We were very happy to discover that we are expecting a little girl! My official big ultrasound isn't for another two weeks but at my last appointment I hinted that I would really like to know earlier. To my joy he agreed and we snuck into the ultrasound room for a quick peek. I've always been happy to have whatever I get but I'm thrilled to be able to have one of each. I'll post more ultrasound pics when I get them. After two years in boyland, frilly department here I come!

In addition to the indoor exhibit they also had a nature walk. There was a pond with a covered bridge where you could see several beautiful varieties of ducks. This is Timmy peeking through the bridge fence at the ducks. His pumpkin hat still fits from last year, thank heavens for stretchy things!

We also found a goldfish pond that Timmy wanted to get in. He been really into water lately, loves stomping in puddles, long baths, and of course the pool. He insists that his milk is called water, causing a bit of confusion until we figured out what he really wanted.

We were lucky to get a nice few hours on Saturday. There has been lots of rain for the last few days and even some snow in the mountains.

More info on the MK Nature Center:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/education/mknc/

We met our new OB today at our 14th week appointment and were happy to have a few images to share with family. They have one of those fancy 3D ultrasounds so you can kinda see better. Baby wouldn't show it's face and insisted in hiding today. We'll get a good one when we do the ultrasound that can tell us if it is a boy or a girl. He wants to do that one in December (we should be able to do it next time but that's what the doctor says, grrr). The good news is that I don't have to go to a different place to get it done like last time.

Here's Joe sporting the ears of a Fennic Fox. (He's actually trying to hear what his inlaws want for Christmas!) I realize that we went to the zoo and don't have a single picture of an animal. That is probably because by the time we found one that was awake Timmy was already running off.

With a new home phone number I also get to deal with a new hoard of telemarketers, solicitors, and other pests. Yes, we are registered with the do not call list. One would be insane not to. Today I received a true piece of phone spam. The guy was telling me (in a discreet Indian accent) that I had won some $1000 shopping spree if I was willing to participate in some la dee dah program.

This program would probably include giving out my credit card number to an untold number of "special stores" who would then contact me with all sorts of useless goodies. This would be promptly followed by soliciting the names of all the people I thought would be also interested in such a wonderful program. After signing away my financial freedom and my soul in blood I would receive further information that would enable me to waste a whole lot more time achieving nothing.

Before we got past the "I have called to inform you that you have won $1000 whatever..." I politely told the gentleman that I didn't want to waste his time and to please put me on his "do not call list". This is something that all telemarketers are required to be able to do. He continued to tell me that he wasn't trying to sell me anything and this was a great opportunity, yadda, yadda, yadda. I thanked him and told him that I wasn't interested. He continued to tell me something or other that might enable him to salvage his perfect no "do not call" record. Most telemarketers don't waste their time on smart people because it screws up their averages, this guy wasn't getting it. I told him I wasn't interested again, thanked him again, reminded him to put me on the "do not call" list and as he started trailing off on some other reason to stay on the line - I hung up.

Is it not enough that I receive 100's of spam emails a week? At least they do not require any psychological involvement to do away with. I don't have to be made to feel bad that I'm not stupid with an email. Do me a favor people of phone spamdom land, remove me from your lists now before I stop being polite. And if you wake up Timmy from his nap again, beware the wrath of MOM!

Although I've never been one to follow any crowd, this is one bandwagon I felt worthwhile to jump on. That, and in the past two months I have received notice that many of my friends were doing it as well. I couldn't proudly call myself a complete stay at home mom without a fully fleshed out personal blog about life, the universe, and everything. There you have it, my closet lemming ways are revealed. The other big obvious reason is that I've moved far away from family and friends and would like to stay in contact. I hope that in the coming months this blog will continue to grow and won't end up as abandoned Internet garbage.