Here she is, Khloe the avocado. It still feels weird to call her by a name, and I think it would be even more weird to get used to calling her a girl, and then at the next appointment find out it is a boy. Oh well.Good news, I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and to our surprise, the doctor did another ultrasound, and this time said he is "pretty certain" that the baby is a GIRL! That is pretty exciting to get to find out so early. He did say that there is a chance that in a later ultrasound we might discover that it is a boy, but he was able to get a clear shot, so for now, we are going with girl. As for names, we both really like Khloe, so we are not really looking for anything else at this point. We both have liked Khloe from the beginning, maybe even before we were actually having a baby. We are not settled on the middle name yet, and are open to suggestions. If we had to pick a name today, it would be Khloe Ann, but we'll see.
In looking at the picture of the ultra sound from this week, I felt that Khloe really resembled someone. Strangely, it is not someone in the family, but someone we all know well. Nacho Libre, la Luchador. Does anyone else see the resemblance?
On a serious note, the doctor said everything looks normal and healthy, but we are doing a down's syndrome test. I had the blood drawn today, so please pray that our baby is developing into a strong healthy child. Thanks!
Here we are, 15 weeks, the baby should be "about the size of an apple." Sometimes these estimates vary from week to week, and I don't think it means the baby is actually as large as an apple, but maybe lengthwise or something like that. It should be about 4 inches long and about 2 1/2 oz. There are taste buds beginning to form, and the legs are now longer than the arms. That is good news that it is beginning to be better proportioned. Also, the website says that even though the eyelids are fused shut, if I shine a light at myself, the baby can sense light and it will move away from it. Sounds like fun!
Besides that, Eric is surviving his first week of night work, and he says it is not too bad. Even almost nicer than day work because it is so much cooler. He has been able to sleep pretty good in the daytime, so I am sure that makes a big difference on his overall outlook.
All I have to do to be able to start working as a substitute is get my transcripts from Sac State, so that the school district can be sure that I really did graduate. Hopefully, it will only take a week or so, but it might be as long as two. It is getting there, it just takes time I guess.
That is everything that seems to be going on here; I hope everyone is doing well!
Beginning on Wednesday of last week, Eric began his first shift of 7 days off. SEVEN DAYS! So of course, we were not going to just sit around here doing nothing and being boring, so we packed up, and went camping on Thursday night. We drove to Glass Creek, which is between Mammoth and June Lake, on highway 395.
This was the first time I had ever been camping when we were responsible for all our food, cooking materials, tents and shade, etc. Man camping is a lot of work! We had several mishaps, but all in all, everything worked out fine and we had a great time. Some of the minor mishaps included: marinated chicken leaking all over everything in the ice chest. We salvaged everything except a pack of butter and apples. Also, then we had to deal with tons of marinated chicken juice and prayed that it did not attract bears. (It didn't). That night, Eric's brother, BJ was sleeping under the stars, so while we never saw any bears, some kind of animal came up to him in the night and sniffed his neck. He guess/hopes it was a dog, but we heard a lot of coyotes in the area... Eric's parents brought a brand new tent for the big camp out, but when we tried to set it up, we found out it was supposed to hang inside an Easy-Up sunshade, so it didn't have any poles. We were able to get one the next day, but they ended up sleeping in a much smaller tent on a leaking air mattress. That was a long night for them.
None of these things were major events, just funny when we look back at all of it. We learned valuable lessons, so the next time we all go camping, we will be a lot more prepared.
As for all the fun we had, we played many games of 10,000, which is a big hit with the Olson clan, who had never played it, we hiked to Inyo Craters and Earthquake Fault, and just had a good time hanging out together. Another highlight was getting to stay until Monday when everyone else had to go to work. Fun times when you have seven days off in a row!
So shrimp baby is gone, and now it is time for Lemon Olson. Let me tell you that Lemon Olson is a little sour. It doesn't know that it is supposed to be done making me queasy. We went camping with Eric's parents and his brother this weekend, and Eric's mom, Terri, thinks that Lemon is showing signs of not listening and behaving much like her Olson boys. That is going to be a problem. Maybe whatever comes after lemon will be better behaved.
Right now it is 3 1/2 inches long and can use its facial muscles. Exciting stuff.
