Okay, we cheated!  Our 18 week ultrasound was today, and we decided to find out whether it is a boy or girl.  So we finally now know, of course, I have felt that it was a boy from early on though.   Call it Mom’s intuition.  He has my nose!   

So far, we are going with the name Kendal Jacob for his name.  The name just popped into my head one day and I loved it.  I don’t know why or where it really came from.  I just like the sound of it.  My husband said he didn’t like it at first, but it is slowly growing on him.  It goes well with our last name.  I don’t know anyone with that name, so that is one of the reasons it appeals to me, because it is something different.  If he so chooses, when he is older, he can just go by Ken. 

I haven’t even felt him kick or anything yet.  I keep wondering if it will startle me when it does finally happen!  Mostly, my tailbone has been bothering me sometimes.  But so far my only complaints are the tailbone pain and a few tummy muscles stretching here and there. 

Right now I have a terrible cold, it seems to been going away.  I hope it does quickly before we leave for Michigan!  I also hope David doesn’t get it!  It would be just our dumb luck that we get all the way to Michigan and he comes down with it.  We are leaving on Friday.  Puppy dog (Jamie) is very excited too!  We keep talking about going “bye bye” and his ears perk up and he tips his head.  So cute!  He loves hotels too! (we are staying in a hotel on Friday night in Wisconsin) Partly because people notice him and remark about the cute little dog and he wags his tail because he knows they are talking about him!  Loves attention!  Once, I took him for a long walk in the city, around the lake, and he would stop when he would see people coming just so they could admire him!  Hmmm, kind of reminds you of that Carly Simon song, “You’re so vain”.  Last year, we took him to St. Louis with us and we stayed in a very nice hotel, I wish I had a video of him!  He proudly strutted around getting on elevators, and wagging his tail everytime he saw someone!  One of the attendants stopped and said, “is he part Chihuahua?”  And as soon as he heard that he started wagging his tail and crying.  Yes, he has heard the word “Chihuahua” before, he knew it was in reference to him!  Then, we opened the door to our hotel room and he ran right in, jumped up on the king sized bed and proceeded to roll around on it like a nut, making a little grunting noise!  He was acting like he had won the lottery or something!  I love him to death, he is one of the greatest pets I’ve ever had.  We can’t imagine our lives without this thing we’ve nicknamed ”the Juice Box”.  He is like a little Energizer battery sometimes.  We think he is part Jack Russell Terrier also, which is where the energy part comes from, but he looks like an overgrown tri-colored Chihuahua.  Okay, enough about our beloved, spoiled rotten, little dog….I’m telling you, if the dog is any indicator about how much we are going to spoil this kid!  Well, we will just have to have one more then!

We also share our house with 3 cats.  I don’t know why.  I plead total stupidity for that one!  Now all animals have special little personalities of their own.  I have one who thinks she is a princess (Molli), her sister Zoe (who has blondish colored hair) and sorry, but she is dumber than a box of rocks!  Then, there is Lily, who showed up at the back door in the middle of February. We brought her in because we thought she freeze to death, and 4 years later, she is still here!  Molli and Zoe, as I mentioned, are sisters.  They are 8 years old.  Molli is usually tolerable to most things (other animals) even though she considers herself to be “above” everyone else.  Zoe, she is scrappy, could care less about grooming, and has a strong distaste for anyone who gets in her way.  This is the same cat who has tried on several occassions to EAT a fake Christmas tree!  Of course, not long after she eats it she gets violently ill!  Hmmm, do you think that would be a sign to LEAVE THE TREE ALONE after a while?  Nope!  Stupid cat!  Among her other very annoying talents is jumping on the dresser at 3 a.m. to knock things off onto the floor, and when you say her name,  “ZOE!”  She answers!  “Meow?”  Like flippin’ Steve Erkel!  (“Did I do that?”)  This is a ploy so you will wake up and go feed her so she will leave you alone!  Lily, who barely weighed like 7lbs. when she entered our house, is now double the size!  She weighs as much as the dog!  In fact, she has tried to take food out of his mouth before!  She also loves to aggravate Zoe, because she knows she can.  Runs up behind her and tackles her, which is met with slapping and hissing!  If the dog walks within a foot of Zoe, she slaps him in the face or on the butt.  Poor Jamie, his ears go down and his tail goes down.  “What did I do to you?”  So, he purposely walks like 3 feet around her when he has to pass her.  With all of this drama, you would wonder why we even bother to pay for cable TV!  These are the ”pests” we share our home with for now….and we are going to add a child?  Hmmm, this should be interesting….

Okay, now that you are fast asleep from reading about my “pests”.  Which is my word for “pets” now.  I do love them all, but they have their moments.   I have had the stray thought about turning Zoe into a nice fur rug at times.. (no, I would never actually do that!  Don’t call PETA!)  There is just nothing I love more than hearing a cat yacking up a hairball at 1 a.m. , such a beautiful sound to be awakened by!  (You do know I am kidding right?)

Okay, that’s all folks!  Enough for now…