Butterfly House

I spent the day at the Butterfly House, on my day off. Took allot of great photos to share on my blog. My friend Julie and I were surrounded by many butterflies. The place is getting ready for an event in March, called March Morpho Madness, so there were double the amount of butterflies this time around. Photo by Martiel

The butterfly specialist told us, "On average there are usually about 1,000 butterflies..." and the day we were there, there were about 2,000 butterflies!

In March's event they are going to release the Morpho Butterflies each weekend. The Morpho Butterflies are the pretty blue ones (photo above). These are actually the same butterflies that are brown with an eye pattern on the wings when closed. The eye pattern is used to scare off any predators. I also learned the proper term for a cocoon is called a Chrysalis or Pupa.

http://www.butterflyhouse.org/

Photos by: Martiel

Butterflies eat bananas! AND Mango's...there are 19 butterflies in the photo below.

I caught these two butterflies mating.

This butterfly was starring me down. That leaf is his leaf!

There are two in this photo, and blend in so well.

I really like how this photo turned out, the colors are so vibrant.

Lunch time!

We've Come a Long Way Baby!

I am at 36 weeks, which also equals out to 255 days, or 9 months! Officially the due date calculates up to 40 weeks, which is actually 10 months or 280 days. Wow. This week will be 37 weeks (259 days) prego with you, baby. I can't wait to meet you. Your daddy, Andrew is vacuuming and getting the house prepped for your arrival. He has the nesting syndrome, I have a bit of it too, but no energy. Being prego, I get the joys of swollen feet, and being top heavy with my big, baby, belly. You should see me struggle to get up from sitting on the floor, it is pure entertainment.
There are some pet-peeves I have developed about people and their "sense of humor" during my pregnancy.

Pet-peeve #1
When are you due?
-March 25th...
Oh my birthday's is on the 12th, have her on the 12th...
OR... Oh my son's girlfriends birthday is the 23!

My thought is; Why should I care that your particular birthday is on this day and why should I have this baby on your birthday...I don't even know you?... I understand most people are just making small talk and they are strangers to me, but when I go through a day of ten or more people saying the same thing, it gets repetitive and annoying to me.

Pet-peeve #2
Wow, looks like you are going to pop! (jokingly, thinking they are being funny)
You're not going to make it till March!

This is SO RUDE for someone to say this to a pregnant woman. Hearing this ten or more times is getting annoying. This started up back when I was about 32 weeks prego. Let's tie in some logic to this rude comment they are saying. IF I was going to POP and not make it till my due date of the end of March...I would be delivering a baby at 32 weeks and it would be EIGHT weeks early and a premi. Think about it and then decide if you are being "funny" when choosing to say such comments.

Pet-peeve #3
You're so big, are you sure you are not having twins? I knew a lady who was surprised with twins, she thought she was just pregnant with one baby. The 2 babies were lined up in the ultra sound looking like one...OR they say, "the Dr only heard one heart beat, the babies were in sink together."

My response:
OK. What year were these twins born? Technology has changed to a more detailed out come. I have had 4 ultra sounds during my pregnancy and the baby wiggles around, to where I/Dr would see more than one baby in my womb. As for the heart beats being in sink, mistaking it for one baby is not possible either in 2009. My Doctor checks the heart beat with a microphone rubbed over my belly EACH visit. Maybe on one visit the "twins" heartbeat would be in sink and mistaken for one baby. BUT NOT AT EACH VISIT. There has always been just the one baby inside me. Arrg. I get so frustrated. Sorry, I am ranting on this blog today.

The people who have told me about the mistaken twins born, were born back in the day in the mid 1980's, and sooner before the technology of Ultra sounds were used. One was a gal at my work telling me about her friend who had the twins 35 years ago! The other, was a guy who's Aunt had the twins in the mid 80's... he calculated that his twin cousins are now 19 or so...

This is 2009! Technology has improved and has become more accurate. I am going to deliver ONE baby, and she will be due in March not now in February, and I am just now reaching the point of ready to "pop" now that I am at the safe zone of 37 weeks. Our baby's due date will also not be on your particular birthday. She will be born when she wants to be born and ready. My belly is also not all that big, in comparison to other pregos at the same week as me, the sizes are similar. People just don't know what a 37, 30, 25 or 20 week belly looks like in size.

