Ultrasounds and Announcements

Another month has flown by already. This pregnancy seems to be going by pretty fast and I'm sure it has nothing to do with chasing around a toddler. Or that I just did a whirlwind trip to Denali National Park. Or that dance just started back up for the semester. Or that we're in the process of finally selling our condo. Or that Nick has been in and out of town for various dr. appointments and guard drills. Or that one of my closest friends (and co-dance teacher) is also pregnant and we're 1 week apart. I suppose we keep pretty busy!

4 months

Yesterday I went to visit a lady in town who does predictions on a baby's sex. She uses a needle and thread trick where you hold it over your hand, palm facing down. Some theory that the needle picks up the magnetism in your blood. If the needle swings in a circle you're having a girl, if it swings back and forth in a line your having a boy. We did it three times, just for fun, and each time it went back and forth, like a pendulum! So according to this very scientific prediction, we're having a boy. She cheerfully says that she is about 77% right, although that is not an accurate statistic either. (And just for the record . . . last time around the needle also indicated a boy!)

Baby's head is toward the right side, looking upward

But today was my mid-pregnancy ultrasound! Slightly more scientific and accurate. Of course finding out the sex is just the icing on the cake - for those of us who want to know! First and foremost it serves a medical purpose, checking on the baby's growth, stomach, kidney's, spine, and brain and the placement of the placenta. Baby looks to be doing well and I have a follow up appointment with the Doctor on Friday after the radiologist checks out all the pictures.

And now . . Drum Roll Please . . . . . .

 

Look at the left side; a tushie, two legs, and a penis in between!

IT'S A BOY!!

I am blown away by this. I was positive that this baby was a girl and that we would have a house full of girls, Nick thought so too, just our lot in life. And a house full of sisters would be A-Okay. But now. Now we'll need to get all new clothes. And buy some of those pee-pee tee-pee things. And clear out the pink stuff. Well, some of it. I think this boy will be dressed up by his big sister for a few years and that's just the way it is! Colette came along for the ultrasound. She was a lot more interested in my belly and the special goo all over it than anything to do with the actual baby, but she did great and I'm glad we were all there together. 

Last week I went to the interior of this tremendous state with a few co-workers. We got to do a FAM trip, travel agent familiarization. We stayed at places where we book our clients and traveled the same way we set it up for them. It's one part to make sure that we are sending them to good places and that things work smoothly, and one part to give us the personal experience so we know what we're talking about. We started in Fairbanks, took the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park, did a flight-seeing tour and a bus tour into the park, then the Alaska Railroad to Anchorage. The weather was beautiful for the entire trip and we were treated to rare views of Mt. McKinley in it's entirety. Stunning. Breathless. 

Beginning our first train ride from Fairbanks to Denali

  

Viking Travel Agents: Anne Volk, me, Shannon Foley with Mt. McKinley in the background

Although our trip was positively amazing, it was also exhausting! We were up early to catch trains, planes and automobiles for various tours and transfers and afterwards we had to do "work" like sampling the best places to recommend for dinner. In truth we also had to go check out other hotel properties and make new business connections so we were considerably busier than our clients would be!

Anne and Shannon enjoying some wine at "Cabin Night Dinner Theater"

Our dance performance this year will be the Nutcracker. We haven't done the show in 3 years, and that last one was the semester I took off when I had Colette. I'm very excited to do it again but it has been a trick figuring out our season schedule with two pregnant dance teachers and very large classes.

Summer in Alaska this year was very wet and rather chilly but September has given us some beautiful weather. We've been treated to sunny skies and warm temperatures (in the 70s!) so we've taken advantage of it and headed out the road for picnics and an afternoon up Petersburg Creek with Joey, Helen and Audrey.

And our "Little Miss Baby Boggs" is growing up so quickly! Her 3rd Birthday is in October and we're making plans for her "Pink Party." She has recently entered a new phase, one where she is constantly busy . . and constantly talking. I know it's just my karma, but the girl chatters nonstop! Mostly it's adorable, but not so much at 3:30am when she feels like it's a great time to chit chat. She'll climb into bed, sit up and just launch into something like we're having a tea party. She also likes to tell stories at more appropriate times and sing songs, some real and some made up. We're entering a new era of pretend play and interaction with friends which is really exciting to see. Our toddler is becoming a little kid and a big sister.

My sweet almost-3-year-old!