Daniel's Post - Making it to Male and Exploring Our Island!

November 2nd - Travel Day and First Day in Male

(Starting at the in-airport hotel in Singapore...)

I managed to have 4 hours allotted towards sleep – I couldn’t fall asleep right away so I probably only slept 2 of those hours. Even still, sleeping in a bed after a shower worked wonders! We wake up at 7 a.m., quickly pack and then head out in search of some breakfast.

I see a Dunkin Donuts on the map which I vote for since they have bagels. We don’t find it right away so we eat at a smoothie place instead. To supplement the sugar, Dad pulls out the Bronk Bars that he smuggled half-way across the world. Once we finish, we head downstairs and see the Dunkin Donuts – but they don’t have bagels anyway. We spend some time on the free Internet, expecting that this may be the last reliable source for a long time and then we head to gate E28 for our flight.

The gate starts letting people enter through another security checkpoint at 8:55 a.m. Our flight leaves at 10 a.m. and we get to the gate around 8:45. We both use the restroom because we notice that there are not any behind the checkpoint (Beth would have had a hard time with that setup!). As we go through security, we expect to get flagged for our camera gear, but all we get yelled at for is brining a 1L bottle full of water. I forgot that we filled it up at the hotel. Luckily they let us drink it – so I drink 1L of water in about 60 seconds. It feels great – I’ve been dehydrated for a while now. I look around with a well-hydrated smile and remember that there are no bathrooms…da da daaaah. We enjoy the last bit of free Internet but I am very happy when we board and I immediately use the restroom on the plane.

This flight is only 4 hours and it already feels like we are done. I watch The Heat, an episode of Billion Dollar Room, and an episode of Wipeout. Then we are there. I really enjoy having these entertainment options!

The Male airport is very small, much like we expected. We wait through a customs line and then baggage return. Dad tries to find someone to ask about his Allen wrenches while I get the luggage. The good news is that the luggage arrives, but the bad news is that no one knows anything about this envelope with the wrenches. We leave with a phone number to try calling…

There are a lot of hotel kiosks in the outside, humid section of the airport. We find the Bandos sign, check in, and then grab the boat to our island…yes, our island. Bandos is an island with nothing but a hotel resort located on it. The ride is ten minutes long. We have to wait for an hour or so to go through the check in processes, but it doesn’t matter because we’ve arrived! Oh, and everything is crazy-beautiful…

Our room is a 10 minute walk from checking and they cart our luggage to us. Once our luggage arrives, we head off on a walking tour of the island with cameras in hand. The island is not large, but it is not small – it probably takes 20-30 minutes to walk around the entire perimeter. We walk along pristine white beaches. They aren’t very crowded because people are pretty well distributed across the island – and there are beaches all the way around…

After our walking tour with 10,000 pictures, we head back and get ready to snorkel. The snorkeling is a lot better than I expected – lots of animals and lots of color – it’s an excited sign of what is in store for us later! We head back after about 30 minutes – Dad gets the camera and I head to the Sand Bar to grab a drink and send some email. I really wanted a Gatorade, but I had to settle for a banana shake…woe is me! The internet is frustratingly slow – I tried to attach some pictures and that was a big mistake! After fiddling around some, Dad comes to get me and we head back to go on our sunset walking picture tour…

I think this is a "Where Beth Would Go" picture...

I spy with my little eye...

This time I grab the 7D in an attempt to get a picture of the bats that we’ve seen everywhere. I get a few pictures, but nothing great. We then proceed to take sunset pictures…lots of sunset pictures…so many…The sun sets around 6 p.m. and dinner does not start until 7 p.m., so we had about an hour to kill. I started catching up on pictures, but was soon overtaken by a wave of exhaustion. I passed out for about 25 minutes and slept hard. Dad woke me for dinner.

Dinner is included and is a large buffet-style restaurant. There was everything from salads, fruits, rice, Indian cuisine, steaks, casseroles, pastas, fried fish, and desserts. We thought about it and this is our first real meal in several days…we got there at 7 p.m. and didn’t finish eating until 7:50 p.m….we ate for 50 minutes without stopping…it felt so good! We both felt amazingly better.