Preparations For Our Baby Girl

We had a lovely baby shower, and so many gifts to bring home. My friend, Carissa planned it all for me. She mailed out the invitations and surprised me with people writing a little message to us or the baby and stuck them into a baby bottle. She thought this up as a spin off of the idea of a Message in a Bottle, only it is Messages in a Baby Bottle. To sweet, and really pulled on my heart strings, especially when I read a note from my friend, Genoa, who recently moved to Brazil. I was amazed by the time Carissa planned it and put it all together. She even planned for our friends and family from out of state to mail the gifts over, to have us open them all up at the shower with the rest of the gifts. I was surprised, and very touched. Thank you to all who thought of us, and mailed us gifts for the baby, and to those who made it to the baby shower as well. We are tickled pink with all the love from our family and friends. Thank you so much Carissa! Also, thank you to Heather for hosting the shower at your home.

Photos from our Baby Shower, on Feb 7th, 2009.

The basket of "tulips" are actually baby washcloths! and the base is cushioned with a baby blanket. Our friend, Sarah created the basket for us.

Andrew and I are cutting the baby shower cake (white cake with butter cream icing) Yum. New parents cutting the cake together like a newly married couple does at a wedding reception.
This faux cake is made entirely out of baby diapers, and in the middle (inside) are two baby bottles holding the structure. One of the baby bottles had the messages written by our friends and family in it. The other bottle was filled with pink M&Ms. Our friend Carissa made this Diaper cake. Very Martha Stewart of her. I was impressed!

We are opening up the gifts at the baby shower. Ellie, Carissa's daughter was my helper handing me the next gift to open. She's 3, and so helpful. This is a pic of a dress and some cute outfits from Andrews folks. Friends and Family who couldn't make it out to the shower (from out of state) mailed the gifts to Carissa, who coordinated the shower, so we would be able to open the gifts all together. A great surprise for Andrew and I. We had no idea.


Of course you can't go to a baby shower with out playing the shower games. Here are pics of us all playing the Dirty Diaper game! Hilarious. There are chocolate candy bars melted in 4 different diapers and people guess what the chocolate is in each one. Johann wanted to taste it! EEW! LOL It is in a diaper and looks like POOP! No, Johann, just look and smell and then write down your guess for each diaper. Then I caught Tonya in the action, she got a good wiff of the "dirty diaper" to make her guess. Tee-hee.

I am passing on the diaper for Andrew to take his turn guessing. I told him to smell it...it will be one of the very few diapers you will enjoy the smell of! LOL. We are in for a whole new world when this baby is born. Changing 8-10 diapers a day!? AND baby poop is not going to be as sweet as the chocolate poop. Be forewarned, Andrew! This dirty diaper game was so funny!

Andrew and I had a blast at the shower and at the "After Party". We were wrapping up the shower around 4 or 5 o'clock and some of us went to Chucke Cheese for pizza and games. We were there till 9 o'clock! I have only been there one other time as a kid. This was a chance for Andrew and I to get a glimpse of what is to come into our future of raising a small child and going to such places like Chucke Cheese. Note to self: Chucke Cheese is not to be visited on a weekend! Save the trip for the middle of the week, like a Wednesday, and we will be fine. Going there on a Saturday evening was a mad house! Andrew searched high and low for this particular game. It is a classic mole bobbin game, hitting the moles as they pop up out of the whole, with a mallet! He was determind to play and get a high score...finish up a child hood frustration of some sort that he has had with this game. I had no idea. So he plays the game, boppin the moles with the mallet, only he is at the adult height now, slouched over playing this "toddler size" game! Was so adorable to watch him play. In the end he only got 4 tickets. Each game at the arcade of Chucke Cheese spits out a number of tickets to collect and turn into for an arcade prize/toy. FOUR tickets? I played a newer game, Deal or No Deal. From the popular TV game show. I won 28 tickets! HA! I picked out my winning brief case and illiminated the other cases down to one case, deciding on Deal or No Deal through out the game. It was so fun!

When the costumed Chucke Cheese came out to mingle with the kids, he was like a celebrity for kids. The kids all went bonkers over him and took photo opps with Chucke Cheese, shook his hand, gave him hugs, etc.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Chucke Cheese is a RAT in a Pizza parlor?!!! Why would a pizza parlor (serving food) have their mascot be a rat? Isn't this against a food code violation? no rats aloud!? ;^)

Now it is a week later from the baby shower and tonight I am sorting all the gifts by clothes, blankets, bath stuff, etc. Getting it all ready and put away. Tomorrow I will do baby clothes laundry, and build my book shelf to get organized. Currently, I have the clothes in 4 piles: new born size, 0-3 months size, 6-9 months size, and 1 year or more sizes. The new born and 3 months piles are set. The rest of our baby's first year she will have to be naked, or wear clothes every other day. She has so many cute outfits and onzies for the sizes up to 3 months and a few at the 6 month size, but after that she runs out of clothes.

We also have a pile of blankets, ALL PINK! Our baby better be born a girl, and not a boy by some small chance, with all of the pink blankets, cute girly outfits, and hair bows...

