It's a....

Yeah, I know, I promised a belly picture. Well, I had Bill take one, BUT, I wasn't happy with. I'm trying to reschedule a retake with a different outfit and location. It seems to be hard to get us in the same place at the same time not preoccupied with something else. I'll get you one soon. I promise. :)

Now you think you were really going to find out yet???? We have found out the gender of the baby. Everyone is just going to have to hang on to their horses for a couple more days! We're making the official announcement Thanksgiving. If you want to know sooner than we can get it posted, you'll just have to show up for turkey dinner. :) I encourage you to make your predictions. I believe you can make comments directly on each post. I know you don't have much to go on. Maybe if I can get a picture up, you can see "how I'm carrying the baby", and go from there.

It's definitely a busy week for most of us. As tradition stands, we now have Thanksgiving dinner at our house and are expecting up to 15. So, there's cleaning to be done, decorating touch ups, turkeys to thaw... See you back here again soon!

An update on me - the real reason you're here :)

The past few weeks have been a little bit of a roller coaster for me. I had a pretty bad bout with a cold/sinus issues that wouldn't let go; most recently, I had a bad case of vertigo. For those of you not familiar, vertigo makes the room spin really fast and churns your stomach at the same time. I only hugged the toilet once that day, but didn't do much of anything because I was afraid to move or tilt in any one direction. That was all related to sinus issues from a trip the day before to Greenville, SC to do some baby shopping. I'm just wired weird that way. I travel out of the area and end up sick. I still have some small issues with vertigo at night, but that will be a constant thing with the drought and dry, winter season.

Other than all of that, I've been feeling fine concerning the pregnancy. Just some issues starting to creep up with comfort levels and the fact that my balance is beginning to shift.

My 'volunteership' has sort of stalled out for the moment. It appears that the timing just isn't working out for folks and they have too much on their plate and it's too hard for everyone to get their heads together on the same page. I'm waiting to hear an update this week, but that adventure may be over. That's too bad, because I really had high hopes. It might take off again one day. Who knows. My next concentration is getting a portfolio up of my web/graphic design work and finding freelance side jobs.

We spent some time Saturday evening with Marcia, Alan and Regan. We all went to eat at Olive Garden. It gave us some experience of holding, feeding and tending to a baby while trying to eat dinner ourselves. Something that will be coming along all very soon! Here's Bill and Regan today at Marcia and Alan's:

Oh, in case you're wondering, Bill is doing fine minus some aches and pains of working too hard. He finally let me show him how to do this whole blog thing, so watch out, he may slip in here one day and actually post something! :)

We should be able to find out the sex of the baby this month. I know all of you are anxious to know already! We are hoping to make the announcement at Thanksgiving if everything cooperates. That should give my grandmother some new found excitement to talk about. She's pretty excited to be becoming a great grandmother. We will get to see her Thanksgiving weekend.

I'm finally starting to get a more noticeable belly, so be checking back in the next day or two for a belly picture!

Best to all!

I haven't forgotten about you...!

I'll try to make up for lost blog time by including lots to keep you reading....at least until the next update. :)

Let's see, I left you last with Bill headed off to Kentuckyland for about a week. They had a good trip and were able to get a lot in, here are a few pictures from Churchill Downs, their hotel room and an arboretum.

Why didn't I think of this for extra money???

Still ticking and kicking

TC (tax credit - per Bill) is apparently still kicking and growing. The heartbeat today sounded strong and healthy. Not much other excitement in the visit. I had some questions and that's what these visits are good for, so got those settled. I decided to hold off on getting my flu shot for a few days so I can get over whatever it is I have now. I seem to be on the mend; just to the nagging coughing stage.

Bill leaves for his big trip tomorrow, so it will be eerily peaceful around the house. Not to worry, I have plenty to keep me busy.

Bon voyage!

Green Bay Packers decor sneaks in

Here's a cute pic I wanted to share with you. Is this not funny or what??? I can't believe how much stuff is out there for GB babies. This one was on Ebay.

Under the weather, but back on top soon!

Patience pays to those of you who actually are checking in and reading this blog!

Not much in the way of the pregnancy has been happening as of late. I go for my next checkup Monday, 22nd. I've had a pretty bad bug of some sort the last few days. I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant that it seems to be getting me down so much and just sticking with me or what. It's primarily been a sore throat, low grade fever, body aches, some sneezing, coughing and a stuffed up head. I suppose it's a cold. I finally caved in to taking some Tylenol Cold (dr. recommended) on Friday and today. I think I'm on the mend.

Bill has been nice enough to let me rest by taking back to his old bed in our spare room. Either that, or he's trying to keep from getting sick. He gets to take off to a nice little trip next week to Louisville, KY for a work expo. This is the one that usually puts them up in a nice hotel. This time it's the Galt House, which is a nice hotel downtown by the river. http://www.galthouse.com/Home.aspx They are also going to take some of their free time to visit Churchill Downs. ---Must be nice!

Career Update
My volunteer/internship with Meet the Geeks (www.meetthegeeks.net) is going pretty well. I haven't actually got to do any work on their site yet, but I'm told I will soon. I've been working on optimizing scanned images for this journal that was in print and distribution back in the mid to late 80's - the Katuah Journal. I won't bore you with it, but if you're interested, you can Google it and see what it's about. They are wanting to put images of all their past journals online and begin a new discussion forum on it. I've actually picked up on and learned quite a bit so far.

I also mentioned to Ty that I really needed to focus on getting paid projects coming in and getting my portfolio built. He is willing to work with me on both and has already been true to his word in letting me bid on a project on Friday. I'll be starting with it soon and be able to include it on my portfolio as well. What I'm getting out of all of this has been leaps and bounds beyond my other internship or any job I've had. Plus, I get to do most everything from home! :) Great gas mileage!

That's it in a nutshell.
...until Monday!

Announcement to Marcia and Alan

I got to thinking last night after I went to bed that I haven't included the story on how we broke the news to Bill's parents. So, not to leave anyone out, here's how it went down.

We were once again basing it around a "birthday celebration", celebrating Marcia and Alan's birthdays that fell in August. We took them out to dinner as we wanted to tell them before the rest of the fam - which were all coming in that weekend for the Hot August Night Montford 5K race that Bill and Mike were in. I did the 1K Fun Walk.

Bill had cleverly bought Marcia and Alan "grandparent" birthday cards and we had them open them simultaneously after we ordered our food. For a split second or two, they were confused by the "grandparent" part, but quickly caught on when they read the signature 'Bill, Rhonda and 04-10-08'. We knew Marcia would cry, so we included a tissue in with her card. It was put to good use. They were very excited and surprised.

We told them they had to keep it under wraps for a while and you all know that just about killed Marcia. But she managed through and got the green light last night to tell the world.

I believe everyone is now up to speed. The only ones not to know are some family in East TN. So that means today is back to reality and I've got to quit posting and get some work done!