By now it was dark outside and there were a lot of people hanging around the center area. I tried to send some emails again, managed to talk to Beth some on Hangouts, but ultimately failed with Internet again. I’m going to go back and type up some on my computer and then head out to email just that.

As we walked back, we noticed just how dark the island is – there are lights here and there along the pathway, but it really is pretty dark. We head out on the beach near our hotel and there isn’t a light around – and we can see stars…lots of stars! We play around with pictures and manage to get a few good ones. After that, we went back and Dad showered and is asleep. I am catching up on pictures and journals. Now that that is done, I am going to go take a quick shower and head to bed. It is 9:42 p.m. here and I set my alarm for 9 a.m. – we’ll see just how well I can sleep in!

Boat boarding day...

It is raining all day today, so we haven't taken much. Dad's been going stir crazy. We're waiting in the lobby for the shuttle to the boat - it's still raining and there are no power outlets...I have to run my poor 5+ year old battery to the limit...

 

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Daniel, Gary, and the Maldives - Prologue and Anecdotes from BWI to San Fran to Seoul to Singapore to Male...

Prologue

This trip is occurring in the middle of one of the biggest transition periods of my life:

 

1) I have a new job. I resigned from my position at Harris and accepted a position on the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. I voluntarily wear ties to subliminally affect people’s opinions of me.

2) We have left Florida and are now living in Jessup, Maryland which is outside of Boston and D.C. by about 30 minutes each. It is in the middle of Fall there – we have not had a fall in 8 years…I’ve had to buy sweat pants, running clothes, slippers, sweaters, etc. It’s great.

3) Beth is 21 weeks pregnant. I always keep thinking I should list this one first…

 

Needless to say, Beth, Chance, baby Hals, and I are going through some crazy changes. We have officially been in Maryland 4 weeks, but have only been in our town home for just over 1 week. The cramped hotel that we were in before that did not have a kitchen and only had a queen bed – we needed out of there fast! Our town home is three stories, brand new, and has a great layout for hosting. We are really excited but are still overloaded with boxes…

My job has been going really great, but this trip ended up falling at a poor time; having just started a new job, I didn’t have enough vacation for this trip. This was known ahead of time, but the solution involved me working extra hours before I left. Normally that isn’t a problem, but since I am just started, I need to become more familiar with my surroundings before I can become self reliant and efficient. That has not happened yet. Trying to work extra without much to do other than read documents can be a very difficult task…

Oh yeah, the pregnancy – Beth is now 21 weeks pregnant with our baby girl. Everything is going very well and all in all, there haven’t been very many problems. Definitely the biggest problem so far is the fact that I am going on this trip and Beth is not – something about flying for 40 hours, living on a dive boat where she can’t take sea sickness patches and where she cannot dive, being at much higher risk for food borne illnesses, only to fly 40 hours back sounded a little unappealing. That means that it is just me and my Dad on this trip. Beth is not very pleased about it, but is doing well with it.

Along those lines, the intent of these journals is to act as emails for Beth so she can catch up on what we are doing.

October 31 and November 1st - Travel Days

I left for BWI airport at 5 a.m. on Halloween day. We are very close to the airport and Beth was gracious enough to drive me. After we said goodbye, I got on my flight to San Francisco after getting a bagel in the airport. This flight was rather uneventful. I slept for a few hours and then watched 95% of Monsters University (it was the airplane that only showed one movie on the overhead screens, so I had no choice).

Dad was leaving from Columbia and was going to meet me in San Francisco. His flight was supposed to get in 45 minutes after mine, but he ended up being early. I got my checked luggage, headed over to the international terminal and waited for him to arrive. After a few games of phone tag, I see a man dressed in what appears to be a fat suit holding what appears to be enough equipment to man a small army – it was dad…

Dad's fat suit

The first thing he does is offloads some of the things he is carrying into my luggage to balance the weight of his bags (one of his carry-ons is 14 kilos and the limit is 7…). After that, we grab some lunch outside of security. I get a chicken skewer and salad meal which ends up being good and not too greasy – I try to avoid eating greasy foods before long flights because I find it makes me feel grimier.