Andrew and I went to our ultra sound appointment today and the baby is a girl, according to the clear view of her girl part. It would be hard to mistake her for a boy in the end when she is finally born. (does that make sense?) 99.99% the baby is a girl. If not, then we could just have a little drag queen baby, with hair bows and all. Tee-hee.

This is a 3D photo of our baby! Cool technology! I can really see her inside me, just chillin and waiting around to be born! Her foot is up near her face, it is a side view or her face, she is looking to the right. Profile shot. 34 weeks 6 days old, in the womb. These photos would actually be upside down according to my baby position, where she is already head down, going towards the exit area. With her foot by her face, it makes sence, because a little round bump always hangs out up by my ribs, which is her baby butt. If I look down at my pregy belly, there is a round butt bump to the right side. She's like a little stink bug, haha. Stickin her butt up, and the head nestled down by my pelvis.

Look at her chubby cheeks! (photo above 3D) I think that is her hand/arm to the right of her face? 3D versions of ultra sound looks a little distorted at times, it is hard to look at it telling what is what. This photo is also "upside down" in comparison to the lay out of my pregy belly.

The ultra sound technician measured our baby at 6 pounds already, and I am at 35 weeks. Two weeks left of pregnancy to be considered full term at the 37 week mark... and a complete pregnancy at 40 weeks. I have about 2-5 weeks left till she makes her debut. But of course she can come when ever she feels like arriving. The Doctor says, being at the 6 pounds is in the 80th percentile. ( I get a little confused at this point, while the Doc talks to us) Basically she is not at a preemie size currently, safe to have now if I had too. The longer the baby is in my belly, the better of course, with the lungs developing fully, and other parts all finishing up. Each week that goes by still prego she develops that much more, till she is ready to come out. We welcome you with loving arms baby girl. Look forward to meeting you. :^)

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Here are some other Ultra Sound pics from a previous DR visit. Here I am 21 weeks prego. This is her snuggled up with her foot by her nose, the head on the right foot to the left. The photo is looking down at her.

A photo also at the 21 week mark, of her fingers, she is waving to us. Then a profile shot of her at 21 weeks (photo below). Looking to the left.

My Expensive Ice is Melting!

I went to the Shell gas station this morning to fill up. I am amazed at how cheap my full tank was! $1.79 per gallon, filling up the car from E gas-level, comes to a total of $19.95...under $20 bucks!


I went inside to get a hot chocolate and danish for the road. The hot chocolate is of course 100 degrees too hot coming out of the coffee fountain. I grabbed a cup of ice to drink along with it. Being considerate, I took a small cup to fill my ice up...didn't want to waist the larger cups. The gas attendant charged me 24 cents for that cup of ice! Crazy! I guess they have to charge for the use of the cup? It can't be for the ice? The ice is frozen TAP water, and should not be charged. If I knew I was going to get charged for a cup of ice, then I would have picked the larger cup for ice.



I am driving to work on the highway with my cup of ice in one cup holder and the hot chocolate in the other cup holder. I get my first sip of the hot chocolate when I pull up to work, it has cooled off since then and I didn't even need the cup of ice!

Sitting at work now, sipping on my hot chocolate and drinking my melted 24 cent cup of ice. Refreshing.

Baby This Baby That...

I am excited to go to our baby shower tomorrow! My friend, Carissa is planning it and Heather is hosting it at her house. They are both so wonderful in throwing us a baby shower. Thanks girls!

Andrew is going to the shower, yay! I thought he would want to wiesel out of it, being a girly event. Andrew is looking forward to it, just as he looking forward to all the baby stuff and preparations we are going through. I am so excited for our baby to make her debut in March 2009. We look forward to meeting her, finally.



Last night I was on the sofa relaxing and telling a story to the baby (my belly). I told her the story of Goldie Lox and the Three bears from memory. Andrew came up from behind me, recording the story time on the camera! I went to play the video back and the TV was on in the background, that you cant hear me talk to the baby telling my story. He will have to catch me on camera again when the TV is off. He is thinking ahead, that we need to stock up on all of those kid books, the classic stories to read to her as she grows up. I told him we also need to get a book shelf, to keep the books together in her room as a library.

When I was getting ready for work today, Andrew comes up to me and says I need to get a hospital bag packed up for when that time comes. It was so random, but good for him to remind me on doing that. He said he had a dream last night of going to the hospital and not having any of my stuff packed yet. We also need to put the car seat and bases in the two cars. I am starting a to do list of important tasks to get done BEFORE our baby gets here.

On a side note: Tell this baby that my bladder is not her personal bean bag to sit on! I have become friends with the porcelain goddess, we hang out often. My feet are also swollen, too where I want to chop them off!