Pictures

I finally got around to taking some pictures. Above find the changing table and crib that took weeks to collect the parts for and put together. Also, here is my gargantuan (sp?) stomach at almost 37 weeks.

Let the Games Begin!

I went to the doctor today, and I am excited to annouce that I have started to dialate!!!! Only 1 1/2 centimeters, but hey, that's a start!! Charlie is still head down, and is at a 3 station. The doctor estimates that he is about 7 1/2 pounds right now. That's a little scary since Evan was that weight at 42 weeks, not 36 1/2! Of course, I could still be 2 weeks overdue before anything happens and have to be induced, but at least I feel like some action is starting to take place. I knew something was starting to happen in my pelvis before I went in. My legs feel like they are hardly attached, and everything is so wobbly down there. I knew things were starting to loosen up, but it's so nice to have some confirmation of your suspicions. I have been treasuring my sleep this week, because I know I don't have a lot ahead of me for awhile.

Mommy and Evan Week

Jeff left the day after Christmas for Windsor, Colorado for a week to visit his mom, sister, and grandparents who all live out there. So, Evan and I are having what we have been calling Mommy and Evan week. Yesterday was so nice! We just snuggled on the couch for a couple of hours, and watched some movies that Santa brought (one of them being The Muppet Movie which I haven't seen in years! I loved seeing all of the characters from my childhood again). Then we tried out some of his Christmas toys, including an Icee maker. He made me an incredibly messy Coca Cola Icee, which ended up being really good. Today we are just relaxing again, which has been so nice after the hectic holidays and the last couple of weeks of school. I realized how much Evan and I need this time alone together before the baby comes. I also realized how much I miss it being just me and Evan against the world. Not that I don't love Jeff too, but I just can't explain how much I miss our "old life" sometimes. It's been a bittersweet couple of days. I've also been thinking about how things will change once Charlie gets here. I know they will be good changes, and that most moms about to give birth to their second child feel this way, but I just can't imagine loving two people the way I love Evan, or there being enough of me or love to go around. I hope that Evan and I are both up to the challenge! I think it might be a little easier if he were younger. It has been just us for so long though, and we are so much closer than we would have been if we had had a traditional family for the first 7 years of his life. So anyway, it has been so therapeutic for us to be on our own this week.


Christmas was nice for us this year, if apart again like Thanksgiving. We celebrated Christmas Eve with my mom's family at my parent's house and went to Midnight Mass with them, which I absolutely love. Then we celebrated our first Christmas morning together. Evan was so exhausted from being excited that I had to wake him up to open presents! Next, Jeff left for Harlan and Evan and I went to my parents for brunch and to open gifts. I wasn't able to go to Harlan again because of my travel restrictions. That evening all of the Miceks came to my house (which is tiny) for Christmas dinner. Whenever the Miceks get together it means there is at least 40-45 people at your house. It was a lot of fun, but I think Jeff was a little overwhelmed at the amount of people in our home. He always says he likes Micek gatherings best though because everyone is always loud and boisterous, and talk about anything and everything. For example, one of my uncles regailed us with stories about his recent diagnoses by his doctor with (and I am not kidding) Itchy Butt Syndrome. It included a full discussion on hemrhoids. Jeff laughed through the whole thing, amazed I am sure that my family would talk about this in the first place. That's why I love them though! They are completely crazy. Anyway, nice but busy two days. Next year will be different I am sure as we negotiate the typical new family/newlywed mess of where to spend what on the holidays. We need to work out a plan for upcoming events, but at least we have a year to figure it out.

Nesting

We got out of school for break on Wednesday at 12:00. In his usual Christmas fashion, Evan got sick on Tuesday evening with a fever, a barking cough, and a severe headache. I did a mommy/school no no (I hate people that do this so I am such a hypocrite) and I made him go to school Wednesday for the half day while he was totally contagious. I didn't want to take one of my precious sick days, and Jeff is out of his occasional leave as well. We went to the doctor that afternoon and he has something called Adeno Virus. It got worse yesterday when his fever spiked to 103.4 and he began vomitting as well (this is fun on a normal occassion, but REALLY fun while pregnant!) Today I think his fever has finally broken, but now he is coughing green mucus out of his lungs-never a good sign with an asthmatic. Evan tends to get sick with something every year either right before Christmas or on Christmas Day. Last year he came down with pink eye on Christmas morning! I think he gets so excited he wears down his immune system, and he picks up something every time.

I did get out of the house for a bit this morning, and I registerd for Charlie at Target! What could be more fun!!! I LOVE using that little scanner. It is so much easier the second time around, because I know more what I need and what looks fun but would never use. (It is unbelievable the amount of gadgets that are out there for babies). It was so much fun to pick out all the cute little things. I am getting so excited for Charlie to arrive! Now that we finally have most of the furniture and room assembled, I have put the baby clothes away. We got a carseat last weekend, and learned all the in and outs of the thing at our last child birth class last Tuesday. So, it looks like we are down to the nitty gritty, and just have to wait for labor to start and for Charlie to arrive!

My dad's side of the family is coming to my house for dinner on Christmas day so I am off to tackle a lot of cleaning and sprucing up. I've actually been looking forward to cleaning everything out. I am starting to have those intense nesting urges. I deep cleaned the kitchen yesterday, and I felt so much better. Not that the kitchen will matter much to the baby, but it made me feel better. I hesitate to open a closet lately because I get a crazy itch to clean it out right then and there.

Contractions

I have been having an amazing amount of Braxton Hix contractions all through last night and today. Our birth class guru has mentioned several times that these are not supposed to hurt. As usual, my body has decided not to go along with "normal". A few of them have been DOOZIES! I have had to stop what I am doing, sit down, and breathe through it. This happened a couple of times at school today, scaring the pants off of my associate in my classroom. I think she was preparing herself to deliver the baby in front of 30 six year olds by the end of the day. I called the doctor, and she said that as long as they are not regular, that it's okay. It's just my body helping Charlie to engage in my pelvis, and to get ready for birth. She did say to get off my feet more during the day and just sit, but this is MUCH easier said than done as a first grade teacher. I am so glad that Christmas break is coming up!!I am 35 weeks now, so at least we are almost to the end. I remember doing this with Evan, but I forgot how silly it makes me feel to be in the middle of something and have to stop and just breathe!