We are checked in by Batgirl (remember, it is Halloween), and we head through security. We end up only having about 1 hour to spare before our flight boards. I am glad that we are now flying the same airline because last time Beth and I flew two separate airlines to one destination, we had delays on the first half and they did not reimburse our second half. That was the time it took us over 50 hours to get from Florida to Greece…10 hours longer than these flights are supposed to be (to India). I send some update emails, make some calls, and then board the plane.

Our flight durations are as follows: BWI->San Francisco (5.5 hours), San Francisco->Seoul (12 hours), Seoul->Singapore (6.5 hours), and Singapore to Male (4 hours). We also have a 9 hour layover in Singapore, which would really suck if not for the fact that we have an in-Airport hotel.

The flight to Seoul really wasn’t that bad. Dad and I each had an aisle seat, which was nice. We bought neck pillows made of memory foam and those were REALLY nice to have. The food was good as far as airplane food goes, but it was a little greasy for me. There were a huge number of babies and they all seemed to have parents who didn’t care if they cried. Oh, and it was FREEZING – at least 65*. I usually like to sit on my blanket for extra cushioning, but I had to actually use it just to survive…I ended up sleeping most of the flight, which was really nice.

Our layover in Seoul was only about an hour and we really just got off the plane and then got back on the same one. The only weird thing was that they made us go through security again. We are usually flagged because of the massive amounts of camera gear we bring, but Dad was having extra trouble at this place – they really didn’t like him having his Allen wrenches. Now, these are camera Allen wrenches, so they are no longer than 2 inches and thin enough I could snap them with my bare hands. Dad was starting to get nervous because he literally cannot put together his underwater camera without that kit and they were trying to throw them away. Luckily a manager came over and allowed us to check it to Male.

You have been travellnated...

And shot in the genitals...

 

Back on the plane we went….same seats, same crying babies,same freezing temperatures. I slept a few hours of this 6.5 hours flight, but I ended up watching a couple of movies. Between the three flights, I watched 5 movies (Monsters University, Wolverine (something – the 5th or 6th one?), Red 2, The Internship, and 2 Guns). Other than that, this flight was also pretty uneventful.

We landed in Singapore at 1:30 a.m. their time (1:30 p.m. home time). The hotel is easy to find – we check in, shower and catch up on emails/journals. That is where I am now. I’m about to go run out to the lobby where the internet is so I can send a bigger update. After that, I will come back to the room and try to catch a few hours of sleep.

 

 

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Week 20 - Halfway!!!

Week 20 - October 24 - 30, 2013

Officially halfway! I woke up the morning of the 20 week mark in a wonderful mood and so excited! What a triumph! Halfway through my pregnancy with a wonderfully healthy little girl wiggling inside! Hooray!

From 10 weeks to 20 weeks! Baby Hals is growing!

 

Through the day (and the rest of the week) I kept thinking...wow, I have made it so far! And wow, it has gone so fast! But...that thought was quickly swamped with wow, I have so far to go! And...wow, I have a feeling this may go just as quickly! Ah! I triumphantly took a picture of my growing baby bump and reflected upon how much Baby Hals has grown and how well things are going! I was really excited to show up in Florida with my cute bump as well...

 

My official 20 week mark started on a Thursday and Friday morning I was scheduled to get up early, take the MARC and metro into DC to Reagan Int'l, fly to Orlando, and drive to meet up with friends in Florida. I was presenting in Daytona at the Florida Council for Social Studies Conference on Saturday. So...I had a lot to do in terms of packing, finalizing my presentation, and getting my hands on a forsaken apple cord that would allow me to project my iPad through VGA to and LCD projector. So I headed to the apple store in the mall (I had tried to get the cord through Amazon and it had been a disaster). After my apple store experience (I wanted a shower...but that's beside the point), I popped into the Vera Bradley store on my way out because I the baby section caught my eye and I wanted to check out their diaper bag backpack first hand. (Which I am a pretty big fan of!) While there a store clerk approached me and started chatting about the various items, and oh aren't these things so pretty and cute, and oh I had three boys so I never got to enjoy this kind of stuff... At that point I interupted her to excitedly say I was having a girl. She replied "oh, you're pregnant?! I had no idea?" Sigh. Yes, I thought - pregnant and halfway...

