And now for something completely different.

Andrew's nephew had a birthday party, Hobbits being the theme.  Andrew had to go all out and rent a costume.  He was the hit of the party.  All the boys there were going after him with their wooden and plastic swords. It looked like a scene from a low rent fantasy movie: a bunch of poorly costumed boys of Neverland attacking a knight from Monty Python with Nerf weapons.

Fighting a mighty battle with his brother.

Looking dashing in his suit.

He's a knight of the round patio table

The three of middle earth.

Who thought up this pregnancy thing anyway?

I'm entering the third trimester.  So far, it's been a doozy.  I'm fully aware that on the continuum of difficulties, I've had a pretty easy time so far.  No vomiting, some discomfort though no pain, frequent sonograms, exhaustion, and heart burn that'll wake me up at night.  BUT the baby has all the right bits in all the right places, and is progressing (asymmetrically, but still progressing).  I've also managed not to gain a million pounds, so that's good.   I'm proud of the little belly, and even the waddle I now have.

And then this new round of not-awesomeness.  Andrew and I didn't go anywhere this weekend because a person might think I had food poisoning, except it wasn't food poisoning.  I ate nothing but toast and sports drinks.  It was miserable.

I've been proud to say I haven't thrown up this whole time.  I've been close many times, especially when brushing teeth.  I followed the advice of my very young nephew, Yoda: "If you feel throw up in your throat, just choke it down."  Worked like a charm for 6 months. This morning, though,... ugh.

Maybe I should just use mouth wash for the next three months.

I don't have a picture of my belly, but here's a pic of Baby X from a sonogram in May (did I mention I've had five sessions?  I don't know what it's like to go to the midwife without getting one done.)  If you'll notice, he's thumbing his nose at the world.  That's my boy!

Moving into The House - Part 1

It's been a whirl wind 2015.  One of the three BIG things that are happening is our house.  I've finally bought a house.  First comes a "new car", then marriage, now a house.  If ever there was a sign I was finally becoming an adult, it's signing a 30 fixed mortgage (and promptly having a panic attack).

I've lived for almost 2 decades in Denver, and the whole time in apartments. I moved here with my friend, Diana, when we lived in a nice 2Bd2Bt equidistant from a library and a Hooters. Then apartment I had in Capital Hill for like 15 years which was cramped and weird and inconvenient for a lot of things, but perfect for me.  Then, I moved to Englewood with Andrew to a very conveniently located and designed apartment that had a terrible office staff, but an awesome pool.  There were trade offs to each one.

The real estate world is inSANE!!!!  I would have given the whole thing up pretty quickly except for the idea that rent was only going to go up and up and up in the whole metro area.  Rents and house prices are quickly getting out of hand.  Anything in our range was getting snapped up on the first day they went on the market, often for more than asking price.  We were really lucky to have a connection and got a chance at a nice house in a good neighborhood just within our budget before it went on the market.

Not a lot to be done to it really, just some cosmetic stuff, and a few unexpected things that made the first month or so challenging.  (I might have threatened to call Lemon Law on this place, but that only works on used cars.)

First weekend: Spring snow that took out that one ugly tree that was going to be removed anyway.   It took out the patio furniture.

Second weekend:  My parents came over and destroyed the wall paper in five rooms, and replaced the light fixtures in two that didn't work.  (not a disaster, per se, but it was eventfull, plus piles of shredded paper sticking to everyone's feet.)

Third weekend: the hot water pipe sprung a leak and Andrew and I got a chance to see why plumbers make the big money.

Here's a picture of one of the piles of boxes filling our living room.

Next comes baby...

So a few months back, I realized that the whole "It only takes one time" thing was a real thing.  That fertility might decline after age 35, but that didn't mean it was an effective form of birth control.   That the thing I'd prayed for over the years, but finally given up on entirely, was finally going to happen.  That I was in the family way.

To be sure, because home tests can be wrong, we went to the OB/GYN and had the trans-vaginal sonogram.  There was the little gummy bear, right in the correct spot.  

Next visit, the office drew blood and tested for genetic abnormalities.  I'm considered of "advanced maternal age" after all.  One of the advantages, though, is that they can test for the gender at the same time.  

Revealing it to Andrew should be a little more than just phone call while at work, I thought.  I bought a couple gender specific items and wrapped them up.

A little boy!  And the best part?  Andrew pulled from one of his many pockets an Almond Joy with a blue greeting card.  He said he knew it was going to be a boy.

Then 5 minutes later, pulled out a Mounds bar with a pink greeting card out of another pocket.  He'd bought both, just in case.  It was so awesome!

It started with a wedding...

I waited a long time to get married: 38 years.  It took a while to find the right guy, and then a while to believe my own good luck.

Long story short, he got me to move from my cramped and inconvenient apartment in Capital Hill that I'd been in for YEARS and into a somewhat boring but convenient in many ways 2BR2BATH along the lite rail line.

Life, in the short time we've been together, has been both sweet and unexpectedly different.  Marriage is not as advertised.

2015 is going to be another big year, with a new house (rents are insane lately), and a frankly unplanned baby on the way.