Placenta Thing

As you all know, I am a big fan of seeing the placenta at birth. Knowing this, my friend Christi sent me this amazing website:

http://www.birthdiaries.com/diary/48vbirth2.htm


As I hope you have just seen, this shows what some women do when having a home birth with a midwife. They use the placenta, and the blood from the placenta, to make a print which comes out looking amazingly like a tree. When I saw this I was amazed. The print is kind of cool, but I don't think I could do this. The pictures show a woman calmly sitting on the floor with a placenta that isn't even HERS, unrolling it and carefully wiping the blood on the placenta to make the print. That is amazing dedication, mixed in with an incredible power of mind over body to not get nauseous. I love the idea of the print, but I don't like to think about the method of getting it. Lucky for Jeff, I don't think my doctor or midwife would okay doing this in the hospital.

GO CHARLIE!!!

I am SO excited! I went to the doctor on Wednesday for my 34 week check, and you will not believe this...Charlie has FINALLY turned head down! I guess the weeks of standing on my own head have paid off. This means we will get to try a normal delivery!!!! We went on our tour of Lakeside Hospital at our child birth class on Tuesday night, and I was so sad thinking I probably wouldn't get to go through all the fun things with labor and delivery. Now...I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!! I am really looking forward to everything so much. I can't wait for Jeff to experience all of this with me.
YEAH!!!!

Don't Burn Your Eyes

On Monday morning, my curling iron gave up the fight and died (it was at least 6 years old, so I forgave it). I got a new curling iron that afternoon, and was taking it out of the package when I noticed there was a warning attached to the bottom. It had a picture of a large eyeball with a curling iron sticking out of it, and the big NO circle (the one with the line running across). I thought to myself, surely this doesn't mean don't stick in your eye, who could be that stupid? So I turned the tag over, and sure enough it said "This curling iron becomes hot when plugged in. Do not stick the iron in your eye. It will burn." I am quoting VERBATUM!!! Now, if it had said don't use near your eye AREA, I could understand that. But WHO WOULD STICK IT IN THEIR EYE????? Our intelligence must be decreasing as we evolve. I am so excited to have these people in my classroom. Maybe someday I will have to teach, "No, you can't stick the pencil in your eye. You might poke it out!"


I wrote a couple of posts ago about how our changing table was missing about half of it's parts when it arrived in the package. I called last Monday to get the parts resent, and they arrived on Friday. I happily opened the package on Saturday, and got started assembling things only to discover they still hadn't sent all the parts!!!! So I had to call AGAIN. Maybe the thing was packaged by the very same people who try to curl their eyeballs with curling irons. I am surrounded by idiots.


For instance, the idiots who work at Shopko. (Not inlcuding past employees of course, Adam and Asten). I went on Sunday, and noticed they had a baby swing on clearance. The model was directly above the price tag that said CLEARANCE (in capital letters) and $55.67. Below it was a box, holding the exact same model. The tag had the same wording as the model, and the box describing the product. One might assume then that the swing was on clearance for $55.67. Not so in Shopko land! After having it ring up wrong, and arguing with the person they sent to check on the price, I requested a manager. She told me, "Mam, this price is not for this swing." I pointed out the obvious about the description, the wording, the placement, and she still looked at me baffled, but refused to give me the clearance price. At this point I was a 33 weeks pregnant lady who had been waiting and arguing in line for 45 minutes. She learned a valuable lesson. DO NOT MESS WITH PREGNANT WOMEN. THEY BITE! I felt my face get red with frustration, and said, fine. Just give me your name, and I will be reporting you, your store, and your department to the Better Business Bureau. Suddenly, the swing was on clearance, and she gave me the right price. HONESTLY!!!!

Thanksgiving Stuff

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is gone and over already. I am having some Sunday night after vacation before going back to work doldrums. Why do vacations always have to go so fast and work so slow?

Our holiday was nice, if different than expected. Since I am under travel restrictions from the doctor (I can't go more than 40 minutes away from the hospital) I wasn't able to go with Jeff to celebrate in Harlan. His family got together for the first time since his grandfather died a couple of years ago, so he really wanted to be with them. I really wish Evan and I had been able to join them. I am feeling a little stir crazy stuck here in the Big O all of the time, but I guess better safe than sorry. So, Evan and I went to my parent's house, where we celebrated with my Grandma Rose and all of my siblings. It was nice, but I missed Jeff.

Friday, I got up at 5:45 and was in the mad shopping rush to get the good deals by 6:15. It's always a little crazy, but you can save so much money! I got some good Santa deals, and I crossed a couple of other people off of my list. Then, Evan and my sister Sarah and I headed over to my Aunt Julie's house where my mom and all of the Daley women always gather on the day after Thanksgiving to make our annual batch of Christmas cookies. (And I am talking HUNDREDS of cookies!!) When we're finished we divide them all up, and each family has a nice stash to offer holiday guests. I love this tradition in my family-we bake, eat, gossip, and spend time just as women. Evan was a great helper this year-he decorated sugar cookies for hours! He can have the patience of a Saint when he wants too. He really enjoys baking. It is something we have done together since he was little.

Saturday my dad came over and helped to put up our outdoor Christmas lights, and I decorated the house. In the evening, Jeff's dad John came down and we went out to dinner at Applebees. It meant a lot to me that he came down to spend time with us, since I couldn't make it up on Thursday. It was really nice to see him, since I hadn't since the wedding. He is a really nice person. I lucked out with him as a father in law!! All of the Kleffmans are such nice, down to earth, good people.

Today, we decorated our Christmas tree, and Evan and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I really enjoyed it, but I think I would have been really confused with the plot if I hadn't read the book. They had to skip around so much and move so quickly that I wonder if it would make any sense at all to someone who just sees the movies, or isn't a huge Harry fan. Evan loved it. It was the only book in the series that I didn't read aloud to Evan, because there were so many "dark" parts, but I thought the movie did an excellent job in toning it down so that kids and smaller fans could watch in comfort. This afternoon, Jeff and I finally opened the box to the changing table, all ready to put it together and get some things done in the baby's room, only to find they didn't send us any of the hardware, four of the major sections of the piece, and two of the pieces were damaged. I would not reccomend any Ameriwood products to anyone.

Anyway, back to real life tomorrow. Blech! Only 3 more weeks until Christmas break though. That will be great. And, of course, only a couple of weeks after that and we get the best present ever-Charlie!!! I am an amazing 32 weeks today! I can't believe it has gone this fast.