 

The next day on my flight from DC to Orlando I sat beside two very nervous, very chatty college age girls on the plane and when my pregnancy came up they again said - oh my gosh, we didn't even notice you were pregnant!! Again...sigh. And then once I met up with my friends we hit the food trucks in Wickham Park (which were delicious and a lot of fun) and we saw a very truly pregnant girl there in a purple shirt who made my cute little bump look just that...like a little bump. But from there I adjusted my perspective. Weight wise I am doing great (gaining, but at a very healthy rate) and ultimately I am glad I am not humongous pregnant. 20 more weeks is a looong time to continue expanding - particularly if I was already quite big. So...ultimately I am glad I am not full blown "grocery store pregnant" just yet, but at the same time...I woke up at 20 weeks, took my picture and did the side by side comparison and could only marvel at how much I have grown. And yet...it evidently isn't enough growth for anyone to think I am anything more than just kinda pudgy. Embracing it...but I spent Thursday and Friday going through an additional mental adjustment of being halfway...but still not obviously anything more than that girl in the grocery store with a beer gut or a cookie addiction.

 

Presenting at FCSS went really well! I really enjoyed getting to share my work with other teachers and overall had a great time with my presentation. And the rest of the weekend? I spent laughing and enjoying the company of our dear Florida friends. We enjoyed dinners, we had a traditional laughter filled evening at WOB and tried to invent the worst possible name for baby Hals, and caught up. It was really nice.

 

During week 20 Baby Hals also became an acrobat...although to my credit I didn't realize it for certain just yet. One of the nights I was staying with Thomas and Brie, I slept absolutely horribly...and kept thinking to myself...do I have a rumbly tumbly or a tumbly baby? In hindsight? I had a tumbly baby! By the end of week 20 it was clear - I had a tumbling, flip-flopping, barrel rolling, somersaulting acrobat in my belly! And it was awesome!

At 20 weeks, Baby Hals is the size of a banana! We took this the last night of week 20 and the night before Daniel left for the Maldives! This one was my favorite!

 

Every week that I feel good I am oh so grateful! I'm trying not to dread the future, but it's pretty common knowledge that I am likely to feel less than comfortable by the end. So every day and each week that I still feel good or even pretty good? I am thankful and rolling with it!

 

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19 weeks! Miss or Mister? Prince or Princess? He or She?!? Baby Hals is a...

October 17th - 19 weeks! Anatomy scan and...gender reveal!!!!

Today was one of my favorite days of my pregnancy so far! After the free-cell DNA test / gender snafu (doc claimed my 13 week blood test accidentally hadn't happened, so they took blood for a free-cell DNA test (which would tell me gender within two weeks!), but the 13 week test results came in after all (just late), so they cancelled the free-cell DNA test mid-test without telling me, so after a two week wait...no gender news = huge bummer) I think I had kinda squished my excitement to know my baby's gender and thus, a large part about my baby's identity into a little box because it was easier that way. We were moving, I didn't have a doctor's office and was having trouble getting in with one, had no idea when we would get an appointment for the anatomy scan...yep, squishing my excitement/desperate desire to know my baby's gender into a box was just easier.

 

But! In the past three days all kinds of big things have happened that we have been working towards for weeks! We moved into our townhome - and as I was signing the final papers with the movers I got a phone call from the doctor's office I really wanted to use! They could see me the next day! (yesterday!) At the appointment things were great - my blood pressure was awesome, my weight gain was right on target (phew!), and my baby maker was measuring to size! Hooray! AND THEN! I told my doc about all the gender drama and asked if there was any way they could squeeze me in sooner rather than later - and they did! Before I left the office I had an appointment for the following morning!

