Bellybutton revelations

We had our latest doctors appointment this week. For all that there is a lot of waiting involved (the office is usually backlogged) the appointments themselves are fairly short. I like them though because we get to hear the heartbeat. This time around the baby did not want to be cooperative. It's going to be a little imp I can already tell. It really hurts my back for me to lie flat but that is how I have to be for the doppler listening magical box to work. So the doctor was trying to be quick and get a good listen but not make me stay in that position for too long. The baby had other ideas. The doctor would find the pulse for a couple of beats then it would move, she'd find it again, then it would move. The thing finally held still long enough to get a good listen and everything is fine and dandy. A nice strong beat. With all the movement, the doctor said I could be feeling it any day now, although a lot of my reading says first time moms often don't recognize the movement until a few weeks from now. Either way I'm excited. Maybe that will be the baby's Christmas present to me, it will make itself felt.

The other night as I was getting in to bed, I started thinking about my bellybutton (pregnancy definitely makes your mind wander). I wondered if it would poke out and how big my belly would have to be before that point. Low and behold, I can already tell it is stretching. I know I have been slowly expanding, but I never really thought about it beyond "gee I should probably get some pants that fit". I discovered I have freckles in my belly button. It's stretched out enough that it's not so wrinkly and you can see the skin. What a strange place to have freckles (although I am a widely befreckled person so I guess not too weird).

The other fun thing of the week has been the cats. Our friend Delia sent us a great baby sling. We opened it up and decided to test it out on our perfectly sized pudgy 13/14lb cat, Kyrie (she's the least squirmy). I put it on, picked her up and laid her in the sling, getting her into it she was like NNNOOOOOOOOOoooooo and then once I had her in it she was like NOOooo...er...hmm...snuggle. She liked it! We cracked up and Andy took a picture. Hopefully we'll get it uploaded soon. Then last night, we were playing with Belenus, the brat cat. He's also about 12lbs and normally is not very snuggly. We like messing with him so I put him in the sling and he immediately started PURRING! He didn't want to get out, he was set and had that smug comfy kitty look. I didn't even have to support him, he was just hammocked in and happy. I basically had to dump him out onto the bed to get him out (don't worry, I probably won't use that technique on the baby ;) ). We also got a picture of Bele in the sling to post up. If this sling works as well on humans as it does on cats we are set.

For the rest of the week I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving holidays. We are taking a tour of the panhandle to visit as much family as possible. Which means food, food, and then some more food, and then leftovers. MMMMMMmmmmm. I'm in good eating mode and ready for friends, family, and food :) I can't wait to see everyone. Most of my family I haven't seen since we found out about the baby. It should be fun! I'm very thankful for our friends and family and all the support you give us. This whole baby thing is getting more and more real everyday and it makes it so wonderful to know there is so much love out there. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!