Where Are My Feet?

I looked down the other afternoon and realized that my feet were completely missing from my view, and that the view has been replaced by my ever-expanding mid-section. Those in my family who do not live in Boise have a hard time believing this statement, so I took the liberty of obtaining a picture from my point of view. The camera was placed just under my chin.....does any one else see my feet?
I didn't think so.

Yesterday afternoon, Chadwick and I rode the Thunder Mountain Line, a train which lives in Horseshoe Bend (north of Boise about 35 minutes). The special of this time of year: the pumpkin liner. Along with many noisy, some screaming children and their parents, we loaded up on a rickety train and traveled an hour north to Banks to a small area where they had tons of pumpkins lined up, ready to be chosen. Ice cream and apple cobbler was available for $1 (too bad we weren't carrying any cash, I was hungry) and the weather was perfect! We had 30 minutes to choose the perfect pumpkin before we loaded up and came home. It was super fun! I decided we will start a tradition of going to pick a pumpkin somewhere other than the store each year.


It was hard to choose just one pumpkin, but managed to find the perfect one. Chadwick took home a large, round one with a great side for carving. I chose a small, fat, round one that I could easily carry back on the train. It was a riot to watch these parents with multiple kids, who of course wanted the largest pumpkin possible but weren't big enough to carry the thing. It was entertaining!

I also have to update my pregnancy profile, per request of my Bop-bop. In honor of the season, Chadwick participated as well:

His belly is a bit bigger than mine. =)




And here is a picture of the cat, since she posed so nicely for me this afternoon. It's a rough life!

To Make a Room

I've decided that in most cases, to clean a mess, sometimes you have to create one first. In my case, Chadwick and I are starting the process of creating a room for the baby. In order to do so, the office must be dismantled, moved downstairs, set up again, and the baby room started. Our closet in the office is typical - a hiding spot for things that I don't know what to do with, a spot for old yearbooks, journals, toys from college (i.e. my WSU Barbie cheerleader given to me by a good friend), and more pages of notes from vet school than I care to count. Plus some other miscellaneous items. This is turning into something of a process, but it is a needed "purging." I am grateful for recycling....makes us feel less guilty about getting rid of so much paper. And what to do with all of our textbooks??

I am excited to be starting the process of making a nursery! Tomorrow, Oct. 13, we go in for our 19 week ultrasound.....more on that at a later date. =)

Happy Birthday, Julie Schmoolie

Twenty-nine years ago yesterday, I was born in Albuquerque, NM in the midst of the balloon fiesta. Mom said she could see the balloons from her hospital window....

My morning started out with a fabulous scrambled eggs, potatoes, and toast breakfast, made special by my wonderful husband. Work was super hectic; three of the six doctors were out of town for a mini-conference in Sun Valley, ID, leaving two of us in the clinic and one running around taking care of cut and sick horses. We were also short-staffed! Usually, our morning appointments end around 12:15.....yesterday we finally caught up with the morning at 1:00 pm. That left little time to eat, finish some things, and prepare for the afternoon appointments! But, as Dr. Kayla says, "We'll get it done." And we did, with most of our hair intact and not pulled out. We have a great staff! The pumpkin pie we had in the clinic for my birthday gave us some necessary sugar to power us through the day as well.

The flowers pictured above were a delivery gift from Chadwick - I love flowers! However, I hate the nickname "Julie Schmoolie," which is what was written on the card attached to said flowers. Chadwick came up with the nickname early in our relationship when we were coming up with pet names for one another. Luckily, I don't hear it very often! =)

After work, we went out to the Cheesecake Factory with my in-laws for dinner. Lots of garlic in that food! We rolled out of there with leftovers in our hands. Overall, not a bad day. And I got lots of phone calls from family and friends. I'm lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life!!

Life Updates

These last several weeks have been busy! Not so much with work, but life.

After much debate, thought, and conversation, Chadwick decided that he was no longer going to pursue veterinary specialty and instead learn the art of being a general practitioner. Now we're able to focus on a new direction....where ever that may lead! We can go anywhere and do anything at this point, so we're tossing around some ideas. We'll keep ya posted.

Second, my mom and step-dad Mark came up to Boise last weekend for a visit. Mark has never seen our house or clinics, and mom wanted to know what her pregnant daughter looked like. (Side note: once you get pregnant, fewer people are concerned about your welfare, only that of the child. I think this will continue to get worse after the baby is born. Huh.) We went up to the Hunt family cabin Friday night and the boys went fishing on the Middle Fork of the Payette Saturday for a few hours. They were successful, though Chadwick kept only one fish.
During this time, Mom and I walked, talked, and relaxed. The weather was great and the bugs minimal, so we had a good time. Saturday evening, we attended "A Tuna Christmas" which was put on by the Idaho Shakespeare Festival - it's an outdoor theater with lawn seating and an amazing venue! You can bring your own picnic dinner and drinks....we didn't know that food and photos were okay until we got there. I'll take a picture next time. Sunday was relaxing and dinner with the Hunts. All-in-all, a great time.

I am officially in the 'tweener stage of pregnancy - my regular jeans no longer fit in the mid-section (though thankfully my rear end still fits fine) and my maternity jeans Mom bought left me with a saggy bottom all day at work because they are a smidge too large. Give it a week and they'll fit better. This is me at 17-18 weeks:

To end, my thoughts are with the Pullman crew with whom we shared many between-Conference session meals - Ryan, Holly, Hayley, Milo, Chad, Jessica, Todd, Hannah, Mike, Jen, Anne, and Liz. I miss you guys!