Oh, Canada!

Jesse, Kaley and I decided to take a road trip up to Vancouver, British Columbia over President's Day week-end. What better way to spend this national holiday than by heading north to the border! We actually wanted to break in the new wheels, visit Ivan, and take Kaley on a long-deserved vacation.

Through the aptly named site, Pawsperouspets, we found a wonderful hotel that is located right across the street from the beach at beautiful English Bay and world famous Stanley Park. More importantly, they provided a welcome gift bag for Kaley upon arrival, and a matching doggy bed in our room.

We took a little side trip to Deep Cove, which is located at the entrance to Indian Arm, off Burrard Inlet on the North shore of Vancouver. We stumbled upon a "beached" whale...freshly pruned and intriguing to Kaley.

We enjoyed lots of nice walks along the water and even encountered this "No Dogs Allowed" pet-friendly beach. (Note the sign in the foreground, with at least 4 off-leash dogs frolicking in the sand). Only in Canada....


So, what does this all have to do with the baby you ask? Well, nothing really..unless you consider Kaley our #1 baby. In all seriousness, we are trying to fit in as many mini-vacations as possible before the little one arrives....

Bouncing Baby Bellies

Well..I guess it's officially time to start showing just how much I'm showing! I suppose I'm one of those people that start showing early on... or I just enjoy eating for two and indulging my every craving. I've never really had a belly that started so high up, so I'm assuming it's "baby weight" that I've gained. (I'll keep telling myself that for the next 6 months!)


For the first photo op, Ivan, Jesse and Kaley all offered to pose for the 1st belly shot too so I wouldn't feel self concious. Naturally, I'm the only one who didn't have to push out, hunch over or add extra fur to show a protruding tummy.

It's not really fair that my older brother weighs about 10 lbs less than me, or that Jesse is losing "sympathy weight" rather than gaining it. At least Kaley is getting really furry, so we can be large and in charge together. I'll get over it...after all I am from Jersey, baby!

First Ultrasound Pix

So, Jesse & I went in for our first ultrasound on the 9th of February! It was very cool. I'm at 10.7 weeks now, which they said was a little early for the 1st look, but they determined it was a hair big enough to see!

The baby is approximately 37mm (or is it centimeters?). I've never been good with the metric system! Anyway, it's about 1.5 inches or so....has a heartrate of 165 BPM, and so far we saw 2 arms, 2 legs, a head, back and bottom!

When the technician was doing her thing, we could see the baby jumping (or slip-slding) around. We were told it was very cooperative! Let's hope that carries over into childhood and adulthood :-).

Newest addition to the family

Jesse and I are the proud owners of a brand new car!! We decided to sell the 2001 Audi Avant Quattro wagon and get a new, reliable family car. After looking at a couple different Subarus, we went across to the Toyota dealer to check out their latest hybrids. More out of curiosity than anything else. We both loved the way it drove and were instantly intrigued. Our minds were set. After some haggling with various car dealers via Cars.com and email, we got the exact make, model and and price that we wanted.

So, what is this car we bought? It's the 2007 Camry Hybrid, named 2007 Motor Trend Car of the Year. It gets about 35-40 MPG and is loaded with all the extra options (leather, GPS nav system, sunroof, etc). We're still trying to figure out all the fancy voice-activated commands and wireless bluetooth phone connectivity, but that'll come with time!

We're pregnant!

Well, I guess it's more accurate to say that I'm pregnant! Nevertheless, we're having a Knappenbergerbaby.

I'm thrilled, excited, scared, nervous, cautious, and a little worried yet ecstatic. It's strange because I've been in that odd place between wanting to tell everyone in the world and not wanting to say anything just in case this little one didn't stick. There's the old "wait until the first trimester is over" tradition, but we wanted to tell our parents and immediate family sooner than that.

My folks were here over the holidays, so once we got 'official' confirmation, we suprised them with the news:

Me: So, Mom...how do you like being a grandma?
Mom: It's great..Nathan is sooo adorable.
Me: Good, glad you like it because you get try it again soon.
Mom: Huh? Wha??

...5 minutes later when Dad joins us....

Dad: "Is Kaley going crazy and barking at the mailman?"
Me: "No, actually that would be the stork dropping off a special delivery!"
Dad: [Perplexed look on face] You mean to tell me I'm going to be sleeping with a grandma, again?


So far, I haven't had many unusual (i.e. non-PMS) symptoms. The only weirdness has been a dull lower bachache, a strange pulling/stretching sensation in my lower abdomen, the odd headache, and my boobs now seem to have a life of their own and are apparently preparing to feed a small African country (including wildlife). Otherwise, it could be any typical month of womanly fun, what with all the bloating, fatigue, irritability, and increased appetite.

I've read that I might experience any of the following symptoms: cravings, backaches, bloating, thick hair, huge boobies, weight gain, and mood swings. So it'll be like me but much more so.

I can't stop reading books and online articles (I really should stop that as the conflicting information is just annoying me), and I can't help but look ahead to the future. Jesse is really happy and we are both so looking forward to having a baby (I'm sure Kaley will be thrilled too, mostly because the baby will drop lots of food and provide several thousand new toys for them both to chew on).

I can't wait to start telling people. I can't wait to go buy baby things. I can't wait to be a Mom.

But mostly, I can't wait until I'm past the first trimester so I can relax a little.