Earthquake!

I just experienced my first California earthquake. Yikes! A 5.8 magnitude, the epicenter was about 30 miles northeast of our offices, and about 40 miles from our home. So far, I'm not aware of any damage or injury in our area - we are ok. They are reporting this as a moderate quake. It will be interesting to see if there are any aftershocks.

It sure felt wild. I was sitting at my desk and felt my chair move a little up and back twice a few seconds apart. It felt a bit like someone had grabbed the back of my chair and pulled.

CNN has the story up already.

I can now add earthquake to the list of natural disasters I've experienced!

We're Having a Baby!!

We are happy to announce that we are expecting a baby!

The baby is due February 1, 2009 so I just passed the 3 month mark (12 weeks). Everything is going very well. The baby measured about 2.5 inches this last week so we're right on track. I have enjoyed relatively good health and high energy through the first trimester and consider myself VERY lucky.

We had an ultrasound on Wednesday and were able to see the baby for the first time. It was incredible! Below is a picture of the baby kicking (notice the little foot at the top of the image). I thought it was adorable to watch, though I may change my mind in 5 or 6 months ;).

We are excited to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl, but we'll have to wait a few more months for that.

I have been keeping an online pregnancy journal (blog) since we learned we were pregnant. It is a private blog, but please leave me a comment or email me at baby.espen@gmail.com if you would like an invitation. I will post a lot more information there than I will here, since I know that not everyone is interested in all the hiccups and twinges of a first-time mom.

Thanks to everyone for their love and support as we embark on this new and exciting journey. We are thrilled! Wahooo!!

Book Tag

My lil' sis tagged me. I was supposed to grab the closest book, find pg. 123, and find the 5th sentence:

The book - Jane Austin's, Mansfield Park: "'I should not have thought it the sort of play to be so easily filled up with us,' replied Edmund, turning away to the fire where sat his mother, aunt, and Fanny, and seating himself with a look of great vexation."

Mine didn't work really great, but I'm sure some of them are very funny. I was glad the line wasn't a spoiler since I've only read to page 68. Those first 68 pages have been tortuous! Poor unloved, under-appreciated Fanny!

Adorable Husband

Sunday morning as we were waking up, Doug must have been having a very vivid dream because his feet started twitching like crazy and he was making sleepy mumbling sounds (posted with his permission, fyi). He's usually a pretty calm sleeper, so this activity was really cracking me up. I rubbed his back a little to see if he'd calm down, but I didn't really want to wake him up. After a minute or two he rolled over and I asked him if he'd been dreaming. In his sleepy stuper he replied, yeah, I was in a boxing match. I told him his feet had been moving really fast. His reply: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." I'm the sports illiterate, so I really started laughing at this and asked where that phrase came from. Still half asleep he mumbled Muhammad Ali. I'm sure in his dream, Doug could have given Muhammad Ali a real run for his money ;).

Haircut

Yeah! A new summer hairdo. Thanks Katie Hoffman!



And a nice glamor shot of our Christmas present to each other (camera).

It's AAALIVEE!

For my birthday last year my mom gave me a Meyer Lemon tree. I was SO excited. Below are pictures the day it arrived in the mail. We named her Limonita, and I lovingly planted it.

But I couldn't leave her alone and let her grow in peace. I kept tinkering and repotting, trying to find the perfect pot and perfect soil blend. She started losing leaves. *Snifff* Every leaf that dropped stabbed to my heart. Those adorable lemons never grew bigger than the diameter of a nickle. Finally she was down to about 20 leaves and I made a very hard decision. I aborted the last few small green lemons in an attempt to save the tree. WaaaAAaa, I don't even want to think about it. *snniffsniff*

I did not dispair. I brought her in the house for the winter, loved her and, yes, even prayed for her. We got down to only 4 leaves, and I thought she was done for.

But... Spring brought new hope and new life to the lemon tree! Small buds started to appear and soon she had blossoms! And it didn't stop there, she keeps on growing! We now have a bunch of new leaves and some of the flowers are turning into little fruit. We're not out of the woods yet, but I'm definitely optimistic!!