what a busy weekend.

Yesterday was the pride parade and festival here, and it was so much fun. The parade itself took around an hour to pass, and then we spent almost four more hours at the festival before heading to Dee and Pia’s house for some grilling and hanging out. We were all hoping to get a little swimming in while we were at it, but their pool isn’t ready yet. Something to do with a leaking pump and floccing. Sad me.

This morning we took my dad out for a yummy brunch with my mom and sister, and then Bean came over to the house for a bit to help out with sanding down the doors for the bathroom and getting the first coat of polyurethane on the ones for the closet. We would have liked to have done all three doors, but there just isn’t room to set them all up in the basement and we don’t want to try to polyurethane in the carport. It’s been pretty breezy and gets dusty in there–not to mention at least one bug that landed on one of the doors when we had them out there to sand them.

Dee also came over for a bit this afternoon to mess with the lawnmower engine with Firefly, being a bit more of a small engine expert than us having done that in the army. We need to get new choke and throttle cables because the ones we have are just a little too short for the new engine, but once that’s done we should be up and running.

After they headed out to their respective abodes Firefly and I made dinner and relaxed for a bit, and then I sanded down the doors and put on a  second coat while she napped. As long as everything is good I should be able to flip the doors over and do the other side when I get home from the gym tomorrow. I’d like to be able to get started on the main door by Tuesday, and it would be awesome to have them up by this weekend. We’ll probably need some assistance from my dad for that, and I’m not sure if he’ll be able to. Bean says she’ll try to come over to help us get the last of the stuff done in the bathroom quickly so we can move on to other things–like the wall in our bedroom, painting, and starting on the nursery!

On the baby front, Firefly is definitely feeling movement now. She’s felt it at least once every day since Thursday. She called me on her way to work saying she was feeling it again. So awesome. This Wednesday is the big U/S! I was pretty nervous about it, but now that she’s definitely feeling something I’ve been feeling less of that and a lot more excitement. I can’t believe that on Wednesday evening I may very well be able to say if we’ll be welcoming a little boy or little girl into our family.

fuddyduddies.

We’re turning into old married ladies. Pride is this weekend here, and it’s a whole weekend of festivities. We were thinking about heading down tonight to check out some of the performers, maybe see about meeting up with friends, and just having some fun. When I got home from work, though, I was pretty tired, Firefly was tired, and it was so damn hot and muggy out that we decided to stay in. So we got some dinner and watched a little TV.

Then we made cookies. And now I believe my wife is sleeping on the couch.

See what I mean? Old married ladies.

Tomorrow, though, we’ll be heading down for the parade and a fun time at the festival. It’s supposed to storm early but clear up before noon, so we’ll see how that goes. We have plans to meet up with some friends, and my parents will be there. The festival goes pretty late but I’m guessing we won’t stay too long. Just enough to check things out and meet up with folks, see my mom perform, check out the vendors and get some food. Which now that I think about it may end up being quite a while. But it should be lots of fun!

I just hope it’s not as muggy. This really isn’t helping my chest thing get better.

more cake! and something else…

Well, tonight was my cake class, so it’s time for show and tell, but first…

GUESS WHAT? She felt it! She felt the baby move! How awesome is that! She’s pretty sure anyway. She was watching TV and felt kind of squished up, so she shifted and then she felt this little flip-flop. Eek! She hasn’t felt it again yet, but still. So cool!

And now for the cake stuff…

I don’t think I posted anything from last week’s class, but really it was just learning some string work and ruffles and stuff like that.

And now I remember why I didn’t post pictures last week; I didn’t have any good ones!

This week we made a fondant rose:

rose bud

medium rose

full rose

Okay, ignore that little paper cup in the last picture. It’s just there to keep the petals from drooping while it dries. I really liked making the fondant roses, and I think they look a lot more realistic than the buttercream or royal ones.

When we finished with the roses we moved on to the cake. We covered it in fondant, then added a bow and whatever decorations we wanted:

covered

starting the bow

some detail

the final product

I think my coworker will be very happy with her birthday cake, what do you think?

I need to figure out what I’m going to do for my final cake in two weeks. It has to be stacked layers–either directly on top of each other or using pillars. Fun! Except that I have no idea what I’m going to do yet…

pickles and cake.

I got held up at work today, I still don’t feel like I can really get a good breath and this cough is just hanging on, and to top it all off I think I might be getting an ear infection even though I just finished a course of antibiotics. So I didn’t make it in to the gym or get started on the sanding. Instead I came home and had a grumpy argument with my wife. I hate grumpy arguments. They suck.

So she headed off to darts and I headed off to the grocery to get some fruit (how do we go through it so quickly?) and some cake-making supplies. I came home and put things away, then puttered around for a bit on the computer before heading back into the kitchen. Firefly called while I was making pickles to tell me how they did (they won 4 of 7), and to tell me all about the things she had read in one of our books about what the baby can do/see/hear/feel at this point, and how the baby will start being able to actually taste what she’s eating in the next few weeks. How cool is that? Apparently she spent part of the afternoon catching up on her reading.

After we hung up I finished with the pickles and cleaned up, then mixed up the cake and popped it in the oven. I’m waiting for it to cool now so I can ice it in preparation for my class tomorrow. It’s supposed to look like a present, which is kind of fun–although it’s square and we didn’t have two square cake pans, so that was part of the supplies I had to get. One of my coworkers has a birthday over the weekend, so I’m going to take it in to her on Friday.

My hands smell like vinegar. I would like to eat a pickle now, but they won’t be ready for a few days at least. It’s a shame really.

