Through 23 weeks...

My due date is calculated from about May 15, 2009. I don't think I really started showing at all until about week 16, and even then it is marginal. The baby really moved in the past few days and seems to really be showing now. I do pretty good covering it up at school with cardigans.

This baby has already been a lot of places...

2 Weeks - Rehoboth Beach

4 weeks - Atlantic City7 weeks - Ohio

11 weeks - Montreal, Canada

16 weeks - Baltimore, MD

21 weeks - New York state

23 Weeks-At home in Delaware

Is molasses bad for dogs?

I just went by the table, and noticed a torn up paper towel on the floor. I couldn't figure out why it would be there, but it looked like Cori had definitely done it. Then I realized it must have been the paper towel that had been used to cook cookies on earlier in the day. When I let Brian know what his puppy had been up to, he asked if I had moved the cookies off the towel. That was when it hit me that she didn't just shred a towel, but she had pulled about a dozen cookies off the table and eaten every bit of them. There wasn't even a crumb left. This should make for an interesting night.

Cupcakes and Cocoa and Coffee

On Wednesday I wanted to see my husband during the daylight. I leave before the sun comes up, and he is normally not home until the sun goes down. The only time I see him in the sunlight is on the weekends. So to lure him away from his laboratory I met him at DBI with cupcakes and cocoa and coffee. To do this I had to face two experiences I normally don't encounter. Ordering cocoa and ordering coffee. I traditionally don't drink hot chocolate, but I was thirsty, it was cold, and the worker at the cupcake shop really made it sound good, so I ordered some. With whipped cream. It was very odd for me, but it was really delicious. I think Brian's love of chocolate is alive and well in his son, because I've never wanted as much chocolate as I have during this pregnancy. Then I had to go across the street to Starbucks and order coffee there for the first time ever. I don't drink the stuff, but Brian is an addict and has at least a few cups a day, so I went through the torture of ordering there so I could bring it to my husband. Apparently I overestimated in getting him a large (I refuse to say Venti), but other than that he had no complaints.

And apparently that might have been the last time in a while we could have sat outside comfortably to eat. It has been freezing and raining most the rest of the week.

Little Pond State Campground, Catskills

One of the downers about Delaware is that we don't get a Fall Break (compared to the week or two that Arizona gets). However, this year we got a 4-day weekend for Columbus day due to furlough days that were originally professional development days. As soon as that schedule change was announced, we started planning for our annual autumn camping trip.

Brian has been wanting to get a little farther away, so we made New York the fifth state we've camped in by heading up toward the Catskills. Brian found a nice little campground called Little Pond State Campground, and reserved site number 3.

We left Saturday morning, and drove about four and a half hours to find the red and gold colors of fall in New York state.

Brian cooked great food all weekend, and kept a good fire to keep me warm. We went for a very, very long hike on Sunday, and paid for it with cramping legs in the cold tent in the middle of the night, but other than that it was pretty enjoyable. It was our first time camping with Cori, and she did a great job. It was pretty amusing when she whined to get in to the empty tent so she could take a nap on the blankets. We spent a lot of time enjoying our alone time, and talking about this little babe that is going to change our lives very, very soon.

The weekend went by way too quickly.

We stayed at Little Pond until the last seconds of our reservation, and then headed back home taking a more scenic route. We just used the atlas and the straightest lines possible, rather than the mapquest directions that got us there. We visited a few covered bridges, and found a good cafe to stop at for lunch, Chrissie's Corner Store in Matamoras, PA. Brian was dieing for coffee, and I had been wanting ice cream for days, so we spent a good hour looking for a place that would serve both. We finally stumbled across the Inside Scoop, where Brian was very excited to get teaberry ice cream. Apparently, he loves that flavor.

Pregnancy Update

So I'm over half way done now! I'm going on my 22nd week. The baby is almost a foot long and almost a pound in weight. It will grow pretty quickly from here on out. I've definitely noticed it growing in the last few weeks when I had to totally switch to maternity clothes. And it's (he's) been kicking since the beginning of October. (It is apparently hard for me to use the proper pronoun.) We do have a name that we call him, but it is only the "womb name," not what we plan to put on the birth certificate. It is very stressful trying to come up with one, so I'm not going to try until 2010. Right now, I'm just waiting on the kicks to be strong enough that Brian can feel them.

Milburn Orchard: Apple Season

Last spring when we were driving around the countryside of Newark we ran across Milburn Orchards and planned to go back. A few Sundays ago we heard that apples were ripening, and headed over to get some. I loved this place! After much debate, we got a small bucket of honey crisp apples. They were great on their own, and the rest made there way into this delicious-o pie.

Meding & Son Seafood

This is a very big propeller that we have passed many times when we are going to the southern parts of the state. Recently, we needed to meet somewhere between Middletown (where I work) and Lewes (where Brian was studying in a class on the beach) to go to a rainy high school football game. Brian had the idea that we finally eat here. Apparently the place with the big propeller is called Meding & Son Seafood. We actually planned to get carry out because we weren't going to have enough time to make kick-off. It was definitely a nice place to go, and Brian enjoyed his Crab Mama (though really should have got the Crab Daddy), and I really liked the Old Bay seasoned french fries.

Cori is growing up so fast.

She's in a slightly awkward stage here. She really loves laying on blankets.

National Aquarium in Baltimore

About a month ago, we ventured out to Baltimore on a very warm Saturday to visit the aquarium and harbor there. Brian and I had a good time spending the day together. The aquarium was almost good enough to earn the expensive entry fee. There were lots of different exhibits focusing on different habitats. There was also:

-a 4-D show in the immersion theatre (lots of surprised/screaming children)

-a dolphin show: Our Ocean Planet (always amazing to watch these creatures)

-the jellies exhibit: Jellies Invasion: Oceans out of Balance (who doesn't love a jelly fish?)

We also spent some time strolling around the Inner Harbor. It was packed with bustling people.

We're thinking the babies room is going to have an ocean, under-the-sea theme, so I'm thinking my sister should make us one of these for her arts and crafts project for next year. They are so cute. We found them in the gift shop.