Everything is growing like crazy

The baby birds have gotten bigger. Mom or dad is always close by keeping watch.

The rhododenron is finally in bloom!
It must like it's new location.

And all of the plants we took from our parents last year are in full bloom, too!

Springtime brings babies

Chewy found/killed a baby bunny a couple days ago and today he spotted some baby birds. Luckily they were out of his reach, so they survived. Jason took some great pictures of the babies in the tree out back.

They are still here!

Another ultrasound gave us a sigh of relief. Both babies were visible and they each had a strong heartbeat. I'll feel better when we are out of the first trimester, but seeing them on the screen really calms our fears.

I asked if two sacs meant two eggs, but the doc said two sacs can come from one or two eggs. If we wanted to find we would have to do a blood test. Jason and I don't really see any reason to find out, so it will forever remain a mystery. (You can't tell just by looking, because the Olsen twins are fraternal but look identical.)

We won't have another ultrasound until it's time to find out the genders, so this is it for a while on the pictures. It's just pictures of Chewy until then!

The journey that lies ahead

Jason and I decided to try to start a family a long time ago. We ran into one big hurdle (with me of course). With much help from doctors and medicine we have gotten over that hurdle and are pleased to announce we are finally pregnant! Estimated arrival time: early December.

The news came as quite a surprise to us. We didn't want to believe the urine tests because all we had been hearing lately was bad news. I thought that maybe the blood test would help us believe the results. Once the blood test came back, the doctor wanted to do another blood test to check that the levels were increasing. Luckily they did. Jason and I were excited, but we kept our guard up. We had an ultrasound scheduled with the fertility specialist and it was exactly what we needed to believe all the test results.

The ultrasound showed two babies! The one had a heartbeat that was visible to the doctor and the student observing him. The second one had a heartbeat, but the doctor didn't see it at first. The student did. When the machine was switched to detect sound, both heartbeats showed up and they were strong. Such a relief. Once you see a heartbeat the chance of miscarriage goes down to 5%. We were beyond happy. Our fertility specialist recommended going to the regular doc in a week or two and having another ultrasound. He said there is a 10-15% chance that only one baby will be there in the second ultrasound. We are staying positive, but have accepted that this might be a possiblity.

Some people would have kept this to themselves until they are in the "safe zone" of the second trimester. Jason and I have learned that we really need the support of our friends and family. During our struggle to get here, the support that we have had was incredible. We are sharing our news with all of you, because we know that through thick and thin you will be there for us and we need all the support we can get.

We did it!

Let the yard work begin

Jason and I were busy this weekend improving the backyard. Some neighbors rented a bed edger so we chipped in to use it. We edged out where new beds would go and edged existing beds. We also fenced off below the deck. Chewy is sad about it, but he'll get over it. We will put up some wooden boards to make it look nicer.

We plan to do a rock garden in front of the deck, so people can still step off the deck without worry. The side bed is mulched. The plants there now are from last year and aren't doing too well. They will probably be replaced next year.

Eventually a tree will go on the corner here.

It's Springtime for Duffys and Delaware

Alaska excursions booked!

One of the excursions we booked is a crabbing expedition. We will go out on a boat and collect some crabs, then we will eat them!

We will also go on a whale watching excursion!

Dogs, dogs, dogs

Chewy loves hanging out with Kiki and Duncan this week. As you can see, the little ones have more energy than Chewy.

I love that they lined up like this.

Chewy

Duncan

Kiki

Cake Class, Course 1, Lesson 4

Cake Class, Course 1, Lesson 3

For our third class, we could bring in whatever we wanted: cake, cupcakes, cookies, nothing but waxed paper. I decided to do red velvet cupcakes and I had enough batter leftover to do a loaf cake. I didn't feel like making a lot of colors, so I reused the ones from my last cake and made purple icing. It turns out I was able to make a lot of different designs and used everything we learned in class today! I need to work on making straight and parallel lines. I think i might mark the cake next time to guide me. One more class to go and then Course 2!

