Thanksgiving fun and my kids are cute

I hosted Thanksgiving at my house in 2005, whole newlywed come eat at my house and use my pretty new china type deal. It was a bit of a disaster. Jason was insistent that we buy a RAW, uncooked, not sliced, pork butt ham. News flash folks, ham is not raw. A raw "ham" equates to a giant pork chop. We all fought over the tiny fried turkey. (Raw "ham" aka giant pork chop makes good bbq. Traditional Thanksgiving leftovers.) This year I did Thanksgiving in a hotel room. I did a ham (turkey too intimidating in a hotel). It was not a giant pork chop. Score one. Actually, pretty much everything turned out great. Sue and Dave flew up for Thanksgiving and we had a great 4ish days with them. We had some interesting encounters on a street car (one man cleared an entire section, the smell was that bad), twice. We hit up Powell's Books, some of our favorite brew pubs, the Christmas Parade, Tree lighting, and even attempted to go to Mt. St. Helens. No actual plan, directions, and snow covered roads in the wilderness made the Mt. St. Helens adventure a bit of a bust. It was a nice holiday, and so wonderful to be able to celebrate with family all the way out here.

On a totally different note, tonight I got to witness a "typical" male behavior evolve in my 2 year old. He asked to talk to his Auntie Claire Bear, and then proceeded to hold the phone away from his head and say "Yeah" every so often while staring at the TV. Oh Davey, Davey, Davey. Ashley is such a girly girl, still continues to request more make-up and now "matches" her outfits by wearing all pink. It's quite popular among the 4 yo girl crowd I hear.

Papp-a who?

So as you have read, I told everyone I was NOT having a baby in the next year. I also told people I have nice, normal pregnancies. I need to stop opening my mouth. So far this pregnancy IS nice and normal except for this thing called papp-a. My ob said my papp-a levels are low. I thought, my pap was low? Does this mean abnormal? Actually it's some pregnancy hormone they test for in 1st tri screenings. I probably read about it with my first pregnancy in the nice little pamphlet they give you. This being my third pregnancy, I didn't open the pamphlet and was papp-a-what? Basically low papp-a gives pregnant women the opportunity to worry and stress about what could really amount to nothing. It COULD mean problems in the third trimester. It also could (and is more likely to) mean absolutely nothing. Since I had both kids with me, and my doctor seemed so calm about it all I didn't worry until I consulted Dr. Google. He didn't have much to say on the matter, but enough that I have a loooong list of questions for the next appointment.

On a slightly different note, Jason is using this information to fuel his argument for why we should find out what we are having. I am still in the surprise me camp. What do you all think. Should we find out?

Just call me Eloise

We've been Marriotting it up for three months now. Ashley thinks everyone in Portland lives in a hotel. Despite my best efforts, I have yet to convince her otherwise. Living in a house is going to be so dull for them when we go home- no elevators, no indoor swimming pool, no super long hallways to run down, no ready-made buffets waiting for them at breakfast (and sometimes dinner). And while I don't love living in a hotel (let's be honest, generally I don't even LIKE it) there are some things I have gotten used to. Need towels? Call downstairs. Trash full? Call downstairs. Need your living room vacuumed? Call downstairs. Want breakfast? Go downstairs. Kids going insane and it's raining out? Go to the 2nd floor and torture yourself in a COLD pool (but it will wear the kids out). Lose your key (again)? The helpful folks at the front desk hand you a new one. Clearly, there are some perks. I have gotten so used to hotel living, while I was in Denver I didn't lock an apartment door before leaving. In fact, when the owner asked me why I didn't take the key I didn't even understand why that was a problem. Cause, you know, doors lock automatically behind you when they shut! Duh.
(Oh, one additional perk. Marriot points. Children, prepare to be abandoned at some point next year so Mommy and Daddy can take a fabulous vacation. Nice.)

There really IS a baby in there

I had my NT scan last week. The OB office out here sends the NT and anatomy scans out of office to the fetal something or other place at a nearby hospital. (Somewhat confusing because it is not in the hospital complex my ob is at, but apparently a related one on the other side of I-5). It was a preschool day for Ashley, but Davey got to come along. I brought a lot of snacks, and was ready to youtube George in a heartbeat. The was the most thorough NT scan of all three pregnancies. Baby was kicking and moving all over the place. Definitely a baby in there. Really having a third. I wonder when I will stop being shocked by that... Anyway, Davey did a great job. I only had to resort to George when the doctor came in the review the ultrasound results (all normal, blood work will confirm). Otherwise, life is good. We met some of Ashley's preschool friends for trick or treating in Multnomah on Halloween. It was nice chatting with the other moms. Ashley totally get's it this year, and Davey was a quick learner. That kid is motivated by candy. In other news, it looks like it is finally going to start raining soon. Believe it or not NC folks, you've gotten a lot more rain than us since August!
Next up: Veterans day trip someplace. Jason has thrown out the tantalizing idea of Idaho and on to Bozeman, Montana - gateway of Yellowstone... oh so tempting (but a lot of driving)