Not the Brady Bunch

I think the honeymoon period of things is over. Is that normal to happen 4 months into things? I have really realized this week that we are not melding into a family very well. I know things are not easy the first year of marriage, and I wasn't expecting them to be, but it still makes me sad. For example, in the evenings when we are just hanging out or on the weekends when we are watching TV or something, 9 times out of 10 Evan and I will end up on one floor of the house, and Jeff will be somewhere else. I know Jeff has a big need for being alone at times, having lived by himself for a long time. I wonder though, if we live on seperate floors of the house, how do we become a unit? Today I was really sad because we had some important things happen which I will write about in a second, and Jeff didn't mention them or ask how they went. I think back to my parent's marriage growing up a lot, especially what they went through with Ben. Whenever my brother had a doctor's appointment, or my mom was going through something trying, my dad would call her from work to see how it was going and if she needed anything, or just to talk. Then they would talk about it again when he got home. They got through so many hard situations this way...my brother's multiple health problems, my anorexia and other exploits (which we don't need to mention!), and my mom's cancer. I am really starting to understand why they are such a strong couple and are still so happy 30 years later. I know they had to work hard to make it that way, and I know it wasn't always easy, but still I wonder. If Jeff and I were faced with some of those same things, could we handle it? Don't get me wrong, Jeff is trying really hard, and he helps me out a lot. I feel like we have been talking and talking and working and working to resolve some of these things. We always come back to the same issues though. I am a really big family person, and I want to have a family that spends quality time together and supports each other. Isn't that after all what a family is all about? I really feel like a lot of the time we end up being totally seperate. Can we build a family like this? I don't know. I only know we have to keep trying.

Today I had two wretched doctor's appointments. The first involved me going to the dentist. He had found a small cavity way back in June when I was first pregnant. My OB wouldn't let me get it filled until I was well into my 3rd trimester. I guess there are some bad things that can happen to the baby if a dentist accidentally gets bacteria into your blood stream early in the pregnancy. So, today when I went to get it filled it was no longer a small cavity but a HUGE cavity that involved what Dr. Franco referred to as the BIG GUN drill. When it was all over, he told me that he thought that I might need a root canal on the tooth in a couple of weeks because the cavity was so vast that pieces of my tooth were breaking off, and he had to drill very close to the nerve of the tooth. Lovely!! Then my mom and I took Evan to Children's Hospital for his blood work and x-rays. I was so proud of my little guy! He is TERRIFIED of needles, but he held so still as they were taking the blood. They collected 8 vials!!! It took awhile, but he didn't flinch or say a peep of complaint. He was so nervous before hand. Then we went to get an x-ray taken of his wrist so they could take a bone age/density test. The tech was great, and she let Evan see the developed pictures, which he really loved. I was so glad that my mom was with me for moral support, and that I didn't have to take him alone. It worked out well too with the x-ray since they wouldn't let me come back with Evan since I am pregnant. I would have hated for him to go alone. Then she took us out for lunch afterwards since Evan had done such a great job. Aren't grandmothers awesome?! Evan is lucky to have my mom as his. So, now I guess we play the waiting game to see what they find. One of the test they ran was for Fragile X syndrome, so I am off to Google it and find out more.

The Grumpies

I have an unbelievable case of the grumpies today! I started feeling out of sorts last night, when everything started to bother me-you know when stupid dumb small things happen and they seem like a huge deal even when they aren't? Today is our last day of school before Thanksgiving break, and my kids are REALLY excited-which equals so wound up they can hardly sit down in a chair without tipping over. Sometimes I wonder why God called me to be a teacher without including the patience of a Saint in the package. I have the unusual opportunity to teach at the same school my son Evan attends, and I got to watch him going bezerk at lunch today, just as crazy as all the others. Luckily his teacher is my good friend Gina and she is really understanding. I am trying to focus on the fact that I get a break from this for a few days, and I will get to recharge. Maybe now would be a good time to practice that Lamaze breathing!!!

Eventful Week...

A lot has gone on this week. My friend Jeff Luken's Mom passed away suddenly on Thursday. He lives in Connecticut, and it has been a little frustrating being far away when something goes wrong for a friend. I hope he knows how much his Omaha friends care for him, and that we are sending our love and prayers. As we head towards the holiday of Thanksgiving, it just reminded me how lucky I am to have such an awesome family, and to be so close to my parents, brothers, and sister. Life can change in an instant, and it is important to sometimes remember that.

My cousin Ryan, who was more like a brother to me growing up than a cousin, shipped out from Germany to Iraq on November 3rd. We still haven't heard from him to see how he is doing. His dad (who is a Major in the Army) tells us this is normal, and that it takes awhile to get where they're going, but it is like being on pins and needles. I have the utmost respect for Ryan's wife Ashley, who is waiting through this on her own in Germany. I pray for him everyday, and I know God is with him wherever he is.

The nursery is going to be finished up with decorating, paint, and new woodwork this week. Soon we will be able to start assembling furniture! I am so excited! It is finally starting to take shape. Jeff and I both admit that it is the nicest room in the house, and Jeff says this is why we can officially call the baby "Prince Charles". Blech. My Charlie would never do anything dumb like marrying Camilla Parker Bowles. We have the crib ordered, and it should be here in about 2 weeks. All we need now is a dresser, and we are good to go as far as furniture are concerned. (Although we still need a swing, a diaper genie, baby monitor, a car seat, etc. etc. etc.) I talked to my awesome friend Christi this morning about how much I love to just go sit and rock in the room, look at the walls, and feel close to my baby. She totally understood what I meant. I am so glad (all the time, but especially at moments like these) that she and her husband decided to stay in Nebraska. It is so nice to have someone that really understands what silly, emotional, strange things you feel as a mother. I am so lucky to know her!

Next week is going to be crazy too. We take Evan in for his testing at Children's Hospital on Wednesday, since we have the day off from school. I still haven't told Evan since I don't want him to worry ahead of time. Besides, I am doing enough worrying for the both of us!

