We snagged a Phil and Ted Stroller

I've had my eye on this phil and ted stroller, and i really really wanted it, but really really didn't want to pay the almost $500 price tag, so i have been stalking craigslist on a daily basis, and yesterday was our golden opportunity! I found one listed for $200, and cris went over to look at it.

it's actually funny, b/c the family lives in our neighborhood, and apparently they actually knew us, because the husband is an ENT resident at my hospital, and somehow they had heard about nova and june-bug, b/c the wife knew our whole little story.

anyway, we are super excited about our find, and now we just need a couple of babies to push around!

(but ours is red and gray)

oh, about the new haircut, i'll post pictures after our baby shower this weekend.

*new* stroller

I've had my eye on this really cool stroller. It's made by a company called Phil and Ted. They have devised a cool way to push around 2 kiddos without the big wide double stroller. The other great thing is that the 2nd seat can easily be removed, and it can also be used as a single stroller.

anyway, i love this stroller, but unfortunately the price was ridiculous, so we have been watching for a used one. And yesterday I found one listed, and cris gave them a call and secured us a basically brand new stroller (used less than 6 months) for less than 1/2 the regular price!

Now all we need are a couple of babies to push around!

4 days counting today....

3 days not counting today, and 2 days not counting today or thursday until my fun weekend starts!
Cris was telling me about how excited his nephew, brent, is to see him. When Coral finally told Brent that Uncle Cris was coming to visit in 5 days, he wanted to know if it was 5 days counting that day, or starting the next day. So cute! But now I find myself counting down the days. I am REALLY looking forward to this weekend! I'm going to try to get Friday off work so i can drive up to Toledo on Thursday. Then I'll be able to hang with the Matus Gang Fri and Sat a.m., then drive on down to visit the Stickley's and see our friends and family at our Baby Shower!

i had a great visit with my parents in willard this week. I think this is like the first time EVER that i have been the only kid at home, even if it was just for a couple of days! We ran around and did some shopping and had a great time. Then back to work today. I need to run out to Wal-mart to pick up some stuff, but i just don't know if i can face the cold! I was really thinking of moving back to Ohio after residency, but this freezing winter is kind of making me reconsider! I had to use and ice scraper this morning for the first time in 3 years! I guess I would eventually re-adjust to the winter wonderland, but right now it's kind of a shock on my tropical weather loving system.

big trip to willard

Friday i made the 7 hour (which after some terrible traffic in cincinnati become a 9 hour) drive from Kentucky to northeast ohio. it was totally worth the long drive to get to see my mom and dad. even though i just saw them at christmas i was so happy to get to spend the day hanging out and shopping with my mom. I got a bunch of my hair cut off, and colored kind of darkish. it's a good change i think. closer to my natural color, so hopefully i won't get what my friends and family lovingly refer to as my "skunk root". I should have taken a hint from my 4 year old niece, who was having a good ole' time "braiding" my hair. she handed me a handful of hair and said "ok aunt emmie, you hold the white hair and i'll hold the black hair and then we'll put them together". hmmmmm.....i think that's what nudged me to get some professional hair help.
It's just i HATE spending so much money on hair. I've never really been a hair person, and i don't really worry much about it (which is why the skunk root rears it's ugly head so often). AND as an army gal i really only can only wear my hair in 1 way - pulled back in a tight bun. So what's the use of a $50 haircut when no one ever sees it?

but anyway, i paid the big bucks for a cut and color and overall i like it. and i certainly don't have the black hair/white hair problemo.

so willard was fun. i just spent Saturday there, and then drove back on Sunday.
I'm gonna try to hint around and get Friday off, since Cris is flying in this week. His sister is having a baby shower for us, and we are excited to see lots of friends/family.

Oh, something else funny that's hair related. this morning i got out of the shower at 05:15 and went to brush and dry my hair. I have super stringy hair, and when i get out of the shower it's like a giant dreadlock. it takes a lot of work to get it all brushed out. but i realized i didn't have a hairbrush cuz i left it at my parents. there was NOTHING i could find that work work. i thought about trying a fork (i was Desparate!!) but ended up just trying to pick out the tangles with my fingers. it sorta kinda worked, but i gotta run over to walmart now and buy a brush so i don't have the same dilemma tomorrow.

