Kung fu fighter? Soccer player? Radio City Rockette?

This child is already pretty active and I've even been really good about limiting my caffeine and sugar whenever possible. As early as 15 weeks I could feel little flutters and thumps, but now they are full blown kicks! No one really tells you what it feels like to have a mini person swimming inside of you. Seriously? Re-read that sentence...even if you don't believe in God, you have to believe that something truly amazing thought the whole process up. You may remember that Josh was able to feel the kid for the first time while we were in San Diego. That was at 25 weeks. In just a week since then the movements have become more regular. Gramma Dee Dee got to feel one too! I can almost predict when they'll happen. For example, when I lay on my side, Baby Fisch either really likes it or really hates it and throws a mini hissy fit in my uterus. He/she has had a few bouts of baby hiccups which were really cool. They are very rhythmic bumps every 2 or 3 seconds for about a minute. Apparently, the baby is able to practice swallowing and sometimes gets hiccups from it. One of Baby Fisch's favorite things to do however, is wait until my bladder is about ready to burst at night (around 4 or 5 in the morning) and then start squirming around. Just enough to wake me up and curse at the time. After I go to the bathroom, he/she must really enjoy all the extra space because they'll bounce around for another 20 minutes or so enjoying their freedom and ability to stretch out to his/her full 13 inches. Seriously kid? I have to wake up for work soon! Needless to say, I'm not sleeping great. I guess it will come in handy when I have to wake up every 2 hours to feed/change the baby (or kick Josh to do it), but part of me wonders if I'm teaching the baby to wake up at 4 AM every day? It's the animal trainer in me who realizes that maybe the act of just emptying my bladder is actually reinforcing for a tiny fetus. Laugh if you like, but this is how my mind works. Oh, one final note on movement...the other night, I was laying on the couch and Dexter had his head in my lap. The baby started kicking around as he/she prefers to do just when I get comfortable. Then a few seconds later WHACK! The baby kicked poor little Dexter in the head. Seriously. His little doggie noggin bounced off my belly! He didn't seem to care very much though. Although he's probably just biding his time while thinking 'Payback's a b@%&! kid. Just wait till you meet my tail.'

Shower RSVPs!

Just a friendly reminder for everyone to RSVP to Jess for the baby shower! She's very anal and likes to plan ahead :) Thank you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought I'd post another belly picture since some of you won't get off my achy pregnant back about it! I know it was overdue and I apologize. This was taken today before Josh takes me out to one of our favorite 'special' restaurants that we go to for things like V-Day and anniversaries. The Bayard House is quite lovely and they have this amazing dish with petite filets and crab cakes. I'm drooling just thinking about it! I also took this photographic opportunity to show off our lovely kitchen. "But Mandy, I didn't know you were knocking down a wall! We thought you were just replacing the cabinets!" Well friends, that was our plan, however fate had something else in mind. As we tore up our old laminate floor to prepare to replace it with new stuff, we found some nasty water damage near the baseboard that had rotted completely through the insulation, drywall, even the plywood that butts up to the siding on the outside. To make things even more exciting, the moisture must have attracted ants because those little bastards have moved in! Luckily, since it's so cold, we were able to ambush them while they were immobilized with lack of heat! We are hoping that our homeowner's insurance covers this. The original leak seems to be from the roof...maybe where the shingles were attached. It's probably been there for years, we just never noticed it because it had been seeping underneath our kitchen floor. *sigh* oh well..just another adventure for the Fischer Family! Conveniently, our neighbor is a contractor and should be able to help us with this project. Fingers crossed that we don't have to tear down our entire kitchen wall!!!!

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Babymoon San Diego!

