5th Degree

I know I wrote about this a while back, but I'm not sure I ever gave an update.

In June this summer, Kyle tested for his 5th degree black belt.  For those of you not familiar with Taekwondo, is suffices to say that this is a pretty big deal.  

Kyle performed very well under pressure in front of a huge panel of judges.  The whole testing had over 350 black belts.  It's quite the operation.  He was strong, sharp, and broke his boards on the first try (...this is important)

I put together a short video of the event.  At the end, it says that we're waiting results.  Well, Kyle has officially received his passing letter.  He is now a 5th degree black belt.  I'm so proud of him!  This takes not only a lot of training, but a lot of involvement and growth within the organization.  

So anyway, sorry this is a little late.  Good job Kyle!

6 month checkup

Well, almost 6 months.  

Kyle and I went in for a baby checkup yesterday.  Happy to report that all was just as it should be.  Heartbeat was still at 160 bpm.  My blood pressure was good and my weight...well... after stepping on the scale, the nurse says, "Well, that's quite a jump!" ...

....yeah, thanks lady.  

I told her to blame it on two vacations in a month.  The doctor said that made sense to her.  ;-)  She's a good doctor.  I am officially bigger than I've ever been.  Never seen those numbers on my scale.  But, c'est la vie.  I'm an incubator.

We go back in a month.  Until then, just enjoying the little kicks and the growing belly.  

Babymoon!

Wow!  So much has happened in the past week, that I don't know where to start.  :)

We had a great vacation to Hawaii.  It was beautiful and fun.  I went snorkeling for the first time, we saw rainbows, ate fresh pineapple, visited Pearl Harbor, saw sea turtles, went shopping, ate good food, went to a luau, and enjoyed the amazing hospitality and warmth of the island.  

We met our friends Billie Jo and Ricky down there for the week, and we had a great time with them as well.  I have about 2000 pictures, so I'll spare you the whole thing.  But I'll post a sampling of them here.  

The only mishap we had on the trip was that Kyle accidently lost his wedding ring in the Pacific.  It just slipped off of his finger.  The waters were so crystal clear that we really thought we'd find it...but after a lot of searching, we had to say good bye.  Kyle was pretty sad about it, and I felt bad for him.  But we both know that it is just a ring that can be replaced.  We are also both glad that it was his ring and not mine...because I would probably still be inconsolable.  

There is just no way for me to summarize all that we did on vacation or to do any one activity justice, so I'll just post some pictures and I'll look forward to seeing most of you next week in Arkansas!

kicks

Two nights ago, I couldn't sleep.  I was up for hours and hours.  At one point I tried to sit up, using only my stomach muscles.  I got about halfway and *BAM!* I got kicked!  It was hard, too.  I halfway yelled, "OW!" and fell back over.  

Apparently baby Shachmut did not appreciate my movement.  

Ever since then, she has been so very active.  I had a really productive day yesterday and felt good about a lot of things.  Maybe she just decided to be just as productive and fully explore her limited surroundings.  All day: kick, kick, punch, roll over, wiggle, kick.  

It's a neat feeling.  Kinda weird, but neat.  I like that she's getting stronger, and now that she's getting more consistent, I look forward to Kyle being able to feel her move around as well.  

This morning I was sitting checking my mail, and when I was done, I just sat here staring at my belly.  I watched it for about 10 mins, just watching my skin move around.  Watching her kick and twitch.  How crazy is that? It's pretty addictive.  I like feeling her.  Although, a few of the really hard ones catch me off guard still.  I told my friend Billie Jo the other day..."It is absolutely insane that I have a living being inside me"  She agreed.  :)  

I wonder if you ever get used to it. Probably not. 

Maybe she's just excited about Hawaii too.  We leave for our babymoon in the morning!  Wish us happy travels, and I'll keep ya posted from afar.  

overwhelmed.

Kyle and I went to register at a few places today...thus the title.

There are so many things.  So many kinds of things.  So many little differences between the things that you're not even sure you want let alone that you need.  We've done pretty well compromising on things.  Trying to get things that can be used again...but still indulging in my occasional must have pink-thing-a-ma-jig.  I know babies don't really need that much.  And I try to keep that in mind.  But, there are things they need. 

Strollers.  So many things to think about.  We spent a long time playing with strollers today.  And then when you find the one with all the features you like...it only comes in designs you don't like.  So do you settle for the second best quality/functionality because you love the cloth?  I don't know.  

Bedding.  This is a lost cause on us right now.  We'll find something...I know.  But today was our first day looking, and well....we just have very different tastes.  Kyle likes things that are big bright bold colors, jungle animals, and sports.  I like more modern designs with calmer colors.  It was very difficult explaining to him my aesthetic opinions.  Conversations usually followed this type of pattern: 

Kyle: how about this one?  

Me: No, that's too boyish.

Kyle: how about this one?

Me: No, that's too girly.  Do you like this?

Kyle: It's blue...isn't blue for boys?

Me: Only some blues. Some blues can be for girls.

Kyle: How about this one?

Me: No...that's a boy blue.

Well...we couldn't agree on one so we figured the perfect set must not have been at that store anyway.  

Furniture.  Here's another whole world of decisions that are too big for me to make.  They have lifetime cribs.  The kind that convert as the child grows and so they can have the "same" bed from birth - adulthood.  ....I can't decide what shampoo to use most mornings, how am I supposed to know if this little girl will want the same bed forever?  How do I know I will want her to have that same bed.  But then it makes cribs seem like a poor value...same price, just one bed.  And THEN, I remember that we don't even have room for a crib...let alone a dresser and anything else.  Then I get sad.  And everything is so pricey. I should just look on craigstlist.  

Anyway.  

We made it through the day.  We don't really know what we're doing, but we're shooting laser guns at things in stores.  And learning, bit by bit.  It's just a little bit overwhelming.