I am signing up for Cake Decorating Course 2 at the JoAnn's at Polaris on Monday nights if you are interested in joining me (you know who you are). The same teacher for my class is doing the course 2 class and I think she's great. It begins on April 5th and runs through April 26, Mondays 6:30-8:30pm.

PA Trip

We stopped in Hershey on the way to a friend's house this weekend. We did a chocolate tasting, saw a 3D movie, rode a ride telling us the history of Hershey's, and took a trolley tour of the town. It was a lot more fun than we expected.

Thanks go out to Bryan for the pictures!

Cake Class, Course 1, Lesson 2

Update: I decorated the cake. Since St. Patrick's Day is Wednesday, I decided to do an Irish theme on my first cake. My handwriting is terrible - sorry.

So I spent 3 hours this evening doing my homework for my cake decorating class. Chewy hung out on the couch the entire time. I had to take a picture. It cracks me up that he sleeps on his back.

I made 6 cups of icing to ice the 8" round cake that we will decorate in class on Monday. I then had to make an additional 6 cups for the icing that will be used to decorate it on Monday.

I'll post a picture of the completely decorated cake on Monday night, after class. Stay Tuned.
Also, I updated the cheese post on the blog to include pictures of the cheddar now that it is ready to eat, so check that out!

Crazy new shoes

Keith has been talking about these shoes for a long time now. I decided that this would be a great purchase to get me back into running. I bought myself some Vibram Five Fingers shoes. They are suppose to be as close to being barefoot as possible. So far, I have found they are difficult to put on. Each toe must fit into it's designated pocket. Once they are on, they are comfortable. I haven't run in them yet. I'll let you know when I do.
Also, this picture shows off the new bookcases in the living room.

Vacations planned in 2010

My thoughts lately have all been about vacations. I think I just really wish I could run away from real life and escape in a vacation. Since I can't do that - I'll just tell you about my planned vacations.

March: Hershey and Philadelphia, PA

Jason has a friend that lives out in Philly, on our way to visit him we are going to spend a day in Hershey. I imagine it will be really touristy, but who cares - we will be eating chocolate!

June: Multiple cities in Alaska, then Vancouver B.C.

An Alaskan cruise! This will be my second cruise to Alaska and Jason's first. We will visit with some friends who live in different cities in Alaska during this trip. I also want to spend a day in Vancouver B.C., which is where the cruise ends.

August: Grandview, WV

Jason's grandparents have been kind enough to invite family to the cottage they are renting. We are going to spend a weekend visiting with them and enjoying the sights in WV.

So that wraps up all the big stuff happening in the vacation category of 2010 for us. There are a lot of little trips that I want to do as well. There are so many festivals that happen in Ohio and I want to visit some of them this year. I'm looking forward to camping and hiking again this spring/summer. I'd also like to go on a canoe ride (haven't done that for years).

Babysitting Eli

Jason and I babysat Eli for the first time. I have to say it was a success. Eli was still alive when his mom and dad returned home! He was a little cranky (teething or congestion) and I think he is having seperation anxiety when Jenna is not in sight, but all went well.

Stone Massage

I enjoyed a LaStone therapeutic hot stone massage this past weekend. I had some incentive money from getting preventative screenings. Instead of saving it, I got a stone massage at the spa. It's basically just a massage using hot stones, but they don't push hard (not deep tissue massage). I was relaxed for the day, but that's about it. Just a nice treat that I deserve.

Next month I'm getting a facial. Another new thing to try.

Cake

I know people who have taken a cake decorating class. I decided to bite the bullet and take one, too. I'm going to take the first course in March and the second course in April. Not sure if I'll take it at Joann's or at Michael's. Either way it will be near 23 and Polaris, if you want to join me.

Emily's Baby Shower

If you are like me, it seems like everyone is pregnant right now.

Baby Palozza 2010 has officially begun with Emily's baby shower.

She flew in from Seattle to be here!

Emily is hardcore - sporting heels at 30 weeks.

Ferrari

As a child, I had a red Ferrari for my Barbie.

My doctor keeps saying I'm like a Ferrari;

I'm high performance, I just need some fine tuning.

Everytime he says that I think of my Barbie's Ferrari.

Eli playing the organ

First Big Snow of 2010