30 Weeks...

Wow...today I am 30 weeks pregnant! It seems like just yesterday that I was taking the test and telling Jeff, and now we are almost done. It has gone so fast! I absolutely love being pregnant so I am a little sad that we are almost done, but I am so excited to meet Charlie for the first time. Jeff and I start our Birthing Classes in about a week. I think it is going to be HILARIOUS to watch Jeff at these classes. He is more than a little squeamish about blood and yuck, and sex, body parts, etc is something his family never discusses. I can't wait to see him have to sit through the movie of a birth and have to talk about all the things that will happen. Is that mean? At least I will be able to have something to distract me while I am in labor. I am totally the opposite of Jeff. When Evan was born, I asked for them to bring the placenta closer so I could see it up close and personal. I think Jeff would faint if he had to see it up close. Any guesses on when the baby will get here and how big?

I HATE LEAVES

Today I spent about two hours raking leaves. Jeff is in charge of the backyard, and I do the front since it slopes so much, and it is hard for him to keep his balance. We have a HUGE 40 year old Maple tree in the front, and I despise it with a passion. Every spring I pray that it will be hit with lightening, or be struck with a terrible tree disease. In the fall it dumps buckets of leaves on the ground, and in the spring it dumps buckets of those stupid helicopter seeds. So, we basically end up raking about twice a year. We looked into having it removed but when we discovered that would cost about $3000.00 we knew we were stuck with the wretched thing. I felt really good while I was doing it, and was so impressed with myself that I was able to say I am 7 months pregnant and I raked the yard! Then I went inside and sat down for awhile to relax. When I tried to stand up-OUCH! I feel like my hips are disconnected from the rest of my body. The sad part is that the tree isn't even finished losing all of it's leaves! I know the ground will be covered again tomorrow when I wake up.

In baby news, Charlie's room is painted, and the wallpaper came in yesterday, so we are going to put that up soon. It is SOOOO cute! It has little monkeys that are reminiscent of Curious George everywhere. I will post pictures when it is finished. Meanwhile, my dad is replacing all of the woodwork in that room with white woodwork, and the doors with six paneled white doors. It is the nicest room in the house! I have the changing table ordered, and as soon as the wallpapering and such is done, we are going to get the crib. I am feeling much better about being prepared for little Charlie to get here. At least things are moving along! My awesome friend Christi has generously offered to host a baby shower for us. I can't wait!!!

Conferences

I am in the middle of my least favorite part of teaching-conferences. I don't dislike the concept of conferences-I LOVE getting the chance to talk one on one with my student's families. Having a relationship with the parents completely enhances the school/home relationship. What I HATE about conferences is talking for 13 hours straight. I started at 7:30 this morning, and I won't be done until 8:30 tonight. I feel bad for the parents who are scheduled at the end of the night, because by then, I am completely tongue tied, and I have no idea who I've said what to. This year, it has also been a struggle to sit still on a 12 inch high chair when the baby is sitting on my nerve, and my tailbone is aching like the dickens, and to not go to the bathroom for 3 hours straight. TORTURE!! On the bright side, I have the best class ever this year, and I have the pleasure of sharing a lot of good news with their parents. The next time you attend your child's conferences, make the teacher deliriously happy and bring them a Diet Coke. They will love you forever, and treat your little one like a prince or princess. Not that we can bribed or anything...

Perfect Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday, I had the BEST afternoon! Jeff went in to the office for about 5 hours, and Evan went over to my mom and dad's to play with my brother and spend some time with his grandparents. Sooo....I was ALONE IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!! This never happens to me. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been alone since I moved back from Lincoln almost 8 years ago. So what did I do? I took a bath, a nap, and I curled up with this great book I'm reading. I also snuggled with the dog. What more can you ask for in life? Once when I was pregnant with Evan, I read a book about a pregnant lady who liked to take time for herself to just sit and "grow the baby". That's what I felt like I was doing for the afternoon. Relaxing and growing the baby. What heaven!!

Bird Flu and Other Medical Woes

I took Evan in today for his 7 year check up. In most areas, everything was great, but the doctor was concerned about a jump that Evan has had in his growth this year. For all of Evan's life, his height and weight have hovered around the 50-54 percentile. In fact, when he was a baby, he had a terrible time gaining weight. His pediatrician said that for the most part, children should remain through their elementary years in about the same range. Today, we found that Evan had jumped above the 95 percentile in both his height and weight. (Which I already knew from the huge jump in clothes sizes we made over the summer. He called this an abnormal growth pattern. Next week, we are going to go in to have all kinds of tests done, like pituitary, hormone, bloods levels, insulin levels, x-rays, etc. The doctor said that this jump in growth could be indicative of several different things, like a pituitary disorder, a genetic condition, growth disorder, childhood diabetes, or early onset puberty (ugh!). He said not to worry too much, (yeah right) until we get the test results. Please keep him in your prayers!

Evan also got his flu shot for the season, which made me think about something else I have been worrying about lately. Is anyone else worried about this Bird Flu thing? I guess maybe part of it is being pregnant (I remember worrying about nuclear war when I pregnant with Evan-I guess we want the world to be perfect when we bring a new person into the world). I keep hearing about this pandemic on the news, and I know that if it comes here, it would probably affect myself and my babies in a bad way. Evan and I both have asthma, and are particularly susceptible to the flu. I am praying Charlie doesn't inherit the asthma, but that doesn't seem to happen very often in our family. I know worrying doesn't help, or change the situation at all, but it just seems to be in the back of my mind lately.

Sitting On My Head

When we went in for our ultrasound, we discovered that Charlie is breach. He is sitting with his head under my ribs and his feet closest to my pelvis. This is bad. If he stays like this and refuses to move, I will have to get a C-section, which I have NO desire to do. The doctor thinks it might have something to do with the fact that the placenta has attached at the top of the uterus, perhaps making it uncomfortable, or even impossible for him to turn the other direction. In the meantime, I am supposed to sit in this ridiculous position for 20 minutes each night. I call it sitting on my head. I have to lay on the floor, with my feet against a wall, with 4 bedpillows under my hips. Now, this is not comfortable at any time, much less when you are pregnant. All of this is supposed to encourage Charlie to turn a somersalt and get head down. Charlie hates it as much as I do. He pummels me the whole time as if to say, "What are you DOING to me lady?!!!" I also am supposed to play music to him at the pelvis level to encourage him to turn that way. So far, I have tried John Denver and the Mamas and the Papas, which Jeff says is just encouraging him to stay where he is. After the 20 minutes are up, all the blood has rushed to my head, I am nauseous, and my hips feel out of joint. Charlie has turned twice after doing this, but he always reverts back to his old position. I am really worried he won't stay put. So, if all of you could offer some prayers, or good brain waves in our direction, I would really appreciate it. I keep trying to tell myself only 14 more weeks of standing on your head while carrying a bowling ball in my stomach, but somehow this just doesn't make me feel better.

