Big Week!

This week has flown by to me! It started off kind of rocky, but we are looking forward to a nice ending. I had my 25 week appointment on Tuesday. Turns out that my mind has not been playing tricks on me -- I am, indeed, getting fat. I hopped on the scale at the doctor's office and learned that I've gained a whopping 9 lbs since my last appointment 4 weeks ago. I didn't even know that was possible!

So that shock was followed by one of the scariest moments of my life. My OB tried to find the baby's heartbeat with a doppler, which he does at every appointment. We could hear my slow, plodding heart, but no tiny quick thumping that belonged to the baby. In a sheer panic, despite my doctor's calming tone, we went across the hall to the ultrasound machine to make sure my little guy was okay. He was fine, I even made the doctor hover on his little heart for a few mintues so I could watch it beat and feel assured. It was still terrifying and I don't think my heart stopped racing for several hours after that. I'm hoping Little Dude will not be so evasive at my next appointment, lest I go into cardiac failure right then and there.

So after all that mess, Lily and I headed to retrieve my greatest Craigslist find to date -- my beloved Maclaren*stroller! I found a used (2004) Techno XT for $65 in Kannapolis. This is the cadillac of strollers and something I've been wanting for a while. I'm really happy I scored a good deal on one!

Today (Thursday), I had an early morning WIC appointment (thank God for free milk and cheese!) and I expected it to last hours, but I was in and out in 10 minutes (that will never happen again, mind you), so I took advantage of my time and did something really important to me:

I have always been politically minded, but have never actually voted before. My life used to be prioritized around other things. Today, I get to put some action behind my words and beliefs and that's a pretty powerful thing for me! I stood in line on my swollen feet for 2 hours and thoroughly enjoyed myself! I hope that one day I can tell people that I voted in an election that changed history!

Tonight (yes, we're slackers, we realize Halloween is tomorrow) we finally carved our pumpkin. Well, Devin carved, Lily cleaned and I photographed.

Lily was a little tentative at first....

but it didn't take her long to dig right in and start taking out the goop!

Her favorite thing was to "stir it up" -- she took great pride in this while Devin carved away. She would stir for a while and then suddenly and without warning (he had to pull the knife away fast), reach down in depths of the pumpkin to get more sludge and seeds for her concoction.

Lily hard at work with her seeds

And the ghastly final product -- a nauseated pumpkin (this is what happens when you put boys in charge of carving)