A Big Improvement

Kai just finished painting the house yesterday. Here are the before and after pictures. The before pictures are always listed first followed by the after picture.

With a little more energy lately and no more morning (all day) sickness I've been able to make good food for us again--Kai's loving it! Not to say that I haven't been cooking at all, but I'll be honest, it's been easy stuff that I can get together in a short amount of time--lots of salads and soups, etc. But now I'm in the cooking mood again and we've been eating a little better. This is the meal I made for Friday night dinner this week. When we sat down, Kai took a picture (shows how long it's been;-)

Marinated salmon, greek salad, toasted and seasonsed mini ciabatta loaves, with pure, fresh, cold water (trying to make it sound better)

4 1/2 months along.
Kai was happy with the meal. (Taken on Sabbath after church)
Okay, VERY happy;-) (ha ha)

P.S We find out the gender of Baby Steele on Thursday--provided he/she's in the right position.

San Diego Zoo

Since we're members of the zoo and had several free passes, we decided to head to San Diego and take along my mom, my sister Katie, and Kai's brother Brit. We had a really great time. Enjoy the pictures!

All 5 of us at the atrium in Balboa Park

Me and Katie at Balboa park

Brit and Kai trying to be serious

Just the girls--wish Sarah and Stephanie could be here to complete the picture!

4 months pregnant and not sick anymore! I love the second trimester!

He's thinking, "I love small children." Seriously--this cat was eyeing all the small children in the area. He was only active when small, bite sized children were present. He was less amused with adults.

Is this what I have to look forward to?? The mom looks exhausted!

Though I feel better, this is what I feel like most days. I think I could sleep almost as much as they do even though I'm in my 2nd trimester. I really hope it gets a little better.

Just before leaving we grabbed an exit shot thanks to some nice Australian lady.

After the zoo, we went to Extraordinary Desserts for a light dinner and some amazing desserts. Thanks Katie for letting me wear your heart sweater--it was freezing!

True Confessions of a Klepto

It’s true. I’m a thief. It’s been hard to come to terms with, but with a little therapy I know I’ll be fine.

It all happened last weekend. We were on our way to the beach with Brit, Jamie, and Jillian. We decided that in order to make it the best beach experience, we needed to stop and buy an easy-up to block the sun. Then we could stay all day without getting fried and I wouldn’t have to worry about heating the baby up too much in the sun.

We were all having a great time as we stopped at Sports Chalet (now there’s a place we could easily blow ten grand!). Kai stayed with the stuff and the rest of us went in to look around. We picked out the one we were going to get and I started hauling it up to the front which wasn’t too hard since it had wheels—thankfully some nice store guy came and hauled it the rest of the way for me though. When I got to the front, I picked up two packs of gum since I was out. I decided to open one pack and chew a piece while I waited for the others to make their way to the front. “No problem”, I thought, “I’ll pay for this in just a minute anyway.”

Everyone finally made their way to the front. We paid for the easy-up, and were on our way. As we were all in the car talking, laughing, and driving down the freeway, I was enjoying my gum. Then the realization hit me. I never paid for the gum! I truly have the memory of a pregnant woman! I slipped it in my purse without even realizing it and walked out of the store. I was a thief! I blurted that out to everyone in the car, only to be laughed at. So, of course I immediately called the store and tried to explain the situation to them and the fact that my memory of late has been somewhat absent, and they laughed at me too! I promised to repay them and fix the situation as soon as possible. We ended up going back that night after the beach day and I paid for both packs of gum.

Now my conscience is clear again. But I couldn’t help but thinking—too bad we hadn’t visited a new car dealership instead…I could really use a new car…ha ha!

Belly Pictures--Part 2

I know some of you check our blog from time to time to see updates. The belly pics post is way back in July, but I update them every week, so click here for a link to see the progress. The progress is a little slow, but you can start to see something there--at least I definitely can!

Also, my friend Aliesha sent me a doppler in the mail so we can hear the heartbeat whenever we want to. We have absolutely LOVED it--especially for the days when I don't feel the baby move! I love hearing it's little heartbeat--it sounds so tiny!

Testing..testing...

Praise the Lord for testing! We have ITBS testing next week in school and that means I get a break while I’m teaching. It’s pretty easy to read a scripted message, set a timer, and monitor while the kids test. I can work on other stuff in the meantime too and I definitely intend to! Although it’s boring for the kids, I welcome the easy schedule for a few days and try and pack in fun stuff in the free moments. We’ll see if they still like school after testing is over;-)

Poor Kai. He also has a very busy week of testing ahead of him too with some tough tests. BUT…AFTER he is done, he will be my full husband again!!! I’m really looking forward to coming home and hanging out together with no distractions. He’s been amazing these last couple of years when it comes to keeping a good balance, but this quarter has been tough on all the 3rd year students. Thankfully it’s done on Thursday at noon!!!

Baby Movements

Update! I've felt the baby move the last 3 nights in a row! It's amazing!!! I was lying in bed on Saturday night and felt a strange fluttering feeling. It was so extremely light, I had to have Kai be really quiet and I had to hold still, but it was obviously there. I wasn't sure if it could really be the baby, so I waited again until the next night and I felt the same thing. Again, I waited another night and it was there again. The same feeling--a very light flutter in the same spot for several minutes. I absolutely LOVE it! I know the baby is there and the flutters remind me of how small and fragile the baby really is. It really makes me realize that I already have a motherly role to protect our baby. Kai is a little jealous that he can't feel it yet, but knows that it won't be too long before he'll be able to feel it too. I also can't wait for that day--how exciting!

We also had our 2nd appt. today with our Dr. It went well. Kai came with me and we heard the heartbeat right away with the Doppler. It was SO cool! It was beating in the 150 beats per minute range. We can't wait to hear it again!