Oh my GOSH!

I was just checking my email this morning when I received my newsletter from Pregnancy Weekly who so kindly reminded me that as of today, I only have about 14 weeks left to get ready!!! Eek! Do we have the painting done in the nursery? NO! Do we have any furniture ordered or picked out? NO! Have I cleaned out the closet in the baby's room? NO! Have I gotten all the baby clothes up out of the basement? NO! Have I prepared ANYTHING? NO!!! Can you tell that I am panicking?


The only thing I feel better about is that we have finally officially decided on a name for the baby...Charles Michael Kleffman (Charlie for short). He may not have a place to sleep, any clothes, or a spot to get his diaper changed when we bring him home, but at least he has a name.

Croup

I was peacefully asleep the night before last, dreaming about eating pickles while shopping for prego underwear at Old Navy (yes, pickles are my current INTENSE craving. Not just any pickles, mind you, but Vlassic crunchy dill pickles. I may have eaten an entire jar recently myself, but that is beside the point) when the door to our bedroom opened and in walked a barking seal (aka Evan with a bad case of the croup).

I hate the croup! Poor Evan gets it at least once a year, and it is always a doozy since he has asthma. So, at 4:30 in the morning, we were up and getting in a good nebulizer treatment, and getting him full of Ibuprofen. The interesting thing for me about this bout of the croup, is that I didn't get up in the middle of the night by myself. Jeff got up with me too! And then...he stayed home with Evan, so I could be with my class who were in charge of our school Mass. He even took Evan to the doctor, got his prescription filled, and then bought him a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. What a guy! This is a new concept for me, having someone else to share the yuckies with.

So today it is my turn, and I am home with the barking Evan. He is a little buggy, since he is on a presription for steroids to help his lungs. He always has a hard time sitting still and he wants to eat EVERYTHING! But, whatever we need to do to get him better is fine with me.

Babies are a LOT of work!

Okay...most of you are probably thinking "DUH!" But, when you haven't had one around for awhile, you forget! I babysat for my nephew Colin yesterday while Sarah and Luke went to the game. I love spending time with him. He is the sweetest little thing in the world. It is also good for me to have him around, because I have completely forgotten what it is like to not even be able to go to the bathroom by yourself, because you have a baby underfoot. They are so worth it, but my goodness. You have no time for yourself!
I also took him out to lunch with me. We went with my Aunt Connie, who was in from St. Louis. He was an angel the entire time. The experience reminded me though that leaving the house involves planning for a World War III invasion while packing the diaper bag (where you have to imagine every possible event and bring a piece of baby equipment along to deal with it), and that once you get there you look like a pack horse as you carry in the baby, the diaper bag, your purse, etc.
It is amazing to me how many people feel comfortable commenting to me on my sex life when I travel with Colin. Last weekend, I took him to the grocery store with me. People inevitably look from me (and my stomach) to Colin, roll their eyes, and jump to conclusions. The checker said to me, "Well, you and your husband are certainly productive aren't you!" Sheesh. Yesterday as I was waiting at Ruby Tuesdays for the rest of my family to get there, a guy who looked to be in college actually LAUGHED at us! He said, "I guess you've never heard of birth control!" People can be so rude. Evan inevtiably will tell them "It's not our baby!" I'm really not sure if that helps the situation, because that could also be taken in a million wrong ways.

Pictures

Our new computer is FINALLY up and running, so I get to post my pictures today! Here is a picture of our Mom Mobile, which I am getting used to driving. It still has some bells and whistles I haven't figured out yet, but we can get from point A to point B without any major mishaps.


The other picture of course, is my whale of a stomach. This is me at 24 weeks. As we approach this weekend, we amazingly (and scarily) only have about 15 weeks left! We are getting ready to start decorating the nursery. I think I am going with a monkeys/jungle animal theme with this little one.

Tekla and Samson

It has been FOREVER since I have posted anything! Not having a working computer at home is driving me nuts. We had one rigged for awhile but then the screen went out on my old monitor too, and everything is blue. Hopefully Creighton will make it over soon.

We had a really sad weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. Jeff, Evan, and I stayed at my parent's house while the wood floors in Evan's room were being sanded and varnished (which made the whole house reek). For about a month, Tekla, my parent's 12 year old westie/cocker mix (who I grew up with and all of us love to pieces) has had a little bit of a cough. On Sunday, when I went downstairs, it was REALLY bad. She sounded like a vacuum cleaner, and she was having a hard time breathing. I took her in to the emergency room with my mom and she had a lot of tests done. They discovered she has congestive heart failure. Her heart is VERY enlarged, she has a heart murmer, and she has a leaking valve in her heart. She stayed overnight at the hospital. After going to her regular vet the next day, she was put on an antibtiotic because she also had a lot of fluid in her lungs, Lasix (a diuretic my dad also takes), and high blood pressure medicine. They think she has about 6 months to a year if we are lucky. My sister and brothers and I are REALLY sad about the whole thing. She is everybody's baby, and it has been hard to think about.

Meanwhile, Samson, my classroom guniea pig, has been at the vet since last Thursday because he has a mystery illness that is causing his back legs to be paralyzed. He is on an IV, getting pain meds, vitamin C, and other things. I am hoping we don't have to put him to sleep. The kids would be so sad (and so would Mrs. Murphy and I!!) Before you think I am crazy for doing this much treatment for my guinea pig, the vet is donating her services since it is a classroom pet. What a saint of a woman! I cannot reccomed her enough.

What a sad week!!!

Nothing Much

Well, I haven't posted anything for awhile so I thought I had better get to it. Not a lot going on here except that I spent the last week getting over a lung infection that made breathing extremely difficult. I think that it probably got worse than it had to because I was pushing myself to be at work everyday. I only have 20 sick days saved up, not really enough for a maternitiy leave, so I am trying to not loose any of them on other things. This is a goal that is proving to be harder than it looks when one works in a room of 30 people who pick their nose, wipe snot on their arms and sleeves, and flick boogers at others for jollies.


In other news, my awesome Evan got a 100% on his spelling test on Friday for the first time in 1st grade!!! I am so proud of him. He works so much harder to get things like this than other kids do. We are going to see a movie this afternoon to celebrate.

22 weeks pregnant today!!