What exactly is a 'babymoon' you may ask? Well, it's what Josh calls the little getaway we got to take last week! This was one of the last weeks that I could safely fly before entering the third trimester. We had wanted to do something fun and were trying so hard to make it work with our friends Eric and Miranda from the Great Salt Lake City. In the end though, we had to go it alone. We couldn't make this trip work for both couples :( That's ok though because it means the next time the Herds and the Fischers get together it's going to cause an explosion! Josh was told at the last minute that he needed to attend a conference in San Diego for a few days. I (amazingly) was able to take some time away from the primates and tag along! We flew out Monday February 1st at the buttcrackodawn. Our hotel was supposed to be really posh (think NYC very white with very clean lines and no clutter) but the actual amenities kinda sucked. First of all, our room overlooked the beautiful San Diego Bay...and the Dole loading dock. We got to hear banana trucks being unloaded for the first 24 hours. But I did see a cool battleship coming into the harbor (see photo). We had to hit the Cheesecake Factory while we were there because, well, it's the CHEESECAKE....FACTORY. If you've never been to one, well, I don't quite know what to say to that except that you are doing an incredible injustice to your tastebuds. Anyways, after the CF we had a few leftovers. But our room had no fridge or microwave. I can understand no microwave, but seriously? No mini fridge? At a Hilton? I knew there was something wrong with the family when Paris got her own TV show. We had to improvise a bit with a collapsible cooler, some Ziplock bags and ice, but we managed. Reheating my chicken tortillas proved to be a bit challenging but a hot water bath in the bathroom sink did the trick just fine. The next day, Josh had to head to work while I headed to the San Diego Zoo! (I happen to like visiting other zoos on my vacations thankyouverymuch). A friend of mine had a contact there who works with their primates, so Chad gave me the grand tour. It was super awesome. They have bonobos. Very few zoos exhibit these highly endangered apes. Some people call them pygmy chimps, but they are not. They are their own separate species of ape. Here's a little bonobo fact you may find interesting: Bonobos are a matriarchal society (girls rule). Whenever a fight breaks out, the girls immediately go for the male's balls...seriously they know where it hurts. This in turn means that you can usually spot a male bonobo without checking out his junk because his hands and knuckles are all scabby and cut up from protecting his man hood. There's your National Geographic Moment of the Day. Just think about how bad your life COULD be the next time you're feeling down.

On Tuesday evening, we went for a tour of San Diego. BOR-ING you may say, but not when you do it Fischer Style. Oh yes, we did our tour from the lightning fast speed of a Segway! Josh was so thrilled to do this he couldn't stop talking about it for the whole week before we left. Our guide Nico was awesome. The Segways were pretty easy to learn how to maneuver and before you knew it we were flying down the sidewalks of San Diego! It was definitely a great way to see the city in a small time frame. Plus we looked super cool with our nifty helmets. You can be jealous. It's ok.

The next day (Wednesday) Josh only had to work until noon so we hopped in a pedi cab (the little rickshaws powered by bicycles) *See photo* to go down to the USS Midway aircraft carrier. This was something I've always wanted to see...a real aircraft carrier! The way my Uncle Jay talks about the Navy had always made it sound so magical and amazing. Well let me tell you that it was! Our Armed Forces ROCK. The only thing that could have been cooler would be to have flown in an actual plane taking off from the flight deck. I couldn't imagine being slingshot off of the runway in the middle of the ocean! After the Midway, we headed to the Fish Market for lunch. I had the most amazing fish tacos EVER. Josh had the best fish sandwich he's ever eaten. Seriously, that's what he said. That night, we went up to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset and check out the local farmer's market. We love farmer's markets because you can wander around and just eat little things here and there. Pink navel oranges...who knew? DELISH! Crepes with Nutella, cinnamon and honey almonds, cream puffs...the list goes on and on. I've never seen so many gorgeous flowers either! We had hoped to see a few California sea lions near the beach, but no such luck for us that night. Oh well, there's always next time!

I had to catch my plane early Thursday morning. I landed around 430pm and went to pick up Dex from the boarding kennel. Josh was able to change his flight to come in Thursday instead of Friday (in the middle of a blizzard) so I had to run back to the airport to pick him up at 10 that night. It wasn't too bad. I'd rather have him home than stranded in California without me! By that time, we just had to hunker down to ride out Snowmaggedon 2010. But that's a story for another day...

Thanks Gramma and Grandpa Fischer!

How lucky are we? Lois and Gary surprised us with this BEE-UTIFUL new glider for the nursery! Aunt Dana and Uncle Mark (who are expecting their first baby in July) also received one as a gift. And then Gramma Fischer liked them so much she got one for their house too! We can't wait to rock our little baby bundle of joy to sleep in it! Hopefully this kid realizes how special his/her rocker is and will go riiiiiight sleep every time. EVERY TIME! Do you hear that Baby Fisch?? We chose the color of the stain and the upholstery. I think it's going to look perfect in the nursery! We now have a great piece of heirloom furniture to pass down the Fischer line. Thanks again Gramma and Grandpa! P.S. check out the cool engraved 'F' on the base! What a cute touch!