 

I wasn't sure what to expect, but any chance to see Baby Hals is an exciting one - and I was absolutely blown away by this ultrasound! Our baby looked like...a real BABY! Not a blob or a skinny skeleton baby with spindly limbs - but my goodness - a real baby! What a difference 6 weeks can make!

Baby Hals at 13 weeks - quite a cutie!

Baby Hals at 19 weeks!

Baby Hals waving hello - baby's arms and fingers were so much more defined this time!

Baby Hals sucking on the thumb! So cute! We could actually see the baby suckle and swallow!

So...these pictures may not truly do it all justice but Daniel and I were both immediately floored by how much more developed Baby Hals had become in just six weeks! The limbs were so much more defined - especially the fingers, the body had filled out a bit, the profile was more distinctive - and seriously - seeing the baby suckle and swallow was just so so amazing! The technician (who was awesome!...I have loved everyone in this doctor's office and am so excited to have found somewhere good!!!) said the baby was in perfect position and that she was going to take the opportunity to use the "4D (3D in real time)" wand - she warned us that at 19 weeks the baby might look a bit elfish and that the best 4D face pics are usually in another two months once the fat has come in and padded the cheecks, but that she would take a peek anyway - and we were so glad she did! So cool!!!

This one still makes me think of *face palm* "Oh boy, you guys are going to take a lot of pictures...you're THOSE parents..."

What a sleepy sweetie!

Such a cutie! It was so exciting! At that point the technician did some of the formal checks that are part of the anatomy scan - and I was absolutely amazed at what they can do! They were able to do cross sections of the chest and actually count the chambers of the heart! We could see them pumping! She pointed out the baby's aortic arch, bladder, kidneys, stomach, hemispheres of the brain, cerebellum - it was really just amazing! And even more exciting - each of these major, critical, precious things looked great! They all were functioning, measuring to size, looked like they should, etc! How unbelievably amazing and awesome! She also checked size by measuring head, belly, arm, and leg...and my child's head, arm, and leg measured a few days ahead of due date and the belly a few days or two behind due date (wonderfully normal range)...but sounds like we have a lanky, tall, big headed, slender kiddo! :) Heartrate was a wonderfully strong 157 per minute. Amniotic fluid levels were great (which is another indicator of healthy functions), everything was deemed perfectly normal! We were so excited and grateful!

And then for the gender question!...Back story - at sixteen weeks, Daniel's dad (Gary) snuck me into the ER and tried to do a quick ultrasound to see if he could determine gender. The ER ultrasound machine was...let's say less than spectacular. So things were grainy, difficult to see, but Gary hazarded a guess and stamped it with 80% confidence. We were seeing my parents that night for dinner and decided to share - It's (probably) a boy!!!! It was fun and exciting! And we were supposed to be able to support it within the next three business days with the free-cell DNA test results - so isn't it more fun to tell in person? It was fun and even though it wasn't for 100% certain, we enjoyed talking about fun boy things and I showed my family the things I had in mind for a nursery if it was a boy. On the drive from SC to Maryland Daniel and I started chatting through our list of names again. And for the past few weeks I have tentatively imagined a boy, toyed with boys names, etc. And was super excited about it!

But! Fast forward three weeks to ultrasound day! And...the technician transitions from the anatomy check to the gender check and says - do you see this image and know what it means? It's a GIRL!!!!

While we hadn't fully committed to Gary's guess (and in his defense it was early and the equipment was quite crummy), it made the technician's proclamation that much more surprising! We happily laughed and told her the guess story and she assured us - this was a textbook picture with three perfect little lines that clearly translated as "girl." She also said that in her 21 years she has a 100% accurate guessing record and that she would "paint the room" on the textbook nature of the shot she got. So.... Oh my goodness, Baby Hals is a GIRL!!!!