Marriage

I don't want to annoy anyone with mushy stuff, but I have to brag about Jeff for a second. The three of us have definitely been going through an "adjustment phase" lately. It seemed a lot easier right after the wedding when Evan and I were still out of school, and not really on a schedule. Now that we are doing homework, Boy Scouts, yada yada yada every day stresses have been higher. Plus, I don't make things any easier with my hormone riddled emotions, and the tears that seem to always be lurking under the surface. (I cry at EVERYTHING!!! I even started crying while reading my first graders a book the other day. That took some explaining.) Anyway, I lost it last night and was really crying, stressed, etc. after Jeff and I talked about some things. He was so patient and kind and understanding with me. It's so nice to know I am married to such a kind person, and to know I made the right choice.

IT'S A.......

BOY!!!! Yes, we had the ultrasound yesterday, and it was VERY obvious that is a boy. Before the ultrasound tech even said anything we got a legs spread shot of the little guy, and I said "Hopefully this is a boy, because if not, it has 3 legs!!" To which she said, "You know, I'm very sure you are right!" So, it looks like a little Charlie (or maybe William) Kleffman is on the way. Am I sad it isn't a girl? Yeah, a little bit. I still have 2 more chances though, so I haven't given up hope. I also know how much I really treasure my relationship with Evan, and I am looking forward to having that with another little guy. Although, I am getting seriously outnumbered around here. Thank goodness for Trudy!!!

I will post some of our ultrasound pics once the new computer is here.

IT'S ALMOST TIME!!!

I can hardly STAND it!!!! Tomorrow is our ultrasound!!! I absolutely cannot wait to find out what we are having. I will be SOOO disappointed if they can't tell what it is. After the ultrasound, Jeff and I are going out to dinner to celebrate at The Outback. I owe him a steak dinner for a REALLY stupid bet that I made on the same night we conceived the prizefighter (TMI?) Anyway, I bet him that we would not have conceived within the first six months of our marriage. Wasn't that stupid? I think God is punishing me just for saying it.

Hopefully I will be writing this entry in PINK tomorrow night!!!! Send me good brainwaves everyone!!!

Halfway There

As of yesterday, I am 20 weeks pregnant! I am already halfway there. I am excited, but freaked out at the same time. It's been so long so there has been a baby in the house. I know what to expect this time, and I know it will be a bit of a shock! I know I really need to start mentally and emotionally preparing myself.



There is still a bunch to do at home as well. As soon as we know what the prizefighter is (as Jeff has called the baby this weekend-it is REALLY a big kicker) I will be able to start seeing what we need, what we already have, and getting stuff done. I can't wait to decorate the baby's room. I think that will really help me to feel like this is happening. I am SOOOOOO hoping that I can put some pink in the room!!! I will still be excited if it's a boy though. I love the relationship that Evan and I have. I think there is something really special about a mother son relationship. I'll be happy either way, but what fun to have a daughter!!



In about 8 weeks, Jeff and I get to start taking birth classes. We are going to deliver at the new Lakeside Hospital where my sister had Colin. It is really nice, and I am excited about that part of things. It will be so nice to have Jeff with me during "the event" this time, and have someone special to share it with. My parents and sister will be there as well. I can't wait to make it to the main event!!!

New Home

Well, sorry to confuse all of you already. I have already found a new home for my blog. I had a bunch of requests for pictures on the old one, and it didn't have that capability. So here we are at blogger. As soon as I have the new computer set up, I will add some pics of my stupid new minivan. We have affectionately (or not so much) named it the M Squared. That stands for Mommy Mobile. I don't know why Jeff gets to refuse to drive it.

I will also add some pics of my stomach, which is rapidly getting to be of a ridiculous size.

Not a Virus

For crying out loud! Luke came over last night and took apart my computer. He discovered it wasn't a virus after all-the mother board and the power supply are fried. The computer is 5 years old, so I guess I shouldn't be terribly surprised by this, but I am still annoyed. Nothing like making 2 major purchases in a week!!! So, Luke rigged up Evan's computer combined with my hard drive for us to use in the interim. We ordered a new computer from Dell today, but it won't be here for a couple of weeks. BLECH!!

Sienna It Is!

Sorry about no entry for so long...my computer has picked up the STRANGEST virus at home. It now has the power to turn itself on and off at will, which is does joyfully whenever it is connected to a powersource. Luckily, my brother Creighton, and my brother in law Luke are computer gurus, and are going to get me back in business this weekend. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't related to them.Well, Jeff and I have made our first major purchase together!!! On Tuesday night I wheeled and deeled with the car salesman (I didn't do to badly if I do say so myself, thanks to my father's upbrining. He is the eternal arguer). We talked them down on the price, and I am now the proud (or mostly proud I guess) driver of a Mommy Mobile. We went with the Toyota Sienna, and we are so far really pleased with it. I think the most excited is Evan, who now gets to sit up high in his "captain's chair" and can see everything out the window finally. His poor teacher on Wednesday-it was ALL he talked about at school.I also went to the doctor's office on Wednesday afternoon. Our Quad test came back negative (YEAH!!!), the heart rate was 150 (very girlish-everybody THINK PINK!), and we have our ultrasound scheduled for next Friday. Since I have NO patience, we are of course going to find out the sex. Any guesses? What kind of a Kleffman do you think is on the way?

Sienna or Odyssey

Well, Jeff and I are looking in earnest now for that stupid minivan. My car made some highly unhealthy noises this weekend, and it seems to be telling us "I am dying a slow and highly painful death...put me out of my misery!" And I can tell you, I have no desire to deal with it's death on my own while toting a 6 year old, an increasingly heavy and kicking baby around my middle, and all of this with a heart condition.Anyway, my dear friend Asten (aka Honeybunches) suggested at the beginning of this whole thing that a Sienna would be a good choice. Asten said this out of his obsessive, but very cute, total love and devotion to everything Toyota. He will be pleased to know that after an extensive search of Consumer Reports, Kelly Blue Book Values, Child Safety Ratings, etc. that it is one of the finalists. Assuming we can find a good one for sale, it is between a Honda Odyssey or the Toyota Sienna. We decided not to go new with this one and try for a 2003, since we are looking to buy a house and furnish a nursery all within the near future. Ah, the joys of being middle aged!! What could be more fun than buying a minivan?
Having to be the one to drive it of course!!!

I'm Still Alive...But Barely!!

