Patrick and Melanie

3.23.2011

MmmMm!

Here is the link to some easy and delicious homemade strawberry shortcake!!!

I just made it, didn't take long at all to make the shortcake, and it's the perfect spring time dessert...yuuuummmy.

3.21.2011

Kids always ask their parents, 'are we there yet?'. Well Patrick gets to hear 'how much longer!?' very frequently. He always kindly responds "not too much longer...". You see I am ready for this baby to be finished cooking. Aaand we're halfway there! Speaking of the baby cooking...I took a warmish/hot bath the other night after we finished packing boxes and cleaning out closets. Well, B was not sure about that bath and started going ca-razy. I got nervous I was boiling the baby!!!! No worries, baby's still there....

Here is B's 20 week photo shoot

Looks like B has hands, feet, femurs, tibias, fibulas, humerus', 2 nostrils, lips and a mouth, a "beautiful aortic arch" as my dear husband would say, along with all 4 chambers of the heart including the very important valves, a bladder with some liquid in there, kidneys, lung tissue forming, a spinal cord that is all closed in, vertebrae, belly stuff that is actually inside the skin where it belongs.... and lots more. Phew, let me tell you, these medical minds are resting peacefully for now :)

And no. There was no cheating. We still don't know what it is and I am enjoying the suspense!

Mardi Gras 2011

Better late than never, right?

Earlier in March I flew down to Birmingham, had a quick visit with my family, then Courtney and I were off to Fairhope for Mardi Gras!! Wilson, Stephanie and Matthew met us down there the next day and the festivities began! I was very excited about the crawfish, the parade and mardi gras ball. It was Court's first year to ride in the parade and with a little help from some voddy she showered us with *buckets* ;) of beads and prizes. B of course was along for the ride so I had lots and lots of water and cokes but had a fab time dancing around with everyone. Thanks to Tony, Marish, Court and Andrew for having us come celebrate again!!

And for your viewing pleasure (well, really probably just for my view pleasure)

..A flash back

2006...

the majority of us may or may not be double fisting??

2007

'I forgot how much I love that tequlia!!'

2008

and ending the flash back with a fab shot by Marish!

Good memories!!

3.18.2011

B's first video

When Patrick did B's ultrasound a few weeks ago he downloaded some videos as well. We have a CD full of them, ones with just the baby moving around and then the fancy "heart is pumping blood all around" videos. He converted a few so I could post them...

17weeks 3 days

I like this second one because it looks like B is tapping his/her foot up at the top

Going to our 20 week appointment today. Half way there!!!!

3.15.2011

home sweet home

...Savannah!!

Our new home!

Finally we know where we are going to live in a few short months. It's been a long almost 6 months of interviewing, waiting, re-interviewing, waiting, waiting, waiting.........waiting. But we are now excited and relieved to have a future home

phew.

In the past few days it went from nice warm weather to snowy weather in St Louis - and we heard that Savannah was a sunny 70 degrees. I could get used to that :)

...of course we will miss all of our STL friends so much - good thing Savannah is a fun place to visit!! And we do expect visitors...

Broderick's in St Louis

We were so happy to have Mom and Dad B here with us for a visit!!! We had such a great time just having company around and were sad to see them go :(

Pat and his Mom took Eloise on a long walk while Dad B was in meetings and I worked the weekend. She got to hang out at the much talked about dog park with Monster.

It even snowed on their last day in town! Very unexpected snow...but it was pretty - and probably (or hopefully??) the last real snow I see for a looooooong time.

After finally (meaning 3 years later) finding a good Italian place on The Hill to eat we went to Ted Drewes - which was delicious as always!

Thanks again for keeping us company, helping me sew snaps on my half finished pillows, riding around town with us, eating good food with us and for a perfect visit!

2.27.2011

connections

So. I have connections.

I know this guy who does fetal echos on pregnant women to see how the baby's heart is working. He's pretty smart and I kinda like him, too. When he asked if I wanted to let him practice echoing I was like.... yes please!

What better way to spend a cold and dreary Saturday afternoon than looking at your baby with your husband!? And of course (most importantly to patrick) making sure B's heart is doing all of the right things. Let me tell you - I had NO idea what he was looking at, measuring, twisting the ultrasound probe around for, all I know is he's real smart and seemed to know what he was looking at. B has intestines, a liver, a black hole for a tummy, all 4 heart chambers, mitral and tricuspid valves (all of which I could see and figure out - but all straight forward) and a lot of other things that the doctor saw - and B was VERY squirmy.

My doctor for the day.

So I look down and he has a glove on. I said "Do you think I am diseased!?" It was just because he didn't want the ultrasound gel on him.

I had my very own view of B - I took these with my phone from far away - not the best quality.

It's a leg! B is sticking it straight up

Ok. So this is the umbilical cord in the yellow box (next picture). Yes, it's vital for a baby to be connected to an umbilical cord. But I have a story as to why I am totally grossed out by them.

A baby that was born at home had some complications and was brought to the ER by EMS. I was in the trauma room along with the other nurses, doctors, etc. Well this baby's umbilical cord was cut but it was real long. I mean reeeaaaal long. And gross. Real gross. My facial expression said everything I was thinking. One of my friends was like, "melanie, it's okay..." because I started getting all nervous about it, and then panic set in when I realized that there was one of those inside of me and that yes, in fact, one day I was actually going to birth this baby - umbilical cord and all - and this memory would come flooding back into my mind when I saw it flopping around. I started asking if she thought they would wrap the baby up before they handed it over so I wouldn't have to see that long creepy thing, or if it would already be cut short, and on and on with questions.

I am still not over it. Example: I was walking Eloise and saw a stick that was all twisted and bumpy looking on the ground and immediately felt like I was experiencing post traumatic stress disorder due to flash backs of that day.