I was so excited that she decided to do one more round of 4D pics...so I could see the face of...my daughter! It looked that much softer and sweeter to know whether it was the face of my he or she. This appointment was by far my favorite so far - and Daniel's too. He also marveled at how much more baby-like our baby looked! As we were leaving the doctor's office Daniel also said "well, I guess that's why none of the boys names we've discussed seemed right!" Ironically Pam and Gary had also mentioned with Daniel they couldn't agree on a girls name and with Emily they couldn't agree on a boys name...so well, there you go.

I immediately started calling the family - everyone was thrilled! And I gave my mother-in-law (Pam) the go ahead to get "bow making" lessons from one of her friends and said "bring on the bows!" And I didn't head home without swinging by Kohls to spend my Kohls cash on my first non-gender neutral purchase! I spent a good while marveling through the baby girl section and finally selected something cute and (yes, it was pink) adorable. :) YAY!

We honestly would have been thrilled with either gender - we cared so much more about just having a healthy baby! BUT! Knowing the baby's gender? SO FUN! I have already gotten to spend the rest of the day personifying my kiddo with "she" and "her" instead of "it" or "he/she" or just "baby"... how could that not help you feel closer to your baby?

Tonight we ate out at our new favorite Indian restaurant in the area and Daniel actually brought up names (what?!) AND identified his favorite (I think my jaw actually dropped)...which was on my top four list too! Sooo...not sure if it will stick...but for now we actually have a front runner! :) We'll see!

 

 

 

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Week 17 - Finding a rental!

Week 17 - October 3 - 9

One of the greatest feats of the week? Officially finding a place to live! I was hesitant to write about any of this until I new for sure we had managed to get the rental we were vying for, but! for once the advantage of blogging from behind? We got it...so now I can write it up with confidence!

First of all for the record...I moved five states north to Maryland site unseen (I did the same with Florida...I suppose I have a true sense of adventure!) and Daniel agreed to a townhome, signed a lease, paid thousands in deposits and fronted rent, and scheduled the movers site unseen. The Hals do not have trust issues!

On the last day of week 16 (Wednesday) I had visited a few rental options with my realtor Penny (wonderful! - if you need an agent recommendation in the area let me know) and as crazy as it may sound...the first place we visited was a resounding favorite! The other ones didn't quite match what I had envisioned or lacked some of the "must haves" that immediately crossed them off the list. So at the end of the day...there was one that stuck out in my mind. The only problem was that 1) we weren't sure if they would take Chance (case by case) 2) the monthly rental rate was just past the range we were hoping for. But here's why I loved it (and because it was past the target $ range I was really trying to not over think about why I loved it...but really...it was a slam dunk rental). So...townhome that is BRAND NEW, recently finished, never lived in and smells like fresh paint (mmmm!); 2100 square feet; 2 car garage and a driveway big enough for two cars to pull up into the drive way (visitors!); back yard access from the basement (yay for Chance!), no fenced yard - but there's grass and that's all we need!; living spaces were large enough for our couches and entertainment system and would be comfortably sized not cramped; actually had a dining room large enough for our dining room table; there was a decent size deck off the dining room/kitchen that overlooked trees!; the kitchen!!! - granite, stainless steel, lots of cabinets, cooktop stove; hardwood floors through kitchen and dining room; there's a half bath on the living level; upstairs three bedrooms (and the spare bedrooms are a nice size); two full baths including a four piece master ensuite; linen closet and nice size master walk in closet; lots of windows; - this place was just a WIN. I was trying SO hard not to get my hopes up and to realize it was just probably too good to be true. All of our must-haves were met and all but one of our wish list items too! (The one wish list no-go was having a washer/dryer on the bedroom floor...it's in the basement...more stairs and better fitness for us!)

Look at this kitchen!!! Yay!!! Enough space, a nice oven and stove top, hooray!