It has been a long time since my last post! That is because this has been the week from hell. Students came back to school on Monday, so I am back to work full time. I love my new class, it is full of sweet, curious, six year olds. It is absolutely amazing to me though how much energy it requires every day to corral and teach a classroom of 30 of these people. You get a little soft over the summer, and you kind of have to work up to it again. The sad thing for me this year is...I don't have enough energy to keep a flea going! I have been in bed by 8:45 or 9:00 every night. To top things off, I got a nasty head cold on Wednesday.But enough complaining! I am off to enjoy the weekend. I have started a new quilt. My grandma has been asking for a new comforter for her bed for Christmas, so my mom thought of her and I making her a quilt instead. I am always so excited when I start a new project!! I am in love with this one. It is a design called Granny's Bloomers, and we are using all authentic antique fabric from the 30s and 40s (a personal passion and favorite of mine). In the center of each flower in the design, we are sewing one of my grandma's buttons that she has collected through the years. I hope it is exciting for her to see the fabric from her youth, and the buttons she collected. I am hoping I can get a lot done on it this weekend. It is so nice to quilt right now, since sitting is my heart's favorite activity. As soon as I do too much it is off and zooming at high speeds!

To Medicate or Not to Medicate...

To Medicate or Not to Medicate...
Today I have been struggling with whether or not to call Evan's psychologist...In February of last year he was diagnosed with a Reading Disability by Millard Public Schools, and he began to be serviced by special education. This was the BIGGEST blessing, and since he began so early in his school career, he made great strides. It made me want to kiss the ground our house is built on, since I know from experience that if we lived in OPS, he would not have received services or even testing yet. (But I will try not to digress into my feelings on the evilness of OPS...) They also said that he was being affected by "something else", something that was contributing to the Reading Disability. Since they are not doctors, they couldn't make a diagnosis, and sent us to a psychologist they recommended. Let's call her Dr. S.Dr. S is the rudest woman I have ever met, and has no business working with children. She had Evan, who is normally a happy go lucky child, dissolved into tears within 5 minutes of the start of his evaluation. He has never before done this at a doctors. Not even when he previously went to a psychologist to work on the effects of the abuse his wonderful biological father dealt him. This of course was a red flag to us. Later in phone conversations, she actually said to me that "Evan's teacher hates him and just wants him out of the classroom". Now, I work in the classroom next to Evan's Kindergarten teacher. She is the SWEETEST woman you will ever find in a Kindergarten classroom, who treated him with such love and respect that I constantly feel blessed to work with her, and to have had the immense pleasure of having her teach my child. Evan can be quite challenging, but she dealt with him extremely well. I know this from watching her with my own eyes. This was a very LARGE red flag. Anyway, she eventually diagnosed him with a Nonverbal Learning Disorder. We paid $700 out of pocket for Evan's 45 minutes in hell with Dr. S.Next, she recomended that Evan start medication. I have seen the immense benefits of this with many of my students, and have had a gut feeling since Evan was 2 that someday he would need this. So, we went ahead. She put him on an antidepressant. Within 2 days of starting the medication, Evan turned into the devil child. He has very few behavior issues at home, so this was a huge change for him. I was horrified, and felt devastated that I had helped do this to him. Evan was very depressed (ironically) because he was out of control of his own body, and knew he was doing things he shouldn't. Meanwhile, I am reading a book she suggested on Nonverbal Learning Disorders that she told me would be beneficial. I am recognizing none of the symptoms these children have in my own son. So, I called her, told her I was taking him off the medicine, and that it was horrible. She said, "Maybe we have misdiagnosed him. Perhaps,he has ADHD instead and we should try one of those medications." Is this a crap shoot? She told me to call her back at the end of the summer and we would try a new medication.Obviously, I don't trust this woman. Can we afford $700 a pop as we doctor hop trying to find someone who knows what they are doing? No. I am AGONIZING over this decision, especially since I want 1st grade (such a crucial year) to be a success for him.

Back to School Craziness

The back to school rush is upon us, and it is hitting me SOOOO much harder this year than others!!! I am EXHAUSTED once I get home. I told Jeff tonight that I don't feel like I am doing anyone justice. I should be spending more time with Evan, more time with Jeff, more time getting stuff done at home, and more time getting stuff done at school, but I can't seem to muster the energy to do anything at all. This baby is taking all of that for itself! I have been in bed by 8:30 every night this week. Just what I am sure poor Jeff wants in a newlywed wife I am sure! It is also making me feel like I am walking through quicksand at work. It takes me so much longer to do something because I have such a hard time concentrating. I thought if I just got more sleep that would take care of it, but apparently not!!!I have Open House tomorrow. Hopefully I can get through it without yawning in too many people's faces.

UGH!

Today I have to say one of the worst sentences in the world to myself..."I HAVE TO GO BACK TO WORK TOMORROW." Ugh. I absolutely hate the end of summer. It is so hard to get back in the swing of things. I hate to give up my freedom, and all the time that I get to spend with Evan. Yes, I love my job, but I love my job of being Evan's mom even more. Sometimes I REALLY REALLY want to be a stay at home mom. What a hard choice!!! I guess I have the best of both worlds though. I keep wandering what this will feel like when I have two little ones. I wish it was May 31st again!!

Family, Family, and More Family

Today the 3 of us went down to Lake Wa-Con-Da (south of Plattsmouth) where two of my uncles have cabins for a family reunion. It was nice to see some of my great aunts/uncles etc. that aren't around very often. A lot of them were at the wedding, but I didn't get a chance to really talk to them. That is the bad thing about being the bride or groom at a wedding. You have about 10 seconds with each guest. Just enough time to say hi and thanks for coming. It was sad for me to see some people I rarely get to talk to for 10 seconds. While we were there, Jeff and I made our big announcement to the Micek side of the family. I think they were a little shocked at first, but REALLY excited and supportive. My dad has started a "grandchildren race" with his 8 brothers and sisters. It's funny that in a family of 10 children, he is already in 3rd place with four grandkids. His goal of course is 1st, which would require the four of us in my family to produce 12 kids!!! I guess that is only 3 apiece, but we'll see. Might not be too hard, since my brother in law Luke really wants at least 6, but more like 8. Jeff and I are shooting for 4, so I guess maybe we have my dad covered. It is funny to see how competetive he is with his siblings about EVERYTHING!!! I can't wait until my sister tells them her big news too. So many babies, so little time!

