Bits and pieces

First, I had an absolutely fantastic lovely visit with my sissy. And my BIL and my nephew of course. My nephew is just SO adorable and BIG. My goodness, he'll be 2 in October but looks like a 3-4 year old. He wasn't particularly interested in two more new faces, but was chill and at the end of our visits, sufficiently used to us to smile and wave goodbye. My sister was terribly worried that he was really ill-behaved, and DH and I just laughed. She and BIL kept saying that he normally was so great while they were out and they take him out all the time, and she was upset that he was acting up - but seriously, the nicest meals I've ever had with a toddler. He was very well behaved in general, and I think especially so given how broken up his normal routine was and how many new faces he was subjected to.

She said she's going to try and come back in February, a few weeks after the baby is born, but it may not work out. I hope they can, or she can - it would be wonderful. It was just a nice visit, though I'm sure they are going to be thrilled to get back on home.

In other news, the Big Ultrasound is this week and we're looking forward to it, being reasonably sure there are no gross abnormalities at this point. Of course, I'll be relieved if we find conclusively that all the organs look as they should and are in the right place in the right quantities and right sizes. I'm eager for DH to see Chickie again, since it will have been about a month since the last u/s. The changes will be big, I think. And of course, we're eager to find out the sex of the baby, but honestly as I get closer, I find I care less. It's really more about getting a name and some clothes and finding a little more about this little one, satisfying a curiosity than really caring whether it is a boy or girl.

Along those lines though - today while we were doing a h/b check with the doppler, we found it (btw, I'm getting much better at picking out where the baby is. Still feel movement sporadically, and Chickie is a mover and shaker and all over the place, so I feel more rolls and flips than punches and kicks). Once we find the h/b we listen for a few seconds and then we talk to the baby for awhile. Today, feeling goofy, I asked the baby if it was a boy or a girl. I said to kick now if it was a boy. All we heard was a steady 10-15 seconds of heartbeat. So then I said to kick now if it was a girl. We heart 4 heartbeats and then THUMP.

So there you have it folks - the chicken thinks it's a hen, not a rooster.

Other news? DH cleaned some so the living room is neater than it's been in awhile. I'm feeling more mobile and more energetic since beginning the iron supplements, so I may pitch in (slowly) and start doing more of the stuff that's been piling for awhile, like cleaning the toilets properly and sorting through the clothes that need to go into storage so we can get the bedroom clean.

That's about it. Life is pretty good right now, I think.