18 weeks

Here is a picture of me and Sprout at 18 weeks.  While we were in Hiroshima last weekend I started to feel him or her moving.  It was so amazing, and a little strange all at the same time. Scott is jealous he can't feel the baby move , but he still talks to the little guy.  I still feel great; I have lots of energy and I don't think I am too moody...Scott may tell you a different story though.  = )

christmas 2008

Well, this year we had a fun-filled, busy Christmas.  On Christmas day, we were the local USO and 28 people plus kids and 2 additional dogs came over for Christmas lunch.  We started out inviting the single soldiers in Scott's office, but then it just kept growing.  It was really fun to spend time with friends, relax and enjoy each other's company.  Scott made his famous smoked pork butt with raspberry chipotle sauce.  This left me to make loaded mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and mini-sausage muffins.  I usually tell guests not to worry about bringing something, but this year, I took the help gladly...I just don't have enough dishes for all that food!  We ate and ate, and ended the night with a fire and s'mores.

The next morning we left early for Hiroshima and Miyajima.  We left about 5:30 to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) and were in Hiroshima by 11:00.  The first day we saw the Shukkei-en, a beautiful garden.  

Then we went to see Hiroshima Castle.

And we ended the day at the Peace Park.  It was amazing to see the A-bomb dome and tour the museum.  It was worth the 5 hour train ride.

On the second day we went to Miyajima Island where we spent the day at the Itsukushima Shrine.  It is built totally on the water.  We went early and were able to be there at high tide and avoid the crowds.  For both of us, it was the best thing we have done in Japan.

Hetzel graduations

There are two recent honor graduates in the Hetzel family - me and Chloe.  After a year and a half of grad school, I finished this December.  I now have my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.  Just like my undergrad, I have an emphasis in Middle School Mathematics as well. It is a relief to be done, and I was able to graduate summa cum laude.  I originally planned to finish next semester, but when we found out we were pregnant and we would be moving next year, I took 5 classes (15 hours) this semester.  It was crazy, but now that it is finished, I am glad I did it. Scott was a HUGE encouragement through it, and I am so thankful for his support.

Because we are in Japan, I wasn't able to attend the official ceremony last week.  But, Chloe, the other Hetzel graduate, made it to her graduation.  She went to obedience school and was the top graduate in her class.  Here is a picture of her with her mom and dad...

16 weeks

Sorry to post three times in one day.  I haven't been able to get pictures to load the last few days.  So, finally, here is a picture of my growing belly.  I was exactly 16 weeks in this picture.  I still feel great.  I haven't been sick and I am not really tired.  I told Scott this morning that I am so thankful to have a job that is not stressful.  I really enjoy my English students, I only teach 20-25 hours a week, and best of all I don't usually start teaching until 10:00.  This has allowed me to rest and take care of myself like my old job wouldn't have.  

I have also started to "feel" pregnant this week.  Since I have felt so great, and I just started to show, I haven't felt pregnant.  I am ready to start feeling the little one moving...

connor is learning to be a helper

Connor knows we have been busy getting ready for Christmas, a yard sale and moving back home. The other day she realized she needed to start pulling her weight more around the house. (We have been talking to her about how things will have to change when Sprout comes and she is a big sister.)  She realized we had too many Christmas packages to open and decided to help us open them...

leaves

Last weekend we finally gave in a raked our yard.  We have 7 HUGE trees in our front yard, and we could easily spend hours every weekend raking because leaves just keep falling and falling. 36 bags later, we were done.  Scott originally started building a tower with the bags, but there were so many it kept collapsing.  Here is what we finally ended up with.  The first picture is the view from the front of the pile, and the second is the back of the pile.  Scott is in them both for a point of reference... 

flashback, and not a good one!

For those of you who knew me at Baylor, do you remember the little white house I lived in the last year?  It was really cute, but literally could have been a zoo. 

Yesterday, I came home and I saw a cat crawling under my house.  At first I thought, he must be cold, poor thing.  But then I remembered the mating cats that lived under my house in Waco, and I didn't feel so sorry for the cat anymore.  Then all I could think about was waking up at 2:00 in the morning to banging coming from under my bed, yelping, screeching and other noises I would rather not describe. The housing company caught them, but then my roommate felt sorry for them and let the out of the cage.  They were also the beginning of the animal onslaught.  Once the cats were re-caught and released in a new area, a possum, followed.  

One night I heard something funny coming from the kitchen.  When I went in, a little head popped out from behind some cans and hissed at me.  I whacked it with a broom and it crawled under my stove. Possums either "play possum" or emit a smelly green substance from an unmentionable place.  Unfortunately for me, it chose the latter defense mechanism before running into a hole under our kitchen cabinet.  The next day I tried to get my friend Brett to give me his BB gun, but he convinced me that was illegal in the city limits and gave me a golf club to protect myself with instead.  The next night, I heard it in the kitchen again, and I watched it try to open a screw top container of Kool-Aide while I called 911.  A nice man from animal control came to take it away and luckily, I didn't have to use the golf club.

Following the possum, we had a raccoon.  One evening I was grading papers and I heard what can only be described as a wounded man crawling on his belly dragging his legs behind him in our attic.  I remembered the night before my roommate told me that she saw a raccoon so big that all other raccoons would be scared.  I called animal control again, but they told me they couldn't come until the next day.  With some internet research, I realized raccoons didn't like light or music so I spent the night with radios blaring and all the lights in the house on.  The next day animal control put cages in our attic and caught an entire little raccoon family.

After the possum, when we were moving out we had at least one rat. My two roommates had already left, and it was only me and the little guy.  It was then that I realized I was really glad to leave the little house.  I only hope the cat I saw yesterday was not the start of this whole process again!

observations...

Yesterday our friends were in a Christmas musical, so I volunteered to watch their three kids. Kariss is in second grade, Breck is 4 and William is 2.  They are GREAT kids, and I had a lot of fun with them.  

After the day, my observation to Scott was, "Girl's toys have a lot more little parts than boy's do. Girl's toys have shoes, clothes, and little sparkley things, but boy's toys are things like guns, swords and trucks...all one big thing."  To that Scott countered, "Well, I noticed that girls really like to talk and boys like to hit you."  While I was making dinner, Scott joined us.  Kariss immediately took a liking to him and started chatting at him.  While she was talking, William came over and started jumping on Scott and then torpedoed his entire body into Scott's face. Breck thought this looked like great fun and immediately joined in the pummel Scott game.  I didn't see all this, but it was REALLY funny to listen to!

But the best observation of the day came from Kariss.  She looked at Scott, and with complete seriousness said, "You are just a big toy."  She is wise beyond her years!

christmas tree lighting

Last night we went to our base's Christmas Tree Lighting.  It was fun...I always love an excuse to drink hot cocoa!

130 beats per minute...

We got to hear Sprout's heart beat for the first time today.  It was totally amazing!  The doctor said it was 130 beats per minute and very strong.  Other than that, I am still doing great.  This baby really likes me - no sickness, no nausea, no major weight gain or tiredness either.  I just hope this lasts through the teenage years...

So far, I am the same weight, just with a little belly pooch.  I'll start posting pictures of my growing belly next week.