Delayed launch

The shuttle was supposed to launch last night, but a lightning storm on Friday night delayed the launch while NASA determines whether or not the lightning strikes did any damage to the electrical systems. I just wanted to share these pictures though - very cool. Go to this website to see more!

Sea Turtle Walk

Last night we went on a sea turtle walk - or at least, we attempted to. We showed up at the Barrier Island Center at 9:00 and listened to a 45 minute presentation on the turtles. It was actually a lot more interesting and informative than I expected, and the guide did a great job making it interesting for both adults and older kids. While we were in the presentation, volunteer scouts started walking up and down the beach a mile in either direction, looking for a nesting turtle. They didn't find any before the presentation was over, so we all moved out to the boardwalk and waited for them to radio in. I started to lose hope at about 10:15, but the guide said that the scouts would keep looking until midnight because you never know when the turtles will come up. We waited on the boardwalk until midnight but sadly the scouts never found any nesting turtles. Still, I'm glad we did it because I did learn a lot and at least I know we tried. We'll have to do this again some other year. Our guide said this was her 12th or 13th walk of the summer, and this was only the second night that they didn't see any turtles. In fact, sometimes the tour groups even get to see more than one turtle laying her eggs.

If you're near Melbourne Beach and you think you might be interested, they do the walks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in June and July. They start taking reservations on May 1, and they fill up FAST! You pay $10/person when you make the reservation, and if you don't show up then that money stays as a donation for the center. Make sure you take bug spray with you - there were TONS of mosquitoes and other things that bite on those dunes. I'd also recommend long pants and sleeves because the bug spray doesn't keep everything away. We actually ended up sitting in our car for part of that wait until midnight because we were getting eaten alive! Still, I'd recommend this and I plan to try again.

This is what we had hoped to see!

Last ultrasound!

I had my final ultrasound today! I am 36 weeks today and Eleanor now weighs 7lb, 2 oz - that's the 85th percentile. She should be somewhere around 8 lbs when I'm induced in just less than 2 weeks. Everything looks healthy, and we got to see her little face again. It's hard to see much at this point though because she's running out of room. Anyway, that's the update!

A visit with my mom

My mom came down to visit me for several days this week. Normally I go spend several days with her in the summer (we're both teachers), but this year traveling is sort of out of the question for me. Anyway, we had a great visit! We worked on some quilting projects, saw a movie, went to the zoo, went to Orlando to eat Peruvian food and explore IKEA, and enjoyed lots of time with my brother's family that also lives near us. She's coming back about a week after Eleanor is born, but it was nice to have this quiet visit together now before everything changes!

Here's Buela reading to Julie, my niece

Evan, my nephew, and Monica

At one point Julie decided that it was time to go home. She packed her bag and was ready to go!

My summer job

I've decided that my summer job is going to the doctor. Yesterday I spent over 4 hours at two different doctors! Part of it was yet another non-stress test (Eleanor did great), and the much longer visit was my family doctor because I've been having some ear problems that are totally not pregnancy related. Everything's fine now, but what a way to spend your day! I feel like I've read every waiting room magazine that's out there!

Anyway, to top it all off today, I think I broke my toe! It's my next to little one on my left foot. I'm just so clumsy and I didn't look where I was going so I ran into the hard plastic wheel on a suitcase. It's fine, but it hurts! It's also very purple. I'm not sure whether it's broken or not, but it doesn't really matter either way. The funny thing is that we were joking that you can't really tell if it's swollen or not because my feet are so swollen in the first place! Hunter has said that my feet look like something that washed up on the beach, and yesterday my brother told me that my ankle was so swollen that it looks like I should be wearing a cast. I feel so loved. :)

I am enjoying every minute of my pregnancy and I really don't mind the swollen feet, the back pain, or all of the OB visits, but I am kind of ready for it to be over so that I can meet Eleanor! I want her to take her time though, and wait 2 1/2 more weeks. She is totally worth any discomfort.

35 weeks

Updated blog

As you can tell, I've updated this blog - including the URL. I was thinking about making a new blog for Eleanor, but rather than keeping up with 3 blogs (and presumably more once Eleanor has younger siblings...), I'd rather just turn this one into a family blog. So anyway, that's my reason for the changes!