Should I Have Been a Secretary?

All of my life, I have had a secret desire to be a secretary. I love answering phones, writing emails, feeling offical, and especially-OFFICE SUPPLIES!!! This was confirmed to me last night when I was at church. I am on the school board at Mary Our Queen, and the members help with tuition night every year at the beginning of school. I got to fill out paperwork, answer questions, and use-OFFICE SUPPLIES!!! I had the best time. Of course, when picking my life profession I thought to myself, if I am a secretary (or whatever other politically correct name they have these days) I won't make any money. So, I cleverly became a teacher where I make a lot of money. HA! Don't get me wrong-I love teaching, and children, and the creativity involved with my job. But every once in awhile, like last night, I think to myself, what if I had been a secretary? I am going in this morning for my quad blood test at the doctors. It checks for the presence of four mail birth defects in the baby, like spina bifida, cerebal palsy, and other neural tube defects. I am a little nervous, but will let you know how it goes. Evan and I are finally officially on Jeff's health insurance so I can feel a lot of relief every time I visit the doctor. Which is often these days.

Lazy Butt and Bobby Ewing

Well, it's 11:30 in the morning, and I am still in my pajamas. One of my last days to do this! The last two days I have been in my classroom working to get it put back together. One of the things that has always baffled me about being a teacher is how they make you pack everything away in May-simply so they can VACUUM THE WHOLE CARPET- and then take it right back out again in August! Can't they just move the dumb furniture? I guess it proves my theory that the actual people in charge of a school are the custodial engineers. Not that I don't TOTALLY appreciate them when they are after the Phantom Pooper (a story for another entry) at my school, or when I have a puker in my classroom. Anyway, so the last two days I have been moving, lifting, and climbing. The combination of this and the heat seems to have set off my pregnancy induced Tachycardia. This is a condition I also had while pregnant with Evan, which involves my heart rate blasting up to 140-165 beats per minute, while I am SITTING STILL. It's a bit like doing aerobics without lifting a finger. Exhausting yes, but prevents excessive weight gain in pregnancy. Hey, got to look at the bright side, you know? So, I decided to take today a little easy before I have to go back at it tomorrow. Which explains why I am still in my pjs. Jeff is obsessed with the show Dallas. Yes, the one from the 70s/80s. He has bought the first three seasons on DVD, and has slowly been making his way through the first three seasons. I tried to ignore the show at first, but I think I may be hooked, even though it is ridiculous. The depressing thing about this show, is that just by looking at the clothes they are wearing, it could be being shot in 2005! It's that Bobby that did it. Patrick Duffy was a lot more attractive in his younger days! I might go watch an episode since I am sitting on my rear end today.

Driver's License

Well, today I officially switched to my married name. I went to the DMV and got my new driver's license, and over the weekend Jeff and I changed my name and added his to all of our accounts. My Micek is slowing disappearing!! I actually added Micek as an extra middle name, but it's not the same.I am a little surprised at how sad I am not to officially have Micek as my last name. I also had a new student come in to meet me at school today, and to hear the principal and secretary talking about me to her as Mrs. Kleffman really drove everything home for me. If it weren't so confusing for children to have their mom with a different last name, I think I would have stayed Micek.

Baby Showers

My mom and I went to a baby shower last night for the wife of one of my cousins. Of course, while we were there, everyone kept teasing me about when Jeff and I were going to start, and how my mom surely wanted a granddaughter. I SOOO wanted to spill the beans! I didn't say anything though, because it was Sharon's special night, and I wanted her to have the spotlight. I think it would be funny anyway if my sister and I both tell our news at the same time. Sure to make some people drop their teeth I think. People will know soon anyway since I am starting to show a bit. Thank God for the awesome Christi Koch, who has generously lent me her maternity clothes (which are the cutest darned things!) I am now breathing easy in her maternity things, since I can't zip any of my shorts anymore.I took Evan to my doctors appointment yesterday, and he got to hear the baby's heartbeat. He thought it was the neatest thing! It is so much fun to watch him turning into a big brother! We get to go in on September 9th for the big ultrasound and find out what we are having. I can't WAIT!!!!

Wonderful Summer's Day

Today was SOOOOO relaxing! Evan and I went with my parents and brothers Creighton and Ben to my Uncle Tom's cabin on Lake Wa-con-da. It was so nice to forget about everything that I have been doing this summer (wedding, baby worries, school, etc.) and just have fun. We all went swimming for about 2 hours. Evan went tubing for the first time, and absolutely loved it. He is so fearless when it comes to water things. I also got to watch my Dad ski for the first time. I hope I can do things like that when I am 53! After all the water sports we grilled steak. I finally feel like I had a relaxing summer day today.It was nice to spend time with Creighton before he leaves for Colorado. He will be moving to Sterling for the next 6-12 months in connection with his job. I know I am going to be missing him bunches, so it was great to see him today. I hope that he gets back before the babies are born.

The Beginning

Well, several people have been bugging me to do this blog thing, so I am finally giving it a try. I guess this is a good time in life to do so, since it seems as if everything is happening at once!!!I just got married about 2 weeks ago, and Jeff and I are currently arguing over bed space. Only one of us seems to sleep well a night! Last night in his sleep, Jeff kept pushing me over to the side of the bed, so I had to sleep with my legs hanging off the mattress. I think we may have to resort to Lucy/Ricky Ricardo style, and get twin beds. This is depressing!For those of you who don't know yet, Jeff and I are adding a baby to the family in late January. I felt the baby move for the first time on the honeymoon, which was exciting, and made it feel a lot more real.For great wedding pictures, Adam has set up a gallery at:http://www.dogtired.org/gallery/christyjeffwed?page=1He is such an awesome photographer.

A New Bug

I now have the second bug in a week. Last Sunday I came down with a cold, and yesterday I came down with the worst case of the flu I have EVER had. I had diarrhea at least 20 times, and threw up about half of that. I got really dehydrated. I was worried about the baby and called Dr. Clemmer, but she said not to worry unless it lasted for three days. I stayed home from school today, and missed field day, which was dissapointing, but I know I REALLY need to rest. My hormones are really going bezerk. I am so tired.

Positive Pregnancy Test

I feel AWFUL this morning! I am at my gaggiest yet. I am hoping to make it through the next 5 days of school without puking, and then we are out for the summer. The Chinese Lunar Calendar says GIRL! Wouldn't that be crazy?