But...Penny called me Thursday and said that she had inquired further and 1) Chance was approved 2) the leasing agent dropped the price of rent by enough that it was in our range!!! and 3) all lawn maintenance is included and they said utilities tend to be about $100 per month...seriously. I told Daniel, thinking I was still going to have to sweet talk him because it was at the top of our price range and he said - do it! Ahhhh! Thursday night before I filled out some of the rental apps I looked through our MLS rental options one more time and it only solidified my belief that I had found something awesome. So...Friday was an insane flurry of paper work. I was getting certified checks, filling out rental applications and background checks, faxing things to my doctors office so they would release my records, meeting with the realtor in Maryland with all the paperwork, managing conversations with our realtor in FL and adjusting the price there, and there was a job that had potential that I had applied for that I needed to scan in about fifteen documents to fully apply. It was an insane day - but in the end I got every single thing done! Very satisfying! I was told that by Tuesday or Wednesday we would know if we had a home or not.

It's no wonder I have an obsession with monkey stuff...Daniel picked these up for me at breakfast (by the time I get down there they are out and it makes me sad) - wanted to pep me up Friday so I could handle all of the craziness!

Beautiful view on our way to dinner - at the Restaurants on the Lake area in Columbia, MD. It's beginning to look like fall!!!

I spent the weekend trying not to get my hopes up...but also starting to play furniture tetris in my head. Even though the square footage was greater than our home, we were loosing rooms and I was doing a lot of mental shifting of things to figure out what the best layout would be. Tuesday I got a call and...we got it! YAY! I set a move in date right away and contacted Daniel who called the movers and ...they were able to move on the day we wanted! It was all falling into place! We weren't going to be homeless! There was a room that I could start envisioning as a nursery! It had a wonderful kitchen and was a place that I would really enjoy calling home! If it was a different year in our lives I would have been less obsessed with where to live, but considering I am currently unemployed, and therefore home a lot more than normal, and considering I am going to be here around the clock with a newborn...finding a place that would be a good fit for us was really really important. I'm super happy and excited about what we managed to find...we kept trying to figure out how on earth this place hadn't been snatched up...but the one thing that I think was in our favor was the fact that the online listing description said "unit may still be under construction, please contact agent." Regardless...we won! :)

Quick glipmse of an early bird fall tree - they aren't all colorful yet,but there are a few like this that give you an idea of what's in store! Gorgeous! So excited!!!

Chance on a non-rainy day enjoying trouncing through the leaves to catch ropes and loving the cooler weather!

Other Maryland adjustments? Continuing to explore and learn the area - and I am increasingly happy with what I find! Weather this week was pretty crummy though - it rained almost non-stop for nearly a week. I though Chance was going to loose it. Poor pup. I donned the rain coat and took him on a long walk regardless if we had back to back days of rain, but still - he was super bored and over it.

And Baby Hals and myself? Baby Hals is still a wiggling, growing cutie in there! I can tell that my baby maker is getting bigger - it's almost at my belly button now and I had an evening where I realized my gurgling "tummy" (consider tummy a collective term for all digestive organs) was gurgling from different places than normal - it was seriously weird. But, upon some fruitful internet searches I realized how displaced my stomach and small intestines already are and that yep...gurgling just below my ribcage is where that carries on now! Pretty crazy.

I'm still struggling to get in with the doctor's office, but I finally found out toward the end of this week that my doc's office mailed the new office all of my records. Mailed....not faxed. Good because it means it will be thorough...but bad because it means that it's going to take even longer for me to be seen. Sigh. Some day. I finally looked up the test I need and while it's standard to occur between 16-18 weeks, I have until 22 weeks technically. So...my attitude now? Que sera sera. I'll call a week after it was mailed and see where we are.