One week from today we go in for the big U/S. We’re 150 days away from the due date. 10 more days and we will, quite literally, be halfway there. I can’t believe it.

we’re worn out.

This has been a tiring few days for Firefly. After the fun at her parents’ this weekend she returned home to a 4am shift on Monday morning for one last day of firefighter refresher training, got home around 1 in the afternoon, went directly to sleep, and then had to be in again at 10:30 last night. She slept in a bit today, since the whole thing was so draining. I don’t know how she does it. I certainly couldn’t, and I’m not the pregnant one. She’s so amazing.

Yesterday while she slept my dad and I went to the hardware store and bought all the wood for the baseboards and moulding, then brought it back to the house. He came back over today and we ripped the pieces down to size that needed it, so everything is ready for sanding and staining. Firefly has darts tomorrow and I have to bake a cake for my class on Thursday, but I don’t think it’ll take too long so I’m hoping to at least get a start on sanding tomorrow evening.

I’ve been skipping the gym for the last week because I felt so sick and exhausted, but I’m going to try to go back tomorrow. I’m still not feeling 100% but I am feeling better. I’m going to try to take it easy, so we’ll see if I make it through everything, but I at least want to get some miles in on the bike no matter how lazy they may be and I’d like to make it through at least 2 reps of my routine if not all three.

wow.

I love watching my wife’s belly grow. It fills me with amazement.

fun family time

I’m feeling a bit better now, although not quite back to my usual self. I spent the weekend taking cold medicine and antibiotics, and trying not to fall asleep on Firefly and her parents. I was (mostly) successful.

We headed up to her parents’ place on Friday to celebrate Father’s Day a weekend early and arrived to find a tasty spaghetti dinner with homemade meatballs waiting for us. We sat up late and chatted, then headed to bed with big plans for Saturday.

Our big plans? To clean and do some repairs on her dad’s fishing equipment. It was all in need of some work that he hasn’t been able to do while he waits for surgery on his hand. We all sat outside and tinkered, and we got four of his reels repaired or rebuilt and all cleaned up. He tested a couple of them out and they worked great, so he was very happy. Sunday evening Firefly’s mom was doing the reading at their church, and we decided to go along. It was an interesting experience. Their priest is in his 70s, and there were a few times I thought he was falling asleep mid-sentence! It was certainly not what I’m used to having grown up Quaker, but wasn’t too far off from some other places I’ve been. I think her parents were really happy we went.

After the service we did a little driving tour of the town where their church is, then picked up a pizza and headed back to the house for dinner and a game of cards. This was a big weekend for graduation parties, and their neighbor was having a celebration complete with huge bonfire. I took these shots, but they really don’t do it justice:

From the deck

A closer view

The chain link fence in the second picture, if you can see it, is at least 6′ tall. The flames were probably about 30′ high we’re guessing, although it burned down quickly. Pretty crazy.

Firefly and I were crushed in a game of Hand and Foot, then we all sat round talking for about an hour after we said we were going to bed. Firefly and I got up early in the morning, unloaded the dishwasher and made coffee while we waited for her parents. We made pancakes and had them with generous helpings of strawberries and blueberries, then Firefly, her dad and I headed out to the pond for some fishing while her mom read the paper. He didn’t fish for terribly long because his hand was swelling and he was in a bit of pain, but he sat outside and chatted with me on the bench and we all just enjoyed the beautiful day.

After a tasty dinner we packed up, then sat around talking for another half hour after we said we were leaving. It turned out to be pretty perfect timing. We missed all the rainstorms on the road and got home just before they hit our house. Firefly has been in bed for a few hours because she has to go in to work at 4am. I’m hoping the cough medicine I took kicks in soon so I can go cuddle without disturbing her too much…

not so much.

I feel like crap. I was hoping it had something to do with the weather changing so much here lately, or that we finally caved and turned the air on, or I suddenly developed allergies or something. (Although I’m not sure that allergies would be better seeing as how that would mean this would come back with some regularity.)

Nope. Now I’ve got chills and am sore and exhausted, and am verging on running a fever. I’ve been taking stuff, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much yet. That or I should be feeling incredibly miserable right now instead of moderately miserable. I made an appointment with my doctor for tomorrow morning. I won’t be able to do anything until Monday otherwise, and I’m notorious for letting things go for way too long before I go and ending up with bronchitis or pneumonia or something. We’re supposed to be going up to Firefly’s parents’ house for the weekend to spend some time with them. Hopefully I don’t end up hiding out somewhere the whole time.

Poo.

i’m getting excited.

Two weeks from today we have the big U/S, although the appointment we had scheduled with the OB immediately following has been pushed back to the week after. I’m excited and nervous! Firefly’s belly is definitely rounding out now, which is so amazing to see and feel. I can’t wait for her to feel movement. So far she hasn’t–but as a friend of mine said yesterday when we were chatting, she didn’t realize she was actually feeling movement until her big appointment at 19 weeks. She had an “aha!” moment of corresponding what she was feeling with the visual of the baby moving around.

Eeeee! It can’t get here fast enough!

i’m a sheep.

I’ve done it. I’ve gone and signed up for that tweeting thing. Yup. So if you’re not getting enough of me here, you can follow me there and see just how boring I really am.

Or not. Don’t worry, I won’t get offended.

I can totally see how this could become addictive.

That or I’ll get bored very, very quickly…

Oh, and hey! I just realized I can put a widget up so you see what I’m babbling about right here. How cool is that?