Nova in 4 dimensions

today was super fun! We had a great day in the O.R., with 2 really good teaching cases, and lots of good stuff to learn. Then, in the afternoon I came back to the clinic, and one of the ultrasound techs did a quick 4D ultrasound for me! We don't offer 4D ultrasounds at my regular hospital, and so i haven't actually even seen one done before, only the pictures.

Little Nova co-operated pretty well. There was definately some wiggling around, and a fair amount of hiding behind her hand or umbilical cord, but overall she posed quite nicely for her glamour shots, and we got to have a little glimpse of what our girl might look like. Too cool!

the weather here in KY was quite nice today. When I left at 0530 it was already > 60 degrees! Awesome. That kind of weather and sunshine alone makes for a great day.

And we got some measurments. Looks like June-bug weighs about 12 pounds, and is 24 inches long at 4.5 months. That puts her in the 45% for weight and 75% for height on American charts. I'm wondering if maybe she isn't a little older than 4 months. In her pictures she really looks a little bit older, like more about 6 months. I know a lot of times the birth dates are an estimation, and may be more like the date she was taken to the orphanage. anyway, she is beautiful, and looks happy and healthy.

a little glimpse at little nova

Today was very exciting b/c one of the girls at the office i am working in did my 4D ultrasound! It was so much fun to have a look at little Nova. we didn't take her measurements or anything, just tried to get a few glamour shots of her face. she co-operated pretty well overall. there was a little bit of wiggling around, and a fair amount of hiding behind her hand or her umbilical cord, but we got a few shots of her little face.

As you might have noticed we are now into double digits on the Nova counter, with only 98 days left! If only we could count down the days to bring Juneau home, it would certainly make that wait much easier.

We are nearing Tet (Vietnamese New Year), which means a couple of weeks of absolutely no adoption progress or news while all of the government agencies shut down for the holiday. It should be over by the middle of February.

On Friday i will be heading to Willard to hang out with the fam for the weekend. It is so great to be within driving distance of family again. Hopefully the Army will give us a great assignment after i get out of residency next summer, and we will be able to live near our families again. We have LOVED our time in Hawaii, but are looking forward to moving back to the mainland sometime! We have to be sure to give the Grandma's (and Great Grandma!) ample opportunity to spoil these little girls rotten!

35!

On Friday Cris chalked up another year, bringing his grand total now to 35! I was really sad to be so far away, and not able to celebrate his birthday.

but some of his co-workers and students were looking out for him and had this delicious cake.

i'm sure it will embarass him that I'm writing a post all about him in celebration of his birthday, but since i'm the one who primarily writes on this blog, I figure i can write about whatever I want!
So here are some things I have really appreciated and loved about Cris over the last year:

I've probably mentioned this before (or maybe like 100 times) but he can fix ANYTHING! Cars, trucks, washing machines, dishwashers, cameras, computers...you name it, he can fix it. sometimes it takes a little time, and a little frustration, but in the end whatever it is that was broken somehow works again.

He is a HUGE support during a difficult last few years. Not only did Cris leave the continental U.S. to move to Hawaii, but he continues to be completely sacrificial and supportive during a difficult residency. He gets up extra early to drive me to work on the way to his job, and then often ends up waiting over an hour for me to finish up at the hospital so we can drive home together.

Cris is FUN and makes the best of any situation. There is no one i have a better time with or enjoy spending my free time with.

Not to mention he is incredibly hard working, ambitious, level-headed, faithful, and thoughtful. Am i lucky, or what?!

So, now that i have thoroughly embarassed my husband, check out what bloomed in our yard last week! We have had these little pineapple plants growing for almost 2 years. They've gotten really big, but no signs of any little pineapples until last week, when Cris saw this little guy starting to pop up! Finally!