latest update

Today Ellie weighed in at 7 pounds 3 ounces, according to the ultrasound. Her head is getting farther down and much more difficult to see. Good news.

the beginning of a long break

Today is the first day of my 14-week vacation. I guess it will really only be a vacation until Ellie gets here but I am enjoying these last few days, however many there may be. It's shaping up to be 75 degrees here today - extremely warm for March, and Ive already got all of the windows open.

It's a nice luxury to sit, sip my coffee, have my quiet time, and plan out what to do for the day... or just stare into space! I do have a bunch of thank you notes to finish. Here are some photos from the church shower as I mentioned before.


Lots of gifts from everyone!


Kadee and Jessica


Carolyn and the chow!

counting down

I have pictures of the church shower to post, which will occur as soon as I get to my laptop. The shower was last Saturday and a wonderful time. I have been really overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and their excitement for Ellie to be born. This is the hardest waiting I have ever done. I thought it was hard to wait for Justin to get back from Cambodia before we were married, but at least I knew when he was coming! I still feel like Ellie's not going to come out and I'm going to be pregnant for the rest of my life. I guess that's first-time mom jitters.

The weather has been turning warmer here and it's wonderful. We'll still probably have a cold snap before it breaks altogether but we've been enjoying lots of 50s and 60s. It's finally been warm enough for sandals and I celebrated by wearing a (very large) skirt for the first time since the early fall. I have felt very skirt-deprived all winter. It will be nice to wear normal clothes again eventually.

Today is my lat day of work until July. It really doesn't feel like it at all. The longest I've ever been off of work since my first job has been 2 months - first to go to China and then summer unemployment in Kansas City. The thought of being off for 14 weeks is insane. Wonderfully insane, but I still can't wrap my brain around it. I have a feeling that I'm going to miss and appreciate my job a lot more from the time off - which is a nice feeling. In the past it's been much more of a "good riddance" when I have some vacation!

We went out and got a camcorder last night! It's funny, the last time I owned a video camera it sat on my shoulder and popped out full-size VCR tapes. This one has only a hard drive and fits completely in the palm of my hand. It's insane. I know I sound like an old lady... "Back in my day..." but I guess I am getting pretty old. :-) Seeing that making home movies and recording in general was one of my all-time favorite activities when I was a kid, I'm suspecting that some interesting video blogging might result from this latest purchase! Look out YouTube. I've had to promise Justin already that I won't stalk him with the video camera as is my natural tendency. That will take a lot of self-control on my part.

healthy baby

Ellie passed her non-stress test today with flying colors. She even kicked the little monitor to make some noise for our benefit. I also had an ultrasound and she is currently 6 lbs 10 oz and right on target. I got to see some shots of her little face today! She has beautiful lips. :-) She is also head down (hence my waddling) and should be right on schedule if not early.

showering and gigging

Thursday was our first baby shower. It was at work, and I was frankly overwhelmed! There were tons of people, food, and generosity going around. I'm glad Justin got to come and meet everyone who he hears me talk about all the time! Photos, courtesy of Peng, attached at the end.

Saturday we had Shower #2 at Marie's house. It was, again, a great time and I got some very cool books for Ellie, including a surprise return of the infamous Bun Appetit from Laura. That one will have to wait until she is a bit older I'm afraid. I'm not sure I want "Victualize my voluptitude" to be her first words! Of course, I forgot to take photos. Duh. You can take my word for it that it was a blast.

Sunday night our praise band had our first "gig!" We got our "roadies" Justin and Andy to help us load up and truck over to Faith Fellowship where we played at their revival service. The best part was the look on Matt's face when he walked in to the sanctuary and saw that they had a REAL drumset. He was practically jumping up and down. We left the electric set in the truck and let him bang away, which sounded awesome. We rocked so hard we ended up blowing out our sound system, hee hee! ;-) I wonder what Ellie thought of all that noise. She will be one rockin' baby!


Xiaolei and me, looming large, at the work shower


Me, Justin, and Laura chatting it up


Gifts galore!

scary smokestacks

I can't find a decent video of this, just bits and pieces, but the stills are scary nonetheless. I have always had this strange fear of smokestacks (and other tall things) falling down since I was a kid. They're continuting to demolish the old GM plants here in Lansing and they blew up the smokestacks the other day. Scary. Click here for the pics from the Lansing State Journal. If I find a decent video clicp I'll put that up too. It just makes my stomach tie into knots!

wake up and smell the... bouquet

Matt's bump on the head must have knocked some sense into him... kind of like the proverbial holy 2X4... because since his little stint in the ER he has managed to buy Kadee a ring, propose to her, and even gotten her to say yes! We are all very excited! The future Mr. and Mrs. Kidd are currently basking in the glow of betrothal. Of course poor Kadee is now resigned to a life of firetrucks, various distracting shiny objects, vividly detailed comments about poo, and cute little quarter-Mexican children (girls of course).

congratualtions both of you... we love you!