I am still so incredibly grateful that all of this has been going on during the second trimester and not during my first. I have thought of that frequently. My adventures in my attempts to work out still seem to continue. I have had several days where I have had a really good work out. Not one where I pushed way too hard, but work outs where I got sweaty, felt good and refreshed, and was really glad I had worked out. Not knocked out for the day or anything. But...the day after...has sucked. And it is a different part of me every time. One day it was everything around my tummy - to the extent that I wanted to only take Chance on a mini walk because walking was just uncomfortable (but I had been FINE the day before) or another day after an elliptical work out (which for the record I own one and have one at home that I use all the time) my hips and feet were so tenderly sore I could barely walk...it was just ridiculous (and again I had felt GREAT after that workout the day before). So...working out during pregnancy is like Russian roulette...I honestly have no idea what to expect the next day, but I definitely should not plan on being able to pull off consecutive workouts. Good grief. I tried prenatal yoga on Tuesday night and really enjoyed it! The next day? Felt like I had had a light workout....so at least that one was a success! I guess the biggest thing I have realized is that even if a workout is good one day...my body changes...pretty much every day...so the next time I attempt that same workout who knows how my body will feel afterwards. It's a really bizarre notion for a person to grasp who is one of those creature-of-habit-workout-routine people. I'm very used to knowing how a workout it going to make me feel afterwards...this laughs at that! Rolling with it!

I think I am starting to have a bit of a bump! :) The picture on the left is Week 11, on the right Week 17! Six weeks makes a big difference! (Literally!)

 

 

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Week 18 - A Wedding and Moving In!

Week 18 - October 10-16, 2013

This week was another busy one! We made it down to Charlotte to see one of our dearest friends get married and enjoyed quite a weekend of festivities and after parties with Kate & Cj Huelsman! Chance was a hotel dog in Charlotte too and his hotel training was definitely apparent. We drove back to Maryland and returned to our hotel on Sunday night, finalized the lease and did a walk through of our new townhome rental on Monday evening, and I was at the townhome early Tuesday morning to act as "air traffic control" as the movers delivered all of our beloved things! Tuesday was an asbolutely grueling and exhausting day and I spent a great deal of it running up and down the stairs between the three stories of our new home, but I felt incredibly triumphant by the end of it! And, as our furniture was steadily delivered into the various rooms I was very relieved and excited that things fit the way I had hoped - I had not underenvisioned the size of the townhome - it was just right for our furniture and what we own. Yay! By the time Daniel got home there were very few things that needed to be done to make sure he would be able to get ready for work with ease the following morning. Oh and another relief or exciting thing? Daniel had fully trusted me and let me pick the townhome out site unseen - so Monday I was anxiously hoping he would see all of the positives that I saw... and he did! After another day or two he admitted how great a find it was. His commute is excellent as well!

Oh and Chance?! Couldn't be a happier dog! When I let him loose in the townhome it was like "he knew". He happily sprinted up and down the stars all day, checked out all the windows in the house, and spent the day laying in the sunshine (he didn't get much sunshine while in the hotel aside from walks) and surveying the movers work.

Baby Hals? Doing great! On the super busy days I haven't been able to feel him/her wiggle all that much, but then in the evenings when I sit down BH is back at it (or I am still enough that I can feel the wigglings). I am feeling really good and luckily full enough of the energy I need to pull off these crazy move-in days and our trip to Charlotte!

Here's some of the highlights - I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves -

Part of the Chapin crew with Mr. and Mrs. Huelsman!

 

Sporting my little bump!

 

 

Front of our new home! Two car garage baby!

 

basement area

backyard access behind the townhome - look at all that space for Chance!

back of our townhome

living room

dining room and kitchen

stairwell number 2 - heading up to the third story

master bedroom

nice size walk-in closet

four piece master ensuite with double sink!

Baby Hals' future bedroom!

Our possessions...all 8 cargo boxes

Chance sunning himself and monitoring the movers progress

 

yay! the dining room table fits!

living room - yay we got our awesome couches back!

master bedroom - furniture fit! whew!

classy dining the first night - tupperware lids double as decent plates in a pinch!

 

And there was a lot of this...I think that's the paper from three boxes.

Most random box ever. Bedroom slippers, cookbooks, IB profen, Chance toys, caulk gun, pyrex, tupperware, toothbrush holder, cake cutter from our wedding...seriously.

playing with paper - Chance is not so amused

 

it'll eat you alive!

that look in his eye...yep, this is a lot of work...

 

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