put up above our "new" and relocated computer desk. That completes a whole slew of installing of shelving, curtain hangers, moving of already owned furniture and assembling of newly acquired furniture that was done all in the last 2 weeks! So now, our apartment is really starting to look like three people live here... and the baby room is really starting to look like hers. Especially when we got the used crib that was graciously donated by the Richards set up (it's still needing a mattress)... Ian even said "Wow, it's really starting to look like a baby room!" That of course gives me such satisfaction (not only because I get to check those things of my list of ToDos, but because I got to build stuff and I feel more prepared for her coming)!

So if you're in the neighborhood... and you haven't been in our apartment recently... you should stop on by and see how things have been a moving. You'll be surprised by the change (and probably also wonder where all the room came from in our little 2-bedroom apartment)!


Oh, today was also a very WINDY day. Driving around town, I started to get used to the sound of things pelting the top of the car as I drove by all the trees shedding leaves, nuts, branches, etc. But it wasn't as bad as it sounded last night, what a doozy! We had to eventually close the window in our room because the wind and the trees outside were SO loud, even though the window we had open was situated around the corner of the wind and we weren't getting any gusts of air coming into our room. A couple times I thought that some of the roof shingles were being ripped off the top of the apartment complex (I guess that's what you think when you live on the second floor), but there was nothing when I looked this morning. Oh and also in the early morning hours, I smelled a distinct "BBQ" smell... which lingered for quite some time. I didn't see anything when I checked out my window and only once briefly heard sirens in the distance. I found out later today (through someone else's blog, actually) that they were grassfires scattered by the freeway and city of Davis. Too far to affect us, but close enough to smell (and make me very hungry in the middle of the morning).

Longest Week EVER

So much for "in a week, we have some news to share"... instead it's been more like 6 months, by far the longest week ever. Well if you haven't heard already... we're pregnant... and expecting a girl... and soon. (October 20ish is the auspicous due date, but I think she'll come earlier than that). So that was our BIG news!!

Now if we fast forward (again) by 6 months --->
we'd be at where we are now. I should probably update you all on everything Ian and I have been up to, since 6 months with news like ours is quite a drastic change.

I finished my class on Perspecitves on the World Christian Mission Movement back in June. It was quite a push to finish it, while also being in the first trimester. But it was also very informative, interesting and thought provoking. Other than that, I have just been working, going to many appointments and trying to keep up with all the pregnancy milestones. It's quite a doozy for a first time "to-be mom", especially since it is just as everyone says "Every pregnancy is different." My "unique" pregnancy hurdle was dizziness. I didn't have much nauseau or heartburn or even odd cravings. Instead I had the occasional and unexplainable disorienting dizziness. It's not to great when you're at work and trying to still be "productive"... but even worse when you have a 45 minute commute and it comes on you out of the blue (for no reason). Alas, I guess I got used to it and I was very lucky none of the spells were too long or during very bad rush hour traffic (because that's when you get the "crazy" drivers which you really need to be on the look out for). So, I had my last day at PWC just this last Friday, and now we are preparing for the upcoming addition to our family (and I'm trying to store up some rest and energy for when sleep will be non-existant).

For Ian, he has been continuing in his PhD work, which includes prepping more papers, going to conferences (his first trip to the East Coast I might add) and working on his dissertation a little bit at a time. He also taught his very own class during the first summer session, which was quite fun for him as he got to make the class sylabus, assign the homework and make up the tests. The only downside is he had to grade everything he assigned... and that can be quite tedious as he was teaching "Introduction to Logic" to students who were not quite getting it or were not putting in the necessary time and effort to learn it (especially at the pace of summer school). Now, he is getting ready for a new fall quarter, TAing and also going "full speed ahead" on his dissertation. Oh and of course he will definitely be helping with taking care of the baby also, so go figure that will slow his dissertation work down by "just a bit". But we still think he will take about one and a half to two years to finish.

Did I mention of course, that with all the busy "going on"s in our silly spencer household, both our spiritual walks (or at least our daily devotions) have taken a bit of a beating... AND yet I'm still learning lessons. One of the big ones is "Let go of the planning/plans... and trust God for the future". It's one that I've struggled with for a while.. but with the unexpectedness of a baby and a lot of things obviously out of my control... it's been quite refreshing (and peaceful) knowing that God is in the details and providing all that we need. Now to give a little more praise and a little more time in strengthening the number one relationship (with God) so that I'll have strength to care for newest silly spencer member (soon to be born)!!

P.S. I will post some ultrasound pictures soon... we've had some "interesting ones" that are bound to amaze you all!